Valheim Beginner's Guide: First Tools, a Safe Base and Preparing for Eikthyr

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1. Listen to Hugin Hugin the raven appears at the start and offers short hints whenever you meet something new. Check the Sacrificial Stones too: this is where you hang the trophies of defeated bosses.
2. Pick up branches and stones You start with no tools. Pick up Wood and Stone from the ground with E, plus raspberries and mushrooms. These make a Club, a Torch and a Stone Axe from the crafting screen.
3. Make a hammer and a workbench The Hammer is your building tool: equip it and right-click to open the build menu. Build a Workbench first. Most structures and items can only be made within its radius, and it needs a roof over it.
4. Build a small roofed base Put a roofed hut next to the workbench with a Campfire and a bed inside. Standing by a fire under a roof gives you the Rested buff, which greatly speeds up health and stamina regeneration. The bed also sets your spawn point.
5. Hunt deer and make armor Deer in the Meadows give leather and meat. Crouch to sneak up on them. Leather makes your first armor, meat your first cooked food. You will later need two Deer Trophies, so keep them when they drop.
6. Eat three different foods You can carry three food effects at once, but not the same food twice. Food raises max health and stamina and fades over time. Fill all three slots before a fight or a long trip.
7. Upgrade your tools Flint is usually found near water and makes a flint spear and a better axe. Add a Crude Bow and a shield. Upgrading the workbench unlocks better items.
8. Summon Eikthyr Eikthyr's Mystical Altar is in the Meadows, and glowing Vegvisir stones in the Meadows mark it on your map. Offer two Deer Trophies to summon him. Arriving Rested with three foods makes the fight much easier.
9. Hang the trophy and use the reward Eikthyr drops Hard Antler, which makes the Antler Pickaxe needed to mine copper and tin in the Black Forest. Hanging his trophy at the Sacrificial Stones unlocks your first Forsaken Power, used with F.

• Watch the stamina barRunning, jumping, attacking and blocking all cost stamina. Hit zero mid-fight and you can neither flee nor strike back. Food and Rested enlarge and refill the bar.
• Learn to parryPress right-click just before a hit lands to parry; the enemy staggers and takes more damage. Rolling with Space while blocking avoids most blows too.
• Do not enter the Black Forest unpreparedThe Black Forest is more dangerous than the Meadows, with Greydwarfs and skeletons. Go in with leather armor, a decent bow and food. Gathering at its edge is safer early on.
• Prepare for a tombstone runWhen you die, everything you carried stays in a tombstone and you respawn empty-handed. A spare bow, axe and food at base make recovery easier. Death also lowers your skill levels somewhat.
• Build more chestsCarry weight is limited; exceed it and you crawl. Build wooden Chests at base and drop spare materials before trips.
• Raise your comfort levelRested lasts longer the more comfort items surround the fire. Beds, stools and banners all extend it. Max it out before long expeditions.
• Mind smoke and roofsA fire in a closed room fills it with smoke and chokes you. Leave a small opening in the roof or build a chimney, small enough that rain does not put out the fire.
• Watch structural supportIn build mode pieces are color-coded by support: blue is strongest, red is about to collapse. Tall wooden builds need posts reaching the ground or pieces break on their own.
• Grow food close to homeCarrot seeds from the Black Forest, and other seeds later, can be planted on soil prepared with the Cultivator. A small garden by the base saves foraging trips.
• New world and 1.0New biome generation in 1.0 only works properly in unexplored areas. The official FAQ recommends newcomers start a fresh world to see all the 1.0 content.

• Leaving the workbench unroofed: it cannot be used, and new players often search a long time for the reason.
• Trying to fill slots with the same food: it will not stack, you need three different foods.
• Fighting without Rested: stamina runs out fast and escape becomes impossible.
• Dying with all your best gear on you: without spare tools at home, recovering the tombstone takes a long time.
• Lighting a fire in a sealed room: smoke builds up and starts hurting your character.

This guide was written for version: This guide reflects version 1.0 (patch 1.0.14) as of September 2026. Patch 1.0.14 touched keybindings, so check Controls in settings.

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