Hello vikings!

It was a lot of fun to see your response to the constructions we showed off last time – it seems many of you are looking forward to seeing them in the game! If you’ve been paying attention to Twitter in the past few weeks you might have also seen a couple of additional teasers, some more revealing than others, as individual developers have hinted at what they’re working with. Something you definitely don’t want to miss is the big trap that Jonathan showed some work-in-progress footage of last week, which will also feature in the Mistlands update. It’ll be great for catching enemies, but you’d best be careful and watch where you’re stepping too!



Meanwhile in the office, we have acquired some weapon and shield props (the shields being the real deal, but the weapons not so much) to have both as general inspiration but also to help us with making even cooler attack animations in the future. And most importantly, they make Valheim creator Richard feel like a badass:



But on to the teasers we know you are all waiting for! This month we’d like to share with you a piece of concept art of a new crafting station which you will need to craft many of the Mistlands tier weapons. After all, a regular forge can only get you so far, and to battle what you’ll find in the Mistlands you’ll need something with…a little extra.



It has also been far too long since there were any new fungi for you to discover! Other than the regular red mushrooms in the Meadows and the glowing Yellow mushrooms found in the Black Forest, you will soon be able to cook with a couple of Mistlands variants as well. Exactly what recipes they will be used for we’ll keep to ourselves for a bit longer, but here you have a first look at what shape and colours the mushrooms themselves might have:



Last time we mentioned a patch which will resolve some issues with the cloud sync. This is still in the works, though we also want to include an update of the game engine before we invite you all to test it. We feel this is an important thing to get done before releasing the Mistlands, as it should result in a smoother experience for everyone. Rest assured though, that this technical patch is not taking any significant development time away from the biome!

This month it was exceptionally hard to select a build to share here, as there were just so many good ones! Finally we managed to settle on this longhouse that Eriandhor posted, and we hope that you can agree that it was a worthy choice! If you would like your own building to be shared in the next blog post, simply use the hashtag #ValheimBotM when posting on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.



May your axes stay sharp!

The Iron Gate team


Discord
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Reddit

Welcome back, vikings! Spring is well under way, and we’ve put Easter behind us. If you keep up with our social media, you might have noticed that we shared a little special something during the holiday – a speed modelling video of the hare creature we showed a concept artwork of a while back, now complete with a glimpse at how it will look when it moves around in the world! If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch it here:



Don’t worry though, the hare will be in the Mistlands all year round, not just during Easter! Aside from the hare, we’ve also been working on creating another kind of inhabitants for the Mistlands, though we’d like to keep them a surprise for you for a little longer. What we can say, however, is that we think they’ll be something many of you have been curious about!

Just like the other areas of Valheim, the Mistlands were once a place where civilisations of old built homes and strongholds alike. In the past month we have been finalising the designs of these structures and we quite like how they fit in the world! They might change somewhat as they still need to be weathered and turned into ruins to show just how long they’ve been standing, but here are a couple of screenshots for you:





On a more technical note, we’ve also been looking into a solution for a cloud sync issue where players have gotten their saves overwritten and replaced with earlier versions. Losing progress is always very unfortunate, so getting this fixed is something we’ve been keen on and really want to get right! Just like with other updates to the game lately, this patch will come to the Public Test branch before we push it to the Default version of the game, so keep an eye out for that if you want to help testing it!


And for the Build of the Month, it was a tough choice but we have decided on this creation by Vainotheviking! Great work! If you would like your own building to be shared in the next blog post, simply use the hashtag #ValheimBotM when posting on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.



That’s all for now!

The Iron Gate team


Discord
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Reddit

For this patch we’ve gone over some bugs and issues to simply make your gameplay experience a bit smoother! This for example includes automatically stacking your items when you reclaim your tombstone, and reminding the trolls that they should in fact get staggered. Not so fun for them, but fun for you!



