Valheim – Hervor Faces a New Foe (And So Will You)

In this month’s “Word From the Devs” — the newly renamed term Iron Gate is giving to what used to be “Development Blogs” — the devs have peeled back the curtain just a bit further on what they are working on for the Deep North, as well as announcing a smaller update before that. And what they revealed should leave you quaking in your boots, as it does Hervor Bloodtooth in the next part of her adventure on YouTube:

No, your eyes did not deceive you. At the end of the video, in which Hervor seems to be exploring an ancient hall of some sort, she is ambushed by a brand new enemy that you will encounter in the Deep North: the Elaking! We don’t see much of this devious, long-leaping creature in the video, but thankfully Iron Gate has seen fit to give us a picture, also revealing that they can carry lanterns (and possibly other tools):

In addition, with Deep North taking some time, Iron Gate also announced a smaller update that will launch sooner. This does seem to confirm that we shouldn’t expect Deep North to hit for at least a few months, but that there will be active development prior to that.

According to the community post, this smaller update will improve Valheim’s combat mechanics (with a special focus on fixing slope fighting, finally!). In that same smaller update, they will also introduce a new set of armor, which can be made from the bones of some creature (though the developers haven’t said what, yet).

Aside from that, the developers also announced their aims to ship the Rocky plushies that were ordered as part of a previous Makeship campaign by August this year. So those of you who purchased them won’t have wait too long to be reunited with your surprisingly soft, stoney friend.

What do you think about the new Elaking? And what kind of delay do you think the smaller update suggests about the 1.0 release? Feel free to share your thoughts.