Ashlands Update

0:00 Ashlands animated release trailer

0:03 The Ashlands Update was the fifth named content update of Valheim's early access. It went live on May 14, 2024 as patch 0.218.15, three weeks after it opened on the public-test branch and seventeen months after the Mistlands Update, and added the Ashlands, the burning biome at the southern edge of the world, with its boss Fader. Iron Gate's abbreviated notes list more than 30 weapons, new bombs and ammunition, three armor sets, two capes, more than ten creatures, more than 70 buildable items, five crafting-station upgrades, more than 30 materials and more than 15 foods and potions, plus new locations, music, events and mechanics (Iron Gate, Patch 0.218.15 – Ashlands). It was the last biome update before the Deep North closed early access.

Quick facts

Development and public test

0:00 Iron Gate developed the Ashlands more openly than the Mistlands, posting work-in-progress images and a three-part "Making the Ashlands" video series before release, an approach the studio later said it wanted to keep (Iron Gate, In Case You Missed It). The public test opened on Apr 22, 2024 with patch 0.218.9 and this gameplay trailer. Testers joined a Steam beta branch with the code "yesimadebackups", or the Xbox Insider Hub on PC Game Pass (Iron Gate, Patch 0.218.9 – Ashlands (Public Test)). Three more test patches, 0.218.11, 0.218.12 and 0.218.14, followed before release.

On release day Iron Gate published a preparation guide. New content generates properly only in unexplored parts of a world, and the terrain around the Ashlands was lowered and turned to ocean so that the biome can be reached only by ship; anything built there in an older world would be lost, and players were told to disable mods before updating (Getting ready for the Ashlands). The Microsoft Store and Xbox releases were briefly delayed by upload problems, although cross-play with Steam stayed possible through the Xbox test build.

Reaching the Ashlands

0:45 The update turned The Queen's placeholder drop into Majestic Carapace, the first link in a chain that leads south. The carapace builds the Artisan Press extension for the Artisan Table, the press lets the table make Ceramic Plates, and the plates build the Drakkar, a larger ship whose hull withstands the boiling sea around the biome, where every other ship takes damage and swimmers boil to death (Sailing and Ships). The Bonemaw Serpent, a bigger and nastier relative of the ocean Serpent, patrols the same water.

New mechanics

6:31 The Ashlands brought several systems of its own. Cinders rain from the sky and burn anyone unprotected; wooden build pieces catch fire and the fire spreads, which the new Shield Generator dome guards a base against; and a new World Modifiers option, part of the "immersive" preset, lets fire spread outside the biome too. Lava covers much of the land, and Basalt Bombs raise floating platforms to cross it. Plantable Ashvines climb the walls of a base.

8:36 The biome's metal, a new Flametal that made the old item of the same name obsolete, comes from ore spires standing in lava: players reach them on Basalt Bomb platforms and mine as much as they can before the spire sinks. Ashwood, Grausten, Sulfur, Charcoal Resin and Proustite Powder arrived with it (Metals and Smelting; Materials and Resources).

Creatures, fortresses and Fader

1:57 The notes list the Charred (Warriors, Archers, Warlocks and fast, swarming Twitchers) alongside the Fallen Valkyrie, Morgen, Volture, Lava Blob, Bonemaw Serpent, Redbeard Dvergr, the Skugg turret, the Monument of Torment and Effigy of Malice spawners and the miniboss Lord Reto. The Asksvin, a lizard-like beast with a lunging attack, can be tamed and ridden with a saddle and can even cross lava (Ashlands Creatures; Farming and Taming).

3:23 Charred Fortresses are the biome's central locations, visible from far away by a shaft of green light and defended by Skugg ballistae and dense garrisons. Their walls can be broken with the new Battering Ram or bombarded by a Catapult firing Grausten or Explosive Payloads, though climbing over also works. Inside wait gems, recipes and the bell shards that lead to the boss.

4:52 Looting a fortress's central tower yields items needed to summon Fader, the seventh boss, and the tower's beam goes out once it has been emptied. At release his Forsaken Powers power raised carry weight and movement speed; the Call to Arms Update of 2025 moved that effect to Moder and gave Fader an adrenaline bonus instead.

Weapons, gems and armor

1:40 Iron Gate's developers called the Ashlands the biome with the most weapons so far. Flametal weapons came in most classes (the Slayer greatsword, the Nidhögg sword, the Flametal Mace, the dual Berserkir Axes, the Splitnir spear, the Ash Fang bow and the Ripper crossbow) and each can be combined with a Bloodstone, Iolite or Jade gem to make a blood, storm or nature variant, using the Metal Cutter and Gem Cutter added to the Black Forge (Weapons and Shields; Crafting Stations and Upgrades). The flaming sword Dyrnwyn, reforged from three fragments, and four staves, the blood-magic Trollstav and the elemental Staff of the Wild, Dundr and Staff of Fracturing, completed the arsenal with Flametal shields, bombs, arrows, bolts and ballista missiles (Magic and Staves; Bows, Crossbows and Arrows).

