This guide will be covering the basic home that you can build as a starter in Valheim. You will be able to learn how to build your first house without using too many materials and no smoke filling your house from an indoor campfire.
Before we start, please note that you can make your own design. For this Valheim guide, we will be showing you the most effective way to get a starter house in the game.
Foundation
First thing, you’re going to need to set the foundation for your house. This is done by placing a single 1m wood pole in the ground, then using a 2m Wood Beam to space it up to the next pole position.
You’re going to want a structural integrity pole in every corner. This is going to be the floor space of your house. If you want a larger one, then extend it beyond what I’ve done. It’s a simple two by three, enough for a bed, a chest, a workbench and a torch. The campfire will be placed outside and will cover the entire house.
Floor and Campfire
.Campfire is needed to get the rest of the buff, which greatly increases the health and stamina regeneration. The better your shelter (comfort level) is, the longer this buff will last.
However, you don’t need to put the campfire inside your house, and if you’ve tried this, you’ve certainly noticed that it fills up the smoke pretty quickly, and you’re going to start taking damage.
To avoid this, simply place it outside with a roof over it pointing up instead of down, with a wall on each side to protect it from stormy weather. As long as the roof is pointed up instead of down, the smoke is directed away from the building.
It’s pretty much a shed for your campfire. This will cover the entire building because of its smaller size. While you’re at it, you’re going to need 6 in total to fill that foundation with 2×2 Wood Floor.
Just a picture to show that the campfire survives the weather just fine, and to show how the shed was built around it.
Door and Walls
Your building doesn’t require walls, it’ll work just as well without them. But it does offer protection from the monsters, so that’s it.
Start by adding a 2m Wood Pole in each corner at the top of the foundation, then fill the empty space with the Wood Wall. Put “Wood Wall Half” where you want the windows to be. Also, put down a set of wooden stairs to your entrance, as the building is placed on the base off the ground.
Finish the walls by adding another layer of “Wood Wall Half” to the top of the walls. If you want larger windows, don’t put anything above them, if you want smaller windows, do as I did.
Finally, don’t add the Wood Door, it’s worth going to the slightly more expensive Wood Gate. It looks better and it’s more comfortable to get into your home.
Furniture
Start by moving in your workbench, build yourself a bed (spawn point in case you die), place your chest in front of your bed for storage, and put down a light torch.
Alternatively, you can place another chest on a shelf above the first chest by using two wood floors of 1×1.
Roof
The roof finishes off the building and turns it into a shelter to get a better resting buff. A roof above your workbench also provides additional crafting options.
Whether you’re using the 26-degree Tatch Roof or the 45-degree Tatch Roof, it’s entirely up to you. Personally, I went with 45 degrees to give myself a little more headroom. For a larger building, it would be wise to go 26 degrees to avoid the roof getting too tall.
Generally, you want to place the roof in such a way that it bridges the smallest gap seen in the screenshot above. I decided to finish my roof with the Wood Roof Cross and some 45-degree Wood Beams. Completely optional, but it looks great!
Finishing Touches
So right now, you’re supposed to have a fully functional shelter with a campfire that won’t go out when it rains, no smoke filling your house, and it’s not unduly large, so you don’t have to spend too much time farming a ton of wood.
But you could visually improve the shelter by adding some beams to places where it makes sense to have them, visually pleasing and adding some more structural integrity to the building. Not that this is needed. Structural integrity is seen by the color of the pieces linked together. Note that green = good, while red = around to break.
Go to your workbench and get yourself a Hoe! It’s a man’s best friend, and you can use it to clear out that nasty grass around your house with the “pathen” option to get the campfire out and make it all look more visually pleasing.
Bonus Tip:
Build two cooking stations in your campfire. Can cook meat twice as quickly as possible. Well, if you could place your chest near the campfire to hold your food as well, it’ll be safe. Now that you’re a pro-builder, you can easily expand your house when the time comes.
