This is completely aside from the new Mistlands update being imminent (which looks amazing!) It's just coincidence that an idea came to me for the Ocean biome (as opposed to already thinking of the next update which is not the case here before I get mauled!)
I saw an amazing build posted here by u/breakingbrad83 and it got me thinking. Their water town build made me realize how much a water town update would add to this game as part of the ocean biome. Like, small archipelagos at sea that have water town constructs similar to brad's.. not land masses but unique builds with limited land space, albeit each corresponding to a biome. And to take them you have to deal with long range draugr arrows or perhaps even now long range magic users.
Each water town with a style unique to the biome.
It would fit right into the Viking experience!
And furthermore, a great reason to go out to sea in search of them would be if they were part of a long lost trading route that could be revived. A set amount per seed so you have one or two per biome and the conquering of these water towns revived the port but not before it has to be rebuilt to a certain standard or certain items added like the craft tables.
And thereafter, upon reviving a second port you gain access to the ability to trade a biome's resources for the resources of that second port stacking up to all known biomes.
It would really give the ocean a true meaning where it is otherwise difficult to think up content for an open sea. Moreover it doesn't stand out that much from the current game when you think that this function already exists in the form of Haldor who is a trader at a unique location that must be found. As such, it could be the case of a similar npc that comes with each ocean port albeit with the above functionality.
What are your thoughts on this? Would you like to see something similar as part of an ocean update?
I hope Iron Gate is listening!
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/valheim/comments/z1ydzy/giving_meaning_to_the_ocean_biome_thoughts/