When you first jump into Valheim, it can be daunting figuring out where to start building a shelter before night falls. Building a home is less about protection from monsters and weather and more so a mandatory feat for crafting most things. Your bed must have a roof, and so must a crafting workbench.

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You also may have noticed many empty and tattered houses, sometimes filled with things, sometimes completely empty, maybe even a whole abandoned village. There are certain things you can do with these buildings to enhance your Valheim experience and truly feel immersed.

Loot Found In Houses

Inside house in Valheim

A lot of abandoned homes will have chests and or a bees nest. The chests can have a range of loot, from items you've never encountered before to some more flint and wood. They offer valuable resources, nonetheless. Bee hives can be tricky. If you stand by one for too long, you'll start to get attacked which will come off as a poisoned attack. This will also happen if you hit it, but you want to hit it.

If you get stung, it will wear off after a while. Eat some food to keep your health up. Destroying the nest will drop you some honey and a queen bee. Honey can be used later on in your Valheim progress to craft yummier things. The literal queen bee in your pockets can be combined with wood using your hammer and a workbench to craft your own bee hive home. This will be your designated place to farm honey and the bees will never attack you.

Abandoned Houses And Villages

Abandoned House in Valheim

If you think about it, these houses and villages seem a little cozy. You might even want to set up shop in one, liven the place up a bit. Most of them have broken roofs and things that may make them unable to perform as a house, but making them appear to be lived in can add to the immersion.

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With every abandoned house you see, you can put a chest and or a bed inside. You can also put torches or a campfire outside of it. This way, whenever you pass by them, it makes your world feel lived in and look more ominous and beautiful at night. These can also perform as temporary homes for you to reset and put some items away if you're journeying far away from your real base. You'll want to do this after you've crafted everything you need for your real home. Any extra materials can go towards creating these temporary homes or way points that add to the experience.

Picking A Spot To Build A Base

Valheim meadow

You can really build anywhere you want. You can find a naturally large and empty space, or you can cut down as many trees as you can to create space. Or maybe you want to build your house directly in a thick forest for aesthetics purposes. Either way, it's probably best to build it in the meadows biome when you're first starting out. You'll already be in the meadows, so there's no need to go looking for it. There are different biomes in the game like swamps and mountains. Meadows are defined by the lush green plants, grass and life to be found.

Where ever you build, you probably want to flatten the earth beneath you using a hoe. A hoe is crafted using two stones and five pieces of wood with your hammer's crafting menu. If you don't flatten the ground, your building will be off and half of your house will be floating on nothing while the other seems to be touching the ground. The hoe acts as a crafting tool much like the hammer itself. It has three options for manipulating the ground. One will allow you to raise dirt, which can fix the problem of floating wood walls. Another option attempts to equally flatten the ground, which you'll want to do before placing any walls at all. The last option just creates a natural, dirt looking path. You can add this to your frequent walking locations, temporary houses, and real base to make things look more homely.

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