How I finally started to enjoy exploring the Mistlands biome

[Wyrdsmyth]

On my current play-thru I wanted to try something different and happened upon a YouTube video of someone explaining how certain items in the game were obtainable even if you hadn't beaten the boss of the previous biome. I decided to try to get my hands on Krom earlier than I normally should be able to.

After fighting Moder I decided to skip the Plains (my least favorite biome) and head straight into the Mistlands. Effectively this meant for a significant part of the Mistlands I couldn't see anything due to the lack of a wisplight. The good news is there are significant areas in the Mistlands where there is no mist and clear visibility. Therefore when encountering seekers, seeker soldiers, gjall and ticks, I used two tactics. First I listened for audio cues, and second, whenever possible, I kited enemies into areas with better visibility.

This part is where the Valheim developers really ought to pay close attention.

I started having fun. The reason I started having fun was because I was unexpectedly MORE EFFECTIVE during enemy encounters than I had been on previous runs. I scratched my head to try to make sense of the how and why of it because I really expected Mistlands to become HARDER, not EASIER, and the only thing I can come up with is this:

I have no wisplight.

Because I have no animated light source that has its own special light effects roaming around randomly changing the position of shadows and cutting through the mist, but not clearing the mist entirely - my graphics card is no longer straining to keep up with the rendering.

Therefore I'm not dropping frames.

Therefore I can now more accurately anticipate enemy attacks and counter them with parries or dodge rolls in roughly the same manner as I've been able to in all prior biomes.

I could be wrong, but I believe the reason why Mistlands appears to be disliked by a significant portion of the player-base is because the combined effects of mist and dynamic lighting are killing system performance, and in a game where accurate timing and positioning are especially important, frame-rate loss leads to significantly more deaths than should otherwise occur.

I'm not dying nearly as much in the Mistlands on this run as I have on prior playthrus, therefore I'm having significantly more fun (I think I have died a total of three times so far over the course of several days of gameplay, and in all three cases it was because I aggro'd more enemies than I could handle alone). I would go so far as to say that right now, the Mistlands is my favorite biome in the game. All because I don't have a wisplight.

I'm curious if anyone else has tried exploring the Mistlands without a wisplight and whether they can either confirm or deny my above statements.

In the meantime, even with the lack of wisplight, I have continued exploring the Mistlands long enough to acquire not just Krom but also a carapace helmet, feather cape, eitr-weave pants, carapace spear, carapace buckler and a Staff of Embers. For chest armor I'm wearing a padded cuirass from the Plains biome. I'm playing a mixed-bag battle mage where I open with the Staff of Embers before closing distance with enemies and switch to either Krom (primary) or the carapace spear and buckler depending on the type and number of enemies I'm facing. It is a lot of fun, and I'm now very much looking forward to the Firelands.

[Steve]

Maybe, or maybe because you know you have no wisplight / torches you are purposely being more careful? Or as this is not your first run through ML you know how to fight the mobs more effectively?

The best comparison I can make is early on, Trolls were to be avoided at all costs until I had a fully upgraded bronze buckler. Now, a flint spear alone is plenty.

Regardless, glad you're enjoying ML; it's one of my favourite biomes as well.