How to retrieve a corrupted or missing character in Valheim
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Key notes
- When you get a Valheim character missing after a crash, it must have gotten corrupted.
- Players complained that their character disappeared also after they tried to resume gameplay after a pause.
- The only solution reported so far is to replace the faulty character file.
- However, this only worked as expected in some cases, while in others player got a new character.
Although there’s a lot of hype around Valheim presently, the game has a lot of unaddressed bugs. Among others, players say that after prolonged gameplay, their character goes missing.
Here’s what gamers say about their character disappearing:
After a crash, when I started the game up again my main character was gone after over 60 hours of gameplay on it.
And another report:
I logged back in after I got home to play this game and my character was replaced with a default character named STRANGER
While still in early access, game developers are gathering feedback and are promptly responding to such issues, though not with prompt solutions but with a there’s no solution for this right now reply.
Game developers also mention that this could also be related to how the game is closed. Namely, using ALT+F4 + shutting down the computer without properly closing the game will likely affect file integrity.
So it’s basically up to the players to find some workarounds until a final patch. And here’s what they’ve done.
How can I recover a missing character after a crash?
- Press the Windows key and type %appdata% to get to AppData. (Normally, this can also be opened via File Explorer, provided that you can see hidden files.)
- Go to LocalLow > IronGate > Valheim.
- You should see 2 files named CharacterName.fch and CharacterName.fch.old. The former is the corrupted one, while the latter is an older version of your character.
- Back up both files.
- Then, delete the one ending in just .fch.
- Rename the remaining file by deleting the .old. It should say only CharacterName.fch.
- What should happen is that the game replaces your character with its slightly older version, but functioning one.
Those who have tried this approach experienced two outcomes:
- They got their character back, only a version dating some tens of minutes before the game crash, but at least with most of the acquired features.
- They only saw a stranger.
The latter situation might happen because some players continue to play with a corrupted character for longer and the game automatically backs up a glitchy version.
The same method should work in case you experience a corrupted world. In case you notice that you’ve got also some items missing (like chests, weapons, food), the steps are different.
Additionally, it’s recommended to have a separate folder with backups on your desktop, and store in it good character and world files.
Should you ever need to have a fresh, full-featured copy of your game, download it from this source below.
Valheim
Get your official copy of Valheim and start your survival adventure in its awesome and dangerous realm.Tell us if you’ve tried the same steps and what the result was You can use the comments section.
