Valheim's beta branch update adds difficulty modes, new trader and more

Valheim's latest update to the public test branch adds a new merchant: Hildir, the sister of existing dwarven trader Haldor. Hildir offers up fashionable items of clothing to buy, but the more exciting part of the update is its new difficulty levels, which let you try the open world multiplayer survival sim in either easy or hard modes.

Hard mode will increase enemy health and damage output, while normal mode will keep them at their previous levels. There's also a new easy mode designed for "pacifists and builders".

The new merchant, Hildir, can be found at a new camp, and will offer a quest to recover her store's items. She can then sell you hats, headscarves, dresses and tunics, or the items needed to build a barbershop. With the barbershop, you can adorn your viking character with eight new hairstyles, five new beard styles, and your hair will now be visible even when wearing helmets.

Other features in the update include three new mini bosses, new classic and open dungeons, and a bunch of fixes and quality-of-life changes. You can find the full patch notes for patch 0.217.4 here. If you want to play it yourself, you need to right-click Valheim within Steam, go to Properties, then select 'Betas' and type the code "yesimadebackups" into the text box to unlock the public test branch.