The second watercraft to build in Valheim is the much more streamlined Karve. The first was the raft, which was not really a practical vessel for any length of voyage – mainly useful for ferrying between two shores which were too far for swimming. The Karve, on the other hand, can achieve a speed of up to 24.5 kph, and can be speedier than running along a coastal path.
The Karve also has a cargo hold with 4 cargo slots. There doesn’t seem to be a limit on weight, or any adverse effects, so this is a good place to store ores on a voyage back from your mining site.
There are two seats plus the pilot, but as many vikings as you want can be squeezed on to the deck if they don’t mind the risk of falling off. The handling is also much neater than the raft, with a turning circle at full speed of just 20m.
The controls of the Karve are the same as controlling the raft. Jump on, go to the tiller and press E. The pilot will sit down at the tiller and you can press W to increase forward speed, or S to reduce it (or go backwards). A and D will turn the tiller. Remember that you can’t sail directly into the wind – you will need to either tack a few points either side of a head-wind, or raise the sails and move under the rudder only (first speed setting). The Karve is far more streamlined and as such will suffer less leeway while tacking (less windward drift).
The Karve is simple to build – you will need 80 Bronze Nails, 30 Fine Wood, 10 Deer Hides and 20 Resin. This obviously means that you need to have reached the Bronze Age, so if you haven’t reached that you will need to stick to the raft. Just like any boat you will need to place a workbench near the water and just use the hammer to build the Karve and plop it into the water.