Iron Gate has just released Patch 0.218.9 for Valheim: Ashlands, their latest and greatest expansion to the massively popular title. If you’re a fan of the game or even just new to it, it’s certainly worth checking out, and thankfully, they’ve released the extensive changelog too, which you can read below!
If you’re excited to try out the new content, or just get a sneaky peak at it, there is an all-new trailer which you can view above. However, they do warn that it’s not completely spoiler-free, but I still it’s worth checking out regardless.
Terrain Generation and New Content
As always, new content will only be generated properly in previously unexplored areas of the game. Therefore, if you have already explored a lot of the Ashlands, the update will not generate properly in that world and we recommend that you start a new one. If you haven’t explored the Ashlands, you should get the new content, but we always recommend that you start a new world for the best possible experience. You can of course start a new world with an older character, if you don’t want to play through the whole game again before being able to conquer the Ashlands.
Additionally, the Ashlands update features some significant changes to the terrain generation around the Ashlands. The Ashlands will only be accessible by ship, and the terrain around it has been lowered and turned to ocean. This also affects any buildings you might have in that area – if they are built on terrain that gets altered, they will collapse. The images below illustrate what happens to a spawned location versus what happens to a player built structure. As you can see, even if the spawned building remains intact, it will be rather difficult to reach it, as the terrain around it is vastly lower.
Preparation and Difficulty
Before you travel to the Ashlands, you should first make sure that you have defeated The Queen in the Mistlands. If you have done so on an earlier playthrough, remember that her dropped item is no longer a placeholder. Just like Eikthyr’s antler lets you craft a pickaxe needed in the Black Forest, and just like The Elder drops a crypt key for the Swamps, the item from The Queen will be useful in the Ashlands! If you have the item already, you might need to toss it out of your inventory and pick it up again, for new recipes to trigger properly.
What the Developer Had to Say
“We also want to remind everyone that Valheim is meant to be a difficult game, and that it’s meant to be more difficult the further you progress – and the Ashlands is the penultimate biome of the game. If you’re confident in your skills, by all means, go forth! But if you haven’t played for a while or if you’re feeling a bit rusty, we recommend a bit of practice to get back into it, or that you adjust the difficulty in the World Modifiers menu.”
Mods
It is recommended that you disable them before you download the Ashlands update, otherwise, the game will most likely not launch properly. Modders will have to update their mods to ensure they work with the new update, but you can always test them one at a time to see what is and isn’t working before you play. To disable mods you will also need to remove BepInEx or any other mod loader, as they might try to load regardless.
Valheim Ashlands Patch 0.218.9 Release Notes
New content:
Mechanics:
Beware the skies! Cinders rain down from above in the Ashlands, causing damage to those who are unprotected
Wooden build pieces can now catch fire in the Ashlands – and the fire spreads!
A new world modifier that allows fire to spread outside of the Ashlands as well (part of the immersive preset)
Deadly lava takes up large parts of the landscape; traverse it with your very own platforms
Lay claim to Charred Fortresses with two new Siege Machines
New plantable Ashvines will grow on the walls of your base
Combine your Flametal weapons with gems (Bloodstone, Iolite & Jade) in order to upgrade them to magical weapons (giving them blood, storm and nature based effects respectively)
The waters in and around the Ashlands are boiling hot, and only the sturdiest of ships can sail them
Building Piece: Flametal Gate Defence: Ashwood Stakewall Stack: Ashwood Stack Stack: Grausten Pile Stack: Pile of Skulls Stack: Bone Stack Furniture: Ashwood Bed Furniture: Bone Throne Furniture: Lava Lantern Furniture: Asksvin Rug Furniture: Straw Furniture: Small Green Pot Furniture: Medium Green Pot Furniture: Large Green Pot Furniture: Ashwood Bench Furniture: Asksvin Skeleton Siege Machine: Catapult Siege Machine: Battering Ram Ship: Drakkar Misc: Shield Generator Misc: Portal – Stone
Food & Potions:
Food: Cooked Volture Meat
Food: Cooked Bonemaw Meat
Food: Cooked Asksvin Tail
Food: Fiddlehead
Food: Fiery Svinstew
Food: Marinated Greens
Food: Mashed Meat
Food: Piquant Pie (cooked/uncooked)
Food: Roasted Crust Pie (cooked/uncooked)
Food: Scorching Medley
Food: Sizzling Berry Broth
Food: Smoke Puff
Food: Sparkling Shroomshake
Food: Spicy Marmalade
Food: Vineberry Cluster
Mead: Lingering Healing Mead
Mead: Lingering Eitr Mead
Misc:
Location: Ruins (multiple)
Location: Redbeard Dvergr Outposts
Location: Putrid Hole
Location: Charred Fortress
Event: “The undead army marches”
Event: “The dead have been summoned”
Lore: New stones
Lore: New dreams
Lore: New Munin dialogue
New music
New forsaken power
Terrain changes for Ashlands (Ashlands is now cut off from other biomes, only accessible by sea)
Fixes & Improvements:
Fixed Major Healing Mead material
Fixed Minor Eitr Mead Material
Standardised texts throughout the game
Updated names for old Flametal items
The popup for unlocking new things is displayed longer
Peter Donnell
As a child still in my 30's (but not for long), I spend my day combining my love of music and movies with a life-long passion for gaming, from arcade classics and retro consoles to the latest high-end PC and console games. So it's no wonder I write about tech and test the latest hardware while I enjoy my hobbies!
