Hitting over a whopping five million players in just over a month, Valheim is the latest game in the survival genre to make waves. Despite being in the early stages of early access, it’s more refined than its peers, offering hundreds of hours of gameplay. Here, you’ll simulate the afterlife of a deceased Viking on a mission to take out Odin’s rivals in the titular realm of Valheim.
Though it’s already chock-full of content, there’s more coming. The developers have charted future Valheim updates, like how the seafaring raiders planned their journey and sailed the ocean to the British Isles. With that said, let’s take a look at the Valheim roadmap and see what the game has in store:
Hearth and Home: More building pieces
Hearth and Home is the first Valheim update that will drop into our longhouses. Although it won’t appeal that much to players that love to explore and journey across the procedurally-generated realm, it’ll grant more building options and pieces. In a way, this will enable players to construct more complex structures.
The current community builds today are rather complex despite the limited options and materials. As of today, players can create massive fortresses and towering walls, and great longhouses that rival the mead halls of Valhalla. Some even made villages which will definitely turn into thriving settlements in future updates. However, due to the limited pieces, players cannot fully deck out their Viking cribs. There are only two materials (stone and wood) available for building – metal exists but can only be used to a limited extent.
Hearth and Home will likely contain decorations and other elements to improve buildings’ form and function, especially when monsters raid them. Though stone walls provide enough protection from firebombs Surtlings throw, it would be a great idea to reinforce them further.
Cult of the Wolf
Though there’s not a lot of details regarding this Valheim update, we can speculate that it’s closely related to Norse mythology lore. With that in mind, it’ll likely bring in more enemies, likely new kinds of wolves or wolf-worshippers (hence the “cult) or worse, the followers of Fenrir, a wolf fated to fight Odin in Ragnarok. This upcoming update may see the aforementioned wolf’s appearance, who may even end up trying to thwart Odin’s plans and hinder your progress in Valheim.
Ships and the Sea
This naval-focused Valheim update will indeed tackle the game’s raft and longboat aspects. Currently, there’s zero to little option to customize your boats, making voyages to far-off locations rather uninspiring. Though we won’t see your armor-clad warrior and your mates singing Norse songs as you sail, we may see new ship styles and decorations better-suited to fighting leviathans and sea serpents. After all, a raider’s ship needs to look threatening: imagine a longboat painted in black with dark sails, with a troll’s head attached to the bow.
Mistlands
There are currently six existing biomes in Valheim, with three more on the roadmap. The Mistlands will be the first one to drop and will undoubtedly be the scary and suspenseful one in the bunch. In a nutshell, it’s a land with tall, dark trees blanketed by fog with spider webs hanging in every corner. It’s safe to assume that it will have arachnids as enemies, so if you’re somewhat frightened of spiders, it may be a good idea to calm and prepare yourself before venturing out.
The Mistlands will come sometime in 2021, with the Deep North and scorching hot Ashlands arriving sometime in the future.
If Odin Wills It
The last entry on the Valheim roadmap, If Odin Wills It, is a list of features the developers want to add to the game. These include:
- Multiplayer interactions
- Combat improvements
- Moon Phases
- Tarpits
- Vendor inventory expansion
- Svartalfr brigands
- New locations
- Sandbox Mode
- Munin
Though the combat system is rather enjoyable in its current state, it is still relatively simple and lacking compared to its peers. Meanwhile, the Svartalfr brigands will probably be an outstanding addition, considering that this race of dark elves in the Svartalfheim realm could act as deadly foes. Just imagine a large party raiding your settlement, trying to breach the wall surrounding your longhouse. Meanwhile, the sandbox mode could become a go-to for players who want to immerse themselves in Valheim’s construction elements.
Wishlist
In your case, do you have a wishlist of your own, and what are some of the potential features would you like to add to the game if you had your way? Personally, I’d prefer to have:
- Increased player count. It would be a great idea to have at least 30 players on a single server simultaneously. Though primarily a co-op game, this could open it up to PvP events. Just imagine raiding parties attacking a walled settlement with siege engines.
- Resurrecting bosses to more powerful variants. Once you’ve progressed to a certain point in Valheim, early bosses won’t be much of a challenge. With that said, it would be great if the game would let you resurrect more powerful variants of these bosses.
- More weapon types. Arms like the lethal Dane ax, greatswords, and pikes, as well as ranged weapons like slings and crossbows, would be fantastic additions. It would be nice to add wall-mounted arms like onagers and arbalests to protect your settlement from attackers.
There’s a lot to look forward to the entries in the Valheim roadmap, and we’re sure you can’t wait for what it has in store.
So, does Valheim’s future look bright? If yes, which update are you looking forward to the most? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments.
