Iron Gate Studio's Viking survival game, Valheim, has officially received its first major update, Hearth & Home. Over the past few weeks, the developer released a six-part series of videos introducing the concept for Hearth & Home, and now that the update is live, Valheim players can enjoy its multitude of new features and bug fixes.
Valheim's key gameplay elements include building camps, crafting and improving items, fighting mythical creatures, and generally surviving the world's harsh environment in single-player or multiplayer. As its name implies, the Valheim Hearth & Home update largely focuses on bringing new items and abilities to the building aspect of the game.
According to the update announcement on Steam, Iron Gate did its best to listen to community feedback, so "several highly-requested features" were also implemented in the update. The team also introduced a new threat to Valheim, a dark presence it claims even Odin is blind to. Here is every new and improved element introduced to Valheim in the Hearth & Home update.
How Valheim Hearth & Home Changes Cooking
New Consumable Items
Valheim chefs can rejoice, as Home & Hearth adds 12 new consumable items to the game. Wolves, deer and boar now each drop a unique meat instead of a generic raw meat, and players can enjoy a new variety of onions. Combined with existing food items, these make for a plethora of new recipes to uncover. The new bukeberries also make players expel previously eaten meals to make room for new snacks, and by player request, Valheim now allows players to plant birch and oak seeds.
Altered Food Effects
Additionally, food perks have been altered with the Valheim Hearth & Home update. Previously, food items would give players an equal amount of health and stamina. Now, Valheim food is split into three categories: red foods primarily give health, yellow give stamina, and white give an even split between the two, allowing players to customize the type of energy they get for the gameplay they're interested in. The food bar has also been replaced by a timer, so players can see how long they have before needing to consume more items.
New Cooking Items
Hearth & Home also makes Valheim's cooking a more intricate process, as the update adds spice rack, butcher's table and pots and pans as potential cauldron improvements. Players can now install ovens in their homes, which is now required in order to bake bread and pies. Likewise, an iron cooking station is now available, necessary to cook certain types of raw meat. Valheim Hearth & Home also adds the butcher knife tool, used to slaughter tamed animals.
Valheim Hearth & Home's New Building Elements
New Building Materials
For its builders, Valheim has added darkwood materials for building shingle roofs, ceiling beams, and various decorations. Players can also now use crystal to construct walls, and new Valheim stack structures are available to build, letting players store and display specific items. Conversely, Hearth & Home also provides an obliterator. Once constructed, players can use it to destroy unwanted items.
New Buildable Items
By fan request, Valheim now has a data-sharing feature for maps in the form of the cartography table. Players are able to share locations with other Vikings in their server. Finally, any Valheim fans familiar with The Witcher 3's famous bathtub scene will be happy to know Hearth & Home's new furniture includes a hot tub, along with a stone throne and others not listed in the patch notes.
Valheim Hearth & Home's Added Gameplay Features
New & Rebalanced Weapons
Valheim's Hearth & Home update also rebalances all of the weapons in the game, but some got bigger changes than others. Valheim's two-handed axe, though still relatively slow, now has a faster wind-up and better cleaving and stagger damage potential. The bow, on the other hand, has been nerfed. Players can no longer draw it instantly; however, keeping the bow drawn will now require less stamina than before. Along with these changes, two new weapons were added - the crystal battleaxe and the silver knife.
Blocking Mechanic Change & New Shields
Shields and blocking have been tweaked as well. Playing defensively now relies mostly on health, while going on the offense requires additional stamina. Tower shields gained a knockback buff, making them a significant boon for defensive players, and the buckler shield now allows players to parry incoming blows. New shields in Valheim include the bone tower shield and the iron buckler.
Biome Changes
Some of Valheim's in-game locations have also been tweaked. In a "Fireside Chat" video, Iron Gate discussed adding more food resources to the mountain region of Valheim, which was previously completely barren. Hearth & Home's announcement notes slimy locations and creatures have been added to the plains region, introducing a new, slippery challenge.
Valheim Hearth & Home's Miscellaneous Improvements
Tamed Creature Changes & Mysterious New Items
Valheim's tamed creatures got several updates. Most notably, they can now be named, and they can't be hurt by friendly fire unless players specifically enable that setting or use the butcher knife. According the patch notes, "tamed Lox now have a purpose," but the specifics weren't detailed. Hearth & Home introduced the Lox accessory item, so perhaps their purpose is related to that. Additionally, players can now purchase a thunder stone from traders, though its purpose is yet unclear as well.
Bug Fixes & Settings Adjustments
Valheim Hearth & Home changes some mechanical aspects of gameplay. Gamepad sensitivity settings have been updated, presumably so players can adjust to their desired levels. An auto-pickup toggle button has also been added, and several of Valheim's graphics settings have been updated. Iron Gate noted there are "various other improvements and bugfixes."
The New Enemy Threat In Valheim's Hearth & Home Update
Iron Gate also snuck in a nefarious new threat into Valheim - something "not even Odin has spied." It's a dark force spreading across the plains, but rather than give too much away in a written announcement, Iron Gate encouraged players to hop into Hearth & Home to unravel the mystery themselves.
Full Valheim Hearth & Home Patch Notes (0.202.14)
The full patch notes for Valhiem's Hearth & Home update, courtesy of Iron Gate Studio, are as follows.
General improvements
* Weapons rebalanced (All weapons have been rebalanced to be more viable as main weapon and also have more unique playstyles)
* Blocking system overhauled (Current maximum hp now greatly affects your ability to block attacks, stagger bar gui added)
* Naming tamed creatures
* Gamepad sensitivity settings
* Auto-pickup toggle button added
* Graphics settings (Active point lights & Active point light shadows)
* Tamed creatures affected by friendly fire setting (i.e you can’t hurt a tamed creature unless you enable friendly fire or use the new Butcher knife item)
* Various other improvements and bugfixes
Food
* Food rebalance (Most food items now give mainly stamina or mainly health to make food choices more interesting)
* Food GUI overhauled to work better with the rebalanced food
* Over 10 new things to eat (Actually 12)
World
* Tamed Lox now have a purpose
* Slimy locations & creatures added to plains
* New plantable seeds: Birch, Oak & Onions
Items
* New weapons: Crystal battleaxe, Silver knife
* New shields: Bone tower shield, Iron buckler
* Butcher knife (Special weapon for butchering tamed animals)
* Thunder stone (Sold by trader)
* Lox accessory
Building
* New Darkwood building pieces like shingle roofs, beams, decorations and more
* New types of furniture, including but not limited to a mighty stone throne and a steamy viking hot tub
* Crystal walls
* New types of stacks to show off your treasure and resources
* Cauldron improvements: Spice rack, Butcher’s table, Pots and pans
* Cartography table (For sharing map-data with other players)
* Oven added (For baking bread and pie)
* Obliterator added (Items be gone)
* Iron cooking station (Required to cook some types of meat)
... and more!
Iron Gate Studio also put out another, smaller patch (0.202.19) the day after Valheim Hearth & Home dropped.
* Rebalanced hp/stamina on most foods ( more stamina on hp foods and more hp on stamina foods etc )
* Fixed tar-pit not spawning on dedicated-server worlds
* Slightly lower hp on Fulings & Fuling shamans
* Slightly easier to stagger Fulings
* Fixed issue with pressing I in server list while trying to filter servers
* Lower bow stamina use
* Cage wall 1x1 physics fix ( Already placed pieces will probably need to be repositioned )
* Boars now also eat blueberries, raspberries & mushrooms
* Chinese translation fix