Death in Valheim is brutal. When you die, you lose your inventory, respawn near your bed, and have to run nude all the way back. If that wasn’t enough, dying actually reduces your stat levels just a touch! That can be really devastating for your late-game builds since you have to grind them up again. However, after you die, you receive a couple of buffs. A noticeable one is called “No Skill Drain” and appears alongside a skull and crossbones. What the heck is that supposed to mean?
What Does No Skill Drain Mean in Valheim?
The “No Skill Drain” buff means that, while you have it, you cannot lose stats. Currently, the only method of losing stats in Valheim is by death, so it stops multiple deaths from taking away stats again and again. This is good news for those of us who have to chase down our corpse after dying to a deathsquito for the 50th time.
This is one of the compensatory buffs for when you die, alongside Corpse Run. No Skill Drain is here to allow you to rush for your grave without needing to worry about a troll flattening you on your way there. It also lasts for 10 minutes, meaning that this is a good time to attempt risky things without having to worry.
Corpse Run is a much shorter buff that decreases stamina usage and gives huge damage resistance. Combined together, these buffs can make you a tank that doesn’t really care about dying that much. It might not be a bad idea to use this to cheese bosses, but… In order to get these buffs, you have to die in the first place.
There’s a reason why No Skill Drain exists; you lose 5% of all skill levels that you have when you die. That’s a ton. Imagine if it removed the progress of 5% of the time you’ve been playing on that character! That’s a gigantic debuff. So, maybe don’t go jumping into troll fists just for Corpse Run and No Skill Drain. You’ll probably regret it.
Interested in more Valheim weirdness? Check out some of our other guides!
