Valheim Progression Guide - Ready Games Survive

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Emily is a gaming aficionado who has written for The Gamer, Gamerant, GamerBolt, and Valnet, but she has found a home here at Ready Game Survive. She adores writing about Ark: Survival Evolved among other great survival titles, and outside of traditional survival, she loves Legend of Zelda, League of Legends and Fable.

Overview of Valheim Progression

Biome/Stage	Boss	Recommended Gear	Primary Resources (gather only)	Primary Enemies
1: Meadows	Eikthyr	Rag	Stone, Fine Wood, Wood	Greyling, Neck, Boar (more enemies appear here after defeating bosses)
2: Black Forest	The Elder	Leather	Core Wood, Tin, and Copper	Greydrawf, Skeleton, Troll
3: Swamp	Bonemass	Bronze/Troll	Scrap Iron, Ancient Bark	Draugr, Skeleton, Wraith, Blob, Abomination
4: Mountain	Moder	Iron	Silver, Obsidian	Wolves, Drake
5: Plains	Yagluth	Silver/Wolf	Flax, Barley, Black Metal (only looted)	Fuling, Lox, Growth, Deathsquitos
6: Mistlands	The Queen	Padded	Yggdrasil Wood, Black Marble, and Sap	Tick, Seeker, Seeker Soldier, Gjall

Meadows

This is where you begin the game. All you have in your inventory is a rag tunic. You wake up in the meadows in the middle of the Sacrificial Stones. This is where you will return after each boss fight.

This is also where you meet Hugin, the crow that will guide you through the game. If you see Hugin during your play, you know you’re on the right path.

Start Your Base

The first thing you should do in Valheim is find a temporary base spot. This is where you can store your extra materials and respawn. To respawn at a bed, you have to make a bed, then claim it. It’s a good idea to have a fire at this point, too as it will keep you warm when it rains and will grant you comfort.

Gather Everything

I highly recommend stocking up on stone, wood, and flint. Kill every non-star boar, deer, and neck. Gather every raspberry. You won’t be sorry you did, trust me. You will use it faster than you might think.

Crafting Necessities for Meadows

Stone Axe – made with wood and stone. You need this to cut down trees.
Hammer – the hammer is the first thing you should make. You can use it to build your base.

What to Do in the Meadows

Aside from gathering everything, make sure you craft a Workbench. Put a roof over it and at least two walls. Otherwise, you can’t access it. At this point, you can only make a few things, like a Crude Bow, which I recommend.

I use the Crude Bow until I can get the Finewood Bow, then I immediately upgrade. But any bow is useful. They’re the only way to consistently kill deer early on and take on enemies that can one or two-shot you.

Dangers of the Meadows

Falling Trees
Greylings
Necks/Boar

Base Upgrade Recommendations in the Meadows

Tanning Rack
Chopping Block

Prepare for Eikthyr

2x Deer Trophies – dropped by deer

After you are stocked up and have a good feel for the game, you can prepare to fight Eikthyr. You should bring leather armor, but if you have enough players, you can get by with anything.

It’s also a good idea to use fire arrows as Eikthyr is weak to them. But wood arrows or a spear and shield might work too.

Next, stock up on food by cooking the boar and deer meat over a cooking station/campfire. Then, use the third slot for berries, honey, or mushrooms. This will give a good balance. Once you have food, eat and rest up.

Fight Eikthyr

Eikthyr is the easiest boss. To fight him, use the fire arrows and attempt to kite his attacks. He rewards the materials to make antler pickaxes and gives you a stamina boost power.

Black Forest

The Black Forest is a simple biome that you will probably always visit to gather copper and tin. That’s where the antler pickaxe comes in handy. You don’t really have a reason to visit here until you’ve defeated Eikthyr.

Note: go back to the Meadows and farm Fine Wood once you have a Bronze Axe.

Stock Up on This in the Black Forest

Copper
Tin
Surtling cores
Thistle

Build a Boat

By the time you make it to the Black Forest, it may be time to build a boat. While you don’t have to rush this, it’s something to consider if you don’t have any Swamp on the island you start on.

