Valheim may seem like a daunting game for beginners. There are some things every player should do when starting out. However, the random generation of the world means that each trip will be a little different. Our Valheim Beginner’s Guide will walk players through the steps necessary to get through the first few days of play and prepare them to defeat the first major enemy that awaits them.

Beginner’s Guide to Valheim | What are you doing in the game?

Valheim is similar to survival titles like Minecraft, Terraria, and Ark: Survival Evolved. The player takes on the role of a Viking warrior who perished and was recruited by Odin to enter the land of Valheim and cleanse it of his enemies. However, the player faces an ignominious start as Hugin the Crow drops them with only rags on their backs.

The difference between Valheim and other survival games is that it is more goal oriented. There are five major enemies that must be defeated, and players must build a shelter, develop new equipment, and travel the land to do so.

Beginner’s Guide to Valheim | What to do on the first day

When players land in Valheim, they need to keep an eye out for Hugin. The crow will give hints on how the game works and show players the stone needed to find the location of the first boss. After that, players need to work on collecting these three resources:

To collect these materials:

• Players can collect wood from strewn branches on the ground.
• The stone is found by picking up the scattered circular rocks.
• Flint can be obtained by picking up oblong rocks.

As soon as possible, players should make a club for defense and a stone ax. The Meadow biome, where the game begins, only contains a few weak creatures, and the club should take care of all of them in all three swings.

Once the player has obtained the club and the ax, he must 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 flat site is found, players must cut down trees and collect wood.

One thing to note in Valheim is that falling trees can kill the player very quickly. Fortunately, trees are ruled by physics, so it’s usually pretty easy to tell which way they’ll fall. Once the player is comfortable chopping down trees and then chopping wooden logs, they need to start combining tree falls.

Players can chop down trees and when they fall they can damage other trees causing them to fall. If a player finds the right spot, they can chop down a tree and trigger a domino effect that destroys a piece of forest. This is a great way to save time, and in our experience the logs don’t go away so they can be harvested as needed.

Gather food

Running out of food in Valheim, health will begin to deplete. Fortunately, the raspberries and mushrooms found in The Meadow are plentiful. You only need to eat whenever the message appears on the screen to keep your Viking healthy.

Beginner’s Guide to Valheim | Build your first house

Once the player has a good stock of timber, he must find a flat area to start building his first house. Once the desired location is found, players must craft a hammer and a workbench must be built nearby. Players can only build within a certain radius of a workbench, so they need to make sure that all of the land they want to build on is within that area.

There is no ill effect of not sleeping and enemies are not more aggressive at night, so we recommend that you skip temporary shelter and go for something more permanent. Since players do not yet have the option of leveling the field, they have to use vertical posts to build the foundation from the ground up.

To build a decent starter house:

• Using the smaller vertical posts and 2m beams, frame the foundation.
• Once the foundation is complete, add floor boards.
• Add a door.
• Build walls around the perimeter of the foundation two panels high.
• Use a 26-degree thatched roof around the edge of the walls.
• If there are gaps in the roof, use 26 degree intermediate roof panels to close it.

By following these instructions, players should now have a decent starting shelter. They can now move their workbench inside and build a bed and lighting. (Those who have trouble using the bed should check out this guide.)

Beginner’s Guide to Valheim | Preparation for the boss

Once players have shelter, they must begin the process of preparing for the boss. The first item that players should aim for is the bow. This item makes hunting much easier and is much safer to use in combat than the club. Bowing requires items that boars drop, but they make hunting easier.

To face off against the boss, however, players will need to craft items from deer skin. To craft the Leather Armor Set, they will need to obtain 18 of these skins, which may take some time depending on the number of deer. In doing so, the player may want to take the time to learn how to tame animals.

Once players are ready to take on Valheim’s first boss, they can check out our guide on how to summon it. Don’t do it lightly, though, as he’s a much, much tougher opponent than any of the others you’ve come across in The Meadow.