It’s been ages since I’ve played Valheim and it appears quite a few things have been added. It would not be a survival game if I did not have a rough start just getting in. I thought it is more fun to start on a fresh character and see what I’ve all missed than just logging into my higher-geared one.
It’s nice to see they still keep character selection quite simple. I’ve never been big on needing a billion options. A couple of hair, a beard, and colors are all I need. We are Vikings after all not freaks of nature.
I always find it interesting how a survival game introduces you to the world. Nothing like flying in on a giant bird without much indication of what is down below you to get things started. I kind of wish I had some kind of hint as it was not as soft of a landing as I would have liked.
In the expected tradition of a survival game, I was attacked within seconds of landing at the starting area. I was supposed to be talking with a bird and checking out the ruins around me. Instead, I was fighting for my life.
It’s not like Greylings are that hard to fend off. I however had nothing and it did not quite click in my mind fast enough to start using the torch. The first couple of the attacks I managed to fend off and kill. Another one and then another one however finished me off.
Getting killed this early on in a survival game just seems fitting. It’s like hello and welcome to the game moment. I can only hope it would be a while before my next death. I however was quite wrong in that thinking as well.
Once things were clear I stopped for a moment to speak with the bird Hugin. He would show up quite a few times only as many steps with new trips or things you should know right away. Most of them I recalled quite quickly but I guess a refresher never hurt. That is when I was not being attacked.
While at some point I’ll put focus on killing Elkthyr the elk. I’m not in any rush. There are quite a few things I’d rather do instead. Like exploring the place and doing my best to stay out of the Black Forest. I would surely meet a quick death in there anyhow.
I then went around doing what I feel like I’ve done a million times before in every survival game. I needed a shelter and crafting stations so I set out to collect basing supplies. Stones, wood, flint, and anything off anything I could kill.
I was however not the only one doing the killing. I managed to meet another death not that far from the starting area. I quickly after that set out looking for food so I could boost my health and have some healing as well. Food is quite important in this game and it can be so easy to overlook.
After gathering some basic supplies I crafted up a hammer for building, a stone axe for tree cutting, and even a club. Out of all those things the club came in handy right away as I was shortly attacked yet again.
I rather welcomed it when it became daylight in the game again. It was easier to see and I know from personal experiences of playing this game in the past it can take a little while to get used to the graphics of it.
Once I had the basic tools I decided I wanted some basic shelter. I wanted to get familiar again with this game's building system. You also can’t use a crafting station when it’s out in the open.
What I did not have at the time was the tool to level or raise the ground level. So I kind of knew going into it thing was going to be ugly, with uneven walls, and a total disaster like the starting area.
I however did not just want a tiny shack for the crafting station. I wanted for now at least a place to put a bed, fire pit, and storage chests. I’m also not even sure if I want to develop this area into having flat land to build something might on. I still had a fair amount of exploring to do before I decided where I want at least for now a more proper base.
What I did need in the short term before another night was some basic walls around me. I’d need to be going afk a few times and it would suck to come back to find I got killed again. At least you get a tombstone marker on the map where to pick up your stuff if you can get back to it.
I spent a little while chopping trees down, Breaking up the log into smaller bits for wood, and collecting that wood. I had no idea how much I’d be needing to get my little starting base going. I just knew I will always be needing wood anyways so there was no point in being lazy about it.
Naturally, I spent far too much time and it was nightfall before I got a campfire and crafting station up. I picked a location on a side of a hill that was not that far from the woods. Everything in this area was kind of hilly anyways so I was not too worried about not having a great place to build.
After cooking some food and getting my health up to help in defending this area from the local attacks of Greylings that might be wandering around. I got to work placing down the first couple of walls.
I decided it would be two walls high. It was harder than I recalled getting a second wall to place on top of the first. Even more so with how uneven this area was. I even needed to make some trips to the wood area close by to collect more wood.
One thing I am always thankful for is just how easy it is to knock down a wall in this game that you placed. I had darn of a hard time finding a door placement that allowed me to fit through both ways. This hilly spot was a bit more of a nightmare in terms of stuff like that than I was expecting.
Is this my finest work? Heck no! I knew the roof was not going to connect but I went for it anyways. I just needed a “closed-off area” to have a working crafting bench. This would also allow me to get the resting bonus during the night when I was here as well.
Final Thoughts
At some point, I’ll be knocking this entire ugly suture of a house down. At least for now, I have a place to craft, rest, and afk as needed. I also have not been attacked by anything so far. I know much later in the game this place would not stand a chance to all sorts of things that tend to ambush your towns. It will work for now.
For now, I had quite a lot of food to cook up. I’d be venturing out after that looking to see where the Black Forest was along with anything else interesting in the area. I was hoping to be a little further along by now but sometimes it’s best just to take time as needed and then go rushing into things.
Information
Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Valheim.
