Conquering the Brutal Bronze Age: An Epic Guide for Valheim Vikings
Valheim tosses you half-naked onto a procedurally generated purgatory teeming with bloodthirsty beasts. Most would succumb quickly to this ruthless realm’s trials.
But a tried-and-tested blueprint exists to transform even the meekest noobs into unstoppable bronze age fanatics. This comprehensive guide contains the battle-tested strategies I’ve honed across three previous lives in Valheim.
You too can rapidly rise from a peasant punching trees with their fists to a legendary warrior slaying trolls with a brutal bronze atgeir.
Let’s delve into everything you must know to dominate the bronze age!
Part 1 – Mining Copper & Tin Smarter, Not Harder
Perhaps the most infuriating barrier before smithing your first bronze is harvesting those blasted copper deposits scattered across the plains.
Many fledgling vikings have slammed their keyboards in frustration while pickaxes disintegrated trying to extract enough copper ore.
But implement these advanced mining tactics and you‘ll fill numerous cartloads with ease:
Locate Every Copper Node
Set Up Forward Operating Bases
Master Directionally-Optimized Extraction
Exploiting the procedurally generated world to find ALL copper nodes is key. Spend several in-game days methodically combing the plains by foot before establishing any long term bases.
Equip your best food, a level 2 troll armor set and poison resistance mead. This enables sprinting at full speed while ignoring deathsquitos and enabling you to escape most battles.
Bring portal materials to start building a fast travel network interlinking copper hotspots. Mark the nodes on your map as you locate them.
Pro Tip: Hills and cliffs tend to harbor the most abundant copper veins.
Now begin constructing small outposts with workbenches adjacent to large copper gravitations.
These function as resupply depots for:
- Repairing pickaxes so you always mine at maximum speed
- Restoring your Rested bonus for health/stamina boosts
- Temporarily stashing copper to keep your inventory clear
Later, you can rapidly haul bulk deposits back through portals to your main base.
The most efficient extraction strategy is a directional approach. Rather than haphazardly striking ore deposits randomly, attack systematically from the EXTERIOR.
This better preserves pickaxe durability while extracting the maximum tons of copper for each node:
- Dig around the ENTIRE deposit perimeter first
- Clear away exterior rock and stone to expose resource points
- Work inwards extracting ore until hitting empty space
- Fill that last gap with supports when deposit fully excavated
With these advanced techniques, I can now haul back over 1,000 copper ores per trip through portals before needing any rest or pickaxe repairs.
Let’s tackle securing tin next…
Part 2 – Dominating Swamp Expeditions for Mass Tin Mining
While copper proves painful to mass mine, gathering absurd amounts of tin by comparison feels like a vacation!
Tin ores generate almost exclusively along rivers flowing through those murky, mosquito-infested swamps.
And the large boulders they hide behind smash apart rapidly even with a basic stone axe. No antler upgrades required!
That said, do NOT let your guard down just because securing tons of tin seems easy at first…
The REAL threats are blood bags (leeches) slowly draining your health and surtling sneak attacks from the darkness.
Stay vigilant and keep the following tips in mind while mining among the Swamp’s haunted riverways:
Travel by boat instead of walking! Padding these waterlogged woodlands on foot proves annoyingly slow.
Besides, sailing enables panning across BOTH riverbanks spotting tin deposits efficiently. Should you encounter hostiles, leaping into deep waters allows a quick escape.
Follow each river methodically from beginning to end before moving onto the next. Clear every tin node fully on both sides. Mark waypoints along the way for future return trips when you need ore.
Oh, and always keep the wind at your back for fastest movement! Nothing worse than slowly fighting the current…
Assembling small waystation huts along your route provides safe havens during long expeditions.
If blood bags are overtaking you, quickly step inside. Their attacks can’t penetrate solid walls allowing you to bandage up in peace!
Additionally, construct elevated walking paths interlinking waystations. This further avoids surprise leech encounters.
Docked boats with chests nearby let you unload frequent ore hauls too. Then you can travel back to base with EMPTY inventories maximizing how much tin is transported.
One invaluable tactic I recommend is firing frost arrows at surtlings from range. Even basic wooden arrows get the job done.
Freezing surtlings slows them enough so you can quickly exterminate their squad with melee attacks before suffering any damage. Don’t let the cowards gang up and overwhelm!
Now let’s shift to managing resources back at your capital settlement…
Part 3 – Constructing an Unconquerable Harbor Fortress
After stockpiling hefty resource reserves, it’s time to start centralizing everything at your main base. This becomes the hub supporting all future expeditions across Valheim’s sprawling lands.
But more likely in the early bronze age, enemies can still raid and destroy inadequately protected settlements.
Follow my harbor fortress blueprint below to erect formidable seaside defenses:
Ideally your base overlooks the open sea while maintaining quick access to nearby biomes by land too.
For example, try finding a meadow beaches edge with the black forest directly behind. This provides fast materials harvesting while allowing aquatic travel.
Position workbenches, kilns, smelters and other crafting stations conveniently close with storage nearby.
Surround the entire base grounds with sturdy wooden poles two walls high. Leave no gaps for greydwarves to penetrate!
Additionally, embedding crafting stations into the fences themselves deters destruction during raids. Enemies attack buildings first giving them no easy targets.
Pro Tip – Build a moat outside the walls with player-jumpable gaps. This creates an outer defense destroying naïve troll sieges before they ever strike your actual fortifications!
For important structures like your level 5 forge, ascend additional wooden flooring at least 4 levels high. Keep only the essential access points intact.
Enemies rarely target elevated buildings. But if compromised, the extra height makes restoring damaged sections much quicker.
Since the majority of enemies must approach by land, naval defense tends to be overlooked.
