I’m sorry, but I’ve just had enough.

[metallicemperor]

I’m sorry, but I’ve just had enough.
My problems with this game started quite a while ago. Just the usual progression to the Black Forest stage: I step into the forest, and the game immediately spawns a troll, a bunch of Greydwarfs, a shaman, and a brute — while my only weapon is a basic spear.
A horde of enemies makes it impossible to focus on any one target, and the slow attack animations combined with a sluggish combat system only make things worse. It took me an hour just to deal with that crowd, since they don't despawn.

The behavior of the Greydwarfs is a major issue — they don’t attack properly, they just constantly get in the way.
And then there’s the ridiculous distances you have to travel on foot, especially when you die (which happens a lot). After the first boss, you get Eikthyr’s power, which lets you run longer — but its short duration and insanely long cooldown make it almost useless.

I just looked up all the powers and what they do, and not a single one breaks the game balance. So here’s a question:
Why not just give the player these buffs permanently after offering to the sacrificial stones?

And of course, how could I forget the thing that really set me off:
WHY THE HELL CAN MINI-BOSSES LIKE TROLLS SPAWN DURING A BOSS FIGHT, ALONGSIDE THE REGULAR MOBS?
Is that supposed to be fair? Or did the developers think this was a good way to artificially increase the difficulty of boss fights?

[Xea]

To read that headline and then realize you didn't even make it to the swamps

[IceCloneZ]

Originally posted by Xea:

To read that headline and then realize you didn't even make it to the swamps

[metallicemperor]

Originally posted by Xea:

To read that headline and then realize you didn't even make it to the swamps

I once got to the swamp stage. While I was trying to get to them, I didn't even understand who killed me, because the projectile flew at me from an unknown direction. And yes, I was killed by a one-shot, with full health, and bronze armor

[knighttemplar1960]

The easiest explanation is you are using the wrong weapons and are not aware of the terrain.

Weapons:

Greydwarfs (except for shaman and brutes) are afraid of fire and will run from it. Use torches/camp fires to keep them at bay.

Greydwarves including shaman and brutes take extra damage from fire. Use fire arrows for range and extra damage.

Trolls are vulnerable to piercing damage. Especially their heads. Use your fine wood bow and flint arrows, a bronze aetgir, or a bronze buckler and a spear.

Spawns:

Spawns are double at night. Go back to base and sleep at night time. If greydwarves keep coming and its day time there is a spawner nearby. Find it and destroy it to stop the spawns.

Trolls have specific spawn points (usually near a copper deposit or a troll cave) when you find a troll mark the spot. When you kill that troll it can't respawn again for at least 3 days. Before a boss fight explore the area. Destroy all greydwarf spawners and kill any trolls then only randomly spawned greydwarves will appear during the boss fight and the troll can't respawn for 3 more days.

For travel keep a null portal at your base and carry enough material to build a work bench and portal. Just before night time build the bench and the portal and go back to base and sleep. In the morning go back out that portal, dismantle it on the other end, and then the work bench, and continue. The only thing you have to figure out after that is how to move ore and ingots.

[electricdawn]

The Black Forest is the step where you need to start learning how to outmaneuver enemies, so you can take them on, one by one. Most of the fight is actually moving around (NOT sprinting!) to best position your next target, then taking it out with a few swift strokes of your flint axe (or spear, whatever suits your fancy).

Try to avoid the troll, then go for it with your bow. Even a crude bow will kill a troll with 20 wood arrows.

And yes, you will encounter MUCH more scary enemies in latter biomes. Trolls are the easy part.

[JimmyEatSquirrel]

Valheim: "A brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally-generated purgatory inspired by viking culture. Battle, build, and conquer your way to a saga worthy of Odin’s patronage!"

Emphasis on "Brutal" and "Purgatory"

On the bright side its a beautiful purgatory...

If the greydorfs and trolls are an issue, you are in for a world of hurt my friend.

Keep practicing and trying new things. Master an easier biome before moving forward if its getting too difficult.

Not all Vikings are meant to ascend to Valhalla.

[cnote261]

If you came to the boards just to vent about a ridiculous situation you found yourself in leaving the Meadows for the first time, then you have my deepest sympathies--I've been there, I understand. On the other hand, if you're actually frustrated by what happened and see it as a negative experience of the game then I'm sad to say it does not get "better"; it gets much, much worse

I once heard Valheim described as "multiplayer Dark Souls but with vikings", and I've never seen a reason to disagree with that assessment. The Meadows is essentially just a tutorial area and the Black Forest is your first "real" challenge where you learn the hard lessons about combat that the Meadows just doesn't offer. Every other biome after adds even more "challenge" in the form of negative modifiers or ever-more dangerous and unfair mobs.

[JimmyEatSquirrel]

Originally posted by cnote261:

....negative modifiers or ever-more dangerous and unfair mobs.

If you run into a bear in the forest and have to kill it to survive, is the bear "unfair"?

Just curious...

[Lucidess]

The defeat was gained
A victory lost
But the war wages on
Vikings never give up!

[Qbertos]

Suck it up,
Kill the elder grey.
Advance the biome,
Live another day!

In other words…
SKAL!

Don’t give up, it’s worth it young pup.

