#7: How To Get Stealth Kills
Crouching puts you into stealth mode — and the Stealth Eye shows you exactly how much noise you’re making. If the eye is completely closed, nothing can see you. If it’s open, something can see you. It’s exactly like Skyrim.
You’ll be able to deal bonus damage when you score a stealth attack. But, this only works with knives. You can’t go swinging an axe to earn a stealth kill!
#8: Parry For Bonus Damage
Speaking of combat, you can parry for bonus damage. Practicing the parry maneuver is important when fighting bosses — press [Right-Click] to block just as an enemy attack is about to hit you. This will cause the enemy to be staggered, and any additional attack will deal bonus damage while they’re in the staggered state.
Medium Shields — normal sized-shields in Valheim — can block and parry. The larger Tower Shields can block, but they cannot parry.
#9: Lower Boat Speed To Row Against The Wind
Wind isn’t always on your side in Valheim. Weather is fickle, and you can get stuck with no way to cross the vast waters if the wind changes directions. If you’re stuck, just lower your speed to the lowest possible to begin rowing. Rowing can help your boat continue to travel even when the wind is against you.
#10: Don’t Flatten The Ground — Build Posts
Posts are a great way to create a level spot to build your first house. It takes time to level out the ground, so you can just place posts in the ground instead so your house floor is slightly raised up off the ground. Place all the posts and drop some stairs at your front door. It looks nice too!
#11: Search Abandoned Homes For Beehives
Beehives are an important resource that you’ll find in the abandoned buildings all over Valheim. Smash the beehives and you might find a Queen Bee — which allow you to craft your own Beehive. Beehives generate honey when they’re placed in an open space, so don’t stick them inside your house!
Honey is important for mead — and in the future, health potions.
#12: Finding The Trader Is Important — So Check Everywhere
The Trader is a valuable resource in the early game, so you’ll want to find him as early as possible. You can trade junk to get items you need, or you can generate lots of honey (and mead) specifically to sell to the trader for a steady income.
The trader will automatically appear on your map if you’re within 2km of his location. So you don’t need to search everywhere. Instead, fan out and search the perimeter of your home base. You can also explore with your boat and stumble on his location. It can take time, but he’s always relatively close to your starting spot. Relatively.
Those are our 12 simple tips to get you started in Valheim. We’re still learning everything we can about this huge game, so let us know if there’s anything we missed!
