Valheim is a self-described “brutal” survival game — and as survival fans are no doubt already well aware, even comparatively gentle examples of the genre feature tool durability as a prominent mechanic.
As soon as you’ve built them, every use of your precious handmade tools in Valheim causes them to degrade. They become less effective, and eventually they’re rendered totally unusable.
Tool degradation is tracked by a bar underneath each tool’s icon. A white bar indicates a tool is at full strength, while a red bar means it’s completely depleted.
However, tools in Valheim don’t actually break — so instead of crafting new ones, you’re better off maintaining the ones you have. That’s where repairing comes in.
How to build a workbench in Valheim
The single most important factor in your ability to repair your tools is your workbench. Having one is basically essential in Valheim. In fact, you’ll have to make one before you can even progress very far into the game.
In terms of pure resource cost, workbenches in Valheim practically pay for themselves. All it takes is ten pieces of wood, which you’ll almost certainly have picked up while exploring long before you thought about making a workbench.
To build a workbench, interact with the hammer in your inventory and enter the crafting tab. The option to build a workbench is there.
Workbenches need to be placed indoors — which in Valheim is counted as an enclosed area with a roof. It’s generally a good idea to place your first building, construct a workbench, and then place additional workbenches in all subsequent buildings you make.
Aside from their use for repairing tools, workbenches have a number of other features in Valheim. They can, for instance, be used for crafting new items from raw materials. You can also upgrade your workbench as you unlock new recipes through gameplay.
How to repair tools in Valheim
Despite its self-confessed brutality, Valheim does actually do you one massive favour when it comes to repairing tools. Other than the initial set-up cost of building a workbench (plus any upgrades you choose to make to it), there’s no additional resource cost for carrying out tool repairs.
To repair a tool, simply interact with a workbench and click the hammer icon on the left. This automatically repairs one of your tools. Somewhat frustratingly, at the time of writing you can’t choose which tool to repair: the game picks at random. However, since it doesn’t cost you anything, you might as well keep repairing until all your tools are fully maintained.
Hungry for more Valheim tips? Check out our guide on how to plant seeds and craft agricultural tools.
The post Valheim: How to repair tools | Building a workbench and maintaining tools appeared first on VG247.
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