The primary focus of Valheim is for a group of viking raiders to survive in a hostile land together. This emphasis on teamwork and cooperative play is present throughout the game, but that doesn't mean that developer Iron Gate AB completely overlooked player vs player elements. Though they tend to be far more common than cooperative games currently, many titles end up choosing between either allowing cooperative play or including competitive game modes, a trend that is leading fans to question whether or not this title features both. The problem may be exacerbated because there are players that have been in online lobbies and are unable to attack each other.
Valheim actually handles this conundrum incredibly well, allowing players to initiate in player vs player combat only if they choose to. In this way, players aren't forced into fighting others in a way that could ruin the cooperative nature of the game, but they are still able to engage in combat with friends if they find that aspect enjoyable.
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In order to do PVP in Valheim, players will need to toggle it in the server settings before loading the server. Thankfully, this is an incredibly easy thing to do, but it should be said that, just like Valheim's cheats and console commands, only the player that created the server can make this change. When playing on another friend's server or even that of a complete stranger, there is no way to toggle on PVP unless the host is willing to do it themselves.
Once PVP is toggled on, the game won't become a battlefield or anything like that. For starters, servers are capped out at 10 players and they usually consist of friends playing together trying to defeat Valheim's tough boss battles, so don't expect to run into randoms and have to fight in a life or death situation. Taking things a step further, the only way players can fight each other is to initaite a duel with one another that requires consent from both parties. If both players agree, the duel will comence and they can fight to the death, but it's important to keep in mind that everything is the same if one player dies.
After dying, all of the items in the player's inventory will be dropped on the spot and they will respawn at the last bed they slept in. If playing with all friends, this probably won't be an issue, but with randoms or friends that are a bit more mischievious, it is very possible to lose all items after losing a duel. It would be much better to sell these items to one of Valheim's traders.
Valheim is available now on PC.