174 replies to this topic

[BrewerGeorge]

Fucking bonemass! wtf. this guy sucks.

There's a way to cheese it. Let me know if you want to know.

[Stains_not_here_man]

Maybe later, I got him pretty close but his adds are ridiculous. Sooo many.

[Vagus]

Health potions helped me out a lot

[Stains_not_here_man]

OK. I had to upgrade my iron mace, apparently blunt damage is key, my level 4 iron atgeir wasn't doing shit to him.  Bonemass is down.

 

I also accidentally "cheesed" it a little - not exactly sure why, probably a bug - but once I had him down about 2/3 of the way, he pretty much just stopped summoning adds for some reason and that made it much easier.

[BrewerGeorge]

Oh gosh yeah, Blunt is super important.  The things that the biome's creatures hate are the things the biome's boss hates.  Fire in the Black Forest. Blunt in the swamp.

[Stains_not_here_man]

I've been using my atgeir in the swamp the whole time! Lol. I can one-hit most creatures with it.

[BrewerGeorge]

I've been using my atgeir in the swamp the whole time! Lol. I can one-hit most creatures with it.

That's just because you're especially good with it from using it all the time, and it has a high base damage.  Nevertheless, swamp creatures have a specific weakness to blunt attacks.

[BrewerGeorge]

I brought this one back up over the break for the 4th of July and have been playing steadily since. 

 

There have been lots of updates in two years, including Hearth and Home and Mistlands.  Early game is largely the same except that there are more recipes to cook - stuff like boar jerky with boar and honey, or deer stew with deer, blueberries, and carrots.  There is a new big monster in the swamp called an Abomination and new, light armor you can make from him. Basically a swamp version of a troll. Mountains has a new werewolf monster and a light armor set built from him, and think Plains does as well.

 

The ashlands and the mistlands are fully fleshed biomes now, and there is actual magic - robes, staffs, spells, magic items you have to power - at higher levels but I've only seen those fleetingly in YT videos. (I'm trying not to spoiler it.)

 

It took me a while and a couple throw-away characters to get back in the swing, but now I'm about to take on Bonemass again.  I've been going much slower this time and not rushing so I'm very well prepared.  All my swamps are VERY wet and it took me FOREVER to find turnips, but I just found them during lunch today, so I'll go after the Blob pretty soon.

 

I did make some concessions for my limited time.  I don't want to play a trucking or sailing game, so I use the alternate world trick to transfer stuff between bases that will not go through a portal.  I won't do it from inside a crypt or similar, but once it's back to my base I have no qualms about transferring it between worlds, stepping through a portal, and transferring it back.  I'm also using a web page to see my world map from the seed.  It saves a lot of time searching for biomes, but it's primary use it preventing me from blundering into biomes I'm not ready for yet.  I still sail everywhere - at least the first time. These two modifications have probably doubled my progress speed, letting me spend my limited time on more interesting things than playing delivery boy or wandering around aimlessly.

 

It's worth revisiting.

 

If you go back, there are a couple tips that are very useful:

1. Start using the club early.  The temptation to use only an axe will bite you in the ass once you get to the swamp.  Kill all your graylings and food animals with a mace to get the skill up.
2. Use a shield. They're honestly kind of OP, but if you don't use them you're dogmeat.  I'm going to be able to tank Bonemass by the time I get to him, using the iron mace, iron tower shield and the right foods.
3. Moats.  Forget about walls for the main base.  Monsters can't cross a moat. They also can't cross cliff walls you raise with the hoe if they're steep enough, but moats look better.  Trolls with trees can reach 4 meters past the moat, so build in an offset.  Flyers, of course, don't care about any of these things.
4. Always be Rested.  In addition to the health and stamina recharge buffs, it also buffs how fast you learn skills.
5. You can make fires in the wild to recharge your Rested buff. You can make a fire in the antechamber of a dark forest or swamp crypt to rest by and dry off. A swamp crypt while dry and rested is MUCH easier than tired and wet.
6. Trees count as ground, and anything built on them - no matter how high - is blue.  Some swamp trees are not destroyable so a tree house built on one of them is inviolate.

[Stains_not_here_man]

I'm hooked on Dave The Diver right now but I've been feeling the urge to pick this up again recently. I really like the graphics - it's like PS2 level of quality but they did a really good job making it feel right.

[BrewerGeorge]

Everybody is recommending Dave, but I've looked at it and decided it's not for me.  I have limited time, and this one isn't in my wheelhouse, having never really played the Playstation games it evokes.

 

The new foods in Valheim are really impactful.  There are no longer 'best' foods.  Instead you have to balance your food based on what you plan to do.  Planning a bow fight? Stock up on Queens jam, Carrot soup and other plant-based foods to buff stamina.  Meat items give more health for tanking, at the expense of stamina.  For general walking around, balance them.  The cauldron itself is now fully-fledge crafting station with upgrades, and some of the old mid-game standbys like sausages are now gated by cauldron level, but there is enough new that you don't really miss them.

 

There is also a bonfire now that uses a surtling core.  It has a larger area of effect and burns on through rain.  There's a hearth, more rugs and seating, tables, more chests, more beds, and presumably other new household stuff at higher levels.

[BrewerGeorge]

I took down Bonemass quite easily by tanking him.  I still prepped the area, but I didn't really need to.  I just stood in front of him and smacked him down with the mace.

 

Generally, I find the game a lot easier than I used to.  Perhaps it's because I'm taking my time and prepping more fully.  I'm running around mountains now without much problem, but I remember being deathly nervous before.  Part of that is the better foods - there was not a really fleshed-out set of Mountain-tier foods before and mountaineering with swamp foods is dicey.  Mostly though, it's the slower speed. By taking everything slower I die much less often, and the cumulative lack of skill losses from death compounds over time.  My clubs skill is nearly 50 now and I do upwards of 75 hp per swing with the club. Those rock giant things in the mountains fall in 5 or 6 hits with the iron mace. Blocking is also high and I can absorb one of their swings with no problem using the silver shield. 

 

I'm only nervous if the numbers against me get high. I've never touched a sword, using the axe to do my slashing damage. But swords can attack multiple targets at once, like the atgeir.  Also, the best end-game (for now) weapons are swords - including a couple of magic ones.  I have plenty of silver (I lucked into an area with 4 deposits almost touching and each yields about 100 ore if you dig out everything.)  Lack of skill is an issue but it's pretty quick to build up to the 30's by going back to a lower-tier biome and stomping around hacking up everything you see. I recently  did the same with Spear just so I'd have some skill with which to use the Abyssal Harpoon. I'm thinking of moving the main base and building a pretty house and I could focus on Swords during that downtime.

 

Overall, still worth coming back to.

[Stains_not_here_man]

I am out of commission for now at least for anything with WASD controls thanks to the giant bandage on my finger, but I'm just about finished with Dave. There's a final boss fight I don't want to take on while I'm crippled so it will have to wait a few days at least until I replace this monstrosity with a regular bandaid.

[Stains_not_here_man]

Have been playing this again. Just got my first bronze forged today. Killed a troll. Good times.

[BrewerGeorge]

I'm ready to take Yagluth, but I got distracted for about a week building a new fortress in a new world with creative mode.  After Yagluth, I'm probably going to move the whole character and his portable belongings to the new world and tackle the Mist there.

[Stains_not_here_man]

I'm about ready for Bonemass but I want to explore the swamps a bit more before I take him on. I am thinking about building a bigger base also.