Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

Part of a game like Valheim is the journey not the boss fights. The only issue I had as a brand new player was getting the fine wood required to build the tool that allowed you to harvest fine wood. The shipwreck you are supposed to take apart on my original map seed didn't exist on my start island. The closest was on the opposite end of the adjacent island that was all Black Forest and infested with trolls.

You don't need fine wood to make a bronze ax. Core wood, maybe, but you don't need a special ax for pine trees. Ship wrecks are nice to run across, but not required.

As for the OP, you lose 5% of your skill when you die, not a flat three levels. Depending on where you are in the game that can be a whole lot or hardly any. I did mod that part out though because I'm not fond of games that penalize my xp.

But if you don't like the grind then play something else or mod it. Pretty much every crafting game has a grind to it.

InB4 Rant and Vent...