Crafting Recommendations for Black Forest

Bronze axe – requires copper and tin from Black forest and is needed for fine wood.
Finewood bow – not a complete necessity, but if you have the extra materials, it’s amazing.
Troll Armor – again, not necessary, but it’s such a great set of armor when you have the full set.
Cart – you will need this to transport copper back to your base.

Base Upgrade Recommendations in the Black Forest

Cauldron
Spice Rack
Fermenter
Smelter
Charcoal Kiln
Adze
Forge Cooler
Anvils
Forge

Dangers of Black Forest

Trolls
Greydwarves
Skeletons

Prepare for The Elder

3x Ancient Seeds – dropped by Brutes or found in chests/Greydwarf nests

The Elder isn’t all that bad, but he can be annoying if you’re not prepared. Make sure you have Troll Armor or Bronze Armor, upgraded weapons, and decent food. It’s also a good idea to start maximizing comfort for your rests.

Fight the Elder

The Elder has a few unique abilities, all involving wood. It can shoot vines at a single player, stomp, and spawn roots that attack in melee range. If you have a couple of players who are geared up, he’s not very hard. Once you defeat him, you get the Swamp Key to enter crypts and the power to do extra damage to trees.

Swamp

Well, well, well, if it isn’t my least favorite biome. While the Swamp isn’t the “worst” biome, I really hate Draugrs and Bonemass. I also hate being wet all of the time, which is a Swamp effect.

Raid Crypts

The primary purpose of the Swamp is so you can go into the crypts with your Swamp Key and get Iron. There are other resources here but you could complete the game without ever touching any of them, but Iron and the materials to summon Bonemass.

Stock Up On This in the Swamp

Scrap Iron
Bloodbags
Bone Fragments
Entrails
Coal
Surtling Cores

Crafting Recommendations for the Swamp

Huntsman Bow – a terrific bow that can help you through the next couple of biomes.
Iron Pickaxe – needed for mining Silver in the Mountain.
Iron Armor – huge upgrade.
Iron Mace – the best weapon at this point to fight Bonemass.

Base Upgrade Recommendations in the Swamp

Smith’s Anvil
Forge Toolrack
Forge Bellows

Dangers of the Swamp

Blob
Oozer
Draugr
Leech
Skeleton
Surtling
Wraith
Abomination

Prepare for Bonemass

10x Withered Bones – found in Crypts

Before you think about fighting Bonemass, start making Poison Resistance Mead. You will need this to fight the boss without dying quickly because he does constant poison damage around him and with his attacks.

Consider making Sausages to keep good health before your fight. As for gear, I recommend a Banded Shield, Iron Armor, and an Iron Mace. This will get you the best DPS while taking the least damage.

Fight Bonemass

The worst thing about Bonemass is his poison damage. So drink those potions and get to whacking with that mace. If you don’t have a mace, fight from afar while someone else tanks with theirs. I find standing on top of the giant skull keeps you out of range unless he targets you.

If he rears back, run away because a huge cloud will spawn in front of him. He also spawns skeletons and blobs, so keep them down. After you defeat him, you get a Wishbone and the power that gives resistance to blunt, slash, and pierce damage.

Mountains

Before you go up the mountain, you will need to have Frost Resistance Mead. You can use this to enter without dying from the cold. But as soon as you can get a wolf cape, do so.

Stock Up On This in the Mountains

Silver – break out the wishbone to find deposits.
Wolf Meat
Wolf Pelt
Obsidian

Crafting Necessities for the Mountains

Draugr Fang – previous best bow in the game.
Wolf cape – to keep you warm.
Frostner – amazing weapon.
Silver sword – good weapon all-around.
Wolf armor – best armor you can get at this point in the game.

Base Upgrade Recommendations in the Mountains

Butcher’s Table
Tool Shelf

Dangers of the Mountains

Wolves
Drakes
Stone Golems
Fenring
Cultists
Bats
Ulv

Prepare for Moder

3x Dragon Eggs – found in Drake nests.

If you’re a bow player, Moder is the easiest boss, in my opinion. Stock up on fire arrows, which she is susceptible to, and ensure you have that wolf armor. Other than that, get good food and rest.

