When you reach the middle to later parts of the game, you’ll be crossing various islands via a boat, and in turn, expanding your network of Ocean passages and visiting these far away islands. Your agenda may be looting metals, hauling non-teleporting materials to your base, or even just feeling like going somewhere in the world. At the end of all that, you’ll need an area to put the boat to a stop and/or drop whatever materials you have amassed to your base, either near or far from where you landed. While you can just park next to land anytime, you may want to create something a little more dedicated to house your beloved sails, and what better place to put your ship in than a dock.
Your seaworthy vessel needs a place to stay, and that’s where this list comes in. From simple ports to aesthetic pieces of architecture, you have plenty of ways to go about your dock, or even inspire your creation by seeing how these examples are made.
As with all Valheim lists, this was written at the time of the games’ latest version (Hearth and Home Update, version 0.209.10). These builds may be attached to houses or be independent of other functions. This list is in no particular order.
5. Self-Clamping Ship Dock (Timo_Redbeard)
This is a simple formula, build a single rectangular holding station for your boat, and use smaller floors to carve out the shape to properly nest it in its place. The boat will then naturally bump into the wood floors up until it reaches the end, where the bespoke shape will hold it there until your next adventure. It’s a decent enough build but be mindful that rain and possible high tides can damage the floors, unless you have a roof over the build for rain protection, expect to be repairing this more often than you think.
What’s Great About This Design?
The great standouts for this build are the following:
- Construction is mostly Wood floors
- Channels your boat into a bespoke docking area
- Surrounding land can be built around it
4. Classic Long Dock Build (ZomZero)
There’s not much to say about this build other than it serves its purpose in housing ships for when you come back and from a possible metal haul from far away biomes, making quick metal-based crafts and repairs possible. If you want to expand on this area further, there is a possibility to build a house as well since the area behind the docks is perfect for a simple or rather decently sized house. Again, not much to it as what you see is what you get, a huge dock that can house 2 ships side-by-side making this a perfect group dock idea for like-minded Vikings who care more about exploring and coming home with lots of loot.
What’s Great About This Design?
The great standouts for this build are the following:
- Tested U-shaped build
- Still has space for minor workbench areas
- Can fit 2 Longships when parked well
3. Simple Boat Shelter Dock House (Vetlive)
For the other things this build has, it has the structure of a large rectangular house, just with a section cut open to accommodate your ship inside the building. The dock pretty much doubles as a possible house design as most of the stuff you’d want is all in one place, that being a forging/workbench area on either side as well as some decent space for smelting and charcoal-making kilns.
The personal sleeping quarters are up using a ladder, making it a loft by design, so expect this to be a bit small if you intend to make a storage area, but that’s what downstairs is used for. Expect to be making this a likely candidate for your next dock house/permanent residence if you are nearby a body of water going towards the Ocean
What’s Great About This Design?
The great standouts for this build are the following:
- Compact design
- Mostly regular wood build
- Simple to follow
2. Large Dock House Build (Vetlive)
What’s Great About This Design?
The great standouts for this build are the following:
- Spacious inside
- All wooden design makes the resources easy to get
- Balconies allow you to enjoy a good seaside view
1. Dock and Boat House Complex (The Pilgrimz Project)
You see the dock house housing a Longship for major travels and activities, while on its side is a smaller, stone dock and stairs for those smaller spare boats. Either part you park your boat, you should be assured a place to keep your boat away when you’re going on land, and even that may not be necessary as the complex houses smelting and crafting areas, perfect if you wish to grab some metal from the boat and create some ores for your next weapon/item.
The Stone tower integrated into the dock house also allows for a nice view as well as a lookout point, should you want to check up on any boat coming your way. The mix of stone and wooden structures adds depth to this build and is definitely one to do if you wish to show the other Vikings in your crew what a beautiful port should look like, assuming they aren’t off exploring.
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What’s Great About This Design?
The great standouts for this build are the following:
- Strong construction
- Various areas to park boats
- Stone tower doubles as a lookout point
Conclusion
These are just a handful of ideas you can take for your next dock storing area and depending on where and how the land is shaped, you can also experiment with some funky ideas. Just be mindful that not all builds can be right as you may have to keep in mind that shallow and deep waters can dramatically change your approach, making you do some changes that you may otherwise not consider. I guess, in a way, that’s the beauty of this game in that you’re allowed to deviate and adapt depending on your world, and given that no seed is the same, you’ll be doing a lot of theory crafting with many ideas being as vast as the open seas you’ll traverse again after you rest your sea legs on the dock you have built.
