Getting started and progression

ExperienceSystem 0.4.0 adds a character level, skill trees and elemental reactions. This guide uses the default settings; servers can change activity rewards and reaction settings.

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Installation and controls

Install ExperienceSystem with BepInExPack Valheim 5.4.2350 and Jotunn 2.30.1. In multiplayer, every player and the server need the mod. Use the same mod version throughout the group. This release was built for Valheim 1.0.15.

The branches organise skills by category. There are no prerequisite paths: you can buy any skill as soon as you have enough points. The details show its current bonus, next-rank bonus and price.

The bottom experience bar shows progress towards the next level. The skills window has its own copy; the separate HUD bar hides while the window is open, during cutscenes and when Valheim hides its HUD. At level 100, the bar displays the maximum-level message.

Levels and skill points

A character starts at level 1 with no skill points. The maximum is level 100. Rewards increase as you progress:

Buying every rank of all 25 manual skills costs exactly 408 points. You can complete the entire tree at level 100. Until then, choose your priorities and use free refunds to try different builds. Second Life cannot be refunded while on cooldown; resetting all skills during that time keeps its rank and 8 invested points.

By default, advancing from level L to the next costs floor(120 × L^1.45) XP. floor means rounding down. Level 1 to level 2 costs 120 XP. Further accumulation stops at level 100.

Changing the balance

After the first launch, edit BepInEx/config/com.vladislav.experiencesystem.cfg while the game is stopped, then restart. Each [20 Skill - SkillId] section sets MaxRank, Cost and PerRank. The five automatic level-100 bonuses are in [21 Automatic Skills]. Changing costs changes the level-100 point budget so the whole configured tree still fits. Saved ranks above new limits are clamped on load; an allocation over the new budget is refunded for redistribution.

GlobalXpMultiplier in [05 Experience] scales all earned XP before Insight. [06 Experience Sources] sets activity rewards, OrdinaryCreatureBaseXp and ResourceWorkMultiplier. [22 Biome XP] sets ordinary-creature biome factors, and [23 Main Boss XP] sets main-boss base rewards. Multipliers below 1 bank fractional XP in the character save. Use matching gameplay config values for everyone in multiplayer.

Gaining a level through XP restores health to the new maximum, including food and the new level bonus. This rule does not fully refill stamina or eitr.

Automatic level bonuses

These five bonuses grow with your character level. They cost no points and are not purchased in the skill tree.

Growth is linear: level bonus = maximum bonus × (level − 1) / 99. At level 1 the bonus is zero. At level 50 it is approximately +59.4 health and stamina, +24.7% to both regeneration rates and −12.4% to effect duration.

Health and stamina are added to your normal values, including food. Level 100 grants 120 extra HP; it does not cap your health at 120. Regeneration bonuses multiply existing regeneration rather than restoring 50% of your maximum health each tick.

Fortitude shortens burning, spirit damage, poison, frost, freezing, cold, wetness, smoke, tar and slime effects when they have a finite duration. The environment can still refresh an effect, such as wetness in rain. Rested, food and other beneficial effects are not shortened. The separate immobilisation timer from Ice-bound is not reduced by Fortitude.

Earning experience

These are base rewards before Insight.

Clicking an empty bush or an already harvested mushroom gives no XP. Placing building pieces has no separate reward in this version. Revealing an area of the map is not necessarily a location discovery.

Cooking, smelting, taming and successful birth each pay the full reward to every player within 20 m. Cooking pays when a cooked or overcooked item is removed, not when food first burns. Fractional resource awards accumulate until they reach a whole XP, so every hit does not produce a separate number.

For ordinary kills, the default formula is 450 × biome factor × √(base HP / 80) × (base attack / 70)^0.3 × (1 + stars × StarBonusPerLevel). Biome factors from Meadows through Deep North are 0.35 / 0.55 / 0.75 / 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.8 / 2.1; Ocean uses 0.8. A creature keeps its native biome when it moves. Main boss rewards in the same biome order are 2,000 / 5,000 / 12,500 / 22,500 / 35,000 / 50,000 / 75,000 / 110,000 XP. Other bosses receive five times the ordinary reward, capped at one-quarter of the main boss reward for their biome. Existing CreatureXpFactor, StarBonusPerLevel and BossXpMultiplier settings still scale these amounts.

Ore tiers scale with the server's MiningXp setting relative to its default of 6; setting it to zero disables mining XP. A node with both stone and ore drops uses its highest ore tier. Tin and obsidian deposits are included even though Valheim handles them as destructible objects. Unknown ore types use the lowest tier, while ordinary stone keeps the configured base reward plus 20%.

By default, kill XP also goes to other players within 60 m of the killer. Each receives the full base amount; it is not divided by the number of players. Every recipient applies their own Insight bonus. This sharing rule does not distribute harvesting, crafting or other non-combat activity XP.

Death and saves

A death that carries a penalty removes only progress within the current level. For example, level 20 with a half-filled bar towards level 21 becomes level 20 with an empty bar. Your earned level, purchased ranks and unspent points remain.

Protection from repeated XP loss uses the same game decision and protection period as Valheim's normal skill-loss penalty. The mod has no independent second timer. If normal skills are protected from loss on this death, your current XP is preserved too.

Second Life cancels death entirely when it activates, so it does not create a tombstone or reset current XP. Another lethal hit while the ability is on cooldown can cause a normal death.

Progress is saved with your character. When migrating from the older progression system, the five formerly purchasable attributes become automatic and the cost of remaining ranks is recalculated. If those ranks exceed the new level budget, manual skills reset for redistribution. Levels above 100 are capped at the new maximum.

Settings

Configuration file: BepInEx/config/com.vladislav.experiencesystem.cfg in the profile used to launch the game.

Gameplay settings are synchronised from the server. Controls and visual preferences are local. The 100-level cap and 408-point distribution are defined by the progression system itself.