Do you love the smell of napalm in the morning? If so, you'll probably love the smell of Valheim's Ashlands biome, which has just launched for all players after a period of beta testing. Sadly, my computer is incapable of producing smells beyond a faint reek of encrusted pasta sauce and regret, but if it did, I imagine I'd even now be basking in the aroma of burning bone and feather, because that is what the 10 new creatures you'll meet in the Ashlands consist of, broadly. Shout-out in particular for the monster that resembles a combusting sink clog with spider legs. Very Possum-esque.
Also in Valheim's Ashlands patch: 70+ new buildable items! 30+ new weapons! 30+ new crafting materials! 15 new food items and potions! Five new crafting station upgrades! Three new armour sets! Two new capes! A partridge in a pear tree, possibly! Developers Iron Gate Studios are also introducing new events, music and mechanics, including the ability to besiege the fortresses of the Charred using new catapults and rams. The full Steam listing has detailed patch notes which spoil a few nasty surprises you might prefer to discover yourself. I will give away only this: be extra mindful of the possibility of incineration when dressing, crafting, constructing things, exploring the new biome on foot or sailing its coast.
The developers also have some advice about preparing for your first voyage to the Ashlands, which I am going to petrify for posterity in the shape of a blockquote, the grandest mausoleum available to modern games journalism:
In case it isn't already obvious, the Ashlands is a challenging environment. It's the penultimate biome in a deliberately difficult game, the developers remind us. So maybe brush up on your skills a bit in the Meadows or Black Forest before taking the plunge. You can also adjust the difficulty in the World Modifiers menu.
As always with Valheim updates, the new biome is also going to break a lot of existing mods, so consider uninstalling them (including
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