The three armor sets were planned, in the developers' words, for three kinds of fighter: heavy Flametal plate, the Ask set for ranged players and the Embla robes for mages (Making the Ashlands, episode 3). The Asksvin Cloak and Ashen Cape were the new capes (Armor and Capes).

Building, food and other additions

6:56 For builders the update added 25 Ashwood and 26 Grausten building pieces, Flametal gates, pillars and beams, an Ashwood stakewall, stacks of Grausten, skulls and bones, furniture such as the Bone Throne, Lava Lantern and Ashwood Bed, and a Stone portal. The Galdr Table gained the Feathery Wreath and the Cauldron its Rolling Pins and Cutting Boards (Building and Structural Integrity; Furniture and Decoration).

Kitchens got fifteen new dishes, among them Fiery Svinstew, Piquant Pie and Sparkling Shroomshake, and two lingering meads for health and eitr (Food and Cooking; Mead and Potions). Two raids arrived, "The undead army marches" and "The dead have been summoned", with new runestones, dreams, Munin dialogue and music (Raids and Events; Lore and Setting). A new gameplay setting, "Attack towards look direction", let players choose whether attacks follow the character or the camera.

Reception and aftermath

10:03 Iron Gate expected the biome to be hard. In the last "Making the Ashlands" episode a developer said it was "still going to be very difficult", in a different way from the Mistlands, and described tuning creatures back down after even producer Andreas Tomasson found them too tough. Screen Rant, writing during the public test, agreed that "the difficulty of the game spikes dramatically" in the Ashlands but argued that veterans would see that as a reason to return (Screen Rant).

Players did return. Content creator NickRawcliffe called it one of the biggest and best updates the game had had (NickRawcliffe), and SteamCharts recorded a peak of 81,458 concurrent players in May 2024, the highest monthly peak since January 2023, with the average doubling from April (SteamCharts).

Iron Gate kept working on the biome over the summer in response to feedback (Iron Gate, In Case You Missed It). Public-test patch 0.218.17 on Jun 18, 2024 cut the spawn chances of Voltures, Twitchers and both kinds of Charred soldier, and 0.218.21, live on Aug 27, 2024, shipped those changes with a lower chance of Flametal spires sinking (Patch 0.218.17; Patch 0.218.21). The 1.0 patch reduced Ashlands spawns again and raised the durability of Ashlands gear (Deep North Update (1.0 Patch Notes)). The next update, The Bog Witch Update, followed in October 2024.

Frequently asked questions

When did the Ashlands update come out? On May 14, 2024, as patch 0.218.15. It had opened on the public-test branch three weeks earlier, on Apr 22, 2024, as patch 0.218.9.

How do you get to the Ashlands? Only by ship. The Queen's Majestic Carapace builds the Artisan Press, the press makes Ceramic Plates and the plates build the Drakkar, the one hull that survives the boiling sea around the biome; every other ship takes damage and swimmers boil to death (Sailing and Ships).

Do you need a new world for the Ashlands? New content only generates in unexplored parts of a world, and the land around the biome was lowered and turned to ocean, so anything built there in an older world was lost. Iron Gate also told players to disable mods before updating.

What does the Ashlands update add? The Ashlands biome and its boss Fader, the Charred and the rideable Asksvin, Charred fortresses with Battering Rams and Catapults to break into them, Flametal weapons that take Bloodstone, Iolite or Jade gems, three armor sets, more than 70 build pieces and fifteen new dishes.

Where is the new Flametal found? In ore spires standing in lava. Players cross to them on platforms raised by Basalt Bombs and mine as much as they can before the spire sinks.

Sources

• Patch 0.218.15 – Ashlands, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), May 14, 2024
• Patch 0.218.9 – Ashlands (Public Test), Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Apr 22, 2024
• Patch 0.218.17 (Public Test), Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Jun 18, 2024
• Development Blog: In Case You Missed It, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Jun 19, 2024
• Patch 0.218.21, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Aug 27, 2024
• Getting ready for the Ashlands, Iron Gate Studio
• Patch 0.218.15 – Ashlands, Valheim update for 14 May 2024, SteamDB
• Valheim Releases New Ashlands Update, Game Rant, May 14, 2024
• Valheim Ashlands Changes Frustrate Veterans, But It May Be A Good Reason To Return, Screen Rant, May 11, 2024
• Valheim – Steam Charts, SteamCharts
• Valheim, Wikipedia
• Making the Ashlands: Walk & Talk – Episode 3, Iron Gate, YouTube, Feb 21, 2024
• It's Out! Everything In The New Ashlands Valheim Update, NickRawcliffe, YouTube, May 14, 2024
• Valheim: Ashlands Animated Release Trailer, Iron Gate, YouTube, May 14, 2024