How to Cook Fish in Valheim

This essential guide walks you through catching and making fish food in Valheim. It's aimed at players who have just entered the Black Forest stage as they're likely to meet Haldor there.

It mainly deals with mid-game features but also explains how to cope without certain gear if you're playing the game in a late-game way.

This document has no mistakes related to Valheim Mistlands and Ashlands versions because they brought a lot of new content in terms of the fishing system and food recipes.

Tools Needed: Rod of Fishing and some Bait

Haldor is the only shop vendor you can buy a rod or bait from. Find him in the Black Forest.

Here is a breakdown of all the things you will need:

• A Fishing Rod which can only be bought off Haldor for 350 Coins. This rod is pretty good, and it takes up one of your tool slots.

• Fishing Bait for a Start which can be purchased in bundles from Haldor with one bundle containing 50 units of Fishing Bait for the price of 10 Coins.

• Advanced Bait Making: Some of the baits are only available through the use of Cauldron in conjunction with basic bait from higher-level biomes. For example, Stinger Bait is made from Basic Bait and a Seeker Trophy.

• Spare Slots for your Items: Make sure that you at least leave yourself three to four vacant slots when you get ready to go fishing.

Where to Fish and Which Fish to Target

Fishes are spawning all over various biomes.

• Shoreline vs. Deep Water: Small fishes such as Perch can be found in the vicinity of seashores and lakesides. The bigger, top-tier fishes Magmafish or Coral Cod prefer the deep ocean, and you will need to go in a Longship or a Karve for the job.

• Target Visible Fish: Don't throw the line blindly. Observe active ripples and spot fish moving around for the best probability of hooking.

• Fish and Bait Mapping: Meadows/Black Forest: Go after Perch and Pike with the regular Fishing Bait.

• Swamp/Plains: Try to net Giant Herring and Grouper with the Sticky Bait or Lumpy Bait.

• Mistlands/Ashlands: Catch Anglerfish and Magmafish either with Misty Bait or Hot Bait.

• Meadows/Black Forest: Hunt for Perch and Pike with common Fishing Bait.

• Swamp/Plains: Go after Giant Herring and Grouper with either Sticky Bait or Lumpy Bait.

• Mistlands/Ashlands: Lure Anglerfish and Magmafish by offering them Misty Bait and Hot Bait.

Catching Fish with a Fishing Rod

• First, Put Everything Together: Open your inventory. Click the Fishing rod, select your Bait so it goes with the line.

• Throw Your Hook Out: Hold down the Left Mouse Button (LMB). Then 1 to 2 seconds of holding will cause you to throw it to a medium distance (like ~10-15 meters). Don't go for a max-distance cast doing that is not worth it as it takes a lot of stamina.

• See When the Fish Takes a Bite: The water will have a reaction if a fish is coming. When a fish bites, the bobber sinks, you get a "HOOKED" message on the screen as well with a splash.

• Pull in the Fish: Hold the Right Mouse Button (RMB) down to start reeling. Press it instead on some occasions when a fish is really fighting hard against it.

• Don't Lose Your Energy: Pulling keeps on draining our stamina continuously. In case you run out of stamina and the fish haven't reached you, the line will get pulled out of hooks, leading to fish loss. So, it's better to consume stamina-boosting food or drink before the fishing.

Catching Fish Without a Fishing Rod

• Shallow Grabbing method: By simply walking into the very shallow water areas of the shore, you can easily catch most fish species without the need for tools. Find fish that get pushed against rocks by the waves, then go running to them and hold the E key to catch them without using a rod at all.

• Deep Water Caveat: This is definitely a thing you shouldn't even try at deep water locations. You are swimming in deep water which means you're unable to pick the fishes up while swimming. Furthermore, you would spend your stamina only for nothing and the risk of drowning would be a fact.

Cooking Fish: Making From Fish Whole, Raw, and Cooked Fish

No way for the whole, untouched fish to just be thrown or hung on the fire to grill directly from the stream.

• Food Preparation Table: First of all, you must build this workstation to be adjacent to your Cauldron so as for your fish to get cut or cut up.

• Making Materials: For building this table you need 10 Fine Wood and 4 Cu and 2 Raw Fish.

• Food Preparation: To make your fish food safe interact you Food Preparation Table and convert the one whole fish into the standard pieces of Raw Fish. The large fish, obviously, will give much bigger number of standard Raw Fish pieces.

• Cooking: Put the Raw Fish on one of your normal Cooking Station or Iron Cooking Station which was located right beside the bonfire.

• Timekeeping: Approximately after 20 seconds, the fish starts to sizzle very loud, and a puff of smoke comes out from it. At the moment when the sound is happening you click the station to get your Cooked Fish.

Cooked Fish: Highlights, Nutritional Values, and Why to Use

Plain Cooked Fish gives you the most general boost in stats which is why it's good for basic building, crafting and exploring.

• Max Health Bonus: Grants 45 points of Max Health.

• Max Sprint Bonus: Grants 15 points of Max Sprint.

• Duration: The effect last for 1200 of seconds (20 minutes).

• Healing: Healing is a constant effect providing 2 hp/tick of regeneration.

• Stacking Rules: Although you may enjoy your Cooked Fish together with other complex fish recipes (Fish Wraps, for example), you cannot eat more than once Cooked Fish without additional ingredients per serving and per cooking method, i.e., without adding some spice to it before making it a cooking recipe or cooking separately.

Recipes Using Cooked Fish

By cooking your Cooked Fish in an upgraded Cauldron and a Stone Oven you'll be able to get your hand on some high-tier late-game foods.

• Fish Wraps (Plains Tier): Can be made in a Level 4 Cauldron. Requires 2 Cooked Fish and 4 Barley Flour. Gives 70 Health and 23 Stamina.

• Sailor's Bounty (Mistlands Tier): Can be made in a Level 5 Cauldron. Requires 3 Cooked Fish, 2 Magecap, and 1 Onion. This is the best stamina food there is.

• Fish n' Bread (Ashlands Tier): This is a bread item that needs raw dough baked in a Stone Oven. Mixes 2 Cooked Fish with 3 Bread Dough to give major endgame stamina stats.

Advanced Notes and Troubleshooting

• Preventing Coal: The result will be a lump ofCoal, the useless one, if Cooked Fish was kept on a cooking spit for more than 3 or maybe 4 seconds after the cooking is finished.

• Efficient Base Setup: You should build your Food Preparation Table and fires on a dock or shoreline base. This would help you not to carry things around after fishing and also saving the time from going inland.

• Farming Ingredients: Keep an area to farm Magecaps only. You will also need to preserve trophies of elite creatures so that you can have biome-specific baits to fish in endgame areas.

• Boat Fishing: When fishing from a moving boat, reel the fish in a little bit before the boat speeds up to prevent the line from breaking because of a sudden distance stretch.

Quick Checklist and Recipe Summary

• Buy tools: 350 Coins for Rod, 10 Coins for Bait from Haldor.

• Catch: Look for ripples, cast short, hold RMB when "HOOKED" appears.

• Process: Use the Food Preparation Table to turn fish into Raw Fish.

• Cook: Bake on a cooking spit for 20 seconds until it pops.

• Top Recipe: Fish Wraps = 2 Cooked Fish + 4 Barley Flour (70 Health).