* Fixed a bug where trolls would not get staggered correctly sometimes
* Map key legend fixes and remove map icon gamepad mapping set to LB
* Various small fixes to Frost Cave rooms
* Fixed a bug related to pausing after being in debugmode and changing server
* Upgrade function will now remember the selected object when upgrading
* Fixed a bug where the split stack number sometimes would not be visible on high resolutions
* Fixed a bug where sometimes smelters would not always use the correct amount of coal
* Fixed some items not being covered in snow
* Hotbar selection marker now more visible on light backgrounds when using gamepad
* The ‘resetsharedmap’ console command added and various devcommands improvements
* Buying items from the trader on gamepad no longer buys twice, plus some interface tweaks
* Keyboard & gamepad hints for inventory screen
* Picking up your tombstone will now try to stack items
* Fixed an issue where tombstones sometimes would be unreachable in Swamp trees

This update is for the Public Test branch of Valheim, and may therefore be unstable. Before we launch this update to the Default version of the game, we want to make sure to have a chance to discover bugs and adjust the balancing, to give you the best game experience possible.
Access the Public Test branch by right clicking Valheim in your Steam library, and then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’ and type in the code “yesimadebackups”. The Public Test branch should now be available for you to choose from.
Please leave any feedback you may have in the appropriate channel in our Discord, or in the subforum here on Steam.
As always, remember to be considerate towards players not partaking in the Public Test, in case they want to avoid spoilers.
As the password indicates, please make sure to make backups of your save files before playing.


For this patch we’ve gone over some bugs and issues to simply make your gameplay experience a bit smoother! This for example includes automatically stacking your items when you reclaim your tombstone, and reminding the trolls that they should in fact get staggered. Not so fun for them, but fun for you!



* Fixed a bug where trolls would not get staggered correctly sometimes
* Map key legend fixes and remove map icon gamepad mapping set to LB
* Various small fixes to Frost Cave rooms
* Fixed a bug related to pausing after being in debugmode and changing server
* Upgrade function will now remember the selected object when upgrading
* Fixed a bug where the split stack number sometimes would not be visible on high resolutions
* Fixed a bug where sometimes smelters would not always use the correct amount of coal
* Fixed some items not being covered in snow
* Hotbar selection marker now more visible on light backgrounds when using gamepad
* The ‘resetsharedmap’ console command added and various devcommands improvements
* Buying items from the trader on gamepad no longer buys twice, plus some interface tweaks
* Keyboard & gamepad hints for inventory screen
* Picking up your tombstone will now try to stack items
* Fixed an issue where tombstones sometimes would be unreachable in Swamp trees

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who voted for Valheim in the GDCA Audience Awards! We managed to win both that and the Best Debut category, which we found out just this week. It’s such an honour, and it really means a lot to us.

But now, on to the blog:

Spring is finally beginning to make itself known in our part of the world, which is always a welcome sight after the long and dark winter. If you can’t get enough of the cold however, you can always venture into the Frost Caves of Valheim, which we released a couple of weeks ago. It’s been an absolute joy for us to read the stories you have shared of your adventures in these new parts of the game!

In the beginning of March the Steam Decks also began to roll out to players. By now, we’re happy to say that Valheim has gotten a full compatibility verification:



Aside from that, the team is fully focused on creating the Mistlands. New creatures are given life, dungeons are being planned out, and weapons are being crafted. Designing a new biome is a large undertaking, with many pieces that need to slot together before it can become the complete experience it needs to be, and it will require a lot of iterations and testing before it’s done. The biome is quite some time away still, but we are excited for it and we believe the result will be well worth the wait! Until then, here’s a piece of concept art we’d like to share with you:



Some things in the Mistlands will also definitely be useful in other biomes, as you might have guessed when Richard teased a new weapon on Twitter a few weeks ago. Today we present a clearer image:



We also posted a speed modelling video where we showed off the creation of a bow which will also be part of the new arsenal. Can you guess what it will be called?



Keep in mind that these things might look a bit different when the update comes out, as these are not the final versions.

This month, we have chosen a build created by Versaugh as our Build of the Month! Isn’t it nice? If you want to have the chance to have your building skills displayed in our next blog post, simply use the hashtag #ValheimBotM when posting on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.



Until next time, skål!

