Originally posted by Chef:

Actually it makes perfect sense. If I saw an enemy boat...it will be destroyed.
Having APCs not attacking ships would make no sense.

You are not a base creature. The mental processes involved with knowing a boat carries people is beyond base creatures. That is my whole point.

Originally posted by dunbaratu:

Yeah I can see the argument that enemies should attack boats, but when their arrows magically just work fine underwater without being slowed down by the water that doesn't seem fair that they can walk under the water and shoot your boat

Agree. this needs to be addressed in a patch (hopefully soon.) From my perspective the easy answer is not to allow non-aquatic creatures to attack while over, say, 60% submerged. Seeing skeletons running across the ocean floor chasing deer is pretty funny in its tenacious futility ; )

I think I'll agree with OP on this one, it doesn't really make sense for "normal" wild life to be attacking boats. like boars for example, to swim out to specifically attack your boat.
If it's just floating there, it's pretty much scenery to most things.
The way this breaks my immersion, and I think the spirit of the game, is that I will not leave a ship at a beach or river. I will just smash it up and and pocket the parts. even if it is just a short landing, I'm not going to risk it. I have a boat house, which is unused. Instead I use a chest labeled [boats].
The boats are very much an important part of going viking, so I feel we should be able to park it on the beach, they are longboats made for driving up on the beach after all, and go on a fairly quick raid, without worrying about some wild bacon vandalising it.
Especially when the only way to transport metal and ores is by boat.

necks a boats worst enemy...

Originally posted by ChiefBanana:

necks a boats worst enemy...

I lived by the swamp once, made a harbor even walled it in, but my ships would sink, found out the skeletons and Drungar archers would just walk on the sea floor and shoot my boats

Originally posted by (LINUX) Hot Sick:

Originally posted by Macdallan:

[...] It all makes complete sense.

Subjectively, in your own headcanon.
*snip*

Objectively based on the information at hand, actually.

NEXT!

Originally posted by Gavener:

Originally posted by ChiefBanana:

necks a boats worst enemy...

I lived by the swamp once, made a harbor even walled it in, but my ships would sink, found out the skeletons and Drungar archers would just walk on the sea floor and shoot my boats

Yeah I can see the argument that enemies should attack boats, but when their arrows magically just work fine underwater without being slowed down by the water that doesn't seem fair that they can walk under the water and shoot your boat especially when you can't defend the boat by shooting back at underwater enemies because when you try to shoot down over the side of the boat you just shoot AT your boat and damage it more. The game has no way for the player to indicate "I am trying to lean out and shoot over the edge." Once the enemy is directly under your boat they can't be touched because of the asymetrical application of the laws of physics (water affects your shots but not theirs).

If you park off shore close enough to make it to shore (good foods needed) swimming, they almost never end up destroying the ship. It seems the ships have an aggro range the same as the player does.

You're in a magical realm full of magical creatures. Seems pretty bold to assume that they aren't intelligent enough to view boats as something associated with foreign invaders that needs destroyed. I mean Necks in Norse mythology are water spirits, not simple animals. Making those assumptions is like assuming you can't be possibly attacked by an angry tree because trees aren't intelligent. The Greydwarves will correct you on that mistake.

In nearly 200 hours I've yet to lose a boat to anything. If you want to be safe leave your boat anywhere set up at least a torch or campfire to prevent spawning in 20m and clear out the area. A campfire is also good because you can sit next to it for 30 seconds after getting out of the water and dry off and refresh your rested buff.
If you aren't nearby (the range you see buildings you've built pop back into existence) the entire area is unloaded and paused and nothing can attack your boat so "a wolf biting my ore laden ship into splinters while I am off collecting" isn't happening. It's only happening if you are nearby and ignoring it.
Finally never leave your boat in shallow water, it should at least be deep enough to require swimming. Leaving your boat in shallow water, especially if a storm hits, will just constantly bash your boat against the ground until it breaks.

Originally posted by mgoctopusboy:

Why do certain creatures attack ships? I am speaking about the low intellect ones, like Necks and Wolves.

There are some (active?) structures that enemies will attack on sight, such as workbenches, boats, torches, etc. Other more... inert?... structures like walls, beams, ceilings, etc. are (mostly) ignored. I think there's a decent balance to be found in that.

I feel like enemies wanting to destroy my boat or unprotected workbench adds more risk and makes the game feel more alive. Having our second karve unrecoverably destroyed on the shores of the tiny island where we fought the Elder, then having to build a raft to get back home initially kinda sucked, but really added to the adventure of it all; an unexpected twist in our journey.

To me, being aware of parking your longship in bad neighborhoods adds flavour.
Now, I'm always careful to park boats a good safe distance offshore and swim, which feels like a reasonable solution that doesn't break immersion (adds to it, really.) Being able to effectively adapt here makes all the difference.

Originally posted by mgoctopusboy:

Serpents attacking ships makes sense.

I agree on the serpents for sure. Our first karve was lost was lost to a sea serpent just barely offshore while trying to figure out how to drive the thing. I already have bad thalassophobia and that particular horror will probably stay with me forever. Nostalgia.

I've eaten many bowls of serpent stew since then, but I still appreciate the palpable sense of fear and anxiety when you've got a longship full of iron and half a world to cross ; )

Originally posted by mgoctopusboy:

Breaks immersion. I can not make mind make sense of it lol.
[...] Just standing there attacking the wood object floating in the water?
[...] unfortunate events in the game that feels cheap and betraying.
[...] but a wolf biting my ore laden ship into splinters while I am off collecting is just dumb

While I don't quite agree about boats in particular, I feel these are good points with regard to, and highlighted by, the previous patch in which the enemy AI was hell-bent on destroying every structure in the game. Which, for my friends and I -- as well as a lot of other people -- completely ruined our experience.

