After conquering the Meadows, Black Forest, Swamp, and Mountains biomes in Valheim and taming boars and wolves, players will likely find themselves in the Plains biome and face-to-face with the Lox. Lox are giant, dinosaur-buffalo hybrid creatures who spend time close to the shore on the Plains. They tend to group in packs and become aggressive easily. Like the wolves in the mountains, even with the best equipment, players are likely to find that a single unblocked bite or two from a Lox can easily deplete their Viking's health. However, if players are patient, build sturdy enough walls, and gather enough food Loxes love, they can tame these fearsome beasts and eventually pet them.
Like taming a boar or a wolf in Valheim, players will need to capture a Lox in some kind of pen and feed it for several days to tame it and make it loyal. Lox behave more like boars, as they won't necessarily follow the player character into battle. However, they can be kept as pets and bred for Lox Meat, which is an excellent source of Health and Stamina, and Lox Pelts, which are used to make the Lox Rug and Lox Cape. They are significantly harder to tame than wolves, so players will need to be prepared with the right infrastructure for the job. Here's how to tame Lox in Valheim.
How to Bait and Pen a Lox in Valheim
First, players will need to prepare their base on the Plains to keep a Lox in captivity. With boars, simple fencing tended to work well, and, with wolves, players needed the stakewall. Lox require even stronger fencing. Players will want to build an enclosure with stone walls, leaving a gap in the enclosure one wall-space wide. They will also want to place a platform or stairs near the enclosure to give their character a way to toss food into the pen and get out safely once the Lox is inside.
Players will also want to make sure they have a strong endgame shield like the Serpent Scale Shield, especially if they use themselves as bait to lure the Lox into the enclosure. Finally, players should take some time to harvest barley and forage for cloudberries. These two foods can help lure and tame a Lox.
To lure a Lox into the pen, players can do one of two things. They can place barley and cloudberries inside the enclosure and stand nearby waiting, or they can use themselves as live bait and compel any aggressive Lox they find to chase them into the enclosure. The first option is safer, but it will take longer for the Lox to take the bait, and if the Lox sees the player character, it may still try to attack. The second option is effective, but it is likely players will get rammed and possibly killed in the process. Particularly thrill-seeking players may be able to build an enclosure while they are being chased by a Lox, but this is extremely difficult to accomplish and therefore not recommended.
Once players get the Lox into their enclosure, they will need to quickly escape the enclosure and place the last piece of stone wall to trap the creature inside. For the next few days, players will need to toss barley and cloudberries to the Lox to turn its demeanor from aggressive to affectionate. Players will want to stay far away from the pen during these feedings. Like wolves, Lox will still become aggressive for a while when approached, even in the pen, and will try to ram into the player character. If they aren't careful, they can lose a major chunk of health from one of these attacks. Once players see hearts above the Lox's head, and receives a notification saying the Lox is at 100% affection, it has been tamed. Players can enter the pen and pet their new companion without being attacked.
Players should try to tame at least two Loxes, then place them in an enclosure together so they will breed and create a herd. This way, they can have a continuous supply of Lox Meat and Pelts for cooking and crafting. To keep Loxes, players will need to make sure they always have a good supply of barley and cloudberries. Planting and cultivating these resources at base should help ensure a consistent supply to use as Lox feed.
Valheim is in Steam Early Access and is available for PC.