The Iron Gate team

Discord
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Reddit

The fenrings stalking the Mountains at night had to come from somewhere. Now you can finally discover the strange frozen caves where their brethren reside – if you’re brave enough to face them. Maybe you’ll even be able to learn a thing or two from how they fight?

For this patch, we have also optimised the game for the Steam Deck. This also includes full controller support for PC as well, and a pause feature in singleplayer. That’s right, if you’re playing alone you’ll now be able to step away from the game for a moment without having to worry about being found by a troll!

Please note that this update forces a fresh location generation of your worlds. This will cause slightly longer loading times the first time you open them, and it might slightly move some boss locations. The Frost Caves will also only appear in previously unexplored areas.[/i]



New Content:
* Suddenly… Frost Caves!
* Anniversary drinking horn added. Skål!

Fixes & Improvements:
* Pause function in singleplayer
* Full controller support! (Gamepad legend and alternative glyphs)
* Gamepad text input when running through in steam big picture mode
* UI, settings and Steam Deck fixes
* FPS Limiter and reduced background performance
* Split dialog can take numeric input
* Signs can now be built without a workbench
* Bug fixes and quality of life improvements
* Armour stand now supports atgeirs and shield styles
* Nomap mode tweaks




New Content:
* Frost Caves added as a new dungeon (Will only appear in unexplored areas)
* New enemies: Ulv, Cultist, Bat
* New crafting materials: Red jute, Fenring hair, Fenring claw
* New armour set: Fenris Coat, Fenris Leggings, Fenris Hood (equip all at once for an extra bonus!)
* New weapon: Flesh Rippers (Fists)
* New build pieces: Red jute carpet, Red jute curtain, Standing brazier
* New event: “You stirred the cauldron”

Fixes & Improvements:
* FPS limiter setting and option to reduce GPU usage when minimised, menu FPS capped to 60
* Various console command improvements and additions, see console ‘help’
* Fixed some dungeon parts not being fully deterministic (ends)
* Nomap mode improvements (vegvisr alternative, nomap is server setting, max distance for shouting, random build/spawn rotation, ‘noportals’ command)
* Resolution now only shows refresh rate when forcing exclusive fullscreen
* Various UI fixes
* Changed name of Unarmed skill to Fists
* Helmets covering the player character’s face should now hide beard
* “Reduce background performance” is available as a setting
* Recipes for Jack-o-turnip + Yule stuff disabled

Quality of Life:
* Building marker is more subtle and indicates piece rotation
* Corpse run gives carry weight bonus to compensate for unequipped belt
* Crafting stackable items while having full inventory now possible if there are are available stack slots
* Fixed a bug where sometimes stackable items won’t be taken when having full inventory and pressing ‘Take All’ in a chest
* Chat can now be closed using esc, mouse or gamepad B

Gamepad support:
* Full controller support!
* Controller legend visible in pause menu and settings
* Controller text input when running in Steam big picture mode. Chat, characters, signs, pets etc can now be named using the controller.
* Controller mapping of all game features
* Context menus will now always show controller buttons when using controller
* Alternative controller glyph style option
* Skills window scrollable with gamepad
* Crafting can be cancelled if pressing the button again (like with mouse)
* Fixed some missing/misplaced gamepad tooltips

Steam Deck:
* Steam Deck controller layout shows when playing on Steam Deck
* Loads default settings catered to the Steam Deck

Localisation:
* Improvements for several community translated languages

Vikings!

This blogpost wraps up Valheim’s anniversary month, and we want to summarise it for those who might have missed it.

Earlier this month we released a fireside chat where CEO/lead designer Richard, lead artist Robin, and community manager Josefin discuss the past, present and future of Valheim. They talk a bit about the process of Hearth & Home, the possibilities that come with more hands on deck, and how the work on the Mistlands is going. If you haven’t watched it already (or want to watch it again) you can do so here:


We also hosted our first stream on our Twitch Channel where Robin gave you an insight into how the process of designing an item might look, by creating an anniversary tankard from scratch. The tankard was just added to the game, and is available for everyone! You can find and watch a recording of the stream here.

Last but not least: the Frost Caves have finally arrived! Are you brave enough to venture into their depths, and will you find your way out before the inhabitants get you? This update also comes with a brand new event involving one of the new creatures – how will you defend yourself and your base from these fiends?