Fight Moder

To fight Moder, all you have to do is attack when she freezes in the air. You can also dodge her attacks. If you are a melee player, wait for her to land to attack, which she will occasionally do.

When she dies, she’ll drop ten dragon tears, which you can use to build the Artisan Table. Her power gives you wind advantage when sailing.

Plains

The Plains can be scary, but if you’re prepared, you will do fine. Pay attention to your surroundings and make sure you are aware of nearby Fulings and Deathsquitos. I still remember the first time I sailed by Plains and died by those insects.

Stock Up On This in the Plains

Black Metal Scraps
Flax
Barley
Lox Meat
Lox Pelt
Needles

Crafting Recommendations for the Plains

Needle Arrows – strong.
Black Metal Shield – really good upgraded shield.
Padded armor – previous best armor.
Porcupine – another good melee weapon.

Base Upgrade Recommendations in the Plains

Artisan Table
Spinning Wheel
Windmill
Stone Oven
Pots and Pans
Grinding Wheel

Dangers of the Plains

Fuling
Lox
Deathsquito
Growth
Tar pits

Prepare for Yagluth

5x Fuling Totems – found in Fuling villages

Yagluth doesn’t have any vulnerabilities, so you just have to avoid what he is resistant to, which is Fire, Pierce, and Poison. You can prepare by having the best other weapons and armor you can get. It’s a good idea also to grab some Fire Resistance Mead.

Fight Yagluth

When you fight Yagluth, prepare to die. Dodge his attacks if you can. When you defeat him, you will get Torn Spirt (to craft Wisp Fountain)and the power which grants resistance to elemental damage.

Mistlands

After you defeat Yagluth, you will get the Torn Spirit to build the Wisp Fountain. This will be important as it produces Wisps. You need Wisps for a few of the new Mistlands items.

Stock Up On This in the Mistlands

Hare meat
Scale Hide
Jotun Puffs
Magecaps
Bilebags
Black Marble
Black Core
Sap
Soft Tissues
Yggdrasil wood

Crafting Necessities for the Mistlands

Wisplight – clears the fog around you.
Mistwalker – new sword
Carapace Armor – new best armor
Feather Cape – gives feather fall.
Staff of Embers – so much fire.
Blackmetal pickaxe – needed to mine black marble.

Base Upgrade Recommendations in the Mistlands

Mortar and Pestle
Wisp Torch
Black forge
Galdr Table
Etir Refinery

Dangers of the Mistlands

Tick
Seeker
Gjall

Prepare for the Queen

1x Sealbreaker – crafted with the galdr Table

Now, make sure you have Carapace Armor, your best weapon, and the feather cape in case you fall. Eat the best food you have and make sure you have max comfort when resting beforehand. Bring healing potions and Poison Resistance Mead.

Fight the Queen

When you fight the queen, use the Poison Resistance if she uses her poison spit. This is a fight you want friends to fight with because you will want a distraction while;e others do damage. When you defeat her, you will get her power which will grant increased mining speed, and 100% boosted Eitr regeneration.

FAQs

Question: Can I Skip a Biome in Valheim?

Answer: Yes. You can skip a biome, but it won’t work well because you often need the boss item to complete the next area. Otherwise, you won’t be well-armored or prepared.

Question: Is It Possible to Beat Valheim Solo?

Answer: Yes. Because enemies scale with the number of players, soloing them isn’t much more difficult than going with a group. However, it does help with strategies with two or three players.

Question: Do I Need to Cross the Ocean in Valheim?

Answer: Yes. The upper-tier biomes won’t spawn on the starter island. So you need to cross the ocean to visit them. You may get lucky and only have to go to two islands, but with a friend, it can be fun to do ocean exploration.

Progress through Valheim at Your Own Rate

This is my number one tip for playing Valheim. You may be happy completing Valheim in a week, or you may take a year to do so. The point is to have fun, so make sure you do things at your own pace.

If you get stuck, reach out for help or do something else. Get stronger gear, and you may see a huge difference. Valheim is a game meant for all players, so find a way to play that makes you happy.