After a lengthy delay, the long-awaited Valheim Mistlands release date is coming soon, and the biome update is also now available for test play. It’s quite a doozy, introducing players to a slew of new mechanics, enemies, aesthetics, and much more.
Valheim is not a place for the faint of heart, so if you’re new to the game or returning after a long hiatus, you’ll have your work cut out as you explore the game’s newest biome. We’ve got details on how to play Valheim Mistlands on the test server in a separate guide, but here’s everything you need to know about the full Valheim Mistlands release date, what the update will contain, and more.
Valheim Mistlands release date speculation
The Valheim Mistlands update is now available as a public testing beta. However, the full update is not live in the base game. The developers will incorporate player feedback and push changes to the testing version of the game until they’re comfortable enough with its state to push the content to the main game.
According to the official Valheim Discord, the team offers no set date for game updates and simply states, “Updates will be released when they’re ready!” However, the team has heavily implied the Valheim Mistlands update would be available sometime in 2022, and there are only a few weeks left in the calendar year.
Previous patches to the test beta have gone live on the site within a few weeks. For example, a patch pushed to the test server on June 3, 2022, was pushed to the main game on June 20, 2022. Using this as a guide, since the public beta went live on November 22, it seems reasonable to guess the Valheim Mistlands update will appear in the main game the week of December 12 or 19. It seems unlikely it would be later than that, as many companies take breaks in late December and early January and the team will likely not be available to work during that time.
There’s also the possibility they delay it till the new year with that in mind though, because if anything major goes wrong with the release, their reduced capacity means it’d be more of a struggle to deal with. This is all speculation in lieu of an official release date mind, so we’ll update this as soon as the launch date is confirmed.
Mistlands update overview
The Mistlands update introduces several new mechanics, which will be essential to know as you explore the biome:
- Wisplight: The Mistlands are misty. With the update, you’ll be able to clear it using Wisps, which you can use to build a torch to cause the mist to disappear. You’ll also be able to make a Wisp fountain to farm Wisps.
- Magic: Eating foods with a new substance called Eitr fuels you with magic. You’ll have to work hard to harvest Eitr, which is challenging in the Mistlands. You can create magic staffs, which you’ll also need to craft from new items throughout the biome. Further, using magic will drain your HP, so you’ll also need to keep track of that.
- Mushroom farming: You can now farm Mistlands mushrooms.
- Poultry farming: Find an egg to grow and raise chickens, which you can kill to include in food items.
- Friendly/unfriendly NPCs: In the Mistlands, you’ll encounter creatures called Dvergrs. They are initially friendly, but they house resources you need, and if you attack them or damage their property, they become hostile.
Before we jump into the rest of the content, be aware that the Mistlands are initially incredibly difficult and can be very punishing. You’ll want to ensure you have backup weapons and gear in case you need to recover your loot from your gravestone. It may help if you explore the area with a group. But, if you’re a solo player, we recommend initially staying on the biome’s border to get accustomed to the creatures slowly so you can quickly retreat as needed.
Valheim Mistlands update: New creatures
Unless you’re a seasoned Valheim player, you’re likely to struggle when encountering the creatures of the Mistlands. There are a total of nine new creatures:
- Seeker: A large, aggressive insect-like creature. Combat them with fire, frost, poison, or lightning damage.
- Seeker Brood: A small Seeker found in the Mistlands’ infested mine dungeons.
- Seeker Brute: The largest and most powerful type of Seeker.
Gjall: These beings fly through the air and spew an acid-like substance at players. - Tick: A large version of the common insect.
- Hare: A harmless creature found traversing the Mistlands.
- Hen (and Chick): Can be used as a food crafting item. You must find an egg first, which you can pick up from Haldor, the merchant.
- Dvergr – Rogue and Mage (NPC/enemy): Initially friendly, but can turn hostile, as described above.Munin, Raven of Lore: Similar to Hugin, bringing information to the player.
- The Queen (boss): Find this boss by visiting the infested mine dungeon to find a boss marker. You’ll need to use the new Galdr table to craft a key called a Sealbreaker out of nine sealbreaker fragments. For the best chance of beating her, craft a feather cape and bring a wisplight to protect against the mist.
Valheim Mistlands crafting updates
Valheim Mistlands features 20 new crafting materials, which you can use to build new workstations, armour, weapons, building items, food, and much more.
Some of the new core materials include black marble and Yggdrasil wood. Use black marble to build a black forge, which you can upgrade with a black forge cooler. The black marble forge allows players to build 14 new construction pieces, such as walls, floors, and support beams. Other environmental materials will allow you to build a Galdr table and rune table extension. There’s also a new cauldron extension, an Eitr refiner, and other miscellaneous items. You can now create more defensive pieces, such as a ballista, which you can fuel with ammunition, and a trap.
And, of course, there are numerous new craftable weapons and items. Some of the most interesting include an Arbalest crossbow, magical staffs, an Eitr-based armour set, and carapace defensive items and armour made from Seeker materials.
The game also contains new food options, which you’ll need as fuel as you traverse the Mistlands. Some of these include misthare supreme, Yggdrasil porridge, and magecap. The game also introduces three new potions.
Fishing, character, console commands, and other improvements
In addition to the Mistlands biome content, the Valheim team introduced a few additional updates. There are now several different fish types and reworked fishing mechanics. The game also has new craftable baits for each biome, and levelling up fishing skills will increase stamina and pull time while fishing. Players can mount fish on item stands, and larger fish offer more food.
There are now also more choices in terms of their character customisation. Developers introduced several new hairstyles and beard styles to ensure your Viking looks as Viking-like as possible, along with 12 new emotes so you can blow kisses at your friends or flex on your enemies.
You can also look forward to more lore, different dream descriptions, new Mistlands music, new dungeons, and new events called ‘What’s up gjall?’ and ‘They sought you out.’ Haldor, the game’s merchant, will also increase the number of inventory items as you progress through the game’s bosses.
The team also made updates to Valheim console commands and command improvements, such as changing “killall” to separate commands to “killenemies” and “killtamed.” The game no longer uses a stamina usage multiplier when running uphill and reworked some knockback mechanics.
That’s everything new in the Valheim Mistlands update. If you’re still getting to grips with the base game, make sure you check out our guides to the Valheim weapons, the best armour, and a complete Valheim building guide if you need to construct a base.
