It seems that survival games are all the rage right now, and new title Valheim has taken the world by storm as a masterclass in what survival games can really be. Players will take control of their very own viking warrior and explore the world around them as they attempt to earn enough resources and fend off all of the dangers around them. Surviving any time at all in this world will take a lot of planning and effort.
Just like in any survival game though the basics are pretty simple for players to understand, they just need to focus on acquiring the correct resources and spending their time working on creating the right objects. It can be very overwhelming at first in a game like this though, so newcomers to Valheim will probably want some guidance for their first few moments. This guide gives players some tips for surviving early on in Valheim.
Valheim - Beginner Tips for Survival
The thing to keep in mind before reading these tips is that every new game in Valheim will be different because the world has a certain level of procedural generation. Areas of the map will be in the same general direction, but the layout of each biome will be completely different every time. This means that this guide will not be able to point players to any specific locations on the map to do certain things, but will rather give them some tips for making their own survival easier.
Wood Is Your Primary Concern At First and Then Stone - Most of the time in survival games players will want to start searching for food as quickly as they possibly can, but in Valheim this isn't as big of a concern at first. While food is definitely necessary there is plenty of it for players to scrounge around from the world around them. No the first thing that they will want to be concerned about is wood. Wood will be necessary to craft pretty much every important piece of equipment in the early moments of the game, so players will want to start punching trees apart whenever they get the chance. They will also want to look for Stones as well which are integral to crafting certain tools in the game.
Time to Make Your First Tools - Tools will wind up being the lifeblood of Valheim because a survivor will only be as strong as the weakest tool in his inventory. Sadly, players won't be able to craft anything extravagant early on in the game, but they will be able to invest in a few tools that will make their lives much easier. The first thing that the player will want to create for themselves is the Axe. This will enable them to cut down trees more efficiently to acquire wood. They will also want to make themselves a club as well, which will help if they get attacked by any enemies. Finally, once they have the wood and stone for it they will want to craft themselves the most important tool available: The Hammer.
Build The Workbench ASAP - With a hammer now in the player's possession they will now be able to craft multiple different structures in the game. The one they will want to focus on first though is the Workbench because it will allow them to create more complicated structures and tools. Just place it down wherever in order to gain access to better blueprints. A great early way to gain a lot of resources is to put a Workbench down inside an old ruined structure and then dismantle the structure. This will allow the player to take all of the resources used for that structure and give it to themselves.
Get A Shelter Up and A Campfire Going Before Hunting - As soon as that Workbench is up the player will then want to start focusing on creating some very important structures. A shelter should be first priority, so players should create themselves a small place with a few walls and a roof to protect themselves from the elements. After that, they will want to create themselves a campfire and a bed as well immediately after. This will enable the player to have a respawn point and a place to sleep. On top of this though they will want to have that campfire ready before going hunting so they then have a way to cook any meat that is collected.
Invest In Better Armor and Weapons - There are several different kinds of armor and weapons available to players throughout Valheim, and they will want to start creating some as soon as they have the ability to do so. In order to acquire some of the better early game gear though players will need to start hunting down animals. Boars for one are great to hunt because they give players leather scraps which can, in turn, be used to create the bow and other important items. Deer are another important animal to hunt down because their hides are easily crafted into leather armor that will make the player more durable.
Get the Workbench Upgraded - This is one thing that the game doesn't outright explain to the player that is very important that they know. In order to gain access to more advanced recipes at the Workbench, players will first need to upgrade it. The process of doing so is a little confusing though because players will actually need to craft two unrelated items. Players will need to craft the Chopping Block and the Tanning Rack, but neither of these items is actually usable. Instead by crafting them, the Workbench will be upgraded, which then allows the player to upgrade any of the items that they are crafting.
Tame Boars For Reliable Access to Resources - Once the player has begun building up their base and started to explore, they may find that they have less and less time to go hunting. A great way to prevent having to go on hunting excursions every few hours is to instead try and tame some boars and keep them penned up. All the player will need to do is lead some boars into a pen where they can then begin feeding them mushrooms. Eventually, the boar will become tame and will no longer attack the player. By adding more boars into the pen the player can make them breed and eventually have access to an inexhaustible supply of both food and leather scraps.
Go After The First Boss To Get a Pickaxe - At this point, many players will start feeling comfortable and may want to strike out further from their home base. This is going to be incredibly difficult without some serious firepower and armor though, which will be impossible for the player to acquire without a Pickaxe. The only issue though is that the Pickaxe can't be created under normal means and the player will instead need to go up against the first boss to make it possible. Once the player thinks they are ready for a fight they should summon Eikthyr and defeat the beast to craft themselves a Pickaxe.
Valheim can be played on PC.