There are many different mechanics in Viking survival game, Valheim. One of the mechanics apart of the game is the wind. The wind can go in different direction and affects the way players are able to sail in Valheim. As all sea crafts in the game have sails, having the wind behind you will mean you will naturally be able to use the wind to move faster. But does the wind carry the players scent and thus affect hunting? Can deer smell you if you are upwind? We take a look.
Can Deer Smell You in Valheim?
I have been testing the sneaking in the game of Valheim and some of the different detection levels of the creatures in the game. As of one of the first updates for the game the team added detection pop-ups over creatures to show whether or not they were aware of the player’s presence. This makes it clearer to see which enemies have detected the player and who is attacking. After multiple tests I have concluded that deer cannot smell the player is they are standing upwind. Wind direction does not have any affect on whether deer can sense the player nearby. The only thing that determines whether or not deer can sense you, is your sneak ability, how much noise you are making, (for example deer will sense you a mile away when sprinting), and which direction the deer is facing.
There is no evidence to suggest that wind has any effect on deer detecting the player at all. Trying to position yourself downwind from deer is seemingly pointless and you should always try to hunt deer by sneaking up from the direction that they are not facing.
Can Other Creatures Smell You on the Wind?
The wind carrying scent was also tested with a range of other creatures within Valheim including the Boar, Lox, Neck, Greyling and Skeletons. In my testing I have found that none of the creatures have any benefit on detection when the player is upwind from them. I do not believe a mechanics exists in Valheim where creatures can detect the player’s scent by being upwind from the player.
Although this may be subject to change in later versions of the game as it is in early access. Perhaps the team at Iron Gate Studio wishes to add the mechanics of the players scent being able to travel with the wind in a future update, but as of the current version of the game, it seems that scent does not carry on the wind in Valheim.
Related: How to Zoom the Minimap in Valheim | How to Increase your Run Speed in Valheim
Your testing&data is either out dated or just poorly done.
They CAN smell you and will run MUCH sooner when you up wind vs down wind from them
Hey!
Poorly dated may be the answer here. I wrote this guide over a year and a half ago when the game was in a very different state. It’s entirely possible a sense of smell has been patched in since that point. In my testing there was no indication that they could smell my character at all. A reddit post from a while ago also pointed out in the code there is no logic for smell and wind direction in the game. But as I said, perhaps they patched this mechanic in since then.