Originally posted by DarthTanyon:

I don't know what this guys is talking about but Deathsqutos have a very large aggro range. I would NOT advise this approach if you are not ready yet.

Deathsquitos have a 30 tile visual range (in their front 90 degrees) with a 20 tile alert range. If they see you they will slowly approach until they alert. The problem being that the boat can't sneak.

You can drop sail to paddling speed (to get the sail out of your way) and fire your bow over the gunwale. If you miss you can switch to buckler and a short range weapon like a knife. parry block, and kill it without damaging your boat too much.

Originally posted by sarteck:

Originally posted by DarthTanyon:

If you are in a Krave or longboat you can coast on lowest speed and outrun the leeches. I think this is more or less about IF you decided to stop and investigate or disembark. I've definitely lost a boat or two to leeches while not in it.. I mean that was early on.. now I play a lot smarter. Usually I only land from water as a last resort.

Hmm, still pretty sure this isn't the case.

I just went (on vanilla) and dug a small pond, spawned a Karve, then spawned 20 leeches. None of them attacked the ship.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2966525086

They will attack it if you are in it or were in it and got out. Jumping fish can also damage your boat if the boat is above the fish when it jumps though they don't specifically attack the boat.

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

They will attack it if you are in it or were in it and got out. Jumping fish can also damage your boat if the boat is above the fish when it jumps though they don't specifically attack the boat.

This is also false. They will not attack the boat "if you were in it then jump out." I just tested it, I welcome you to test as well. I have my doubts about the fish, but have no reliable way of confirming, and I think you may have gotten mixed up with wave/lag damage to the boat (usually a flat 10 damage), which has nothing to do with fish.

Originally posted by DarthTanyon:

Originally posted by sarteck:

Might just be the way I sail or something, but I've never had a problem with leeches as far as my boat is concerned. As long as I kept sailing, even at the slowest speed, they never seemed to attack it. (Skeletal and Draugr archers, on the other hand....) And as soon as I got out of the boat, they were easy enough to deal with, since leeches seem to lose interest in your boat when your tasty viking body's not in it. It's a bit of a surprise for me to read that other people do have a problem with leeches eating their boats.

If you are in a Krave or longboat you can coast on lowest speed and outrun the leeches. I think this is more or less about IF you decided to stop and investigate or disembark. I've definitely lost a boat or two to leeches while not in it.. I mean that was early on.. now I play a lot smarter. Usually I only land from water as a last resort.

Hmm, still pretty sure this isn't the case.

I just went (on vanilla) and dug a small pond, spawned a Karve, then spawned 20 leeches. None of them attacked the ship.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2966525086

Yeah, the only reason why it appears that leeches and deathsquitos prefer boats is because the boat is in the way of getting to the player (hit zone on boats is sizable enough that skeeters typically end up just hitting it during their death star trench run against the player, simply because it's in the way), or they're aggro and there's no pathing to the player so they're stuck on attacking secondary targets.

Originally posted by Apple:

they wont attack you unless you basically beach your boat.
you can still sail around the shallows

I don't know what this guys is talking about but Deathsqutos have a very large aggro range. I would NOT advise this approach if you are not ready yet.

The second I see an indicator that it is plains trees, grass color or the distinct rocks I then keep it at a distance to where I see the land but I also am not too close.. Definitely would not get close enough to have any of the mobs render.

Originally posted by DarthTanyon:

Originally posted by Apple:

they wont attack you unless you basically beach your boat.
you can still sail around the shallows

I don't know what this guys is talking about but Deathsqutos have a very large aggro range. I would NOT advise this approach if you are not ready yet.

The second I see an indicator that it is plains trees, grass color or the distinct rocks I then keep it at a distance to where I see the land but I also am not too close.. Definitely would not get close enough to have any of the mobs render.

Even sailing near the swamp is dangerous to me because leeches can spawn in large groups especially at night.

Well, the main threats are deathquittos. They WILL attack you if you go near but their major priority is boat it seems, so if you manage to sail away far enough they leave you alone. Though the major threat is to be beached. It happens a lot with longboat and sometimes with karve too.

So, if you get stuck like that... well, then there's a "what are you doing step-deathquitto" type of scenario is going to happen :D

Long story short, just find the swamp which borders to the Black Forest and you're good

Originally posted by morrokain10587:

Originally posted by DarthTanyon:

I don't know what this guys is talking about but Deathsqutos have a very large aggro range. I would NOT advise this approach if you are not ready yet.

The second I see an indicator that it is plains trees, grass color or the distinct rocks I then keep it at a distance to where I see the land but I also am not too close.. Definitely would not get close enough to have any of the mobs render.

Even sailing near the swamp is dangerous to me because leeches can spawn in large groups especially at night.

Yup Leeches can be a pain.. although I feel like IF you clear them out they do not seem to re-spawn as long as you put down a crafting bench to repair your ship.. kinda helps. Early on forget about it.. you can easily get overwhelmed if you are not careful.

Might just be the way I sail or something, but I've never had a problem with leeches as far as my boat is concerned. As long as I kept sailing, even at the slowest speed, they never seemed to attack it. (Skeletal and Draugr archers, on the other hand....) And as soon as I got out of the boat, they were easy enough to deal with, since leeches seem to lose interest in your boat when your tasty viking body's not in it. It's a bit of a surprise for me to read that other people do have a problem with leeches eating their boats.

Originally posted by sarteck:

Might just be the way I sail or something, but I've never had a problem with leeches as far as my boat is concerned. As long as I kept sailing, even at the slowest speed, they never seemed to attack it. (Skeletal and Draugr archers, on the other hand....) And as soon as I got out of the boat, they were easy enough to deal with, since leeches seem to lose interest in your boat when your tasty viking body's not in it. It's a bit of a surprise for me to read that other people do have a problem with leeches eating their boats.

If you are in a Krave or longboat you can coast on lowest speed and outrun the leeches. I think this is more or less about IF you decided to stop and investigate or disembark. I've definitely lost a boat or two to leeches while not in it.. I mean that was early on.. now I play a lot smarter. Usually I only land from water as a last resort.

they wont attack you unless you basically beach your boat.
you can still sail around the shallows

I usually sail at a distance where the land barely becomes visible or even a little further out than that on my mini map. Think of how close you need to be to draw aggro, and stay a little further than that away from the shore. But keep your eyes open for lone mosquitoes on tiny islands.

But if this is your first swamp, you should look on that map for one that you can walk into after landing at a meadows or black forest if at all possible. There are many things in the swamp that will attack your boat.

The shores near plains tend to have lots of places to easily beach your boat, especially when fog creeps in and you can't see where you are navigating. I suggest staying as far away from Plains as possible to avoid that.

I would not worry overmuch about the deathsquitos flying over the ocean to get you; as long as you're a decent distance away, they'll not aggro to you.

Valheim terrain near Swamp (in the shallows) tends to show as "Plains" quite often, but if it's all under water, no need to worry.

Originally posted by Apple:

they wont attack you unless you basically beach your boat. you can still sail around the shallows

So Deathsquitos wont attack you Huh? You must have had a unique experience to the rest of us.

OP if you have full Iron fully upgraded and or a good shield and food you should be able to fight off a a couple of the Bugs of Death if you sail too close to their shore, But you don't go slow look for them and pick them off with your Bow.

If you don't trust your Bowman-ship then its time to go around that area