HardHeim

Odin's world, just brutal. Slower progression, harsher consequences, and deadly storms for those who are not prepared.

HardHeim makes Valheim's survival harsher from the very first day. Progression is slower, death has greater consequences, and dangerous weather can turn the world itself against you. Explore dark crypts with a handheld light, manage your resources carefully, and prepare for storms before they find you exposed.

Features

• Copper Ore Weight: Configure the weight of copper ore on the server.
• Surtling Core Weight: Configure the weight of Surtling Cores on the server (defaults to 150 kg).
• Crypt Surtling Core Scarcity: Burial Chambers contain at most 1 Surtling Core (configurable spawn chance, defaults to 30%).
• Custom Death Penalty: Skills below level 50 use percentage-based loss; skills from level 50 use fixed reductions, with a smaller reduction at level 60 and above.
• Dark Crypts and Caves: Ambient lighting, environmental light, fog, and dungeon light sources are disabled indoors, making handheld lighting necessary for exploration.
• Enhanced Handheld Lights: Player torches and Dvergr lanterns have adjusted light intensity and range while inside dark interiors.
• Lighting Note: Camera zoom can affect the perceived brightness and range of handheld lights because Valheim adjusts light detail based on distance.
• Lightning Strikes: During thunderstorms, players out in the open (not under a roof) risk being struck by lightning, with a higher chance while on a ship. A struck player's health drops to 10, with a screen message and a visible bolt effect seen by everyone nearby, followed by a per-player cooldown before it can happen again.
• Server Synchronization: Configuration is synchronized to clients, and every player must have the mod installed.
• Storm Ship Damage: Ships take configurable damage during severe storms, but are protected in shallow water so they do not take damage while close to shore.
• Weapon Balance: Early-game weapon damage can be adjusted at runtime through the configuration.

Installation

The easiest way to install HardHeim is using a mod manager like r2modman or the Thunderstore Mod Manager.

Manual Installation

1. Ensure you have BepInEx and Jötunn installed.
2. Download the HardHeim.zip archive.
3. Extract the contents and move HardHeim.dll into your Valheim/BepInEx/plugins/ folder.

Configuration

After launching the game once, edit the generated configuration file:

BepInEx/config/com.valheim.hardheim.cfg

• Ore Weights -> CopperOre: accepts 0.1 to 1000 (default 50).
• Ore Weights -> SurtlingCore: accepts 0.1 to 1000 (default 150).
• Crypt Loot -> SurtlingCoreChance: percent chance 0 to 100 (default 30).
• Storm Ship Damage -> ShallowWaterDepth: storms do not damage ships when the seabed is close below them; this protects boats in shallow water and near shore.
• Lightning Strikes -> Enabled: toggles lightning strikes entirely (default true).
• Lightning Strikes -> LandChancePercent: percent chance 0 to 100 per check while on land during a thunderstorm (default 0.5).
• Lightning Strikes -> ShipChancePercent: percent chance 0 to 100 per check while on a ship during a thunderstorm (default 1).
• Lightning Strikes -> CheckIntervalSeconds: how often the strike chance is rolled per player (default 130).
• Lightning Strikes -> CooldownSeconds: minimum time after being struck before a player can be struck again (default 120).
• Lightning Strikes -> ThunderstormEnvironments: comma-separated environment names that count as a thunderstorm (default ThunderStorm).
• Weapon Balance -> ClubDamage (default 8), FlintKnifeDamage (default 8), StoneAxeDamage (default 9), FlintSpearDamage (default 12), and CrudeBowDamage (default 14): control early-game weapon damage.

Death penalty behavior is built in and is not currently configurable.

v0.0.9

• Mod Rename: The mod has been renamed from HardHeim to Hardship because the name HardHeim was already in use. This mod is now deprecated in favor for hardship.

v0.0.8

• Torch is a Light Source, Not a Weapon: The Torch's primary purpose is now to light your way, not to fight — combat use is a last resort, not a strategy.
• Torch Recipe Cost: Torch now costs 2 Wood and 5 Resin to craft (up from 1 Wood, 1 Resin), configurable under Weapon Balance.
• Torch Combat Durability: Torches now break after a configurable number of melee hits (default 2), in addition to their normal timed burn-out.

v0.0.7

• Tier 1 Weapon Balance: Reduced the base damage of the Club to 8, Flint Knife to 8 total, Stone Axe to 9, Flint Spear to 12, and Crude Bow to 14.
• Runtime Weapon Configuration: Added configurable damage values for all rebalanced early-game weapons under the Weapon Balance section.

v0.0.6

• Prevent raid-spawned creatures from dropping loot.
• Add the configurable Raid Loot -> BlockRaidDrops setting.
• Preserve normal loot drops for ordinary creatures.

v0.0.5

• Storm Ship Damage: Ships now take damage from waves during severe storms with strong wind, so anchoring in a sheltered bay or shallow water near shore is safer than riding out a storm at sea.
• Lightning Strikes: During thunderstorms, standing out in the open (without a roof overhead) risks being struck by lightning, dropping your health to 10. It's riskier on a ship than on land, so seek shelter when thunder rolls in.

v0.0.4

• Surtling Core Scarcity: Burial Chambers contain at most 1 Surtling Core, with a configurable spawn chance (defaults to 30%, resulting in 0 or 1 core per crypt).
• Surtling Core Weight: Configurable Surtling Core weight on the server (defaults to 150 kg).
• Lighting Stability: Improved interior lighting override handling across dungeon transitions and tuned handheld torch boost.

v0.0.3

• Crypt Darkness: Crypts and caves now use black ambient lighting and fog, removing environmental light that can reveal the interior without a light source.
• Dungeon Light Removal: Dungeon torches, sconces, braziers, and related particle effects are disabled and prevented from reactivating.
• Player Light Boost: Handheld torches and Dvergr lanterns receive increased intensity and range so they remain useful in the forced darkness.

v0.0.2

• Custom Death Penalty: Added level-based skill loss when a player dies.
• Penalty Scaling: Skills below level 50 use percentage-based loss, skills from level 50 lose fixed amounts, and skills from level 60 lose only one level.
• Documentation: Updated installation, configuration, and feature documentation for the current release.

v0.0.1 (Beta)

• Copper Ore Overhaul: Increased Copper Ore weight to encourage cart usage and strategic base building near mines.
• Singleplayer Support: Fully functional in local, singleplayer worlds.
• Server Enforcement: Made the mod mandatory for all clients when running on a dedicated server.