Before you start
- Know the perimeter, fighting space, spare kit and escape route. If the raid has already started, use the response below before attempting new construction.
- A current food supply, repaired weapon and shield or practiced dodge plan. Use the equipment guidance for the biome you have reached.
- Read the actual world modifier summary. These instructions assume ordinary survival rules; raid eligibility and death consequences can differ.
The warning has appeared: do this first
Enemies that cannot reach you may turn on accessible structures. Hiding on the roof is therefore not a guarantee that the workshop survives. Keep watching the boundary and relocate your engagement if they start breaking an exposed station.
- Stop sorting or building. Eat your available combat foods, equip armor and your practiced weapon, and take the useful resistance mead for the attackers you can identify. Use the food routine; a depleted meal is not a full preparation.
- Close the animal shelter and the house. Take the planned outside exit only if it is clear, drawing attackers toward the fighting space instead of backing through the workshop.
- Turn to see what is actually attacking. Keep stamina for a dodge or escape and recover between short attacks. Do not spend the entire bar sprinting and then try to block a heavy hit.
- If the route is overrun or your health is failing, use the escape route. Protect the character and essential equipment before attempting emergency repairs under attack. A destroyed wall can be rebuilt.
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Creatures
Understand what leaving the red area does
Most raids need a player present in the active event area for their timer to advance. Leaving or portaling away can pause it; waiting in a dungeon does not progress it. The hunted wolf event is an exception. The actual event area extends beyond the visible red circle.
Our recommendation is to stay in a controllable fighting position near the raid area while you have food and room. Withdraw when you cannot survive, resupply, then return through the known approach. Do not stake the equipment recovery on a fixed number of minutes away.
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Events
Match the response to the attack
For poison supplies and draugr combat, follow Swamp preparation. For Mountain cold and drakes, follow Mountain entry. The Yagluth preparation guide covers fire resistance. Treat Hildir’s miniboss raids as a reason to retain the relevant Howling Caverns or Sealed Tower kit after the chest return.
| What threatens the base | Recommended response | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Ground melee pack | Keep the pack on one side, use the outside maneuvering space and strike after an attack misses. Retreat before being surrounded. | Opening the livestock pen as a shortcut or fighting pressed against the house. |
| Trolls | Use separation and a bow with piercing arrows if that is your practiced approach. Dodge the swing or thrown rock before drawing again. | Trying to repair in log-swing reach or trusting a thin wall to stop a heavy attack. |
| Flying attackers | Use your familiar bow when the target is away; use a controlled melee swing when a small flier comes within reach. Keep animals inside. | Assuming the trench protects open pens, or chasing a flier through every room. |
| Poison or elemental attackers | Use the resistance and cover plan from the relevant biome guide below, and disengage while preparing if caught without it. | Mistaking a physical barrier for immunity to an effect that has already reached you. |
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: TrollValheim Wiki: Bat
Why a quiet base can receive a harder raid
Default raids use world progression, including boss and some creature deaths; player-based mode instead uses character criteria such as acquired powers, items and some kills. A new house in an advanced world does not reset default eligibility. The pre-1.0 reference describes most events as requiring three qualifying base structures within 40 metres, with the hunted event excepted. The 1.0 player-base tag changes leave the qualifying-piece list and its applicability to new events unresolved.
Keep the world’s actual settings in view when comparing an incident with another player’s experience. Review defense readiness before new progression and Hildir hand-ins. This guide does not change your settings or promise that dismantling one station disables every raid.
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: EventsSteamDB: Valheim 1.0 patch notes (build 25185596)
If you died, recover access before the grave
- Under default death rules, your inventory remains in the tombstone. Use food, spare equipment and resistance supplies from the recovery chest before going back. If the bed was destroyed, expect the Sacrificial Stones fallback and approach from your alternate cache.
- Mark the approach you will use. A second death does not erase the earlier tombstone, so stop repeating a route that still has enemies at its narrowest point.
- Lead attackers away from the pickup spot when possible, then return for the equipment. Leave spare inventory space: automatic tombstone pickup needs enough room; otherwise transfer the important items manually.
- Equip recovered protection and move to the prepared retreat. Leave optional drops until the raid and immediate attackers are controlled. Rebuild a broken portal or crossing before another supply run if the old route no longer works.
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Death
After the end message, restore the useful parts in order
The end message is not an all-clear for the animal pen. Remaining bats do not disappear when their event ends; inspect the air, roofline and enclosed ground before opening pens or starting repairs.
