The Black Forest is the second biome, and for me it is where Valheim actually starts. The Meadows teaches you the buttons. The Black Forest is where you get your first metal, unlock portals, and meet a boss that will genuinely embarrass you if you turn up unprepared.
Cross the border and you feel it straight away. The trees close in, the light goes, and you hear greydwarfs grunting before you ever see them.
Before you go in
Two things. First, this: Second, go in Rested with three foods eaten. Without food you are on about 25 health and a troll will end you in one swing.
What you are here for
The point of the Black Forest is getting into the Bronze Age. Here is the shopping list:
Copper ore
many- Tin ore
many - Surtling core
10 - Corewood
lots - Fine wood
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- Copper ore comes from the big mossy boulders that say Copper deposit when you look at them. They are far bigger than they look and run deep underground, so mine around the base and then dig down. Copper is heavy, so mine until you are encumbered, mark the spot and come back with a Cart.
- Tin ore sits in small shiny nodes along the water’s edge, a bit like flint.
- Bronze is not found, it is made. 2 copper and 1 tin at a Forge gives you one bar.
- Surtling core is in the burial chambers, the stone dungeon entrances guarded by skeletons. You need these for the Smelter, the Charcoal kiln and portals. Get at least 10.
- Corewood from pine trees, and Fine wood from birch and oak once you have a Bronze axe.
- Ancient seed from greydwarf brutes, shamans and spawners. You need 3 to call the Elder.
What wants to kill you
This is a real step up, and damage types start to matter here.
- Greydwarfs roam in packs, especially at night. They hate fire, so a torch and fire arrows work brilliantly. They drop Greydwarf eye, which you need for portals.
- Brutes and shamans are the bigger ones. Shamans heal their friends and poison you, so kill them first.
- Skeletons guard the burial chambers. They shrug off arrows and go down fast to blunt damage, so bring a Club. Do not stand there plinking arrows at them.
- Trolls hit like a truck. They are weak to pierce, so keep your distance with a bow and use trees to break line of sight. They drop Troll hide, which makes some of the best early armour in the game.
What to bring
- The Antler pickaxe, or you are wasting the trip.
- A blunt weapon for skeletons and a bow with fire arrows for everything else.
- A shield, so you can block and parry.
- Three foods and the Rested buff.
- A Hammer and workbench materials so you can throw up a small shelter with a bed.
The order I would do it in
- Build a small forward base right on the Meadows border with a bed, a fire and a workbench. Now you always have Rested and somewhere to respawn.
- Clear a burial chamber for surtling cores. Bring the club.
- Build a smelter and a charcoal kiln, and start smelting copper and tin.
- Make bronze at the forge. Get the Bronze axe first, because that unlocks fine wood, then a decent weapon.
- Build portals. This is the moment the game opens up. Read how to make a portal for the recipe and the one rule that catches everyone out.
- Find Haldor the merchant, who hides somewhere in the Black Forest, and save up for the Megingjord belt for the carry weight.
- Craft troll or bronze armour. Troll armour is nearly as protective and does not slow you down, which is why I usually go that way first.
- Collect 3 ancient seeds and go and deal with the Elder.
Beating the Elder
The Elder is a huge tree of a thing and he is a proper step up from Eikthyr. Burn 3 
Ancient seed at his altar to summon him. You find his location on a vegvisir stone inside a burial chamber.
He is weak to fire, which makes sense given he is essentially a tree. Bring a fine wood bow and a lot of fire arrows, more than you think, a couple of hundred if you can manage it.
He has three things he does. A stomp if you get close, a volley of vines he fires at you from range, and roots that burst out of the ground around your feet. The trick is the stone pillars in his arena. They are indestructible, so when he winds up the vine volley, put a pillar between you and him and it does nothing. When roots spawn under you, just move rather than trying to fight them. Keep Eikthyr’s power running for the stamina.
For beating him you get the swamp key, which is your ticket to iron and the next biome, plus a power that makes chopping trees much faster.
Mistakes I see people make
- Shooting arrows at skeletons. Use blunt.
- Trying to melee a troll. Kite it.
- Forgetting that ore cannot go through portals, then building their base miles from the water.
- Wandering around at night, when the greydwarf packs get much bigger.
Where to go next
With the swamp key in your pocket you are off to the Swamp, which is the first biome that really punishes carelessness, and where the Iron Age starts. Before you go, it is worth reading how to get fine wood if you have not sorted your bronze axe yet.
Happy building!
