Hobbit holes

[Unsanctioned Goof]

Hi, I've just come back to Valheim after a long time away and i was wondering what happens when you dig into hills? Back when i played, if you dug into and under the ground, the top cover got dug up aswell. Is this still the case?

PS only just started a fresh save so don't have the kit to test for myself

[Deedwisher]

Still same

[Hiryukaen]

Yes this is still the case.
This will probably always be the case. It's an intended feature. It's the same decision as why devs have disabled building inside caves/dungeons.

If they allowed you to make a "hobbit hole" you now have a base that is invincible. Same with building into dungeons and caves.

If this were to change, you'd also have to expect mobs to be able to alter terrain (not just destroying breakables like rocks) and ignore the current spawn rules which prevent stuff from spawning near specific player built objects but instead they would spawn because of the player built objects.

Otherwise there is no challenge with minimal investment.

[Gladi8er65]

You cant dig a "cave" into the side of a hill or anything, and likely that won't change as they are already about halfway done with the game with the mechanics already in-place, however, There are ways to live underground if one uses some creativity and imagination.

One thing I often do is create a workshop outpost (for processing bronze) right at the source, rather than transporting metals and ores across the map, to some distant base. To make a fairly safe place for this I often find an area with several copper nodes fairly close together, and use one of the copper nodes as an underground house/workshop by digging straight down, along the edge of the copper node then digging out a hollow space inside, leaving the top "cap" of the copper node intact to use as a durable "roof" cover...

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858958865

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858960285

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858959032

It's not a HUGE amount of space, but theres plenty of room to place the essentials for processing bronze, cooking facilities, portal, bed etc. and safe enough that I have never had any mobs bother me down there.

Another, larger "underground" area I use a LOT is the space that can be dug out underneath the Elder altar... If you find one that is suitably higher than the water table, you can end up with a massive amount of space to build completely safe underground bases...

I generally dig straight down along one edge of the altar then hollow out the entire space underneath, (in this case i put stone walls all around the edges, making a completely safe place for a home.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2855621495

After digging it out, I thoroughly enjoy experimenting and creating beautiful homes under there.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2434836833

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858966733

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858869195

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858867908

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858965569

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2847464543

Truly the possibilities are endless.

PS. Everything shown is 100% vanilla (un-modded)

[skOsH♥]

Originally posted by Gladi8er65:

You cant dig a "cave" into the side of a hill or anything, and likely that won't change as they are already about halfway done with the game with the mechanics already in-place, however, There are ways to live underground if one uses some creativity and imagination.

One thing I often do is create a workshop outpost (for processing bronze) right at the source, rather than transporting metals and ores across the map, to some distant base. To make a fairly safe place for this I often find an area with several copper nodes fairly close together, and use one of the copper nodes as an underground house/workshop by digging straight down, along the edge of the copper node then digging out a hollow space inside, leaving the top "cap" of the copper node intact to use as a durable "roof" cover...

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858958865

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858960285

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858959032

It's not a HUGE amount of space, but theres plenty of room to place the essentials for processing bronze, cooking facilities, portal, bed etc. and safe enough that I have never had any mobs bother me down there.

Another, larger "underground" area I use a LOT is the space that can be dug out underneath the Elder altar... If you find one that is suitably higher than the water table, you can end up with a massive amount of space to build completely safe underground bases...

I generally dig straight down along one edge of the altar then hollow out the entire space underneath, (in this case i put stone walls all around the edges, making a completely safe place for a home.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2855621495

After digging it out, I thoroughly enjoy experimenting and creating beautiful homes under there.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2434836833

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858966733

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858869195

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858867908

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2858965569

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2847464543

Truly the possibilities are endless.

Dang! Now that's some ingenuity! Love the pictures too

[Unsanctioned Goof]

Originally posted by Hiryukaen:

Yes this is still the case.
This will probably always be the case. It's an intended feature. It's the same decision as why devs have disabled building inside caves/dungeons.

If they allowed you to make a "hobbit hole" you now have a base that is invincible. Same with building into dungeons and caves.

If this were to change, you'd also have to expect mobs to be able to alter terrain (not just destroying breakables like rocks) and ignore the current spawn rules which prevent stuff from spawning near specific player built objects but instead they would spawn because of the player built objects.

