Valheim can seem like an intimidating game for beginners. There are a few things every player should do when they’re starting out. However, the random world generation means each journey will be a little different. Our Valheim beginners guide will take players through the steps needed to get through the first few days in-game and get them ready to conquer the first major foe waiting for them.
Valheim Beginners Guide | What do you do in the game?
Valheim is similar to survival titles like Minecraft, Terraria, and Ark: Survival Evolved. The player takes the role of a Viking warrior who has perished and has been recruited by Odin to enter the land of Valheim and cleanse it of his enemies. However, the player must face an ignominious start as Hugin the raven drops them in with only rags on their backs.
The difference between Valheim and other survival games is that it’s more goal-oriented. There are five major enemies that must be defeated, and players must build shelter, develop new equipment, and travel the land in order to do so.
Valheim Beginners Guide | What to do on the first day
When players land in Valheim, they should keep an eye out for Hugin. The raven will give some pointers on how the game works, and show players the stone needed to find the first boss’s location. After this, players should work on gathering these three resources:
- Wood
- Stone
- Flint
To gather these materials:
- Players can gather wood from branches littered on the ground.
- Stone is found by picking up the scattered circular rocks.
- Flint can be obtained by picking up the oblong rocks.
As soon as possible, players should craft a club for defense and a stone ax. The Meadow biome, where the game starts, only contains a few weak creatures, and the club should take care of them all within three swings.
Once the player obtains the club and ax, they should start looking for a place to build a shelter. The best way to do this is to move through the woods until a clearing is found. Once a relatively level site is found, players should chop down trees and gather wood.
One thing to note in Valheim is that falling trees can very quickly kill the player. Fortunately, trees are governed by physics, so it’s usually pretty easy to tell which way they’ll fall. Once the player is comfortable with chopping down trees and then chopping logs into wood, they should start going to combo tree falls.
Players can chop down trees and as they fall they can damage other trees, which causes them to fall. If a player finds the right spot, they can fell one tree and start a domino effect that takes down a chunk of forest. This is a great way to save time, and from our experience, the logs don’t disappear, so they can be harvested as needed.
Gathering food
Running completely out of food in Valheim will cause health to begin depleting. Fortunately, the raspberries and mushrooms found throughout The Meadow are plentiful. Just eat whenever the message shows up on screen to keep your Viking healthy.
Valheim Beginners Guide | Building your first house
Once the player has a good stockpile of wood, they should find a flat area to begin constructing their first house. Once this desired location is found, players should craft a hammer and a Workbench should be built nearby. Players can only build within a certain radius of a workbench, so they should make sure the entirety of the land they want to build on is within that area.
There’s no ill effect from not sleeping, and enemies aren’t more aggressive at night, so we recommend skipping a temporary shelter and going for something more permanent. Since players don’t have the ability to level land yet, they should use vertical poles to build the foundation off of the ground.
To build a decent starter house:
- Using the smaller verticle poles and 2m beams, frame out the foundation.
- Once the foundation is completed, add floor panels.
- Add a door.
- Build walls around the perimeter of the foundation two panels high.
- Use 26-degree thatch roof around the edge of the walls.
- If there are gaps in the roof, use 26-degree middle roof panels to close it up.
Following those instructions, players should now have a decent starting shelter. They can now move their workbench inside and build a bed and lighting. (Those having issues using the bed should see this guide.)
Valheim Beginners Guide | Preparing for the boss
Once players have shelter, they should start the process of preparing for the boss. The first item players should shoot for is the bow. This item makes it much easier to hunt and is much safer to use for combat than the club. Making the bow requires items that boars drop, but they make for an easy hunt.
To take on the boss, though, players will need to craft items out of Deer Hide. To make the Leather Armor set, they’ll need to obtain 18 of these hides, which can take a while depending on how many deer spawn. While doing so, the player may want to take the time to learn how to tame animals as well.
Once players are ready to take on the first boss in Valheim, they can consult our guide to learn how to summon him. Don’t do so lightly, though, as he’s a much, much more challenging opponent than any others met in The Meadow.
