Valheim – Terraforming for Dummies

Hoe 101: Understanding the Tool

 
If you see a vertical line at the center, the terrain at the location is lower than the one you are standing on. 
 
If parts of the circle do appear, the terrain at those locations is higher than the one you are standing on. 
 
Start by leveling the terrain you are standing on and note how the leveled terrain is square, not circular. If you build along these lines, you’ll avoid ragged edges alone terrain elevation changes. 
 
 
 
 

Getting Started

 
After you found the direction of the terrain by doing an initial flattening, dig down a little bit to get the terrain level. Alternatively, raise the terrain. Notice: there’s a limit to how far down you can dig. I believe the limit is 20m. 
 
When you dig, you dig sections of 2m by 2m, even though the terrain grid is smaller than that. 
 
You can use poles and floors from the location you dug to find the ideal starting height for leveling. 
 
Make sure the starting location is leveled. 
 
Using a floor helps make sure you are leveling the terrain around you to the right height. Remember Hoe 101: if the circle lines are not appearing, the terrain at those points is higher than the one you are standing on. 
 
Remember from Hoe 101: if there’s a vertical line at the center, then that terrain is lower than where you are standing. 
 
 
 

Flattening an Area

 
The maximum distance you can aim the hoe is 7m (the signs are placed confusingly every 2m — sorry about that). 
 
Also note the ideal height for poles and floors. If you place vertical poles directly on the ground they’ll go too low and cause issues for floors. 
 
Use poles as a guideline for terrain that needs flattening. It’s more effective than floors because you can see where they are too high or too low, and aim at the terrain. 
 
If the vertical line is still showing after you have leveled a couple of times, you need to raise the ground at that location. 
 
Beware that raising the ground often raises it too much, and may also raise the surrounding terrain. So always back away to a location you can see it’s at the right height, then level again from there. 
 
If, on the other hand, the terrain remains too high after leveling, you’ll need to use the pickaxe on it. You get the pickaxe after the first boss. Beware that digging down may lower the terrain too much. Digging terrain in front of you instead of below you may cause it to collapse around, raising the ground you are standing on. Use the poles to keep track of the right elevation, and good building! 
 

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