Otherwise there is no challenge with minimal investment.

I guess i didn't think of that, which makes sense of course. you don't want everyone making underground bases even if its PvE.

[Subsonic]

Under the Elder Altar is a great place for a secure base, have done that a few times myself. If you want an underground base that is nearly 100% safe then that's the best option.

[Sprocket66]

I sometimes make an outpost under the Elder Altar to be used as a safe portal hub for my various other bases. I've also made outposts under a cluster of large flat rocks, just have to be careful not to collapse them.

[Jitatha]

You can not build a tunnel with natural cover, however, if you scour the mountains you will find some awesome narrow valleys that have a whole ton of potential. With the right block work for the ceiling you can create a cave like structure from the outside with a main entrance door that blends into the mountain. The snow over the top, will make a very nice looking hideout.
When Mistlands arrives, it is my next build idea, mines of Moria style.

[Unsanctioned Goof]

Mistlands? I gotta look into this

[Greenegg]

Originally posted by Hiryukaen:

Yes this is still the case.
This will probably always be the case. It's an intended feature. It's the same decision as why devs have disabled building inside caves/dungeons.

If they allowed you to make a "hobbit hole" you now have a base that is invincible. Same with building into dungeons and caves.

If this were to change, you'd also have to expect mobs to be able to alter terrain (not just destroying breakables like rocks) and ignore the current spawn rules which prevent stuff from spawning near specific player built objects but instead they would spawn because of the player built objects.

Otherwise there is no challenge with minimal investment.

is there "challenge" now? I don't think I've ever had any of my buildings actually destroyed during an invasion.

I suspect that not being able to dig caves is more a coding/engine limitation on the devs part and not an actual gameplay decision.

[Complaintdesk]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2697570474

[Forcedge]

Our bases are already invincible. If all we have to do is dig out a trench around our base that keeps out every monster in the game, why would you care if we build in caves/underground?

Honestly sometimes people tend to make no sense.

[jonnin]

If they allowed you to make a "hobbit hole" you now have a base that is invincible. Same with building into dungeons and caves

there are already 5, maybe 6 + ways to make invulnerable bases..
- islands
- terrain wall
- trench
- anti-spawn spam
- lofted (terrain platform)
- pathing exploits (monsters get stuck on things and you can make it happen with hoe/pick/etc)
- empty areas (eg the far north) where nothing spawns (still need to watch for events), and once you built, nothing will spawn because updates don't touch discovered areas.

-------------------------
as for digging a hole, you can sometimes hoe dirt over your roof and blend it in. Stone keeps the rain out. Ive not tried to do this on a grand scale but I have hidden small rooms this way.

[blankitosonic]

Originally posted by jonnin:

If they allowed you to make a "hobbit hole" you now have a base that is invincible. Same with building into dungeons and caves

there are already 5, maybe 6 + ways to make invulnerable bases..
- islands
- terrain wall
- trench
- anti-spawn spam
- lofted (terrain platform)
- pathing exploits (monsters get stuck on things and you can make it happen with hoe/pick/etc)
- empty areas (eg the far north) where nothing spawns (still need to watch for events), and once you built, nothing will spawn because updates don't touch discovered areas.

-------------------------
as for digging a hole, you can sometimes hoe dirt over your roof and blend it in. Stone keeps the rain out. Ive not tried to do this on a grand scale but I have hidden small rooms this way.

Events still spawn in mistlands far north and ashlands

[Hiryukaen]

You're confusing "invincible" and "invulnerable" of having a completely attack preventing base because enemies can not alter terrain to complete path finding or enter/spawn in "dungeons" - with - "circumventing ground based enemies with poor ranged attacks from being able to path/line of sight to your buildings by having shear "cliffs" that the ai pathing is set to not be allowed to climb while still leaving it vulnerable to enemies who don't have to follow ground pathing." The latter is neither invincible nor invulnerable.

Flying enemy invasions exist; we will most likely see more types in the future as well. Most ground based enemies also have a ranged attack. So while the current flying enemies and ranged attacks from ground based enemies we have are fairly weak, that doesn't mean they always will be.