- Clear the remaining threats you can safely reach. Check both the outside approach and any breach before returning to a building tool.
- Restore access and respawn shelter first: close the breach, rebuild necessary workbenches, repair the bed area and inspect the escape portal. If the bed was destroyed, rebuild it and interact to claim the replacement; check its spawn-point status using the shelter checklist. Keep a Stonecutter in range for stone repairs.
- Use the hammer’s repair mode on surviving pieces, then rebuild destroyed ones with stored materials. Fix supports before the floors or roofs that depend on them.
- Count surviving breeding stock and check the seed/egg reserve. Restart crop supply, boar breeding or chickens from the protected reserve before spending it on meals.
- Record how the breach happened in your own map notes or building plan: an open gate, uncovered spawn area, flying entry, long-reach attack or missing supplies. Correct that cause using the defense guide, then refill the kit before the next expedition.
| Make | Materials per craft | Station |
|---|---|---|
| 1 × Workbench | 10 Wood | Hammer; no station required |
| 1 × Stonecutter | 10 Wood + 2 Iron + 4 Stone | Hammer; within workbench range |
| 1 × Chest | 10 Wood | Hammer; within workbench range |
| 1 × Stakewall | 4 Wood | Hammer; within workbench range |
| 1 × Wood gate | 12 Wood | Hammer; within workbench range |
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: BatValheim Wiki: BuildingValheim Wiki: Stonecutter
You are ready when…
0 of 3 ready
Saved in this browserWhen something goes wrong
The raid is still present after a long portal trip.
Most raid timers pause when no player remains in the active area. Resupply and return to a controllable position instead of assuming elapsed time away ended it.
A beginner character receives enemies from much later progression.
Check whether this is an advanced world using default world-based raids or an experienced character under player-based rules. Use the actual modifier summary before diagnosing the incident.
My animals die after the end message.
Look for surviving attackers, especially bats, before opening the shelter. Restore a closed roofed pen and breed from the separate reserve if available.
There is too much damage to rebuild immediately.
Restore one safe shelter, food cache and travel connection, then the stations needed to repair. Rebuild storage and food production before expanding the perimeter again.
Keep the result useful
Use the success check to finish this job, restock any reserves you used and return to the supporting journeys or your current boss objective.
Sources & checks
- SteamDB: Valheim 1.0 patch notes (build 25185596)
Announced changes to mist clearing, gear durability, Bear and Ashlands encounters, base-piece tags, rare drops, menus, pockets and trinkets.
Community reference · Checked . Build-indexed record of the official 1.0 update notes, published via Steam Community and tied to build 25185596. Confirms only the stated changes; no new numeric values, recipes or tag list is inferred.
- Valheim Wiki: Events
Default world-based versus player-based eligibility, most raids requiring three base structures within 40m, hunted exception, active-area timer pause and dungeon exclusion. No exact timer or complete unlock table is claimed.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was blocked. Research-based mechanics, not an observed raid or verified game build. Layout and response sequences are editorial recommendations.
- Valheim Wiki: Creatures
Enemies may switch to accessible structures when they cannot attack their player target.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was blocked. Research-based mechanics, not an observed raid or verified game build. Layout and response sequences are editorial recommendations.
- Valheim Wiki: Troll
Long-reaching club attacks, thrown rocks, structure damage and pierce weakness.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was blocked. Research-based mechanics, not an observed raid or verified game build. Layout and response sequences are editorial recommendations.
- Valheim Wiki: Bat
Flying attacks and surviving event bats remaining after the event, threatening livestock.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was blocked. Research-based mechanics, not an observed raid or verified game build. Layout and response sequences are editorial recommendations.
- Valheim Wiki: Death
Default tombstone inventory, capacity-dependent pickup, surviving previous graves, bed respawn and fallback at Sacrificial Stones.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was blocked. Research-based mechanics, not an observed raid or verified game build. Layout and response sequences are editorial recommendations.
- Valheim Wiki: Building
Structural support, hammer repairs without material cost, destructible construction, terrain barriers and flying-enemy limitations.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was blocked. Research-based mechanics, not an observed raid or verified game build. Layout and response sequences are editorial recommendations.
- Valheim Wiki: Stonecutter
Stonecutter recipe and requirement for building and repairing stone; building does not require station shelter.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was blocked. Research-based mechanics, not an observed raid or verified game build. Layout and response sequences are editorial recommendations.