[Top 3] Valheim Best Boats – How to Choose the Best Boat for You

Updated:

03 Jun 2022

Valheim’s landscapes and terrain models has been amazing to explore and immerse upon since the beginning of the games’ early access, but like real life, it isn’t always all land in the world you explore upon. With some islands being as big as a continent while others being as small as a patch of dirt, you’ll soon encounter the other thing that Valheim also has you cross and explore, open water. From small streams to the vast Ocean biome, not all of the games’ waterways are crossable by swimming, with you likely dying before getting some meaningful distance.

With that said, we’ll be turning to the very likely transport method we all know in love, boats. The game started with 3 boats available and after months of patches and updates, we’ll be looking at… the same 3 boats since release. It’s an underwhelming thing to have limited options but that doesn’t mean their use is as limited, so we’ll be exploring the waters with these boats and see what uses they have for us and rank them from worst to best.

As with all Valheim lists, this was written at the time of the games’ latest version (version 0.208.10), and the speed listed is from base number to the fastest via a tailwind.

3. Raft

Still the simplest and most basic among our choices, the Raft is as small as its use case.

This is the first boat that you’ll be able to make in the game and depending on your seed, this could be a need or a pass. Due to how limited the Raft’s speed and durability is at, you’re not going to be taking it out on the Ocean on the count that if a nearby land enemy with a bow hits it, or a Serpent would make its unfortunate appearance while you’re at sea, you’ll immediately be fish chum as the Raft is neither fast nor durable enough for combat situations. Add to the fact that it’s more of a personal transport boat, you should have it stick to small rivers and waters close to land.

Where this boat stands in Valheim is more towards a temporary boat in which you use to fish on farther waters within your base. Another would be builds that mimic the Venice canals where tiny clusters are connected via a narrow waterway that would add thematic sense to your intended water-friendly town.

What is Good About the Raft?

Can be made without needing metal components
Easily built in the late game for niche uses
Small enough profile to fit through nearly any body of water
Can be a novelty/decorative piece for water-heavy village builds

Choose This Boat If…

You need to cross through nearby islands
Need to distance from shore to fish
A spare boat for decorative purposes

Raft Details:

Boat HP: 300
Speed Achieved (Paddling to Full Sails) – 5.76 to 10.8 km/h
Storage space – N/A

2. Karve

The next boat we have is what I consider the first actual boat of the game, the Karve.

With just about everything being miles better than the Raft, the Karve is the boat you’d get to have actual stuff done, whether it’s long distance travel or the occasional material gathering with a small number of people. While not being all that big in size, the Karve isn’t a preferable option for those needing their stuff through a narrow channel of water, which is unlikely for you to know immediately as the games map isn’t filled in unless you explore it (or use some admin command trickery). This is a boat that should be in big bodies of water like the Ocean, and in theory can be the only boat you need should you don’t need a lot of water crossing through the map, but we’ll reserve judgement until it can be done by casual, first-time players.

Like an actual cargo ship, this boat carries some space for items, albeit at a limited 4 inventory slots. It’s possible to fit in a few of your stackable items, 20 meats in an inventory slot for example, into the ship if you’re running low on personal inventory space, but for most, it’s best to use important items like ores and special, non-portal friendly items.

For its durability and speed, it’s a fair boat to have around the Ocean as it can take a beating, although, it’s not invincible as a Serpent can whack it completely by just a few lunges at the Karve. Outrunning it isn’t possible if the wind isn’t in your favor, making for arrows a necessity to bring when you’re out and about.

Having said all that, you should still invest in the boat for these reasons given, and a definitive choice for those looking at a medium cruise in the seas. This would be a solid boat for the game, if it weren’t for the best boat in the game, listed next.

What is Good About the Karve?

A great boat for medium and even large-scale explorations
Has 4 inventory slots to fit a few items you may get
Decent health to tank up a bit of damage while at sea

Choose This Boat If…

You need to explore farther areas alone/with a few people
A better ship to outrun foes like the Serpent
A boat to transport up to 4 stacks of items
Can be used for the entirety of the game

Karve Details:

Boat HP: 500
Speed Achieved (Paddling to Full Sails) – 11.4 to 25 km/h
Storage space – 4 slots

1. Longship

Last is the grandest, biggest, and simply the best ship to have in Valheim, the always reliable Longship.

After a year of updates and multiple sea generations from seeds later, the Longship still has the undisputed title of best boat in Valheim. A gargantuan ship that is nothing short of useful both in its utility and mobility, making it the best use case for water travel tasks, big or small. One look at this ship can tell you that this is built for the Ocean and with the amount of space this has, this isn’t exactly much of a single-person vessel, which isn’t to say it can’t be that, but having this around with like-minded, fighting heavy friends on board gives it the look of boss conquerors.

As for its purpose, this is primarily an ore transporting vessel given the inventory space, making this a necessity for any metal finding expeditions. It’s got high health to be able to tank a few more shots from even the worst of enemies, Serpents specifically, and can carry an absurd number of items via its 18 slot inventory space, making for a full ore haul go up to 540 ores, which is a lot to put it simply. Speaking of a lot, again, the Longship can carry a lot of people due to the sheer size of the boat, but also each part of the boat has an interactable that makes you stay in place, which is funnily irrelevant as you can stack people on the ‘hold fast’ area by the mast, meaning the maximum 10 person per server usual limit can fit in that one single boat.

The only negative to probably consider is that this ship isn’t good in narrow riversides and creek passes, for obvious reasons, but for the most part you still can by clearing any obstructions using a pickaxe, unless it’s a dead end. Having said all that, there is still much to be happy about this ship compared to anything that came before it, and once again, if you want the best ship this game to offer, craft yourself the Longship and set sail to the waters beyond you seek.