This update also includes full controller support, the option to pause in single-player and further optimisation settings!

When Valheim was released into early access little over a year ago, we also released a roadmap which we sadly had to cancel in May. On that cancelled roadmap we had an update called “Cult of the Wolf”. While we’re no longer calling it that, these frost caves are essentially that update.

We love the feeling of exploration and surprise that Valheim can give. We’ve been cautious with spoilers and only allowed a small group to try our content updates before release. With the release of the Mountain update, we wanted to try a different approach. The Mountain update was available on our public test branch before going live for everyone, and we want to thank everyone who gave feedback and found bugs that might otherwise have made it into the update's release. If you want to participate in future public testing, please head over to our Discord server or to our forum here on Steam for more information. But keep in mind that the public test is for testing, so don’t be surprised if you find bugs or less balanced things.

Of course, we can’t have a blogpost without a teaser of what’s to come ;)
Last time we showed you a piece of concept art of an enemy that you’ll meet in Mistlands, and we thought that we would follow the theme of “flora and fauna”, and show you something else that will inhabit the lands of mist:


We also want to share this other lovely piece of concept art made by our concept artist, which greatly captures the feeling we want to achieve in these strange lands. What do you think you’ll find in the mists?


In our last blogpost we mentioned that we were gonna introduce “Build of the Month”, and the time has come for us to present the build we chose for this month! This was made by Kittheviking, and really stood out to us!


If you want to partake for a chance to put your building skills on display, head on over to Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, post a picture and use the hashtag #ValheimBotM.

We want to once again thank you for this fantastic year and for all of your support and feedback, and we’re excited to see what our second year will bring!

The Iron Gate team
Discord
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Reddit

This update is for the Public Test branch of Valheim, and may therefore be unstable. Before we launch this update to the Default version of the game, we want to make sure to have a chance to discover bugs and adjust the balancing, to give you the best game experience possible.
Access the Public Test branch by right clicking Valheim in your Steam library, and then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’ and type in the code “yesimadebackups”. The Public Test branch should now be available for you to choose from.
Please leave any feedback you may have in the appropriate channel in our Discord, or in the subforum here on Steam.
As always, remember to be considerate towards players not partaking in the Public Test, in case they want to avoid spoilers.
Please also note that this update forces a fresh location generation of your worlds. This will cause slightly longer loading times the first time you open them, and it might slightly move some boss locations. The Frost Caves will also only appear in previously unexplored areas. Also note that the new content in this branch will not be fully backwards compatible with the Default branch. As the password indicates, please make sure to make backups of your save files before playing.


The fenrings stalking the Mountains at night had to come from somewhere. Now you can finally discover the strange frozen caves where their brethren reside – if you’re brave enough to face them. Maybe you’ll even be able to learn a thing or two from how they fight?

For this patch, we have also optimised the game for the Steam Deck. This also includes full controller support for PC as well, and a pause feature in singleplayer. That’s right, if you’re playing alone you’ll now be able to step away from the game for a moment without having to worry about being found by a troll!



New Content:
* Suddenly… Frost Caves!

Fixes & Improvements:
* Pause function in singleplayer
* Full controller support! (Gamepad legend and alternative glyphs)
* Gamepad text input when running through in steam big picture mode
* UI, settings and Steam Deck fixes
* FPS Limiter and reduced background performance
* Split dialog can take numeric input
* Signs can now be built without a workbench
* Bug fixes and quality of life improvements
* Armour stand now supports atgeirs and shield styles
* Nomap mode tweaks




New Content:
* Frost Caves added as a new dungeon (Will only appear in unexplored areas)
* New enemies: Ulv, Cultist, Bat
* New crafting materials: Red jute, Fenring hair, Fenring claw
* New armour set: Fenris Coat, Fenris Leggings, Fenris Hood (equip all at once for an extra bonus!)
* New weapon: Flesh Rippers (Unarmed)
* New build pieces: Red jute carpet, Red jute curtain, Standing brazier
* New event: “You stirred the cauldron”

