4Game

How many houses do you build in Valheim? Do you stop and build a home at every pretty island you see? Or are you more of the "One base to rule them all" kind of viking? Perhaps you like efficiency and want one base for every biome?

Today, I'd like to start a conversation about proper base terminology.

Hovel– The hovel gets you through the night, and that's about it. The hovel gamer doesn't want to spend his first day in Valheim building a home. He's just going to take whatever abandoned dump he can find and fix it up a bit. Later on, he might liberate a stone tower from the clutches of the greydwarves while exploring the Black forest. The defining features of a good hovel is that it's in a good spot and very little work was required to get it up and running.

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It's bit of fixer upper, but it's close to work

If the Hovel was actually built by the player, it likely is built to a minimum standard. It won't be far from the starting circle, and will likely become a portal outpost when the player figures out where they actually want to live.

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wood floors are too expensive right now

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Base– This is often the first serious home that players put together. It has all the necessities and is continually upgraded over the course of the playthrough. It may have some solid artistic flair or kept simple. They come in a very broad range of shapes and sizes. The key to a good base is the scouting long enough to find that perfect spot that can yield a ton of value. Location, Location, Location.

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the perfect base location doesn't exi-

Outpost – A fancy term for a portal with some walls around it. This build is mostly to ensure you have a lifeline back home when you need repairs or to find your body if you die. Nobody really likes building them, but we all learned the hard way that they're an essential part of any valheim playthrough. A sneaky player might get the portal high up off the ground to avoid the need for walls.

Safe, Cheap, Effective

Smithy – A Smithy is a lot like a Hovel. It's small and has minimal functionality. Only it's a lot more deliberate and thought out in the design. As the name suggests, it has everything you need to forge new equipment on location. It doesn't do much, but what it does do, it does very well. A solid Smithy was a key factor for me to successfully complete the 100 day challenge.

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Day 88, still haven't found yag, but at least the padded armor is good to go.

Great Hall to Please Odin – You know what this is. Even if you've never built one, you've seen it here on reddit or somewhere else. It's an awesome build that goes above and beyond the needs of the game to simply look awesome. Maximum comfort is obligatory obviously. The location is still important, but more for the aesthetics of your build than for strategic access to resources. You don't need to build a Great Hall to Please Odin, but if he's watching, he'll appreciate the effort.

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Or will he? Keep in mind that in the old tales, Odin was shapeshifter who often dined with mortals, giving out great rewards to those who were generous to guests in their home. There were also terrible punishments for those deemed to be bad hosts. (a similar superstition also is the starting point for Beauty and the Beast) It's not all about wealth and extravagance, shield-brothers.

The Capital City – The rarest of Valheim builds. You probably won't see solo players ever attempt this. It's an entire god damned village with multiple houses to create the feeling of a living thriving city. Usually this requires a server with lots of players to pull it off well. Partly because of the time and work and partly to ensure each sector of the city has it's on unique flair born of individual skill and inspiration. If it's just 20 identical houses, it won't have the same feel as many hands each adding their own unique contribution. At the same time, good city planning is also essential to make sure it all comes together. If the roads or walls are shit, it won't matter how pretty the individual houses are.

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Do you ever stop think, what was the point of all this? We've been at this for three weeks. Will this really make us happy? Nah, just kidding, this city is fucking dope. I can't wait to show it off when it's done. Viva Lox Vegas!

Did I miss anything? What other naming conventions are you folks using?