The guide directory
Choose your next task
Follow the main route or solve one problem. Every guide connects preparation, practical steps and recovery.
Jump to building, combat, equipment & supply → Or use the topic filter above.
Starting fresh
Build a dependable start
From a new character to a base and working bronze equipment.
What to do on your first day in Valheim
A clear first-session route from loose branches to a covered workbench, claimed bed, cooked food, and a useful next objective.
Start hereGather wood, stone, and your first crafting materials
Know how much to collect, which trees your axe can cut, and where to get flint, leather scraps, and deer hide for early gear.
Start hereBuild a first shelter with a working bench and spawn point
Build and check the essentials: roof, workbench, bed, fire, ventilation, storage, and repairs, with fixes for common error messages.
A dependable baseChoose early food, cook meat, and get the Rested effect
Prepare three useful foods, cook without burning your meat, and restore Rested before gathering or fighting your first boss.
A dependable baseDefeat Eikthyr and unlock your first pickaxe
Find the first boss altar, prepare a recoverable fight, read Eikthyr’s attacks and turn the hard antler drop into a pickaxe.
The first bossFind surtling cores, copper and tin in the Black Forest
Make a manageable first mining trip: find Burial Chambers, identify copper and tin, repair your pickaxe and get materials home.
The Bronze AgeBuild a smelting yard and make your first bronze
Plan the cores, coal and copper needed for a working forge, then make bronze without spending the materials your setup still needs.
The Bronze AgeSpend your first bronze on a useful upgrade
Choose an axe, cultivator, buckler or transport upgrade by the task it unlocks, and understand when a bronze pickaxe can wait.
The Bronze Age
Bronze → Elder
Take bronze equipment to the Elder
Find the altar, prepare the kit, establish a return route and bring the rewards home.
Find The Elder and plan a route to the altar
Locate an Elder Vegvisir, read the map, collect Ancient seeds and scout an approach without committing to the boss fight.
The ElderPrepare your bow, armor, and food for The Elder
Build a practical Elder loadout with a Finewood bow, fire-arrow material budget, useful armor choices, meals, and a workable repair plan.
The ElderReach The Elder with a portal, a landing and a way home
Pack portal materials, sail a Karve if needed, establish a defended outpost and test your return route before summoning The Elder.
The ElderDefeat the Elder and bring the Swamp key home
Summon once, use the altar pillars against the vines, move away from roots, recover a failed attempt, and secure both boss rewards.
The Elder
Swamp key → iron
Use the Swamp key to reach first iron
Prepare for poison, locate and clear a crypt, haul Scrap iron and choose a first upgrade.
Prepare for your first Swamp trip
Make poison resistance mead, choose a manageable combat kit, and set a safe return point before looking for a Sunken Crypt.
The SwampFind a Sunken Crypt and map a safe Swamp route
Scout from a safe edge, identify the locked crypt entrance, collect turnip seeds without overcommitting, and establish the route you will use for iron.
The SwampClear Sunken Crypts and haul Scrap iron home
Open the dungeon with the key, manage Muddy scrap piles and enemies, collect iron without overfilling the route, and move the metal by land or boat.
The SwampSmelt your first iron and choose the next upgrade
Turn Scrap iron into usable bars, reach forge level 2, and choose a first iron tool, weapon, or transport project without spending a whole haul by accident.
The Swamp
Iron → Bonemass
Turn first iron into a Bonemass expedition
Build a sustainable kit, locate the altar, survive poison and recover the Wishbone.
Prepare for Bonemass with food, mead and an iron mace
Turn your first iron into a deliberate boss loadout, find Bonemass, collect the offering, and prepare a fight and recovery route.
BonemassDefeat Bonemass and claim the Wishbone
Read Bonemass’s swing, poison cloud and summoned enemies; recover without repeatedly rushing your grave, then secure the Mountain unlock.
Bonemass
Mountains → Moder
Cross the Mountains and defeat Moder
Handle freezing, mine silver, build equipment and food supplies, then transport the eggs.
