Cloudheim Starter Guide: Stop Hoarding and Start Kicking

So, you bought Cloudheim because you saw a clip of a Viking drop-kicking a monster off a cliff, and now you’re standing on a giant flying turtle wondering why you have to manually carry ore to a smelter like a 19th-century coal miner.

Welcome to the party. Cloudheim is what happens when Breath of the Wild has a weird baby with a retail management simulator. It’s chaotic, physics-obsessed, and occasionally annoying. But if you stop trying to play it like Valheim and start playing it like a pinball machine where the enemies are the balls, you’re going to have a good time. Here is how to survive your first few hours on the Odin Shell without rage-quitting over inventory management.

THE GOLDEN RULE: THIS IS NOT A SURVIVAL GAME

I need you to unlearn everything you know about punching trees. Cloudheim is an "Actioncraft" RPG. You do not have hunger bars. You do not build walls to hide from the rain. You do not lose your loot when you die (you just leave a ghost behind).

Your goal is simple: Go to an island, beat the snot out of everything, grab the loot, and come home. The base building is just a means to an end to upgrade your gear so you can beat the snot out of bigger things. Do not spend three hours looking for the perfect spot to build a house; you live on a turtle. You take what you can get.

PICKING A CLASS (AND WHY IT DOESN'T MATTER)

The tutorial makes a big deal about picking a class, but honestly, it’s about as permanent as a spray tan. Your class is entirely determined by the weapon you are holding. If you pick the Ranger because you like moving fast but decide later you want to smash things with a hammer, you just craft a hammer. Boom, you’re a Breaker now.

THE FOUR FLAVORS OF VIOLENCE

Here is the breakdown of who does what, so you don't look stupid in front of your friends.

CLASS	THE VIBE
Breaker	The muscle. Uses axes and hammers. Hits like a truck but swings slower than a sloth on tranquilizers.
Ranger	Speed demon. Dual-wields katanas or kamas. Focuses on combos and not getting hit.
Runeblade	Magic user. Shoots ice and lightning. Has healing spells, which means your friends will yell at you if they die.
Sentinel	The tank. Uses shields. Great for defensive players who enjoy physics-based bullying.

COMBAT: EMBRACE THE YEET

The combat in Cloudheim isn't just "click to attack." It’s physics-based, which is developer speak for "we let you punt enemies." You have impulse attacks: launch, pull, push, and smash.

Use them. If you are just swinging your sword, you are playing wrong. Lasso an enemy, pull them close, and kick them into their friends. Kicking enemies into walls or off cliffs deals massive damage and ignores armor. If you see a barrel, kick it. If you see a bomb, kick it. If you see your co-op partner standing near a ledge... well, use your judgment.

BASE MANAGEMENT: THE MANUAL LABOR SIMULATOR

Here is the part that hurts my soul a little. You have to physically move resources around your base. You get "Blins" (little helper dudes) who can eventually automate some of this, but early on, you are the supply chain.

1. The Loop: You come back from a run. You dump raw ore into the Cleansing Pool (3 corrupted ore = 1 clean ore).

2. The Smelt: You take clean ore to the Smelter.

3. The Craft: You take bars to the Forge.

4. The Sell: You put leftover junk on a Sales Table to level up your shop.

Pro Tip: Build your production line close to the Bifrost gate. Do not spread your buildings out because you think it looks "aesthetic." You will hate yourself when you have to walk 50 meters to smelt a copper bar. Efficiency over beauty, people.

PROGRESSION: HEART OF THE CARDS

You level up by doing literally anything—fighting, crafting, fishing, breathing. But your main health upgrades come from Corrupted Heart Fragments found in the world. You need 3 Fragments to make a Heart Piece, and 3 Heart Pieces to get a permanent health upgrade. It’s math, but for your blood pressure.

Also, keep an eye out for Worldstars. These are the currency you need to unlock new islands. They aren't consumed when you use them, they just act as a gate key. If you want to leave the starter island of Arcadia and see the world, you need to hunt these down in dungeons and quests.

ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR NOT SUCKING

• Mine Everything: Look for sharp black stones in Arcadia. That is Tin and Copper. You need 27 Crude Tin Ore pretty much immediately to progress the quest with Wren.

• Don't Hoard: You have limited carry slots on the base. Sell your excess junk. Leveling up your shop unlocks buildings that generate passive resources so you don't have to farm as much.

• Manage Mana Burn: If you spam abilities on cooldown, you fill up a blue bar called "Mana Burn." If it hits max, you move like you're walking through molasses and can't use skills. Don't do that.

• Use the Environment: Everything breaks. Walls, pillars, crates. Breaking stuff gives loot. Be a vandal. It pays well.

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