Over 6 million players are eagerly anticipating the first major update of Valheim. Once the initial rush of this hugely successful early access game had died down, the developers took stock and brought out the Valheim Roadmap for 2021.
The main parts of the roadmap are the four major updates slated for later in the year. These are Hearth and Home, Cult of the Wolf, Ships and the Sea, and Mistlands. We have been left guessing what most of these actually mean, although the descriptions make that seem relatively easy.
Hearth and Home
The first update is titled Hearth and Home. It would appear that this is all about new objects for the home, and new foods for the hearth. We have been told that there will be new recipes and more variety of food, and that the food system will be rebalanced. Whether this is tweaking the actual method behind food, or the value of different foods, is unknown. It is likely to be a combination of the two.
Cult of the Wolf
This one is a little more enigmatic. Is this a new type of enemy, worshipers of the Wolf? Is it a new boss, possibly centred in the Deep North? Is it more uses for your tame wolves? Or is it more content for the Mountain biome? We don’t know, but we should find out in a few months or so.
Ships and the Sea
The third update is obviously all about the sea, and the Ocean biome. There are only serpents and leviathans to be found in the ocean, and the leviathan doesn’t move (except downwards). We have been told that there are going to be more creatures in the ocean, and perhaps even more than that. If ships are also getting an update, then we will be looking for more ship mechanics, more choice in ships, and possibly even the chance to build our own vessels which better the Viking Longship! Either way, this one looks like a very enjoyable update as well.
Mistlands
This one is a little more obvious. The Mistlands is already a biome existing in our worlds, albeit empty and eerily quiet. This update will populate the biome, probably with extremely tough and beautiful creatures. We will probably see more materials from this biome, possibly web-like materials with super strength.
If Odin Wills It
Finally a whole bunch of hopefuls slip in. We can assume that these are on the wish-list of the developers, and will make it at some point, but possibly not within 2021. These are self-explanatory on the whole, although some are not so simple. Vendor inventory expansion is obviously Haldor‘s inventory being made larger (and possibly more vendors as well?). Multiplayer interactions would be nice, but not essential. We can assume that Moon Phases will have an impact on the world, possibly just making it darker and lighter, but probably affecting crops and the strength of Wolves as well. Perhaps this is linked to the Cult of the Wolf?
Tar Pits presumably will provide some form of material for the player to use. Svartalfr Brigands would appear to refer to Norse mythology with Svartalfr being “black elves”. More unique locations would be great for immersive gameplay, with there already being tonnes of content in the game. Again, this is a nice to have.
Overall, we have a lot to look forward to. When will it all be out? The roadmap was for 2021, so we can expect to see the first of these coming very soon. But with the huge number of players on the game last month, probably all coming up with bugs to fix, it may be that the roadmap is overly ambitious. So far the team has delivered, so let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and wait with bated breath for Update #1 of the Valheim Roadmap 2021!
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