Watching armies of wolves suddenly start casually chewing our massive 10+ meter tall, bazillion tonne mountain fortress walls to bits like it was made of bacon-flavoured cardboard was a bitter and miserable experience. It felt stupid and demoralizing and absolutely broke immersion.

I definitely think you raise some interesting larger questions here:
a) What are the motives for individual enemies to destroy something?
b) What are the abilities for individual enemies to be able to destroy something?

i.e.: A Wolf having the motive to chew on a 1 meter thick stone wall is absurd. Being able to damage or destroy it is even worse.

A massive troll having the motive to damage a stone wall seems circumstantial, but the ability seems self-evident.

Originally posted by (LINUX) Hot Sick:

Originally posted by mgoctopusboy:

Why do certain creatures attack ships? I am speaking about the low intellect ones, like Necks and Wolves.

There are some (active?) structures that enemies will attack on sight, such as workbenches, boats, torches, etc. Other more... inert?... structures like walls, beams, ceilings, etc. are (mostly) ignored. I think there's a decent balance to be found in that.

I feel like enemies wanting to destroy my boat or unprotected workbench adds more risk and makes the game feel more alive. Having our second karve unrecoverably destroyed on the shores of the tiny island where we fought the Elder, then having to build a raft to get back home initially kinda sucked, but really added to the adventure of it all; an unexpected twist in our journey.

To me, being aware of parking your longship in bad neighborhoods adds flavour.
Now, I'm always careful to park boats a good safe distance offshore and swim, which feels like a reasonable solution that doesn't break immersion (adds to it, really.) Being able to effectively adapt here makes all the difference.

Originally posted by mgoctopusboy:

Serpents attacking ships makes sense.

I agree on the serpents for sure. Our first karve was lost was lost to a sea serpent just barely offshore while trying to figure out how to drive the thing. I already have bad thalassophobia and that particular horror will probably stay with me forever. Nostalgia.

I've eaten many bowls of serpent stew since then, but I still appreciate the palpable sense of fear and anxiety when you've got a longship full of iron and half a world to cross ; )

Originally posted by mgoctopusboy:

Breaks immersion. I can not make mind make sense of it lol.
[...] Just standing there attacking the wood object floating in the water?
[...] unfortunate events in the game that feels cheap and betraying.
[...] but a wolf biting my ore laden ship into splinters while I am off collecting is just dumb

While I don't quite agree about boats in particular, I feel these are good points with regard to, and highlighted by, the previous patch in which the enemy AI was hell-bent on destroying every structure in the game. Which, for my friends and I -- as well as a lot of other people -- completely ruined our experience.

Watching armies of wolves suddenly start casually chewing our massive 10+ meter tall, bazillion tonne mountain fortress walls to bits like it was made of bacon-flavoured cardboard was a bitter and miserable experience. It felt stupid and demoralizing and absolutely broke immersion.

I definitely think you raise some interesting larger questions here:
a) What are the motives for individual enemies to destroy something?
b) What are the abilities for individual enemies to be able to destroy something?

i.e.: A Wolf having the motive to chew on a 1 meter thick stone wall is absurd. Being able to damage or destroy it is even worse.

A massive troll having the motive to damage a stone wall seems circumstantial, but the ability seems self-evident.

If you understand the backstory it really doesn't break immersion at all. There are nine reams inhabited by mortals and divine beings. Valheim is a feral, tenth realm that even the gods are terrified of, so the souls of fallen Vikings have been sent there to make it hospitable.

See: https://valheim.fandom.com/wiki/Lore#World_Lore for more detail.

So, knowing all that their motive is very, very simple. Your entire mission is to destroy them and tame the lands. The enemies all know this and they are native to this realm. You are not. You're part of an invading army sent to destroy them and that's all the motive that any of the creatures need. You're the intruder. Everything wants to kill you.

These aren't normal world wolves or sea creatures. They're something else, otherworldly, spirits, demons, whatever you want to call them and they are guided or driven by the greater entities such as Eikthyr, The Elder, Moder, The Bonemass, Yagluth and whatever else is out there.

Keep that in mind and it's really, really not difficult to believe they would attack and destroy boats and buildings. Doing so hampers your progress, makes it harder for you to succeed. Also remember that it's not just a boar, or a lizard you're dealing with. Something that's driving them, guiding them, would know what to have them attack, and what to allow them to ignore. Much like you're being guided by Odin to invade their realm, destroy their buildings, kill them, loot their caves and dungeons, take what's theirs and destroy the rest.

It all makes complete sense.

2 Boars swam out to my ♥♥♥♥ in the bay to attack it!

Originally posted by Gavener:

2 Boars swam out to my ship in the bay to attack it!

Viking up and kill them.

(Edit: Fixed your typo.)

Originally posted by Macdallan:

[...] It all makes complete sense.

Subjectively, in your own headcanon.

Also, we went from
'Wolves don't eat stone walls, they want to eat people'
briefly to
'Wolves love to eat stone walls and prefer them over eating people and will destroy all the ancient structures of the world for lulz'
back to
'Wolves ignore stone walls unless MAYBE the player is on the other side'

Also, bear in mind the notion of a universe where any/all reasonable expectations are unbound by "because magic" wherever a convenient explanation of anomaly is needed, loses all coherency and literary value.

I'm pretty read on Norse myth, and this is the developers own inspired creation, not a exact mythological simulacrum. No mythos is abstract. Regard must be taken to maintain a fundamental coherency to the expectations of perceived human experience or it loses value to humans.

Actually it makes perfect sense. If I saw an enemy boat...it will be destroyed.
Having APCs not attacking ships would make no sense.