[Kitsune Dzelda]

This makes me want to tell my own story I had just the other day.

I was sailing along scouting Swamps for my inevitable iron rush. Now Im no pup, Im a veteran player. I brought mats for a portal, and a bench. But I did the dumb and didnt eat and didnt use mead before I sailed past. It was heading towards dawn so I believed I was safe on my karve skimming out from the shoreline.

Lo, and behold, I am *wrong.*

The boat suddenly crashed in the middle of the sea, I thought it was a rock or a sandbar. Thats when the tree came out of the sea. I could not believe that bastard was in the *middle* of the channel. My boat had crashed into it, and it was about to ruin my ♥♥♥♥ in. I paused, looked about for an easy escape. There was a sandbar neaby half submerged, Id be running slow with leeches on me if I did that. Nowhere to maneuever, nowhere to plonk a portal down and escape.

And soon as I unpaused, I was gonna get murdered by the Maiming Myrtle. So I took the cowards move out. I checked when Id saved last, and logged. Better to lose 18 minutes of sailtime than everything I had. Cue to me playing with friends and having a good time.

I come back a few days later, expecting to get off scot free.

Guess who the hell pops out of the sea?! The game decided I wasnt going to get off that easy and once more I had to pose into deadly serious calculations. I decided to get into my boat the seconds it spent getting up, grabbed the portal and tried to swim it. Sure enough, I could not outswim the tree. I managed to block the first blow, and then the second blow killed me and I lost all my bronze armor a short ways it had chased me.

I woke up in my hut bitter and upset. But that didnt discourage me. I made new weapons, made a new karve, and decked myself out in armor once more. I took mead and good food. I had died in a Swamp bordering a Plains, and knew at any moment while sailing I might hear the laugh that betokens things far worse than evil trees.

And sure enough, it was a trial even getting close to my grave. I could see the karve where it had slammed into the tree. The tree didnt care about it. But my grave was just far away that it didnt waken to try and kill me. I decided to down the mead and eat the food and waited to heal up before jumping in the shallow water.

Instantly, about 7 leeches decided they wanted a piece of me. I had to swing myself exhausted to fend them off. Some of them had stars. And all the while was the fear the draugr would catch up and finish me. In the end, I fended the leeches off, but jumped into the boat just as skeletons showed up from the bottom of the ocean, and began trying to sink my karve. The clever bastards. I wheeled out of there and reconnitered at a nearby Black Forest.

Which was mostly bordered by Plains. Nighttime had fallen, and I had decided Id be better off taking my chances in a crypt with the skeletons when I saw that Hildr made her home near the Plains. I showed up, rested up in the fireplace for the night while she harangued me on not stealing her treasure, then headed off to my boat a little before dawn, rested and ready to try a second time.

Thats when the Forest welcome committe decided to see me off. A Troll with a tree and his grewdwarves showed up for the party, intent on having me for dinner. I absolutely would not let that troll near my boat, Id seen what theyd do to it before and Id be sunk if I let them at it. I pulled the dwarves off and picked them off, then broke off my dinner engagement with the troll through a liberal use of macing them up the split. Which was pretty much normal Black Forest greeting protocol. I got into my boat and shoved off to see if I could make use of my remaining rest bonus.

This time, there were fewer leeches, and I finally managed to rob my seaside grave. I robbed quickly, because that tree was close by and who knew what else would show up hearing the sound of me beating the leeches off. Sure enough, I turned to get in the karve and the draugr had come with axes and were already busy dissassembling my means of escape. I did donuts to escape them, then decided this scouting trip was over and went home.

Thats when the storm decided to show up and pound some more on my boat while the wind refused to give me a straight shot home. I had to be very careful not to sink, but let me tell you, when I finally crept into harbor, bailing like mad from all the wind and rain getting into the hull, I feel like Id won a real victory.

Edit: Sorry about the long-windedness, it really was a fight and a half!

[electricdawn]

That was a good story. Valheim at its best. Skal, fellow viking!

[Kofi]

I don't think this is the game for you buddy, it is quite unfair by a lotta reasons, and that's mostly what the game is about. If you can do a refund, I'll advise it

[BlueGhost]

Originally posted by JimmyEatSquirrel:

Originally posted by cnote261:

....negative modifiers or ever-more dangerous and unfair mobs.

If you run into a bear in the forest and have to kill it to survive, is the bear "unfair"?

Just curious...

This made me facepalm. Idk I don't have words for this.

A few people gave the guy good advice then you get that hurdur ree ree response.

OP try a multiplayer game? Picking the brains of vets can really help you learn a lot. Unless you got that ree ree bear in the woods guy. If that happens then i'm sorry about your luck.

[1100011]

You can use the terrain to your advantage, learn how to build defensive structures: earth walls cannot be destroyed, raise the ground with steep enough slopes and all they've got are their ranged attacks.

Know your enemies' weaknesses: a surprising number can be parried (unlike Souls, this also depends on shielding ability here). The parry window is very forgiving.

Study the Aetgir. At high enough level it stuns trolls, the secondary will easily deal with groups of weaker mobs.

If the game does your head in, just spend a bit more time enjoying the biome, finding resources and leveling up.