Valheim News

Viking survival saga Valheim gets even chillier today as players gain access to some mysterious ice caves up in the mountains. Apparently, there's something howling out there? Probably a friendly dog trying to say hello and absolutely nothing to worry about. The patch also optimises for Steam Deck and controller support, perfect for when you want to get cosy in your bed before spelunking into the frosty depths searching for your definitely friendly new companion.

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The fenrings stalking the Mountains at night had to come from somewhere. Now you can finally discover the strange frozen caves where their brethren reside – if you’re brave enough to face them. Maybe you’ll even be able to learn a thing or two from how they fight?

For this patch, we have also optimised the game for the Steam Deck. This also includes full controller support for PC as well, and a pause feature in singleplayer. That’s right, if you’re playing alone you’ll now be able to step away from the game for a moment without having to worry about being found by a troll!

Please note that this update forces a fresh location generation of your worlds. This will cause slightly longer loading times the first time you open them, and it might slightly move some boss locations. The Frost Caves will also only appear in previously unexplored areas.




New Content:
* Suddenly… Frost Caves!
* Anniversary drinking horn added. Skål!

Fixes & Improvements:
* Pause function in singleplayer
* Full controller support! (Gamepad legend and alternative glyphs)
* Gamepad text input when running through in steam big picture mode
* UI, settings and Steam Deck fixes
* FPS Limiter and reduced background performance
* Split dialog can take numeric input
* Signs can now be built without a workbench
* Bug fixes and quality of life improvements
* Armour stand now supports atgeirs and shield styles
* Nomap mode tweaks





New Content: * Frost Caves added as a new dungeon (Will only appear in unexplored areas)
* New enemies: Ulv, Cultist, Bat
* New crafting materials: Red jute, Fenring hair, Fenring claw
* New armour set: Fenris Coat, Fenris Leggings, Fenris Hood (equip all at once for an extra bonus!)
* New weapon: Flesh Rippers (Fists)
* New build pieces: Red jute carpet, Red jute curtain, Standing brazier
* New event: “You stirred the cauldron”

Fixes & Improvements:
* FPS limiter setting and option to reduce GPU usage when minimised, menu FPS capped to 60
* Various console command improvements and additions, see console ‘help’
* Fixed some dungeon parts not being fully deterministic (ends)
* Nomap mode improvements (vegvisr alternative, nomap is server setting, max distance for shouting, random build/spawn rotation, ‘noportals’ command)
* Resolution now only shows refresh rate when forcing exclusive fullscreen
* Various UI fixes
* Changed name of Unarmed skill to Fists
* Helmets covering the player character’s face should now hide beard
* “Reduce background performance” is available as a setting
* Recipes for Jack-o-turnip + Yule stuff disabled

Quality of Life:
* Building marker is more subtle and indicates piece rotation
* Corpse run gives carry weight bonus to compensate for unequipped belt
* Crafting stackable items while having full inventory now possible if there are are available stack slots
* Fixed a bug where sometimes stackable items won’t be taken when having full inventory and pressing ‘Take All’ in a chest
* Chat can now be closed using esc, mouse or gamepad B

Gamepad support:
* Full controller support!
* Controller legend visible in pause menu and settings
* Controller text input when running in Steam big picture mode. Chat, characters, signs, pets etc can now be named using the controller.
* Controller mapping of all game features
* Context menus will now always show controller buttons when using controller
* Alternative controller glyph style option
* Skills window scrollable with gamepad
* Crafting can be cancelled if pressing the button again (like with mouse)
* Fixed some missing/misplaced gamepad tooltips

Steam Deck:
* Steam Deck controller layout shows when playing on Steam Deck
* Loads default settings catered to the Steam Deck

Localisation:
* Improvements for several community translated languages

Vikings!

This blogpost wraps up Valheim’s anniversary month, and we want to summarise it for those who might have missed it.

Earlier this month we released a fireside chat where CEO/lead designer Richard, lead artist Robin, and community manager Josefin discuss the past, present and future of Valheim. They talk a bit about the process of Hearth & Home, the possibilities that come with more hands on deck, and how the work on the Mistlands is going. If you haven’t watched it already (or want to watch it again) you can do so here:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We also hosted our first stream on our Twitch Channel where Robin gave you an insight into how the process of designing an item might look, by creating an anniversary tankard from scratch. The tankard was just added to the game, and is available for everyone! You can find and watch a recording of the stream here.

Last but not least: the Frost Caves have finally arrived! Are you brave enough to venture into their depths, and will you find your way out before the inhabitants get you? This update also comes with a brand new event involving one of the new creatures – how will you defend yourself and your base from these fiends?


This update also includes full controller support, the option to pause in single-player and further optimisation settings!

When Valheim was released into early access little over a year ago, we also released a roadmap which we sadly had to cancel in May. On that cancelled roadmap we had an update called “Cult of the Wolf”. While we’re no longer calling it that, these frost caves are essentially that update.

We love the feeling of exploration and surprise that Valheim can give. We’ve been cautious with spoilers and only allowed a small group to try our content updates before release. With the release of the Mountain update, we wanted to try a different approach. The Mountain update was available on our public test branch before going live for everyone, and we want to thank everyone who gave feedback and found bugs that might otherwise have made it into the update's release. If you want to participate in future public testing, please head over to our Discord server or to our forum here on Steam for more information. But keep in mind that the public test is for testing, so don’t be surprised if you find bugs or less balanced things.

Of course, we can’t have a blogpost without a teaser of what’s to come ;)
Last time we showed you a piece of concept art of an enemy that you’ll meet in Mistlands, and we thought that we would follow the theme of “flora and fauna”, and show you something else that will inhabit the lands of mist:


We also want to share this other lovely piece of concept art made by our concept artist, which greatly captures the feeling we want to achieve in these strange lands. What do you think you’ll find in the mists?


[h3]Build of the Month[/h3]
In our last blogpost we mentioned that we were gonna introduce “Build of the Month”, and the time has come for us to present the build we chose for this month! This was made by Kittheviking, and really stood out to us!


If you want to partake for a chance to put your building skills on display, head on over to Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, post a picture and use the hashtag #ValheimBotM.

We want to once again thank you for this fantastic year and for all of your support and feedback, and we’re excited to see what our second year will bring!

The Iron Gate team
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Valheim's latest update is now available on the survival game's public test branch, letting extra-adventurous players get their hands on frost caves, full controller support, and Steam Deck support before the update rolls out for everyone.

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