Enter the Mountains and find your first silver vein
Brew frost mead, bring an iron pickaxe, survive wolves and drakes, and turn Wishbone signals into a recoverable silver route.
The MountainsBuild a Mountain kit and a sustainable food supply
Spend first silver on lasting frost protection and cooking, grow onions, make a dependable bow, and select armor without hiding trophy or station dependencies.
The MountainsFind Moder and transport the dragon eggs
Separate the Mountain search, three heavy egg hauls, arena preparation and final boss loadout so the summon does not strand you.
The MountainsDefeat Moder and unlock Plains processing
Handle Moder’s airborne and grounded phases, protect your recovery route, and secure the Dragon tears for the Artisan table.
The Mountains
Plains → Yagluth
Farm the Plains and prepare for Yagluth
Use dragon tears, grow barley and flax, prepare equipment and complete the totem offering.
Enter the Plains and bring home the first crops
Turn Moder's reward into an artisan table, scout a safe Plains edge, and recover barley and flax without committing to a whole village.
The PlainsBuild a Plains farm, better meals and padded equipment
Grow barley and flax, process Black metal, linen and flour, and build the exact workshop and food chains needed for Yagluth and the Mistlands.
The PlainsFind Yagluth, collect five totems and prepare the arena
Locate the Plains altar, gather Fuling totems, ferment fire-resistance barley wine, and stage food and recovery supplies before summoning.
The PlainsDefeat Yagluth and turn Torn spirits into the next route
Summon once, read Yagluth's three attacks, use short melee openings, and recover deliberately before taking the rewards toward the Mistlands.
The Plains
Mistlands → Queen
Find a route through the mist to the Queen
Light the way, explore mines, refine eitr and prepare a complete dungeon and boss kit.
Enter the Mistlands with light and a way home
Use Yagluth’s Torn spirits, prepare a spare Wisplight, scout the broken terrain and keep dvergr settlements neutral while locating your first mine.
The MistlandsClear Infested Mines and bank the irreplaceable loot
Recognize mine entrances, open one branch at a time and recover Black cores, nine Sealbreaker fragments, Royal jelly and the Queen’s Vegvisir.
The MistlandsBuild the sap, refined eitr and crafting chain
Turn Yggdrasil wood, giant remains, a Dvergr extractor and mine cores into repeatable sap production, refined eitr, a Black forge and a Galdr table.
The MistlandsPrepare a Queen loadout, food supply and Sealbreaker
Choose melee or magic deliberately, finish the level-5 kitchen, farm Mistlands mushrooms and arrive at the Citadel with repairs and recovery supplies ready.
The MistlandsDefeat the Queen and bring home Majestic carapace
Manage the Queen’s knockback, poison and reinforcements, retreat through the actual exit when needed, and recover the reward that starts Ashlands preparation.
The Mistlands
Ashlands → Fader
Establish an Ashlands foothold and defeat Fader
Build the Drakkar, secure stone portals, gather flametal, breach fortresses and recover the rewards.
Prepare a Drakkar and a recoverable Ashlands landing
Use the Queen reward, budget the boat and landing stations separately, and pack a return plan before entering boiling water.
The AshlandsSecure an Ashlands foothold and build a stone portal
Protect the return route, explore Putrid Holes for molten cores, and test metal transport in the correct direction.
The AshlandsMine flametal and build your Ashlands equipment and meals
Use temporary lava platforms carefully, reserve the first bars for stations and transport, and choose a complete repeatable combat kit.
The AshlandsBreach Charred Fortresses and collect Fader’s bells
Scout a fortress, remove sustained enemy pressure, make a controlled breach, and turn fragments into the actual boss offering.
The AshlandsDefeat Fader and recover the Ashlands rewards
Prepare for an endurance fight, read the ground warnings, recover a failed attempt, and close the currently documented boss route.
