I just started this game, what should I do first.

[Brandon]

I know nothing about this game. (I built a hut but thats literally all I did).

[Megahurts]

Place down a bed and tag it to set it as spawn point.
Build a fire, keep it burning for that rested bonus.
Stay well fed with 3 different foods as much as possible.
Don't breathe the smoke.
Pick up anything and everything you see to unlock new recipes.
Work on your skills...it's all learn by doing so go 'do' as much as possible. You'll need those skills raised for taking on some the badder enemies.
Stay out of the forest until your feel you can take on those enemy types. Try cherry picking from the outskirts.
Big blues are not your friends.
Keep the bees happy.

[Megahurts]

Couple additions...

That bird that lands occasionally is about the only tutorial you'll get. There are some stone runes you can interact with with tips but the messages can be a bit cryptic.
No shame in consulting a guide or Wiki for this game at all...it's maybe not the best at providing some essential info.
Upgrading your workbench (by building new add-on stations with Hammer) allows you to upgrade your gear.
Take your time and have fun...the game punishes those who venture into hostile territory unprepared and/or under-geared.
Lots of helpful people here in the forum for questions and answers.

[Zep Tepi]

Throw a couple deer heads at an altar to anger the local god. Bring a shield and eat well before you do. Then upgrade your armor as much as you can and go desecrate the dead.

[Dslim]

I had fun just finding out everything myself, everything in the game unlocks something else you can build. You find a new enemy or tree..time to build new stuff =). There are tons of youtube videos on the game that are worth looking into over a wide variety of things.

[PokeyMom]

Eat before dungeons, eat before trolls, don't get overconfident.
Once you've built your axe, seeing how many trees you can drop with a chain reaction or multistrike can be a bit fun. (until you forget about the overconfidence advice I just gave you, which leads to you ending up as a tree's victim).

[Blood Drake]

Make a house with several chests, so you can start storing items for future recipes....berries, honey, Flint, etc.
Make a bow and start hunting deer and boars for meat and skins. Kill any birds you see as well.
Once you are comfortable with equipment and food start exploring....
Oh, and look out for falling trees!

[Suzaku]

This might be weird as a tip, but know that there are mods. I liked the game well enough, but there were a few things that bothered me about the game that could not be changed, and sort of killed my enjoyment the first time around. With a couple mods, I was able to tweak a couple key features that made it much more enjoyable, so if you find yourself thinking "I really hate that it works like this", there might be a solution just a quick download away.

[logarou -=bzh=-]

Hello, if I may, here's a little trick to start: lower the resolution of the vegetation to "Low" so you will reveal the little essential things at the beginning which hide among the tall grass like red mushrooms, stones, branches, animals will be more visible. later, you will return to this option to enjoy the game in its entirety.
I now have 1487 hours of play on Valheim and I find it extraordinary in its approach and its gameplay.
Thanks for reading me.

[Yakumo_2020]

Some tips for the Black Foest and Swamp
Troll Hide armor is easier to craft and upgrade than the Bronze gear and is only 2 wrmor points less with a +15 to your stealth skill. Since your not wasting Bronze on armor you can use it to upgrade your weapons. Fully upgraded Troll hide is only 2 armor points under fully upgraded Bronze gear.

The mobs in each biom have specific weakneses, watch the damage numbers, if they are yellow its their weakness. The bosses for all zones except the Plains biom are the same as the associated mobs. I won't spoil it but you can look it up if you want.

As counter intuitive as it seems Trolls can not enter the entrance of a Troll cave. You can use it as shelter from a Troll while plinking it with arrows or other weapons. Same goes for the crypt entrances in the Black Forest that look like stone hallways.

You can enter a crypt and rest to recover HP, you can even drop a camp fire and get a rested buff. You can do the same in a Troll cave but be aware if there is a Troll in the cave it moves around and might see you neave the entrance.

The stagebreaker is a easy to craft weapon and highly effective in Burial chambers, crypts and Sunken crypts. It creates a blunt froce AOE that works through walls and doors. Also my prefeared weapon against spawners, I never explore a crypt without one.

The Atglier (two handed spear) has a useful 360 degree attack that also works through walls and doors with a nice knockback to give you some breathing room. Beware that the AOE attack can burn up your stamina quickly..

Trenchs and raised Earth walls (using the hoe) are simple and easy defensise against everything except the Drakes that attack during the "A Cold Wind from the Mountains" attack that starts after you kill Swamp boss and ends when you kill the Mountian boss. Since they are part of the terrain they can't be destroyed by any mob or boss in the game.

always use the best foods you can when exploring new areas and watch out that they start to decay almost imediatly so be sure to keep an eye on you HP.

Remember T'sun Zu and always choose your battles carefully.

And last but not least, have fun :D

OK this was more than I planed to write but hopefully some of it will be useful.

Good hunting o7

[stvlepore]

When it tells you, you could eat another bite, its not a suggestion.

[Nodeninja]

Play the game, let it teach you and learn from mistakes. Much of the fun/challenge of this game is feeling your way through it.

[FreaK ツ]

If you see flying needle. pray

[iamoffline1]

I actually did a potentially spoiler-free guide on that one last week ;) if you'd like, feel free to check it out here But it's really just the basics. Hope you're having fun either way

[Lucidess]

When it says Resting, don't be alarmed, you are just being re-stung by the bees, which are happy.

[Nefrarya]

Originally posted by Suzaku:

This might be weird as a tip, but know that there are mods. I liked the game well enough, but there were a few things that bothered me about the game that could not be changed, and sort of killed my enjoyment the first time around. With a couple mods, I was able to tweak a couple key features that made it much more enjoyable, so if you find yourself thinking "I really hate that it works like this", there might be a solution just a quick download away.

Hey folks,

please remember that as of now modding is not officially supported. It's done at your own risk, there are no guarantees for future compatibility. Please keep backups of your save files before you start modding. If you need technical support, please always include a full list of active AND prior mods, since that can influence the game's behaviour with regard to bugs.

We'd appreciate it if you didn't recommend mods to newcomers without some kind of disclaimer. The vast majority of 'bug reports' ends up being mod issues, reported by folks that don't have a clear understanding of what modding is or does.

Thanks & have a good day!