Mistlands Update

0:28 The Mistlands update was the first to add a new biome to Valheim after its early-access launch, and its largest update to that point. Patch 0.212.7, released on Dec 6, 2022 after two weeks of public testing, filled the Mistlands, until then an empty placeholder of fog and rock, with nine new creatures and a boss, The Queen; the game's first magic system; its first friendly faction, the Dvergr; a new type of dungeon; and, by Iron Gate's count, more than twenty crafting materials, fifteen foods, three potions and over sixty new items and building pieces (Iron Gate, patch 0.212.7).

0:00 Animated release trailer

Quick facts

Development

Mistlands was the last of the four updates on the 2021 roadmap, and when that roadmap was withdrawn in June 2021 Iron Gate Studio named it as the big update to follow Hearth & Home (Iron Gate, Jun 10, 2021). Richard Svensson was experimenting with its terrain and textures by October 2021, and a month later the studio reported that the landscape was taking shape and the mist had arrived. After the Frost Caves Update of March 2022 the whole team turned to the biome; the finished update, Iron Gate said, represented nine months of work (Iron Gate, Oct 22, 2021; Iron Gate, Nov 25, 2021; Iron Gate, Mar 25, 2022).

The studio stayed deliberately secretive, sharing concept art and speed-modeling videos of a hare and a bow but little of the systems. In September 2022 it admitted that some steps of the progression had been in the wrong order: the biome's dungeons had not served progression or felt rewarding enough, so it added the Dvergr extractor and the Black core to tie them in. It still would not give a date (Iron Gate, Sep 13, 2022). In the meantime the cross-play patch and the game's arrival on PC Game Pass that month widened the audience waiting for it (Cross-Play).

Public test and release

0:58 The update reached the public-test branch as patch 0.212.6 on Nov 22, 2022, announced with a gameplay trailer whose closing card reads "available now for public testing". Iron Gate asked testers to flag their spoilers with extra care (Iron Gate, Nov 22, 2022). Two more test builds followed before it went live as 0.212.7 on Dec 6.

1:12 Release day brought a second trailer, an animated short by Brikk that brings back the Viking trio of the Hearth & Home Update cinematic and follows them into the fog, where one raises a glowing light against the mist. Iron Gate's release notes warned in bold that the biome generates only in undiscovered areas, so a well-explored world might need replacing, and that outdated mods would stop the game launching (Iron Gate, Dec 6, 2022).

The biome and its inhabitants

1:19 Exploring the Mistlands depends on the Wisplight, a lantern holding a captured wisp that pushes the mist back, and on the Feather cape, which removes fall damage on the biome's cliffs. The land holds the roots of Yggdrasil, the bones and broken weapons of giants, and the outposts of the Dvergr, who do not attack on sight and fight the biome's monsters alongside the player unless their property is damaged. Mushroom farming arrived with the Magecap and Jotun puffs, and so did chickens, hatched from eggs bought from Haldor or laid by hens (Mistlands Creatures; Farming and Taming).

1:58 The hostile creatures are the insectoid Seekers, their larval Brood and armored Seeker Soldiers (listed in the notes as Seeker Brutes); the floating, fire-spitting Gjall; and Ticks that latch on and drain health. Seekers fill the Infested Mines, the biome's dungeon, and their Queen waits in a sealed Dvergr citadel that opens only to a Sealbreaker assembled from fragments found in the mines. Two raids, "What's up gjall?" and "They sought you out", and a new Forsaken Power came with them (Raids and Events; Forsaken Powers).

Magic

0:21 The headline system was magic. Players extract sap from Yggdrasil roots, refine it with soft tissue from giants' skulls or Dvergr crates into refined Eitr, and eat Eitr-bearing foods such as Yggdrasil porridge to build an Eitr pool, which staves made at the new Galdr table then spend. Four staves shipped under two new skills: Elemental Magic for the Staff of embers and Staff of frost, and Blood Magic, which also costs health, for the Staff of protection and the Dead raiser, which summons skeletons (Magic and Staves; Skills).

0:41 Iron Gate's gameplay trailer closes on the new spellcasting: fire from a staff, a glowing protective circle and bursts of magic in fights around Dvergr lanterns.

Crafting, fishing and the rest

3:51 Two workstations joined the game: the Black forge, with its cooler, for Mistlands weapons and armor, and the Galdr table with its Rune table, while the cauldron gained a Mortar and pestle. The craftable items included the Mistwalker sword, the Krom greatsword, the dual knives Skoll and Hati, carapace armor and shields, Eitr-weave robes and the Arbalest, a crossbow with its own skill and bolts. Builders received fourteen black marble pieces, angled beams, spiral staircases, blue jute furnishings and, for defense, Dvergr stake walls, traps and an automatic ballista (Crafting Stations and Upgrades; Bows, Crossbows and Arrows; Building and Structural Integrity).

