no map/portal pt 1, first hour: valheim

welcome to a new playthrough! these videos will generally be longer and less edited than the combat-focused videos i typically post.
after 1500+ hours, i decided to challenge myself with this mode. this is no map, no portal, with 3x drops. i'll get some major observations out of the way early:
1. storage limitations
a. no map/portal is a mode for veterans who have a firm understand the tech tree and overall progression between biomes, i.e., you know what materials are valuable and when. economy of storage is paramount: you need to understand ahead of time what is worth taking in your backpack, cart, or boat storage, including when you decide to move to a new base. "packing" based on anticipated need is critical, both in terms of weight and slots. how hard is something to find, how valuable is it, will there be more of it where you are going, how heavy is it, etc. you need to make triage decisions constantly.
b. workbenches: as you get higher up the tech tree, it gets extremely difficult to keep your tech portable because of all the crafting upgrade stations. you cannot carry all your workbench tech, forge tech, and cauldron tech with you at all times, even with a longship. example: just going to level 2 on the cauldron (spice rack) requires 5 different items, and, therefore, takes up 5 slots. repairing and cooking are extremely challenging on the road. consider whether to make a second copy of your "main" weapon, or utilities like pickaxes, so that you can make progress for longer without needing to go home. cook extra food in advance and keep it on the boat, or in your backpack.
c. rest: always travel with some wood and stone for a campfire. dont be afraid to take a little finewood or other furniture-related mats in your boat for a long trip and establishment of a semi-permanent rest shack, e.g., when you get to the swamps for the first time. getting your comfort up to 7-8 instead of 3 can pay dividends if you will be using that shack a lot. for later bosses, you will need a decent comfort shack to get your rest high enough to last the full fight.
d. trader: dont count on finding the trader. if you are looking for the trader, keep gold on your boat so you can actually buy the belt if you find him.
2. boss locations
a. you will spend a lot of time locating bosses. vegvisirs will point you in the direction of the boss but that is all you get. use the build hammer and select a build piece to record the direction.
b. related to the above, when you are in a dungeon, your "true" orientation in the overworld is unknown, including the direction that a vegvisir points. use the hammer to ready an asymmetrical build piece to record direction and keep it's rotation angle fixed until you get back to the overworld.
3. overall navigation
a. tree branch: yes, you can use the tree branch to navigate (it points east-west, as does sunrise and sunset), but consider that bad weather will make this difficult and certain biomes dont even have a clear sky, like swamp, mistlands, and ashlands.
b. consider marking a compass as a reference point. when you raise ground, the dirt pillar will always be 4-sided and the sides will point north, east, sound, west. just make sure you can determine 1 of the directions for certain, and you can derive the other 3.
c. the best way to navigate is generally to use coastlines. this can lead to circuitous exploration, but greatly reduces the chance of getting lost.

[@torsodeaf]

heeeell yeah. Keep em comin!

[@darincox736]

Curious why you don't grab the 2 berries and 2 mushrooms that are right behind the starting pillars? I've watched you start 2 or 3 times now and I don't think I've seen you grab those. By some off chance are you not aware they are there? I always grab them to give an immediate health/stamina boost. Maybe you have some other reason...

[@sittingforgetting9907]

make your own maps in MS paint.

[@Fr3ddyUK]

Using hacks!

[@PierreLucSex]

Spawn rate is x3 as intended by the in-menu options