Valheim Archipelago Guide

How to play Valheim as part of an Archipelago multiworld randomizer.

What it is

Recipes and building pieces are locked. You unlock them by receiving researches, which come from the multiworld: your own checks and other players'. Crafting a research at the Research Bench, picking up a trophy and many other things you do in Valheim are checks that send items to you or to other players. You win by finishing your goal.

Getting started

Install BepInEx and Jotunn, then the mod (the release zip, or with a mod manager). Put the .apworld in Archipelago's custom_worlds folder.
Make your options file with the Options Builder and put it in Archipelago's Players folder.
Generate and host the room as usual (Archipelago 0.6.8 or newer).
Connect from the Archipelago window on Valheim's main menu (host, port, slot), then load your world. The window is also in the pause menu, to reconnect mid-game.
Build the Research Bench and an Archipelago Chest (Hammer > Randomizer). Resource bundles, tools, maps and boss drops sent to you arrive in the chest (it holds 32 stacks).

Goals

Your goal boss sets how far the game goes: only checks and items up to its era are in the game. By default you win by defeating it. goal_conditions changes or adds to what you have to do; pick any combination, and you win once all are done. /ap goal shows your progress.

Goal boss	Era	Checks (defaults)

Condition	You win when
Goal Boss	you defeat the goal boss (the default)
All Bosses	you've defeated every boss of the era, in any order
Relic Hunt	you've received enough of the Forsaken Relics spread through the multiworld
Trophy Hunt	you've collected a share of the era's trophies
Researcher	you've crafted a share of the era's researches
Explorer	you've uncovered a share of the world map
Skill Master	a number of skills reach a level
Great Hall	you reach a comfort level
Hildir's Quests	you've returned the chests Hildir asks for

Checks

Each kind can be turned on or off in your options. The counts are for the full game (Kall Fimbulbringer) with every kind on and the most skill, exploration and comfort checks.

Kind	A check for	Option	Checks

Items

Researches unlock gear (weapons, armor, shields, capes, tools, ammo and trinkets) and the stations and boats that open the way on: Forge, Smelter, Karve, Blast Furnace, Galdr Table and so on. Building pieces, furniture, food stations, materials and a basic kit are yours from the start; item_locking can lock only gear (equipment) or everything (item_sanity). Tiered researches come as progressive items (each Progressive Axes unlocks the next axe tier).
Trophy researches give permanent boosts.
Boss drops (Hard Antler, Swamp Key, Wishbone...) are items in the multiworld: picking up the drop a boss leaves sends a check instead, and your own copy comes from Archipelago. With boss_items: bonus the boss drops them as usual too.
Altar keys, with boss_altar_keys: a boss's altar takes offerings only once you have its key.
Maps: a Map to each boss pins its altar; a Map Fragment uncovers part of the map.
Tools, resource bundles and boosts (skill training, blessings), and Forsaken Relics in a Relic Hunt.
Traps: ambushes, raids, storms, Floor Is Lava, Butterfingers and more.

In game

Key or command	What it does
`F8`	Panel of the checks you can do now (in logic), by kind, and what to get next (the item, boss or gear that would put the most checks in logic)
`F9`	Full list of checks in logic, with the mouse free, and a Hint button for each; its Hints tab lists your hints and whether they've been found
`/ap status`	Connection, co-op mode, Death Link and Trap Link
`/ap goal`	Your goal and how far along each condition is
`/ap logic [kind]`	The checks in logic, in chat
`/ap shop hint [kind]`	By a trader (Haldor, Hildir, the Bog Witch): pay Coins to reveal one of your checks in logic as a hint
`/ap checks`, `/ap missing <kind>`	Checks done, and what's left
`/ap hint <item>`, `/ap say <text>`	Server hints (hint points) and Archipelago chat
`/ap energy`, `/ap deposit`, `/ap withdraw`	Energy Link (1 Coin = 1 MJ)
`/ap deathlink on\|off`	Death Link for this session

Co-op

Each world has a co-op mode, chosen by the first player connected in it: the game asks when the world loads.

Shared slot: one player connects; the others just join the world with the mod. Everyone's checks count for that one slot.
A slot each: every player connects to their own slot and has their own researches, checks, goal and Archipelago Chest in the same world. Pass boss trophies around so everyone picks them up.

Trackers

Universal Tracker works without setup. A PopTracker pack is in each release; it follows your seed's options when it connects. In game, F8 and F9 show what's in logic too.