Valheim portal guide: Here's how to make the most of your portals

In Valheim, you must adapt to the harsh Norse-inspired world if you plan on defeating the forsaken beast that control the tenth world. Exploration is key to finding new materials to craft better weapons and armor but sailing across the sea can be time-consuming and especially frustrating when the winds don't cooperate. If only there was a way to travel long distances in the blink of an eye.

Well, there is! Portals are buildable structures in Valheim. Build two connecting portals, and players can warp from one end of the map to the other with ease, but there are a few things to consider before you hop through dimensions. Here's what you need to know about portals in Valheim.

How to craft a portal

Crafting a portal can be done fairly early in your travels, but it requires a few key materials. One of those ingredients is Fine Wood. Finding a piece of Fine Wood will unlock the recipe for the Portal, but to find Fine Wood, you'll have to chop down the Birch or Oak trees found in the Meadows, Black Forest, or Plains biomes.

Both trees require a Bronze Axe to chop down, so you'll have to have discover Bronze first. Fine Wood can also be found in the shipwrecks found on the coast of the Black Forest, or if you're feeling dangerous, you can also tempt a Troll to knock over the necessary trees, but doing so is dangerous.

You'll also need to find Surtling Core and Greydrawrf Eyes. You can find Surtling Core in the Burial Chambers found in the Black Forest biome, while Greydwarf Eyes can be found by defeating Greylings, Greydwarfs, Greydwarf Brutes, and Grey Dwarf Shamans. You need 10 Greydwarf Eyes, 20 pieces of Fine Wood, and 2 Surtling Cores to craft one end of the portal, so make sure you double that recipe to build two connecting ends.

Using the portals

Once you've built a portal, you'll need to name it. Place the portal somewhere close to your base and give it a name. Both portals must have the same name for them to work, so make sure they match exactly — the tags are case sensitive. Now place the other end of the portal in a place you frequent often, and voila! You have unlocked Viking fast travel.

It's a good idea to connect portals to areas you'll visit often. Placing one near Haldor the Merchant is a great way to get to the dwarf to buy materials and sell loot. Building portals across great stretches of the ocean is also a great way to skip a nautical voyage when the winds are blowing the wrong way. It's also nice to build a signpost near the portal with the destination, so you're not just jumping through portals aimlessly.

You can only connect two portals at a time, but you can build a bunch of portals at your main base of operations and start crafting a network. As long as you mark their destinations with signs, you can easily create your very own dimensional transit system.

The downside to portals

Portals are a great way to get back to your base in a snap and unload some materials in a snap, don't dismember your boat yet. While portals are great to use to get around, they can't transport certain goods. The items that can't be teleported will be marked in your inventory, and you'll have to drop them before you can use the portal. Here are all of the items that can't be teleported:

• Tin Ore
• Tin
• Copper Ore
• Copper
• Bronze
• Iron
• Scrap Iron
• Black Metal Scrap
• Black Metal
• Silver Ore
• Silver
• Dragon Egg

Traveling at your own pace

That's all you need to know about portals in Valheim. Portals can be a huge help and an easy way to travel great distances in an instant, but you'll still have to transport your metals the old fashion way. Learn all about sea travel in our sailing guide, so you can get your shiny metals back to your forge safe and sound. Valheim is in early access but is already one of the best survival games on the PC, with plenty of new content coming soon.