Dying is a natural part of life but it’s also something that occurs quite often in Valheim. In between ruthless monsters and other unspeakable dangers, its world really enforces the brutal survival game label. Taking a break from life does, however, come with a death penalty that you’ll need to keep in mind as you level up your Viking warrior’s XP and stats.
When the Grim Reaper comes knocking in Valheim, you lose all your equipment and leave behind a tombstone at that very location. Skull and bones mark the spot of your last death and you can retrieve everything you lost by just waltzing all the way back and interacting with the tombstone.
Just be warned that other players can also do that, potentially running away with everything that used to be yours. It’s called a Death Penalty, after all.
If you’ve played even a small amount of Dark Souls, you might expect the tombstone to vanish, should you die on your way back to it. That’s not the case in Valhheim, however, the map marker does shift to your most recent death location. This means that you’ll have to rely on your memory to pick up your stuff.
Losing equipment is also just one part of the Valheim Death Penalty. Each death also takes off a chunk of your XP and stats. The lack of manual save points makes properly testing the amounts of XP lost tricky at the moment. From what we’ve noticed, dying involves a loss of 5-10% XP across the board. This is particularly felt when your skills have reached higher levels.
The Valheim Death Penalty does, however, come with the No skill drain effect that stops you from losing skills if you kick the bucket a second time within 10 minutes from your first death. Even so, you’ll want to pick your targets carefully and make sure you’re properly equipped before heading out into the world.
For more help with Valheim, drop by our guides covering flint and animal taming.
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