Valheim the Viking survival hit has hit another milestone this week passing 3 million sales on Steam. Players are raving about the beautiful low-poly boss killing bonanza. One of the best things the games offers to new players is tutorial tips in-game from a character known as Hugin. Hugin is a large raven bird which will help get the player started on their journey in Valheim and help them when they discover something new. Unfortunately one of the things Hugin doesn’t mention is how to pick a custom shield in Valheim which is leaving some players with a battered old boring wooden shield.
Luckily we are here today to tell you how you can get yourself a painted shield and choose your own design.
How to Craft a Shield in Valheim
The first thing the player is going to need to do is to craft a shield to begin with! A few things are necessary to getting this started. First, you are going to need to find some wood and craft yourself a Hammer. Once you have a hammer you are going to need to build up a small shelter and place a workbench inside. In order to be able to use the workbench and craft a shield you will have to have your workbench relatively sheltered from the elements.
You will have to collect 10 Wood, 4 resin and 4 leather scraps in order to craft yourself a shield so make sure you get these items if you plan on making a shield and customizing it. Now, interact with the workbench that is underneath some shelter and scroll to the wood shield item on the left hand menu.
How to Get a Painted Shield Design
Now comes the part where you are going to customize your shield. There are a few different designs to choose from and you will have to do so when you are actually creating the shield. You cannot customize your shield after it has been crafted. Go to the menu for crafting the shield and look for the option that reads Style in the UI. See the image below to find out where it is.
See the style button and select it to see the different painted or customized shields you can choose from. There are 4 different styles of shield that you can select for the wooden shield item. Be careful when choosing, when you select a style of shield and craft it you are stuck with that. There is no way of recycling the shield and you will have to craft a new shield in order to get a different paint style.
There are different options of paint and customization available depending on what type of shield you are crafting. Not only for are they different for the material type, but even the wooden tower shield has different designs than the round shield. Check the shield out in the crafting menu and have a look at the different styles available.
Some shields cannot be customized at all such as the bronze buckler. This only has one look and can’t be painted at all. Depending on the materials used and the level of shield they will look very different and will have even more unique paint jobs. Without spoiling too much of the advancement in Valheim there will be newer materials you can find and different types of shield with different stats and styles. Check the image below to see the different types of customization available for the Iron Tower Shield.
The Future Of Shield Customization for Valheim
As Valheim is currently in early access more customization features may be included at a later date in the games development. For now we have a few different styles to show off for shield but maybe in a later date the game will include more in-depth customization and custom designs in the game. Either that, or perhaps a mod for Valheim to customize items will appear. The first major update planned for Valheim by the team at Iron Gate Studio is titled the Home and Hearth update. Perhaps this will include more customization for shields and armors and items? Only time will tell.
What’s your favorite shield design in Valheim? Is there any other small tips or things you’ve found out in Valheim that many players may not know? Leave a comment down below and help out your fellow Vikings! Skol!
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