The Ashlands
Deep North 1.0
Cross the Deep North and finish the released route
Choose a safe landing, clear Winding Tunnels, build frost production, make the Intricate Key, halt the Jotun invasion and prepare for Kall with sources and version notes.
Deep North in Valheim 1.0: choose your route
Separate official 1.0 facts from the corroborated walkthrough, choose a safe spoiler level and start the released biome with a recoverable objective.
Optional · The Deep NorthEstablish a recoverable Deep North foothold
Land in newly generated terrain, manage deep snow and slippery ice, and create a small return point before committing valuable gear.
Optional · The Deep NorthClear Winding Tunnels and build frost production
Find the first Deep North dungeon, leave a retraceable route, recover Frostcores and moulds, then establish the Frigid Kiln and Frost Foundry.
Optional · The Deep NorthTurn Fader’s reward into Bloodgold and an Intricate Key
Follow the corroborated Fader-to-production chain without confusing the relic, mould, cast and finished key or inventing unsupported consumption rules.
Optional · The Deep NorthClear Mörkhalla and halt the Jotun invasion
Carry one completed key to Mörkhalla, descend to the trigger, then follow the map event to recover Malicious Blood without assuming undocumented reset behavior.
Optional · The Deep NorthReach and defeat Kall Fimbulbringer
Turn three invasion rewards into a prepared final-boss attempt, handle the add phase correctly, and avoid disputed exact health advice.
Optional · The Deep NorthDevelop Deep North food, stations and equipment
Turn first materials into a sustainable kitchen and workshop, protect planting stock, and compare the released gear families before spending rare inputs.
Optional · The Deep North
Choose a supporting journey
Practical help for the job in front of you. Follow the prerequisites, then return to your main route.
Get the group into the same world
Check crossplay, connection problems, server settings and save continuity before the expedition.
Return with a safe world and a clear starting point
Choose a fresh or continuing world, preserve your saves, check mods and achievements, then resume without guessing at Deep North mechanics.
Make a workshop that can safely grow
Read structural support, build a tested roof frame and recover the room if an unfinished section collapses.
Learn the fight before the next expedition
Practice blocking, parrying and dodging, choose a weapon, manage stamina and build a useful training yard.
Block, parry and dodge without losing your escape
Choose a shield, separate a failed block from a mistimed parry, and practice defensive timing with food, room and a recovery plan.
Optional · Combat & trainingChoose a weapon and keep stamina for the next attack
Build an affordable melee-and-bow kit, read damage feedback, learn primary and secondary attacks, and stop a combo before it costs your escape.
Optional · Combat & trainingBuild a training yard and practise before the next fight
Craft a Wooden sword, build an Archery target or T.W.I.G., and practise timing, stamina and aim with a clear stopping point.
Optional · Combat & training
Turn combat preparation into useful bonuses
Craft and equip a trinket, understand adrenaline, and choose a Forsaken power for the next job.
Craft, equip and trigger your first trinket
Make an early trinket from Bronze and a trophy, equip it alongside your accessory, and learn what fills and drains the adrenaline bar.
Optional · Trinkets & powersChoose a trinket for your build and next expedition
Compare thirteen pre-1.0 trinkets for combat and travel, find their trophy and material routes, and understand where the comparison stops.
Optional · Trinkets & powersChoose a Forsaken power and use it at the right time
Unlock and select boss powers, plan the five-minute window, share effects with allies, and avoid relying on obsolete bonuses or a cooldown reset.
Optional · Trinkets & powers
Protect allies and build a magic loadout
Learn barriers and skeleton management, then build Ashlands spell equipment and plan for a hostile Trollstav summon.
Craft the Staff of Protection and use its barrier well
Build the Galdr chain, supply casting food, protect nearby allies, understand barrier recasts, and recover without depending on a staff in your tombstone.
Optional · Magic & summonsUse the Dead raiser: summon, protect and replace skeletons
Diagnose a failed cast, an oldest-skeleton replacement or a summon left behind. Separate staff quality from workshop level, then prepare food and a safe destination.
