Uh-oh, Valheim’s monsters are now even more aggressive • Eurogamer.net

Cowering in terror used to be one of my absolute favourite strategies during my early Valheim days, but from now on it seems that will be a less viable tactic. Developer Iron Gate is introducing some enemy AI tweaks to make monsters more aggressive, which should encourage them to start barging into your base. How rude.

The latest Valheim patch notes explain that the new update will fix several AI issues, with monsters made “slightly more aggressive”. They will now “attack your buildings etc. when they are not able to attack you”, meaning you’ll probably have to be more proactive in taking out enemies before they destroy your beautiful wooden structures. “It’s fun for the whole family,” Iron Gate said in the patch notes. (Is it, though?)

If you’re strolling through the Black Forest, you may also want to watch your head, as the Greydwarfs have had their aim improved – meaning they now have half a chance of actually getting a shot on target. A “long forgotten Blob event” has also been enabled, while bosses will no longer run from you. All in all, it sounds like the world of Valheim is getting a little more dangerous.

Here’s some news to make you feel better about all this: Maypoles are temporarily being made buildable to celebrate midsummer in Sweden. Normally, these are incredibly rare structures that can occasionally be found in abandoned Meadows villages, and (aside from looking pretty) also provide an extra level of comfort. To craft a Maypole, you’ll only need 10 wood, four dandelions and four thistles. Time to raid the potions cupboard.

In other Valheim update news, Iron Gate recently explained that it would be unable to reach its target of four updates this year, explaining it had been unprepared for the large influx of players that pushed it to the top of Steam’s most-played list earlier this year. The team had to focus on sorting out urgent bug fixes, but Hearth and Home should be arriving fairly soon – and it looks like the update is coming along nicely.