Fixes & Improvements:
* FPS limiter setting and option to reduce GPU usage when minimised, menu FPS capped to 60
* Various console command improvements and additions, see console ‘help’
* Fixed some dungeon parts not being fully deterministic (ends)
* Nomap mode improvements (vegvisr alternative, nomap is server setting, max distance for shouting, random build/spawn rotation, ‘noportals’ command)
* Resolution now only shows refresh rate when forcing exclusive fullscreen
* Various UI fixes
* Recipes for Jack-o-turnip + Yule stuff disabled

Quality of Life:
* Building marker is more subtle and indicates piece rotation
* Corpse run gives carry weight bonus to compensate for unequipped belt
* Crafting stackable items while having full inventory now possible if there are are available stack slots
* Fixed a bug where sometimes stackable items won’t be taken when having full inventory and pressing ‘Take All’ in a chest
* Chat can now be closed using esc, mouse or gamepad B

Gamepad support:
* Full controller support!
* Controller legend visible in pause menu and settings
* Controller text input when running in Steam big picture mode. Chat, characters, signs, pets etc can now be named using the controller.
* Controller mapping of all game features
* Context menus will now always show controller buttons when using controller
* Alternative controller glyph style option
* Skills window scrollable with gamepad
* Crafting can be cancelled if pressing the button again (like with mouse)
* Fixed some missing/misplaced gamepad tooltips

Steam Deck:
* Steam Deck controller layout shows when playing on Steam Deck
* Loads default settings catered to the Steam Deck

Localisation:
* Improvements for several community translated languages

It’s a new year and we’re back with new energy and even more creative ideas! We’re all definitely looking forward to sharing some more Valheim stuff with you, and we hope you’re just as excited to explore it.

2022 also means that it’s time for our first anniversary! Today, February 2nd, marks an entire year since Valheim first launched, and what a year it’s been! We never could have imagined that Valheim would get as big as it did, and it’s all thanks to you players. We’re going to celebrate throughout the whole month of February, and we’ve got some fun stuff planned for you – keep an eye on our social media pages to make sure you don’t miss anything!

In case you haven’t seen it, Valheim is also discounted during the Lunar New Year Sale! Because of how this lines up with the anniversary today, we’re extending the discount over the weekend as well, so tell your friends!

With 2021 coming to a close, we were also named Game of the Year by PC Gamer! It’s an honour to receive such an award in Early Access, and we will work hard to live up to that title all the way to the 1.0 release and beyond.

Over the winter holidays we’ve also hosted our first ever building competion on Twitter. We got so many cool entries, but in the end we managed to settle on a few winners. Since our community is so talented when it comes to building, we would really like to share more of your creations. To do so, we’ll be keeping an eye on the hashtag #ValheimBotM on social media, and going forward we’ll share some of our favourite Builds of the Month! For now though, turn your eyes once more to the build by Zugzuglife, the winner of the Build for Baldr competition:


Additionally, Steam Deck is also planned to launch in February! We would of course like to have Valheim running smoothly on it from the start, so that’s something we’re working on at the moment. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to bring Valheim with you on the train, or maybe even out into the woods? (If the greydwarfs give you their wifi password, that is.)

Aside from the Steam Deck, we’re also putting the finishing touches to the Mountain update that we’ve teased in our previous Steam posts. We’re really excited to share it with you, and we hope that this can get you in the right mood for it as well:



Alongside the Mountain update, we’ve also been ramping up work on Mistlands. The phase of nailing down the core concept is done, and we know what kind of inhabitants we want the biome to have. This means we’re now working on a bunch of new build pieces and enemies, as well as defining more of the new mechanics we will be introducing (though we’d like to keep those secret for a while longer). Here’s a little piece of concept art to get a feeling of where we’re heading:


Thank you all again for having been with us this past year, and we’re looking forward to many more adventures to come!

The Iron Gate team

Discord
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Reddit

You did it! Not only did you manage to nominate Valheim for a Steam Award in the Better with Friends category, but also for Game of the Year!

We're incredibly thankful for this, and now we hope we can also get your votes in the final round of the awards. Thank you so much for your support, we wouldn't be here without all of you! ❤