After Valheim's Mistlands update, players will have a new combat system to learn: Magic. The game has offered plenty of weapons as far as melee and ranged combat is concerned, but the new biome will be one in which players can unleash magical powers. This will grant Valheim players new levels of strength to handle the challenges of this new biome.
Iron Gate’s lead artist Robin Eyre and senior developer Jonathan Smars took Game Rant through the new Mistlands biome in Valheim and spoke on this new magic system and its potential impact on players. As these two worked their way through the items and biome, they discussed the role of this new combat system and some weapons players will be able to use.
A New Magical Resource in Valheim
Bringing magic into a game devoid of it was an interesting proposition for Iron Gate, and it decided that this was the right time to introduce the concept. The question was how to introduce this new aspect of combat into Valheim's progression arc. It was decided that Mistlands would be the beginning of a player's relationship with magic, instead of working it into the beginning of the game and weakening it greatly thereafter. As described by Smars,
"You have to play as a normal Viking, melee or ranged, in the beginning quite a bit into the game... before you can become a Mage. A lot of Valheim is getting more powerful the further you progress, and not starting out as a mage and having these weak spells but rather getting to be a mage much later in the game is quite a unique feature."
In order for players to take advantage of this new combat system, Iron Gate has added items that grant them the new magic energy resource: Eitr. Similar to health and energy in Valheim, magic is something that food items will be able to greatly increase. The major difference here is that the base level of magic for players is 0. There will be no getting away with not eating the correct food items or meals as far as magic weapons are concerned. Once that item has expired from a Viking, they will not be able to use certain magical items.
New Magical Weapons in Valheim
While new players won’t have to worry too much about handling this new combat system until they work their way through the game, those players that have finished off the boss Yagulth in Valheim will be able to head right into the mist. Regardless of experience with the game, this magic system will take some adjustment. And, while Mages and their associated weapons are the best at tackling the challenges of the Mistlands, they come at a cost. According to Eyre,
"It's always going to be about how well do you play with these things... playing as a mage. You're pretty weak when it comes to your health, you're sacrificing that and some stamina for your magical capabilities."
There are a handful of new magical weapons that players will be able to unlock. One of these that make use of this system is the Staff of Frost. Functioning similarly to an ice machine gun, the Staff of Frost deals Frost Damage rapidly at a minimal cost of Eitr. In a similar vein, players will also be able to unlock and build the Staff of Embers. This weapon costs much more Eitr per shot but replaces rapidly firing small rounds for slowly launching large fireballs at enemies. Iron Gate also made sure to create a new suit of armor in Valheim that helps quickly recover Eitr.
For those fans of necromancy, Valheim’s Mistlands update also adds in Dead Raiser. This item can be used at a cost of both Eitr and Health in order to summon Skeletons. The trade-off is clear as the player significantly hurts themselves and spends Eitr in exchange for loyal bodyguards. With challenging new enemies in this new area of the game, Dead Raiser gives players a new approach to combat.
Valheim is available now for PC, and releases in early 2023 for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.