The Flat Earth Society Has a Little More Sway in Valheim
The building tools in Valheim give you a substantial amount of control over the game world. Combined, the hoe and the pickaxe give you total control over the geometry of the land. You can raise and lower the earth, flatten it out and change the surface to suit your needs.
How to craft a hoe in Valheim
You’ll learn how to craft a hoe early in your Valheim adventures once you’ve picked up some stone and wood and built a workbench.
Hoe recipe
Required materials:
- 5 x wood
- 2 x stone
Once you have crafted the hoe, if you have upgraded your workbench, you can upgrade the hoe up to two times. Each upgrade will increase the hoe’s durability by 200 points.
Hoe Tool Options in Valheim
The hoe has four uses, which you can see if you right-click with the tool equipped in your main hand.
- Level Ground
- Elevate Ground
- Path
- Pave
Leveling ground in Valheim
The hoe’s primary use is for leveling out the ground, typically for players to build on or to plant crops. All of your base’s foundational pieces must be touching the ground to maintain blue-level stability at its base.
In leveling mode, you will see a circular interface touching the ground near your character.
If you left-click, the hoe will try to level the ground according to your current height. If you are lower than the surface, it will come down to your ground’s height and vice-versa if you are above it.
If you hold shift and left-click, the hoe will level the ground using the circular indicator’s height for reference.
Note that the hoe will try and level the ground as best as it can. However, leveling the ground will not raise or lower the overall ground height. The tool can only smooth the surface out to a similar level.
If the ground you are trying to level is too raised or too low, the hoe will leave large lumps or divots. To substantially lower a bit of land that the hoe cannot flatten, you will need to hit the bumpy area with a pickaxe.
Or if a bit of ground is too low, you will need to raise it with the hoe’s second function, elevating ground.
Elevating ground in Valheim
In the hoe’s right-click menu, you will see the ground elevation function. Selecting will show you a similar interface to the flattening tool. To use the elevation tool, you will need stone in your inventory and a stonecutter workbench nearby.
Each ground raising will cost two stones and lift the area in the circular interface substantially. If it is too high, you can knock it back down with a pickaxe. However, you won’t get the stone you spent refunded.
Making paths in Valheim
The third function of the hoe is to turn ground into a dirt path. Using this tool doesn’t level the ground. It simply lifts the grass texture from the ground and removes any ground clutter, such as weeds and shrubs. It will also remove reeds and lily pads if you use the tool near a water source.
Paving roads in Valheim
If you have a stonecutter bench nearby and some stone in your inventory, you can create paved cobblestone paths instead of a dirt path.
Each patch of cobble will cost you one stone each time you click, and it will not be refunded if you dirt path or replant grass over the cobble.
You’re in control
With these tools in hand, you can shape the world of Valheim to whatever you see fit. Do you want your base to be below sea level or on a hillside or even a mountain? Now that you’ve learned how the hoe works in Valheim, you have the tools necessary to begin building anywhere.