Optional · Magic & summonsBuild an Ashlands magic loadout you can keep supplied
Connect Galdr upgrades, make Embla armor, maintain two eitr foods and choose between Dundr and Staff of the Wild for specific encounters.
Optional · Magic & summonsUse Trollstav without trapping yourself with the summon
Budget the blood-magic cost, choose a clear outdoor target, and leave room to defeat or avoid the hostile troll afterward.
Optional · Magic & summons
Build a kit for the way you play
Choose Root armor, explore Frost Caves for Fenris gear, follow the Dyrnwyn quest, choose and craft a gemstone weapon, or hunt Bear and Vile for a different armor tradeoff.
Hunt Abominations and choose the Root armor you need
Build a repeatable Swamp hunt, turn roots into pierce or poison protection, and know when fire weakness makes the armor a poor choice.
Optional · Optional equipmentClear Frost Caves and collect Fenris materials
Find ordinary Mountain caves, handle bats, Ulvs and fire-wielding Cultists, harvest hair and claws, and return with a recoverable route.
Optional · Optional equipmentCraft Fenris armor and choose a mobile loadout
Budget the three armor pieces, build the right stations, decide whether Flesh rippers suit you, and keep frost protection and recovery gear available.
Optional · Optional equipmentFind Dyrnwyn’s fragments and defeat Lord Reto
Follow the three Mysterious Locations, secure the tip and blade, and survive Lord Reto’s delayed sword attacks to recover the hilt.
Optional · Optional equipmentReforge Dyrnwyn, upgrade it and keep a recovery weapon
Build the missing Black forge extensions, budget Flametal and Bloodstones, and distinguish the unique fire sword from an automatic equipment upgrade.
Optional · Optional equipmentChoose an Ashlands gemstone weapon
Choose Bloodstone, Iolite or Jade for a Nidhögg sword, reserve scarce gems, and understand health scaling, lightning spread and immobilization before converting.
Optional · Optional equipmentConvert Nidhögg and upgrade the gemstone sword
Build the correct Black forge extensions, budget conversion and quality 2, preserve your old sword, then use, repair and recover the finished weapon.
Optional · Optional equipmentHunt Bears and choose whether to wear the Bear set
Find Black Forest Bears, read their attacks, gather the trophy and materials, and craft optional regeneration armor or Paws of the Bear without overlooking physical vulnerability.
Optional · Optional equipmentHunt the Vile and build a Vilebone loadout
Search the Plains at night, fight the undead Bear on prepared ground, bank its ribcages and trophy, and weigh Vilebone armor and Maulclaws against their defensive costs.
Optional · Optional equipment
Protect the base and prepare the next expedition
Build a repairable perimeter, handle raids, and furnish a dependable room for a longer Rested timer.
Build defenses that protect your base and food supply
Plan a usable perimeter, close spawning gaps, shelter breeding stock and keep repairs and an escape route working as raids become harder.
Optional · Base defenseSurvive a raid and get the base working again
Respond to the raid warning, choose when to fight or withdraw, recover equipment and rebuild the parts that keep your progression moving.
Optional · Base defenseBuild a better rest room and extend the Rested timer
Choose useful furniture upgrades, avoid category overlap, keep the fire working, and turn Plains tar into a longer expedition timer.
Optional · Base defense
Find traders and recover their rewards
Turn coins into useful equipment, prepare for Hildir’s challenges and make the Bog Witch’s supplies useful.
Find Haldor, earn coins and buy Megingjord
Search the Black Forest for the trader, turn saved valuables into coins, equip the carrying belt and save for useful later purchases.
Optional · Traders & side questsFind Hildir and return the brass chest
Discover Hildir’s map table, select an optional challenge, defeat Brenna and transport the first heavy chest back for new shop choices.
