Old School RuneScape | AFKing And Questing For Combat Experience
Valheim | Exploring By Sea
One of the Sunken Crypts I cleared out ended up giving me the location for Bonemass the next boss I needed to take out. The issue? It was not something I could just walk or swim to. I’d need to build a boat and explore around finding a path to it.
The sea itself can be quite a deadly place. I will want to avoid going into the open ocean the best I can. That will mean hugging the coastline around many places I’ve already explored and new ones as well. First, however, I had some things to get done before I could head off to the sea on a journey.
I set out into the Black Forest for some last remaining items I needed to craft the boat. Then I’d be off on an adventure I hoped was not going to end with me being at the bottom of it. I had hopes of reaching whatever lands the Bonemass boss would be at.
I turned a bunch of ore I had minded up into bronze and hen nails. I finally had all the parts I needed to make a Karve boat. While sure I could have gone with a raft I just did not feel like it.
At dawn, I went off on my grand journey to try and find a path to the next boss. One thing I needed to do was relearn how wind and boats work in Valheim. Not doing things the right way sure made it feel like I could have gotten out and pushed the boat faster than it was moving and I’m sure that was the case.
At one point I came across a narrow area of water I needed to cross over. Some skeletons chased after me and it was clear my boat was m moving a lot slower than they could move. I think in a way they helped push me along and past the narrow straight.
After the very least I learned the basics again to get around in a boat. The game also makes it a bit easier than I recall with the icon on the right. As long as there is a wind symbol on the tan-white part you had some winds you could work with and it was worth having sails down.
When that was not the case it was best to pull up most of the sail. You paddling along with the rudder seemed to move the boat along faster than having the sails set wrong depending on the wind.
There were also moments were I had such speed on the boat I was concerned with crashing into the land masses I was following around. I wanted to avoid going into the open ocean if I could as there are some nasty things you can run into there.
While I had an idea on the map of where I needed to be. I had no idea the best route to get there. So there was a lot of sailing around and realizing I might not be going the best path. Then turning around and recovering some areas I’ve already been hoping for a better-looking path forward.
On occasion, I’d take the opportunity to stop and put up a crafting station. From hitting things, attacking creatures, and just taking what felt like random damage when I should been hitting anything at all. The boat needed some repairs. It looks like at each repair stop the boat had between 40% to 70% remaining health. It’s a good thing I did otherwise I’d just be stuck with a bunch of broken wood.
Often I would pull up the map and see how things were looking. While it was tempting to build the boat along the swamp I had cleared out for ores. As that looks not that far from where I needed to go. I wanted to take this opportunity to get a better understanding of the surrounding areas as well. There were a few things I had an eye out for that I did and did not end up finding.
Sometimes I’d just drop a note on the map. Other times I’d park the boat and set up a temporary little area for a new portal and write down the name I gave it. With plans to return to those areas to see if they hold anything interesting enough to spend further time in those areas.
I did not run into anything nasty creature-wise. I did discover just how bad the seas could get at night. I could have set up a portal and gone back to base to sleep. I decided to keep going during the nighttime.
The nighttime ended up being quite a waste. I ended up hitting a giant loop along the shoreline that took up near where I started in one of the areas. While there were some rivers they did not look wide enough to want to risk taking a trip down. I also did not feel they would have led me to a path I could take to get to where I wanted to be.
At the very least when I need to make this journey in the future I’ll know what areas I can cut across which should save me a lot of time. Perhaps in future trips, I’ll even find some better routes as well. I can’t quite recall if there are bigger and faster boats to get as well. This game's map is quite massive to the point I might end up setting up a few different locations with boats and proper crafting stations.
I did also find a decent shortcut. It however needed some work. I was looking to cut through what looked like a massive land mass I would have otherwise needed to go around. My boat however became beached as the water was not quite deep enough. I ended up mining out the blocks under my boat and just barely getting it though after doing some pushing. In the future to make this a proper canal I’ll need to spend some further time widening and deepening it.
There however came a point where following the shoreline and staying in the safety of shallow waters was no longer an option. I was as long as the location of the next boss I could be on this side of the map. I had to make a straight line cut into open waters.
I decided it would be best to wait till it was daytime before making such a journey. The last thing I want is to get my boat sunk and get killed. I have no idea if you lose all your stuff at the bottom of the ocean these days or if there is a chance to collect the corpse tombstone. I’d rather not find out.
Along the way ended up finding what looked like some small islands. I also noticed there was another NPC I discovered to buy items from. I however did not dare stop where it was at. It appears the swamp I’m heading to is right on the edge of the plains. Quite a deadly place for my level of gear and items.
I made sure to stay a bit more offshore than I have been in other regions. There are some nasty flying things in the plains that I know can reach me out in a boat. So I wanted to keep out of any aggression range they might have to ensure I would not have to remake this entire journey failing just short of where I needed to go.
Final Thoughts
I finally made landfall on the shoreline of the swamps that had Bonemass. I would still have some walking ahead of me till I found it. I made sure to mark the location of the boat so that in the future I would not have to wander around looking for where I left it.
The next order of business will be setting up a portal back to my base and getting ready for the fight. For the time being, I just wanted to explore around but play it safe. I’d hate to get killed out here without finding a spot to at least place a portal down.
Other Content
Information
Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Valheim.
