Valheim: 5 things to build when you're bored

Say what you will about the historical accuracy of Valheim; we may never know if the vikings of old were battling sentient trees or dealing with sea serpents every time they wanted to raid the English, but I'm pretty sure they appreciated cool buildings. And if you're reading this, I'll bet you do, too.

After a recent Fuling raid left my base in tatters, I decided it was time to go bigger. Better. Cooler. I can't claim to be a master of the game's building system, but below, you'll get some fun ideas and screenshots of my latest creations that will hopefully inspire some builds of your own.

Portal Hub

Pictured: Darkwood Arches, Black Marble Stairs, Black Marble 2x2x2 blocks, Stone 2x2 floors, Bonfire, Blue Standing Braziers. Design inspired by Valheimian user Maleficarum.

Benefits: 

• Easier to keep track of which portal goes where
• Can provide a Rested bonus before you go off on adventures

You will need:

• To remember what you named all your portals (WRITE THEIR NAMES DOWN!)
• Portals (Greydwarf eyes, Finewood, Surtling Cores)

So, a central hub does technically make your portals more subsceptible to enemy attacks, but come on - you can add custom colours to your signs and match them to each biome! What's not to love?

I'll tell you what's not to love - the game's 'structural integrity' mechanics. I didn't use any mods for the builds you'll see here, but if your heart sings for a circle-shaped portal hub with a grand ceiling, consider mods like ValheimPlus to remove stability requirements and let your creativity go wild.

Trophy Hall

Pictured: Stone Thrones, Wisp Lights, and a variety of trophies from creatures and minibosses alike. The badass one in the middle combines trophies from the Thungr miniboss and Seeker creature from the Mistlands.

Benefits: 

• Gets all of those trophies out of your chests
• Looks badass
• Fun way to remember your adventures

You will need:

• Vertical Item Stands (Finewood & Bronze Nails)

There's no shortage of cosy furniture items in Valheim, but if you're anything like me, a house just isn't a home until its walls are covered with the heads of your enemies. Folks like us are in luck - most enemies have a chance of dropping their heads as loot and those heads can be displayed as wonderful conversation starters when placed on vertical item stands.

Troll Hole

Pictured: Noddy the Troll. He's a good boy.

Benefits: 

• Funny

You will need:

• Abyssal Harpoon (Fine Wood, Chitin, Leather Scraps)
• Any pickaxe
• Hoe (Wood & Stone)

For a troll-pet of your very own, just pick a spot and start digging. Once the pit is reasonably deep, run and jump up its side, then use your hoe to raise the ground around the edges. Next time you find a troll (or consume a Love Potion to make them spawn more frequently), use your Abyssal Harpoon to capture and drag it into the pit - and voilà! Troll hole! Did I mention that your new friend will never despawn, too?

There's not much else to say about this one. Trolls are one of Valheim's funnier-looking creatures, so why wouldn't you want one in a hole? 

Weapon / Armor Display Area

Pictured: Armor stands displaying the Fenris and Wolf Armor sets, with weapons on display. From left to right, they are: Table 1: Club, Frostner, Porcupine, Stagbreaker  Table 2: Butcher Knife, Flint Knife, Copper Knife, Black Metal Knife, Abyssal Razor, Skoll and Hati, Silver Knife Table 3: Abyssal Harpoon (top), Carapace Spear (middle), Ancient Bark Spear (bottom) Table 4: Berserkir Axes

Benefits: 

• Gets old armors and weapons out of your chests
• Fun way to remember your adventures

You will need:

• Horizontal Item Stands (Finewood & Bronze Nails)
• Armour Stands (Finewood, Iron Nails & Leather Scraps)
• Table (Finewood) or Long Heavy Table (Finewood, Tar, Iron Nails)

Your journey in Valheim will see you visit many areas, from the peaceful Meadows to the "oh god why is everything on fire" Ashlands and everything in between. Each biome has a new set of materials to collect, and crafting new gear with them is the best way to protect yourself when push eventually comes to shove. That means you'll be leaving a lot of old gear behind, making a grand hall or dedicated display room an excellent way to remind yourself of how far you've come.

Be sure to leave plenty of room for expansion, though, as each new update brings bigger and better weapons. Plus, you can put the displays in your trophy hall for an even more impressive collection - why not group everything by biome, or colour-code it all?

A Proper Storage Room

Pictured: Ashwood building set, Dverger Wall Lanterns, Black Metal Chests (and a cheeky Jack-o-Turnip)

Benefits: 

• Organizes your items!
• Reduces the time spent fumbling through a million different chests

You will need:

• Reinforced Chests (Finewood & Iron bars)
• and / or Black Metal Chests (Wood, Tar & Black Metal bars)
• Signs (Wood & Coal)

Look, we're all guilty of getting complacent with our chest setups. I see you spam-clicking CTRL to dump your items, then cursing yourself half an hour later when you search fifteen chests for that one item you need - and Greydwarves are literally dying to give you their damn resin. But here's the thing: late-game chests can hold far more items, and with the sheer number of drops and materials you need to manage, you will need a dedicated storage room to keep track of it all.

If there was ever a building to protect, though, it's this one - put up plenty of walls or you'll be in deep trouble when strong enemies decide to come knocking.

That's all, folks! Be sure to tag me on Bluesky (@westydesign.bsky.social) if these ideas inspire you to get creative - or better yet, share them with the larger Valheim building community and get even more ideas over at Valheimians!