Valheim’s Swamps Biome Gets Spookier in ‘The Bog Witch’ Update

Developers at Iron Gate reveal what’s next for their hit viking survival game including a new swamp denizen, magnificent feasts and more.

SKÖVDE, Sweden – 8 October, 2024: Today, Coffee Stain Publishing and Iron Gate Studio have revealed a brand-new update during The Spill developer stream that will soon be coming to their hit viking survival game Valheim. A new denizen has made her home in the Swamps, vikings can now set up feasts for their friends and new skills, build pieces and crafting materials have made its way into the game, further expanding core gameplay.

Witch Way to the Swamps?

The Swamps of Valheim are legendary for being a hostile and unwelcoming place, but not all that skitters and slithers among the bogs is deadly. On their quest for glory, Vikings might soon stumble upon a wooden hut clad in charms and candles. Its inhabitant, The Bog Witch, is a mysterious new vendor eerily reminiscent of a Greydwarf who will offer players potions, spices and new materials for additional tools and crafting recipes.

Travellers lucky enough to stumble upon the Bog Witch’s Hut will get a chance to exchange their gold for ingredients that they can use to craft Tonics, Meads and Draughts that will temporarily enhance their strength, dexterity and endurance. Make sure to stay out of the broom’s way when you visit.

Feast Your Eyes on This!

The Bog Witch update will also introduce an option for the designated chefs and cooks of a friend group to prepare magnificent feasts that they can share with their fellow vikings. These banquets will last longer and offer multiple servings of a wide range of delicious dishes hailing from the different parts of Valheim. Eight new feasts are being introduced, each requiring ingredients from a different biome.

Vikings can sit down and enjoy a tender serving of Swamp Dweller’s Delight, host a romantic Plains Pie Picnic on top of a Fuling-free hill or go all out and host a Mushrooms Galore á la Mistlands - who says afterlife has to be all suffering and struggle?

With the introduction of feasts, a new ‘Cooking’ skill is also introduced for Vikings that wish to specialise in the finer arts of survival. As players cook more dishes and increase their cooking skill, they will be able to reduce the time it takes to prepare food, and have a chance to craft additional food items.

Farming, Really? A Viking of Your Talents?

Making sausages out of draugr entrails is cute and all, but what would chefs be without their hard working farmer vikings? The Bog Witch update introduces several new additions for green-thumbed Vikings including a Scythe, a new tool that makes harvesting of crops faster and the Farming skill that, if levelled up, reduces the stamina cost of using a Cultivator and a chance to gain bonus yield upon harvesting.

Oh, and a straw hat, of course. Grass stalk to chew on not included.

Kitchen Stations, New Decorations and Questionable Ingredients

Two new working stations in the form of a Food Preparation Table and Mead Ketill will also be introduced, expanding the range of options in a Viking kitchen. Two new building pieces are also introduced to further decorate players’ homes, as well as a wide range of new materials for potion crafting that will be purchasable from the Bog Witch. These new ingredients include rarities such as a Cured Squirrel Hamstring, Powdered Dragon Eggshells and something that the witch calls a Fragrant Bundle. Better not to ask.

The Bog Witch update will be entering Public Testing soon. Valheim is currently available on PC, Linux and Xbox through Steam Early Access, Microsoft Store and on Mac via the Mac App Store. You can find the official Valheim press kit here, and you can follow Valheim on Twitter and Discord for more information and updates.