How to Sail the High Seas – Valheim Raft

How to Build a Raft in Valheim

Valheim is a casino game that is about Vikings and, as such, you’re in a position to sail the high seas. While a Longboat is just a later option, the Valheim Raft are the first vessel you’ll be able to build — but driving it really isn’t therefore straightforward.

You’ll have to build your Valheim Raft before you actually set sail! Thankfully, it’s a pretty easy project. (Actually using the raft is another matter, but we’ll get to that a bit later.)

Here’s how to build a Raft in Valheim:

1. Craft a Hammer.
2. Build a Workbench near some water.
3. Collect the following items:
   • 20 Wood
   • 6 Leather Scraps (from killing Boars)
   • 6 Resin (from killing Greylings)
4. Stand near the water, select your hammer, and build your Raft! It will plop down into the water.

Building a Raft is relatively easy compared to some of the things in the game. It makes sense, too — you might need to cross a lake or ocean to get to the game’s first boss. Getting this thing moving, however, is another thing entirely.

How to Use the Valheim Raft

Using the Valheim Raft doesn’t seem intuitive at first, but it will all make sense once you understand the underlying concepts. To start, you can move the Raft forwards or backward using W and S. You can also turn the rudder left or right using A or D. This is all represented on the HUD as shown above.

The problem, however, is that the Raft is largely powered by the wind. If the wind is blowing in the direction you want to move, you’re going to be going nowhere fast.

In the above image, you can see the wind direction is going to the left. The Raft obviously isn’t facing that way, so the best-case scenario is that it will move very, very slowly. In many cases, however, it won’t move at all!

When you’re at 33% forward (1 arrow up) and in reverse (1 arrow down) speed, you’ll be using the rudder to propel your raft. You may not be able to move forward very fast (or at all) if you’re pushing into the wind. At 66% forward power and 100% forward power, you’ll deploy the sails and the wind will push you forward.