'Valheim' Survival Guide: Building The Best Base Defenses

Base building is a core part of the “Valheim” experience. Many players sink countless hours trying to build large settlements and intricate structures, while others settle for more practical designs. Regardless of a player’s building approach, one thing remains certain: their base is going to get attacked eventually.

The attacks can range from a horde of Greydwarves to a swarm of Ice Drakes depending on the server world’s progress.

With events like these, “Valheim” players should know what kinds of base defenses are available to prevent monsters from destroying all of their hard work.

Walls and spikes

A perimeter of wooden walls with lines of spikes around them is a good start. It’s relatively easy to set up despite being somewhat demanding on resources. Players will need Core Wood from the Dark Forest’s Pine trees for the spikes.

Enemy AI will often walk into the spikes, damaging and eventually killing them. However, the spikes deteriorate over time so players will have to make sure they’re properly maintained.

One extra bonus is that animals like Boar and Deer will often hit themselves on the spikes, causing them to drop meat and leather literally at a player’s doorstep.

Moats

Moats are arguably the best defense for “Valheim” bases. The way the AI works is rather basic; they will try to find the easiest way to get inside a base. If a way inside is not available, they will try to break through walls and other buildings.

Monsters will often drop down into a moat with no way out, effectively rendering them harmless. A deep moat is often enough to trap Trolls, making them very easy to take out.

Digging the moat will take some time, but the result will be well worth it. A moat that’s 4 meters wide and 10 meters deep should suffice (this can be measured using the 2m Wood Beam item in the Construction menu). Players should be able to jump across the gap while leaving monsters without any means to cross it.

Moats will make trapped enemies very vulnerable to arrows and Ooze Bombs.

Towers

Moats can trap most of the game’s enemies, but there are still archers and flying monsters to deal with. A small archer tower should be present around a base to help deal with Ice Drakes, Deathsquitos and Skeleton/Draugr archers.

Players should make sure that there’s enough space to shoot at an upward angle since Ice Drakes tend to hover at varying heights.