A serious buff is coming to Valheim shields in the upcoming Hearth and Home Update, with a particular emphasis on improving the utility of the Tower Shield.
Valheim is a Viking survival crafting game from Iron Gate and Coffee Stain that proved to be explosively popular when it launched earlier this year. It's a boatload of fun and manages to provide a surprisingly robust experience for a Steam Early Access game.
The team behind the game has been trickling out details about what we can expect for the first major content patch — most recently with the reveal of new building items late last month. Now, a new Developer Spotlight video breaks down how shields are getting buffed in the next big update.
How Valheim Shields Are Changing For the Better
There are essentially three types of Valheim shields in the game: Bucklers, Round Shields, and Tower Shields. It's this latter type of defensive tool that's going to be getting a major buff in the Hearth and Home Update.
Going forward, Tower Shields will be more ideally suited for Vikings who want to stand their ground. Enemies attacking a Viking with a raised Tower Shield will be knocked back a distance, allowing you to better control the fight without too much running around.
Of course, Bucklers and Round Shields will still be a suitable option for players. Bucklers excel at parrying and Round Shields give you the best of both worlds while making some compromises. The game's official Twitter subsequently confirmed that Round Shields will still be able to parry after this update.
"Yes, round shields can absolutely still parry!" read the tweet from the official Valheim account. "They're the nice middle ground between the two others; not as slow as the tower shield, but not as quick as the buckler either."
When is the Valheim Hearth and Home Update Release Date?
The Valheim Hearth and Home Update release date will be sometime in Q3 2021; the means it's set to arrive sometime between now and September 30, 2021. Unfortunately, Iron Gate has not yet provided a more specific release date just yet.
For now, there's plenty to look forward to in Hearth and Home and a ton of great content you can enjoy in the game right now! You can buy Valheim for PC via Steam for $19.99 or your regional equivalent.
