Sailing Valheim's Ocean: Serpents, Leviathans, and Survival

What the Ocean Actually Is (and Why You Should Care)

The first time you push off from shore and your minimap label switches to "Ocean," there's a genuine shift in tension. The seafloor drops away, waves pick up, and the comfortable green coastline shrinks behind you. Valheim's Ocean biome is less a destination and more a gauntlet between destinations, but it holds resources you simply cannot get anywhere else. Serpent Scales for one of the coolest shields in the game, Chitin for the Abyssal Harpoon, and some of the strongest food available at any stage of your run.

Swimming into the Ocean is a death sentence. Stamina drains fast, and once it hits zero you start drowning. You need a boat, and the boat you bring determines whether the Ocean is a minor inconvenience or a genuine threat.

Reading the Wind and Waves

Before you leave shore, check the small arrow in the bottom-left corner of your minimap. It shows wind direction. Sailing with the wind at your back is dramatically faster than fighting against it. If you're planning a long voyage, wait for favorable wind or use Moder's forsaken power (always tailwind) to cut travel time in half.

Your boat's UI shows a circle with a wind icon. When that icon is white, your sails are catching wind. When it's black, you're dead in the water and should drop to paddle speed (one arrow). The three speed settings also affect turning radius: slower speeds let you maneuver more sharply, which matters when you're threading between islands or dodging a Serpent.

Weather affects wave height significantly. Clear skies produce gentle swells around half a meter. Rain doubles that, and thunderstorms can throw 3 to 5 meter waves at you. Storms don't damage your boat directly, but the reduced visibility combined with larger waves makes Serpent encounters much more dangerous.

Serpents: From Terror to Farming Route

The Serpent is the Ocean's only hostile creature, and it's responsible for more ragequits than probably any boss in the game. Your first encounter usually goes poorly: you're on a Raft, it's nighttime, and you have no idea what that dark shape in the water is until your boat starts splintering.

Here's the important thing to understand. Serpents are not that tough once you're properly equipped. They become a farming target, not a threat. The food they drop is genuinely excellent, and the scales (obtainable only by killing them near shore) unlock the Serpent Shield.

Killing Serpents from Your Boat

The simplest method is bow and arrow. Frost arrows are particularly effective, but any late-game arrow works fine since Serpents don't have an enormous health pool. A Karve can outrun a Serpent if you need to disengage, and a Longship is fast enough and tanky enough that you can fight while sailing without serious risk.

Each Serpent drops six Serpent Meat. Cooked Serpent Meat gives 70 health and 40 stamina with a 2,000-second duration. Combine it with mushrooms and honey at a Cauldron for Serpent Stew: 80 health, 80 stamina, 2,400-second duration, and a 4 HP heal tick. That puts it among the best food in the game.

Dragging Serpents to Shore for Scales

Serpent Scales sink when a Serpent dies in deep water. To collect them, you need to drag the Serpent to shallow water using an Abyssal Harpoon. The technique is straightforward: sail close to the Serpent, hit it with the harpoon (left click), then steer toward the nearest beach on your boat's lowest speed setting. A Longship is ideal because it has enough HP to absorb the Serpent's attacks during the trip. On the second or third speed setting, the line snaps, so keep it slow.

Once you beach it, finish it off with whatever weapon you prefer. The scales drop on land where you can actually pick them up. Ten Serpent Scales, four Iron, and ten Fine Wood craft the Serpent Shield. It's a tower shield (no parrying), and it's outclassed by endgame gear, but it looks incredible and performs well in the mid-game. Mark Serpent spawn locations on your map. They tend to respawn in the same spots, making repeat farming easy.

Leviathans: Mining the Living Islands

Scattered across the Ocean you'll occasionally spot what looks like a small rocky island covered in barnacles and vegetation. These are Leviathans, massive passive creatures that float motionless on the surface. They're completely harmless, but they're your only source of Chitin, the material needed for the Abyssal Razor (a knife) and the Abyssal Harpoon.

You can sail right up to a Leviathan and hop onto its back. The Abyssal Barnacles on its shell require any pickaxe to mine. Here's the catch: each barnacle you break has a 10% chance to trigger the Leviathan to submerge. When this happens, you'll hear a loud, unmistakable howling sound, and you have roughly 20 seconds to get back to your boat before it sinks beneath the waves.

The danger isn't the Leviathan itself. It's drowning. If you run out of stamina in deep water, you start taking damage fast. Eat a stamina-focused meal before mining, keep your boat parked right next to the Leviathan, and don't get greedy. Grab what you can and be ready to jump.

What Chitin Gets You

The Abyssal Harpoon (8 Fine Wood, 30 Chitin, 3 Leather Scraps) is the real prize. Beyond dragging Serpents to shore, it's useful for pulling any creature and is one of the most entertaining tools in the game. The Abyssal Razor (4 Fine Wood, 20 Chitin, 2 Leather Scraps) is a knife with 12 pierce and 12 slash damage. It's not top-tier, but knife enthusiasts will appreciate having the option early.

Fishing the Ocean (and Why It's Worth Your Time)

Fishing is one of those activities that feels optional until you realize how good the food is. Fish Wraps (2 Cooked Fish, 4 Barley Flour) give 60 health and 90 stamina with a 2,400-second duration. That stamina number is enormous, especially for exploration-heavy phases of the game.

To fish, buy the Fishing Rod (350 gold) and Bait (10 gold for 50) from Haldor the Trader. Head to any coastline and look for fish swimming in the shallows. Hold left click to charge your cast, release to throw, then wait for a fish to bite. When it does, hold right click to reel it in. Reeling costs stamina, so eat a solid meal before a fishing session or you'll lose fish right at the shore.

Once a fish is reeled in close, mouse over it and press E to pick it up (this trips up a lot of new players). Cook the raw fish at a Cooking Station for Cooked Fish: 45 health, 25 stamina, 1,200-second duration. Solid early-game food, and the upgraded Fish Wraps stay relevant deep into your playthrough.