Summary

• Ashlands offers new challenges with new enemies, weapons, and fortresses to conquer.
• Ashlands can only be reached using the Drakkar ship after defeating The Queen in Mistlands.
• Visibility issues with lava pockets in Ashlands present a major challenge that could be addressed for better gameplay.

With Valheim launching its massive Ashlands update, it is one step closer to leaving early access and to beginning life as a full release. Although players are still waiting for the Deep North biome and potentially a reworking of oceans, Ashlands, much like Mistlands update before it, offers players plenty to do by being bigger and having more mechanics than all areas. With new enemies, weapons, building materials, and fortresses to conquer, the new biome does a lot of things right and feels like a fresh challenge for seasoned Vikings.

The Deep North is planned to be at the northernmost point of the map while the Ashlands is in the southernmost point.

Everyone expects Valheim to be hard. It is known as a harsh, Norse-inspired survival title that expects the player to prepare themselves well before taking on deadly challenge after deadly challenge. The boiling water around the Ashlands makes sure that players don't arrive at the shores of the fiery island too early, since the Drakkar can only be made after defeating The Queen (the boss of the Mistlands). That's a good thing too, since the new enemies are deadly, and the lava will burn vikings to a crisp.

Hidden Lava Pockets Make Traversing The Ashlands A Nightmare

Spontaneous Combustion Is Never Fun

Lava is proving to be a problem for the Valheim's new biome. It is as deadly as one would expect, setting players alight while dealing massive fire damage that will burn vikings to a crisp in just a few seconds. For the most part, lava forms large pools that glow bright orange and spell danger. In these large pools, lava is not a problem, but sometimes it can spawn in small pockets that are difficult to see, even with a Wisplight.

Each biome in Valheim has its own boss. Ashlands has Fader, an undead dragon.

These small pockets form because of the procedural generation of the ground. Since they are so tiny, they do not glow as vibrantly as the larger pools of lava. If a player walks into them, they will take the same amount of damage as if walking into a molten pool since the amount of lava doesn't affect its damage. Being careful isn't an option all the time since the deadliest enemies in Valheim will bear on players constantly, and if they are running for their lives, stepping into a tiny, near-invisible lava pocket could result in an unfair death.

How This Valheim Mechanic Can Be Fixed

Ashlands Will Continue To Be Updated

The fire damage from these pockets of hot ground can melt a well-prepared player's health bar to nothing in no time at all, and the difficulty in seeing them means that the fiery deaths these can cause seem almost random. They are technically still lava, and the damage will be the same as lava, but if these areas cannot be taken out of the biome, perhaps the damage should be lessened. Valheim does have many ways to alleviate fire damage but, when done by lava, it is still substantial.

The Ashlands have a new creature to tame called the Asksvin, which can be ridden.

Visibility is the main problem, since the small pockets of lava are very dim. Although they aren't always a problem, with the procedural nature of Valheim, the ground can conjure unfortunate pockets where these tiny lava pools can form. One way of fixing it would be to make these small pockets of lava more visible. That way, the damage can remain the same, but the areas of hidden, burning death are a little less hidden. Perhaps increasing brightness or having lava spawn in deeper pockets could be a solution.

Ashlands Is Still Amazing

And The Deep North Could Be Even Better

Valheim is still in early access, and the game will continue to be tweaked and polished until its full release. Ashlands is not in its final form, if the updates to Mistlands after its launch are anything to go by. It adds amazing features that are well worth the hassle, like new weapons, a unique environment, and castles to conquer, while giving players who love building plenty to work with on their next construction project.

Ashlands still needs some polish but the ideas it presents are exciting. Once mechanics like these little pockets of lava that are almost impossible to see are adjusted, the Ashlands will be exactly what the game needs to go forward. Still, this doesn't mean that the game should hold back on its difficulty. Valheim is meant to be hard and the Ashlands should be made to be the biggest challenge the game has so far.