'Valheim' Guide: Here's How To Upgrade The Basic Workbench

The Workbench is a crafting station that all veterans of the survival-crafting genre are familiar with. In “Valheim,” this station works the same as it would in other games. However, “Valheim” features a unique base upgrade system that can leave many players scratching their heads in confusion.

Instead of simply gathering resources and clicking on an upgrade button, the Workbench in “Valheim” levels up depending on the amount of “improvements” that are near it. A high-level Workbench will allow players to craft stronger equipment and ultimately survive the game’s later stages.

However, “Valheim” doesn’t exactly say what these improvements are as of its current build.

To level up a Workbench, players will have to create and place specific objects near it. These objects are the Chopping Block, the Tanning Rack and the Adze.

The leveling process may sound simple, but the caveat is that players will have to unlock the recipes for each of the objects first.

The Chopping Block recipe will be unlocked after obtaining some Flint, which are found along streams or river banks.

The Tanning Rack is unlocked after receiving Hides from ambient Deer. Make sure to use a strong melee weapon like the Flint Spear or a Wooden Bow then attack from stealth. This will make sure the deer won’t be able to run away.

Lastly, the Adze recipe can be unlocked after getting Bronze Nails and Fine Wood. The nails are crafted via Forges while Fine Wood can be chopped up from nearby Birch Trees. This will require players to venture into the Black Forest and gather Copper from there.

Placing one of these objects will increase the Workbench’s star level by one, up to a maximum of four. Once fully upgraded, players will be able to use all of the features a Workbench has to offer such as the improvement of weapons and armor and advanced item crafting.

Since “Valheim” is an early access title, it’s hard to say for sure that this will be how Workbenches are leveled up in the future.

The game’s developer, Iron Gate AB, revealed its 2021 roadmap on its Steam news channel, where it promised new content as well as improvements to existing mechanics.