These are the strangest methods players have found to protect their Viking villages.
Monster attacks are always going to be a problem in Valheim. When it turns night, enemies will spawn in the darkness — and sometimes they’ll try to smash your stuff. They’re naturally attracted to your little outposts, and everything you’ve got can be destroyed if enemies are persistent enough. That’s why players are always looking for new ways to keep the most annoying creatures out.
Here are some of the most effective (and bizarre) ways to keep enemies from attacking your stronghold. Some make it so enemies won’t spawn at all, while others are designed to distract — and at least one will automatically kill. You can even autogenerate your own monster-hunting army! But that’s only if you’re willing to listen to endless howling.
More Valheim guides:
12 Tips The Game Doesn’t Explain | Beginner’s Guide | | Comprehensive Healing Potion Crafting Guide | 4 Tips To Improve FPS Performance | 9 Tips To Survive The Swamps | How To Summon All Bosses | Best Mods List | How To Move Loot Easier | Inventory Guide | | How To Find Haldor The Trader | How To Unlock The Best Weapons
#1: Placing Workbenches
This works even at the very start of your adventure. Enemies won’t spawn in the effect radius of your workbench — so just cover your entire island in workbenches! Enemies won’t spawn, so your base will be eternally safe. It looks terrible and costs a lot of resources, but that’s just the cost of a little peace of mind.
#2: Creating A Monster Decoy
Deathsquitoes are one of the biggest problems you’ll face if you’re living near the Plains biome. They attack basically everything, so if you want to distract them from your sweet, sweet base — just build a Greydwarf cage. Build a small shack with gates, lure a Greydwarf inside to lock him up, and you’ll have your decoy. Now Deathsquitoes will (try) to attack the Greydwarf before ever touching your fancy base.
#3: Generating A Wolf Army
Now here’s one that can quickly get out-of-control. In the Mountains, you can tame wolves with food. Taming wolves isn’t enough — you need to breed them. Once you’ve tamed two wolves, sit and wait for them to breed (feed them and put them in a “Happy” status, then they’ll eventually breed) — wolves have a weird tendency to despawn, so it’s better to wait for the offspring to appear.
Wolf babies don’t despawn, so once you have at least two babies, your army is on its way. Tame Wolves will kill monsters and eat the raw meat automatically — which means they’ll put themselves into a “Happy” state, and breed all on their own. This is both a blessing and a curse, so use the power wisely. We’ve also got a full guide that’s all about wolf breeding right here.
#4: Swamp Water Mote
Here’s another one we’ve talked briefly about before. It’s still a great idea — just build your base on the outskirts of a swamp. Dig a mote under the water level, then connect your clean water with dirty swamp water. The leech infestation will automatically spread to any connecting waters, so you can build a leech mote that kills anything it touches. Now that’s a handy way to stop anything that can’t fly.
#5: Windmill Death Blades
Leeches can’t stop Deathsquitoes… but Windmills can. Windmills are a crafting structure that are only available after defeating Moder, the boss of the Mountains biome. The Windmill is used for only one thing — making Barley Flour, but players have found a secondary use. Windmill blades also kill Deathsquitoes instantly.
Now, if only you could surround your entire base with Windmills. Windmills require the Artisan Table to function, but will continue to function if the Artisan Table is moved. So you can really place Windmills anywhere — as long as you put down that Artisan Table first.
That’s all the weird methods we’ve found (so far) for keeping your base safe. What else is out there? We’re always searching for new information.