Don’t make this mistake!
Remember to construct watchtowers overlooking docks where ships rest, allowing you to rain arrows down on surprise night raids.
With these tactics, no foe stands a chance at disrupting your well-guarded harbor sanctuary!
Now let’s shift gears into smithing essential weapons and gear for conquering the bronze age and beyond…
Part 4 – Gear Upgrading Guide: Essential Equipment Checklist
While building a thriving settlement equipped to mass produce ingots and coal is crucial…
What ultimately determines your survival in Valheim’s inhospitable frontier are the weapons and armor you wield.
Follow this gear set blueprint during the bronze age tailored to boosting damage and mitigating threats at this stage of the game:
Melee Weapon: Bronze Atgeir or Sword
Ranged Weapon: Finewood Bow + Fire Arrows
Armor Set: Bronze Helmet, Chest, Legs + Buckler
Accessories: 2 Stamina, 1 Health Mead
Let’s analyze why this package empowers budding vikings:
I recommend the atgeir over other bronze age melee options for its superior area damage and range. These enable slaying mobs of enemies rapidly with ease.
However, if you strongly prefer using swords or maces this early instead, choose fast 1-handed versions. These strike quickest while penalizing you less for missing blows.
For pulling distant targets or wiping surtling squads, the finewood bow combined with flaming arrows simply decimates.
The arrow’s piercing damage softens up enemies initially. Meanwhile, the fire DoT burns away their health for several seconds afterwards.
This combo absolutely melts through the likes of greydwarves and leeches. Just don’t expect fantastic range until acquiring needle arrows later on!
Although expensive to craft initially, a full ensemble of bronze helmet, chest piece and leggings provides maximum protection to supplement aggressive playstyles.
The full coverage leaves few vulnerabilities allowing you to absorb blows from heavies like brutes and shamans while retaliating back hard.
Unlike most RPGs, boosting stamina reserves early with high tier meads benefits Valheim warriors far more than extra health pots.
The superior dodging and unlimited sprinting these enable lets you become practically untouchable during skirmishes. Health potions by comparison tend to refill too slowly helping you only AFTER taking damage.
Of course if you prefer tankier builds instead, adjust your mead ratios accordingly!
Arm yourself with this optimal gear set first. Only then are you ready to begin methodically conquering all of Valheim’s hostile biomes with impunity!
Let’s cover some final troubleshooting before wrapping up this epic guide…
Part 5 – Pitfalls to Avoid at All Costs!
While executing all the tips covered will rapidly accelerate bronze age mastery, there’s still a few disastrous oversights newbies tend to make:
Failing to Store Critical Resources
Negligent Base Defenses
Disregarding Hunting / Cooking
Mining WITHOUT Ceiling Supports
Let’s touch briefly on each so you don’t repeat my past painful lessons…
When first starting any world, Valheim randomly selects which crafting station recipes you begin with access too.
Unfortunately, sometimes you won’t initially spawn knowing how to build smelters, kilns or other essential structures requiring obscure parts like surtling cores.
Thus, it’s imperative you BACK UP any rare crafting components you loot early on until unlocking their associated build recipes.
Should you die and drop those vital items before learning recipes, they might be lost forever…completely blocking progression!
Especially on first establishing your main base, it‘s easy getting overly excited about exploration or crafting stations.
But return home eventually bloodied too many times after deathsquito ganks or troll raids, and you’ll wish you prioritized base DEFENSES sooner!
Remember, constantly repairing damaged structures and replacing destroyed chest inventories remains extremely inefficient long term.
With so much alluring content waiting across Valheim’s seas, plunging straight into ocean travel often looks tempting…
But attempting long voyages or far away raids too early durability and food reserves usually proves disastrous.
Stay locally focused at first by thoroughly hunting all neighborhood wildlife to stockpile essentials. Andcook every last scrap of meat into the best possible food!
You need lots of MAX level ingredients for the most nourishing travel rations. Explore farther ONLY once your capital settlement has robust defenses and storage stocked with essentials to survive lengthy returns.
Oh, and always carry at least 3 backup sets of tools/weapons in case anything breaks irreplaceably! Don‘t leave home by only to get stranded weaponless…
While temporarily hollowing out small ore veins without issues, extracting massive multi-thousand stone deposits way down demanded I evolve more advanced underground mining strategies…
Mainly, you MUST reinforce all interior ceilings and regularly spaced supporting walls as you dig deeper. Otherwise, random collapses can easily snowball catastrophically!
I once painfully lost nearly 2,000 refined metal bars that plopped into an inescapable void after returning to a former mine. 💀☠️
Heed these lessons well fellow survivor! Now nothing stands between you and bronze age domination…
The War Chest Awaits, Raider!
We’ve covered a complete blueprint for rapidly progressing from meager peasant beginnings to rightful conqueror of Valheim’s first major milestone.
Master directional mining tactics to haul copper and tin efficiently. Construct an impregnable harbor fortress outfitted to mass produce coal and ingots. Gear up with formidable protection, weaponry and accessories to annihilate hostile inhabitants.
Most importantly—avoid disastrous pitfalls by backing up rare loots immediately, fortifying defenses early and preparing extensive food reserves before voyaging too far abroad.
Implement all guidance herein and you WILL swiftly transform into an unstoppable force of raiding nature!
The treasures of surtling cores, boss trophies and exotic ores awaiting through mystic portals beckon your inner Viking. Now set sail and make Odin proud!
Skål!!! 🍻🍺
Over to You!
What‘s your current biggest struggle with mastering the bronze age? Or what topic would you like seeing covered more in-depth related to early game Valheim domination?
Let me know in the comments below and may luck from the gods follow your adventures!