Optional · Traders & side questsClear a Howling Cavern and return the silver chest
Prepare frost protection, clear the cavern, respond to Geirrhafa’s three attack patterns and take the heavy reward down the Mountain.
Optional · Traders & side questsEnter the Sealed Tower and defeat Zil & Thungr
Build exterior access, clear the trapped tower, handle both miniboss phases and deliver Hildir’s bronze chest.
Optional · Traders & side questsFind the Bog Witch and put her supplies to work
Find the Swamp trader safely, buy a useful first bundle, prepare and serve a complete feast, then return after Moder for the crop-harvesting Scythe.
Optional · Traders & side quests
Keep food and materials coming
Protect seed stocks, breed boars and raise chickens without consuming the next generation. Brew recovery meads, harvest Plains tar and bring useful supplies home.
Grow a reliable food supply
Keep carrots, turnips and onions in circulation, diagnose unhealthy crops, and turn each harvest into meals plus the next planting.
Optional · Farming & suppliesTame and breed boars for food and leather
Build a practical pen, calm and feed two wild boars, produce a first piglet, and harvest adults while preserving the herd.
Optional · Farming & suppliesRaise chickens and cook the surplus
Budget for Haldor’s eggs, hatch a protected breeding pair, keep eggs coming, and finish both simple chicken food and honey-glazed chicken.
Optional · Farming & suppliesBrew late-game meads and choose a recovery kit
Supply Major healing, stamina and eitr meads from the Plains through Ashlands, with exact batches and the cooldown choices that matter in a fight.
Optional · Farming & suppliesClear Growths, drain a tar pit and bring the Tar home
Prepare for poison and slowing volleys, excavate a downhill drain without standing in the flow, collect a finite pit harvest and plan repeatable Growth top-ups.
Optional · Farming & supplies
Raise a reserve and put animals to work
Tame wolves, breed lox and hatch Asksvin, then plan useful travel without risking the only breeding pair.
Tame wolves, breed a reserve and travel with a pack
Capture and feed a pair, handle the starred night-wolf exception, raise offspring, and move companions without risking the only breeders.
Optional · Animals & mountsTame, breed and ride lox without risking the whole herd
Establish a fed breeding pair in the Plains, complete the saddle supply chain, practice mount controls and turn surplus adults into useful food and pelts.
Optional · Animals & mountsTame Asksvin and bring a breeding line home as eggs
Build the capture pen first, keep two adults calm and fed, then transport and hatch their eggs with a protected reserve.
Optional · Animals & mountsRide an Asksvin and prepare for losing the mount
Build the saddle, practise camera steering on land, judge a lava crossing and retain an egg-based replacement route.
Optional · Animals & mounts
Find the route and bring the load home
Mark a route, test your portals, share maps and move cargo with a way to recover.
Haul resources home with carts, boats and portals
Choose transport for the actual cargo, prepare a route it can use, and recover a broken haul without losing the home reserve.
Optional · Transport & recoveryMark a route you can follow home
Use map pins, clear portal names and tested checkpoints to make exploration recoverable, even when a landing or return connection fails.
Optional · Transport & recoveryShare maps without losing the useful pins
Build a Cartography table, exchange discoveries deliberately, distinguish shared pins from personal notes and verify a route before the group leaves.
Optional · Transport & recovery
Turn an ocean trip into useful supplies
Catch and cook fish, recover chitin, and plan a serpent hunt around the cargo you can bring home.
Catch your first fish and turn it into usable food
Buy and equip bait, control a short cast, manage the struggle, then process the catch with the current kitchen stations.
Optional · Fishing & oceanMine Leviathan chitin and return before it sinks
Prepare a boat and pickaxe, identify the living island, leave on its warning, and spend chitin on a harpoon or optional knife.
Optional · Fishing & oceanHunt serpents for food and recover their sinking scales
Choose meat or scale recovery, prepare the boat and shore, use bow and harpoon deliberately, then cook stew or craft a shield.
Optional · Fishing & ocean