6:15 Outside the new biome, fishing was rebuilt: Fishing became a skill, nine fish were added with a bait for each biome, fish came in several sizes, jumped and flopped on land, could be mounted on item stands and appeared in the Mountains' ice caves (Fishing). The patch also brought twelve emotes, nine hairstyles and seven beards, reworked knockback, weak spots on some enemies, a special attack for axes, a shop for Haldor that grows with boss progression, and a change to world generation that put more Mistlands on the map.

Reception

Players returned in numbers not seen since 2021. SteamCharts records a December 2022 peak of 127,172 concurrent players, more than double November's and the highest since April 2021 (SteamCharts). Coffee Stain's Albert Säfström presented it as the most ambitious biome yet, one that would remind players strolling around in Plains gear why Valheim was called brutal (PC Gamer). PC Gamer's Christopher Livingston found the update packed with surprises, praising the magic, the Dvergr and the scale of the giants' remains, but judged the mist itself no fun to stumble through until a Wisplight is in hand (PC Gamer).

8:02 Community verdicts on release day were similar: YouTuber Jade PG rated it among the best game updates of the year and argued that endgame content ought to be this hard. Difficulty soon became the main complaint. Patch 0.212.9 on Dec 20 cut Seeker Soldier and Gjall spawns to roughly the rate of trolls in the Black Forest, reduced the Gjall's spit to one projectile, gave Seekers pauses between attacks, stopped the Seeker raid in other biomes and raised the durability of Mistlands armor (Iron Gate, Dec 20, 2022). Patch 0.213.4 in February 2023 walked some of that back, making Seekers more aggressive and restoring the double shot, and added Seekers to the night in other biomes once the Queen is dead (Iron Gate, Feb 7, 2023).

Iron Gate said afterwards that it had been a relief to see how much players liked the update, and promised to develop the Ashlands Update far more openly than the secretive Mistlands (Iron Gate, Jan 16, 2023). The mist stayed divisive for the rest of early access; the Valheim 1.0 Release finally increased the range at which the mist is cleared (Deep North Update (1.0 Patch Notes)).

Frequently asked questions

When did the Mistlands update come out? On Dec 6, 2022, as patch 0.212.7, after reaching the public-test branch as 0.212.6 on Nov 22.

Do you need a new world for the Mistlands? Iron Gate's release notes warned in bold that the biome generates only in undiscovered areas, so a thoroughly explored world may need replacing. Outdated mods also stopped the game launching.

What did the Mistlands update add besides the biome? The Eitr-powered magic system and the Galdr table, the friendly Dvergr, the Infested Mines and the boss The Queen, the Black forge, black marble building pieces, the Arbalest, chickens, twelve emotes and a rebuilt Fishing system.

How do you see through the mist? With the Wisplight, a lantern holding a captured wisp, which pushes the fog back. PC Gamer judged the biome no fun to stumble through until one is in hand, and the Valheim 1.0 Release finally increased the range at which the mist is cleared.

Was the Mistlands too hard? Difficulty became the main complaint, and patch 0.212.9 on Dec 20 cut Seeker Soldier and Gjall spawns to roughly the rate of trolls in the Black Forest. Patch 0.213.4 in February 2023 walked some of that back.

Sources

• Patch 0.212.7 – Mistlands!, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Dec 6, 2022
• Patch 0.212.6 – Mistlands! (Public Test), Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Nov 22, 2022
• Patch 0.212.9, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Dec 20, 2022
• Patch 0.213.4, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Feb 7, 2023
• Roadmap changes, Hearth & Home content, & reddit AMA, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Jun 10, 2021
• Development Blog October: Moving Forwards After Hearth & Home, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Oct 22, 2021
• Development Blog November: New Content, Mistlands and Awards, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Nov 25, 2021
• Taking a Bow..., Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Mar 25, 2022
• Changes and Iterations, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Sep 13, 2022
• Development Blog: Quests and Concepts, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Jan 16, 2023
• Valheim's massive Mistlands update now live for all players, PC Gamer, Dec 6, 2022
• The Valheim Mistlands update has so much more in it than just a new biome, PC Gamer, Dec 6, 2022
• Valheim's Mistlands update is live with new magic, weapons, allies, and enemies, Massively Overpowered, Dec 6, 2022
• Valheim Steam charts, SteamCharts
• Valheim: Mistlands Gameplay Trailer, Iron Gate, YouTube, Nov 22, 2022
• Valheim: Mistlands Animated Release Trailer, Iron Gate and Brikk, YouTube, Dec 6, 2022
• VALHEIM Biggest Update! The Mistlands Is Out Now!, Jade PG, YouTube, Dec 6, 2022
• Valheim Mistlands - Full Magic Guide, Kysen, YouTube, Nov 23, 2022