Summary
Valheim’s Mistlands update has proven to be a big step for the game, bringing new life to a massive, dangerous biome, as well as introducing magic weapons to the game. Overall, magic weapons are still quite new inValheim’s lifecycle, and they can feel this way when players reach the point of finally unlocking them.
The magic weapons themselves inValheimaren’t necessarily underwhelming, but the current foundations of this feature as a whole have a lot of room to grow that future updates forValheimneed to address. There are ultimately many interrelated factors that influence whyValheim’s magic weapons feel incomplete, though the weapon balancing in the Mistlands stage ofValheim’s progression and the limited variety of Eitr foods are the main areas that should be improved.
Valheim’s Magic Weapon Balancing Is A Major Red Flag
For now, the magic weapons that are currently available inValheimare only obtainable once players get access to the resources available in the Mistlands biome. This alone isn’t problematic, but how these weapons are balanced compared to other weapons at this stage of the game is cause for concern.
Most, if not all, of the enemies inValheim’s Mistlands biomeare incredibly resilient. This is due to the fact that these enemies are resistant to the damage types inflicted by most melee and ranged weapons, with the exception being that these enemies are vulnerable to damage types dealt by magic weapons. What this means for magic builds inValheimis that instead of being an equally viable playstyle compared to ranged and melee builds, magic is essentially a required playstyle for progressing through and defeating the final boss of the Mistlands biome.
Given the variety ofmelee and ranged weapons inValheimby this point in the game, this kind of balancing can be quite frustrating as it undermines the value of any preexisting weapons for a temporary and seemingly unjustified reason. Even outsideValheim, this kind of approach to weapon balancing that forces players into a specific playstyle is a major red flag.
Valheim’s Magic Builds Are High-Maintenance
What further makes it problematic thatprogressing between biomes inValheimeventually requires players to use magic is that it isn’t a very accessible playstyle, at least for now. For the magic weapons to be at peak effectiveness against the Mistlands biome’s enemies, players will need to invest in an overwhelming amount of new skills and mechanics to begin crafting and regularly using magic weapons, mainly the new Eitr foods.
Valheim Needs More Eitr Food Buffs For Magic Builds
Eitr is the power source for all magic weapons that allow players to cast spells. to generate Eitr, players will need to consume specific food buffs inValheim. Eitr food buffs are a fun progression to thehealth and stamina food buffs inValheim, but there is one glaring flaw with these new food buffs, which is that there are severely limited options for now.
Every Eitr Food Source Currently In Valheim
As new updates likethe upcoming Ashlands biome updatecome toValheim, there are bound to be more Eitr food sources in the game, but for now, players only have four main Eitr food buffs and one mead consumable. Given that these existing Eitr food buffs effectively serve as the ‘introductory’ buffs forValheim’s magic weapons, the maximum amount of Eitr that players can have when stacking these food buffs together is seemingly quite low. Not to mention, these Eitr foods mentioned all have relatively low stamina and health buffs, so investing heavily in Eitr with these foods means that players are majorly sacrificing other aspects of their survivability for the sake of using magic weapons.
Valheim
WHERE TO PLAY
Valheimis a brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players set in a procedurally-generated world inspired by Norse mythology. Craft powerful weapons, construct longhouses, and slay mighty foes to prove yourself to Odin!EXPLORE THE TENTH WORLDExplore a world shrouded in mystery. Discover distinct environments with unique enemies to battle, resources to gather and secrets to uncover! Be a viking, sail the open seas in search of lands unknown, and fight bloodthirsty monsters.BUILD MIGHTY HALLSRaise viking longhouses and build bases that offer reprieve from the dangers ahead. Customise buildings, both inside and out, with a detailed building system. Progress through building tiers to upgrade, expand and defend your base.GATHER, CRAFT AND SURVIVEStruggle to survive as you gather materials and craft weapons, armor, tools, ships, and defenses. Decorate your hearths and sharpen your blades, grow crops and vegetables, prepare food, brew meads and potions, and progress as you defeat more difficult bosses and discover new recipes and blueprints.
