Penultimate biome is also the survival sim’s toughest yet
Do you love the smell of napalm in the morning? If so, you’ll probably love the smell ofValheim’s Ashlands biome, which has just launched for all players aftera period of beta testing. Sadly, my computer is incapable of producing smells beyond a faint reek of encrusted pasta sauce and regret, but if it did, I imagine I’d even now be basking in the aroma of burning bone and feather, because that is what the 10 new creatures you’ll meet in the Ashlands consist of, broadly. Shout-out in particular for the monster that resembles a combusting sink clog with spider legs. VeryPossum-esque.
Also in Valheim’s Ashlands patch: 70+ new buildable items! 30+ new weapons! 30+ new crafting materials! 15 new food items and potions! Five new crafting station upgrades! Three new armour sets! Two new capes! A partridge in a pear tree, possibly! Developers Iron Gate Studios are also introducing new events, music and mechanics, including the ability to besiege the fortresses of the Charred using new catapults and rams. Thefull Steam listinghas detailed patch notes which spoil a few nasty surprises you might prefer to discover yourself. I will give away only this: be extra mindful of the possibility of incineration when dressing, crafting, constructing things, exploring the new biome on foot or sailing its coast.
The developers also have some advice about preparing for your first voyage to the Ashlands, which I am going to petrify for posterity in the shape of a blockquote, the grandest mausoleum available to modern games journalism:
In case it isn’t already obvious, the Ashlands is a challenging environment. It’s the penultimate biome in a deliberately difficult game, the developers remind us. So maybe brush up on your skills a bit in the Meadows or Black Forest before taking the plunge. You can also adjust the difficulty in the World Modifiers menu.
As always with Valheim updates, the new biome is also going to break a lot of existing mods, so consider uninstalling them (including modloaders that might boot mods up automatically) before playing. “If you don’t want to play without mods, you will most likely have to wait a couple of days until the mod creator has updated their mod to be compatible with Valheim again,” the developers note. I’m not savvy with the Valheim modding scene and am interested to know whether this last claim strikes modders as reasonable or presumptuous.
We’re big Valheim enthusiasts round these parts. It’s fourth on our list of thebest survival gamesand 13th on our list of thebest co-op games. Ah, if only I could drink in the reek of roasting monster vertebrae it’d be right up there at number one. Are there any other games you wish you could smell?
