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You won’t get far without crafting in Valheim. Though the initial biome, the Meadows, is fairly safe, you’ll want to fashion yourself a few tools and weapons before long. These basic bits of equipment are good enough to get you started, but you’ll need an upgrade before you start exploring further afield. Fine Wood is one material you’ll need for these upgrades, but you’ll also need another type of wood – Core Wood. In this guide, I’ll tell you exactly how to get it.
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Harvesting Core Wood in Valheim
Harvesting Core Wood is pretty easy. To collect it, you need to chop down Pine trees, which can be done with a Stone Axe or better. The basic Stone Axe won’t do a whole lot of damage, so you’ll be doing quite a bit of swinging to get a decent hoard. To make your Core Wood collecting time easier, you should focus on leveling your Woodcutting skill. Each level will do a bit more damage per swing to trees, felling them much quicker at higher levels.
With a Stone Ax and a few levels of the Woodcutting skill on your belt, it’s time to set off in search of Pine trees. To do so, you’ll need to take a trip to the nearest Black Forest. There should be a reasonably large chunk of forest close to your spawn, so you probably won’t have to do much exploration before stumbling across it.
Also Read: How To get Black Metal
If this is your first time in the Black Forest, you should tread carefully. While the enemies inside are not particularly dangerous for long, they can pack a mean punch in the early game. A few hits by a pack of Greydwarfs can be enough to kill a low-skilled Viking. Venturing into the Black Forest at night is generally not a good idea for inexperienced Vikings.
The forest gets busy at night, with the most dangerous enemies rearing their heads. Without decent equipment, you’ll be quite vulnerable. Besides Greydwarf families, the Black Forest contains copious amounts of Pine trees, which can be found on the outskirts, in the heart, and anywhere else within. Once you’ve found your first Pine tree, it’s time to get chopping.
To make your life easier, you might want to bring along a cart on later trips. You won’t be able to do this at first, as the cart needs materials only found within the Black Forest. Once you’ve progressed to Bronze, you can put one together and make subsequent trips a bit more convenient. Alternatively, you can grab a few Pine seeds that you’ll get after chopping down a few trees. Take these back to your base and plant them for a renewable source of Core Wood.
Related: Valheim Fine Wood – How To Harvest The Hardwoods
Crafting with Core Wood
After gathering a decent haul of Core Wood, you can return to your base and start crafting a few new bits of equipment. You’ll also unlock a few new build pieces, which can be used to great effect by the budding Viking architect. I’ll cover most of what Core Wood unlocks, but as a few aren’t terribly interesting, I’ll let a few pieces go unmentioned. Here’s what you can craft with Core Wood:
- Finewood Bow: This bow is a fantastic upgrade from the initial bow, perfect for a Viking that prefers to sow death from afar. You’ll need Fine Wood as well for this, however, which will need a Bronze Ax and a trip to the nearest Birch tree.
- Bronze Pickaxe: Compared to the Antler Pickaxe, this is a massive step up in terms of mining capability. You’ll need to mine Tin and Copper from the Black Forest, then combine them at your forge to make the Bronze.
- Cultivator: If you want to make a farm, you’ll need this item first. With it, you can till the earth and sow seeds.
- Stagbreaker: Stagbreaker is the first heavy weapon your Viking can craft. It deals good damage for how early it can be crafted, plus a decent bit of knockback. However, you’ll want to upgrade pretty soon.
Core Wood can also be used to craft a series of new building pieces:
- Butcher’s Table: This won’t be available immediately after you get Core Wood, as it requires a few other materials from different biomes. You should make an effort to build it though, since it can be used to cook some pretty strong foods.
- Bonfire: Bonfires are exactly that – large stacks of wood on fire. A must for any true Viking settlement.
- Log beams/poles: While not terribly interesting on paper, Core Wood beams and poles look pretty good, plus they provide a good bit of structural support to your buildings.
- Sharp Stakes: These rudimentary defenses are pretty good for keeping enemies at bay, though you’ll need to do the killing yourself.
- Sitting log: It’s a nice-looking log that you can use as a bench. Pretty nice for sitting around a campfire while enjoying a tankard of mead.
While not as useful as Fine Wood, Core Wood is undeniably a valuable material to gather in Valheim. You can use it to craft a few important items, while adorning your Viking structures with some nice-looking build pieces. If you plan on using it a bunch in your buildings, you should probably set up a large-scale farm to save you the trouble of scouring the Black Forest for Pine.
Also Read: Valheim Progression Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Is 1 Day In Valheim?
Since Valheim is a game centered all around survival, it’s important to know how long 1 day is in it. After all, knowing how long the day lasts, and when night comes, will help you better plan your survival tactics!
1 day in Valheim lasts 21 minutes of real time, while the night period lasts a further 9 minutes. This means that an entire 24 hours of game time in Valheim is equivalent to 30 minutes in real life. More specifically, this means that 1 hour of Valheim time is 1 minute and 15 seconds of real time.
Thankfully, it’s easy to tell when a new day has started, as there will be a popup in the game announcing it, alongside a subtle musical cue. You can also tell that night has started, if you don’t have cold-resistant armor, because the game will tell you that you’re cold come nightfall.
What Is The Best Weapon In Valheim?
Valheim will have you facing off against plenty of attackers, meaning that it’ll be a real test of what weapons you’ve crafted. What are the best ones?
Well, the Stagbreaker is going to be the earliest great weapon that you can get. You’ll be able to craft this weapon after only a few sessions, and it’s the first Sledgehammer-type weapon that you can get. You’ll need a level 2 station to craft it, and the following materials: 5 Deer Trophy, 20 Core Wood, and 2 Leather Scraps.
Once you’ve got more experience in the game, the best weapon you’ll be able to craft is the Frostner. It uses the CLub skill for you to hold it, and it deals a lot of spirit and frost damage with each blow. You’ll need a level 3 station to craft it, and the following materials: 30 Silver, 10 Ancient Bark, 5 Freeze Gland, and 5 Ymir Flesh.
