early game

The early game in Valheim is about surviving with almost nothing, building a safe first shelter, and unlocking the tools that turn raw gathering into real progression. Your first goals are simple: collect basic materials, make a reliable weapon and axe, establish a camp, and reach the first ore tools.

Getting started: the first hour

You begin with no gear and need to gather everything by hand.

Pick up wood from branches and small trees.
Pick up stones from the ground.
Collect raspberries and mushrooms while exploring.
Look for a coastal or riverside campsite, since water access helps with early flint gathering.

The Meadows are the starting biome and the safest place to learn the game. They contain grassland terrain, trees, and early points of interest such as burial chambers and abandoned structures. Even so, the early game is still dangerous because falling trees can kill you faster than many enemies.

First tools and weapons

Axe

An axe is one of the most important early items because it is both a tool and a weapon.

It is essential for chopping wood.
It is also usable in melee, with slower attacks than clubs or swords but solid damage.
A single axe is often enough for early close combat, especially before stronger weapons become available.

Stone axe

The Stone axe is easy to craft from early materials and can chop Beech trees, but it cannot cut Birch. It is serviceable, but it is usually better to move on quickly.

Flint axe

The Flint axe is the better early axe. Flint is easier to gather than stone if you live near water, and this axe is strong enough to carry you through the first stage of the game. It still cannot fell Birch or Oak.

Bronze axe

The Bronze axe is the first axe that can cut Birch and Oak, which means it unlocks Finewood. Once you reach bronze tools, it becomes a major progression item rather than just a basic weapon.

Club

The Club is one of the best early weapons.

It is cheap and easy to craft.
It can be made immediately without a workbench.
It deals blunt damage, which is very effective against Skeletons.
It swings faster than early axes, making it easier to use and better for damage over time.

For very early burial chamber exploration, the Club is one of the strongest practical choices.

Torch

The Torch is a light source and a weapon.

It can be equipped alongside another one-handed weapon.
It is especially useful in dark places such as burial chambers.
Greylings fear fire, so a Torch is also useful for controlling early open-field encounters.

Early enemies and how to handle them

Greylings

Greylings are one of the first enemies you will encounter.

They rush the player and attack in short sequences.
They are afraid of fire and run away from a Torch.
They take increased fire damage, which makes the Torch especially useful early on.

Boars and Deer

Boars and Deer are the most important early animals because they provide food and materials.

Boar meat and Deer meat are among the earliest cooked foods and give strong early health bonuses.
Leather Scraps from boars are a core early crafting material.
Hunting deer is much easier once you have a bow.

Skeletons

Skeletons are especially vulnerable to blunt damage, which is why the Club is so useful in the early burial chambers.

Deathsquito

If you push into the Plains early, a Deathsquito is a major threat.

It attacks very quickly after closing in.
Its hit is extremely dangerous for undergeared players.
A strong block can let you survive and counterattack, but a weak guard is not enough.

The Plains are not an early-game farming biome.

Food and healing

Early food matters a lot because it increases your health and recovery.

Good first foods include:

Cooked Boar meat and Deer meat are especially valuable in the opening stage. Deer meat is one of the strongest early health foods, while boar meat is also a major early source of survivability.

Queen's Jam is a strong early sweet food made from berries and is available very early in progression.

Building the first base

Once you have a hammer, you can begin building.

Your first camp should include:

A Workbench
A simple shelter
A Bed
A Campfire

The campfire must have open space above it so the smoke can escape. If smoke builds up indoors, it becomes lethal.

A basic first base does not need to be heavily defended, but it should protect your workbench and bed and let you sleep through the night safely.

The first boss and the first mineable ore

Eikthyr and the Antler pickaxe

Defeating Eikthyr is a major early-game milestone because it unlocks the first pickaxe.

The Antler pickaxe is made from Eikthyr’s dropped antlers and lets you mine the first ores:

This is the point where Valheim’s progression opens up.

From stone age to bronze age

After Eikthyr, your next major goal is the Black Forest.

What to look for in the Black Forest

Surtling cores from burial chambers
Copper deposits
Tin near water

You need Surtling cores to build the Smelter and Charcoal kiln. Each of those requires five cores.

Bronze crafting

Bronze is made from copper and tin at the forge. Once you can make bronze gear, progression accelerates sharply.

Priority bronze progression usually starts with:

Bronze axe for Finewood
Bronze pickaxe for faster mining

Bronze tools are the bridge from early survival to organized metal progression.

Finewood and why it matters

Finewood is one of the most important early-mid progression materials.

You can get it from:

Birch
Oak
Shipwrecks
Furniture in ruined towers

Birch and Oak require a Bronze axe to fell normally. Finewood unlocks a lot of useful crafting, including better furniture and the Finewood bow.

You can also sometimes get it indirectly by knocking trees into one another, but that is slow and unreliable compared with using the proper axe.

Bow and ranged hunting

The bow is one of the first ranged weapons and a major early-game upgrade.

It is crafted at a level 1 workbench.
It uses arrows.
Drawing the shot longer increases stamina use but also improves accuracy, damage, and arrow speed.
It is essential for killing birds for feathers.
It makes deer hunting much easier.

A bow changes early survival dramatically because it gives you control over distance and turns hunting into a reliable activity.

Early transport and exploration

Karve

Once you start moving goods and exploring farther, the Karve becomes important.

It is much faster than the raft.
It has low draft and a small turn radius.
It is useful in shallow waters, narrow waterways, and regions where larger ships struggle.
It remains useful even later in the game for local transport and portal-supported outposts.
It is relatively inexpensive compared with larger ships.

The Karve is the first practical step into real sea travel.