What does Genesis 1 and Fjordur have in common? Both maps have areas that are completely separated from each other. You can get to them either by Teleport or additionally like on Fjordur through a Portal room. But what is the difference between the realms on Fjordur, and where should you build your base? Are you looking for the boss locations instead? I have written a detailed guide here on How to find the boss terminals on Fjordur.
Midgard
Midgard is basically the whole overworld. That’s the part of the map where you spawn. It consists of three different zones which are quite different to each other. Midgard will be where you start you Fjordur journey. Midgard contains the main amount of the important caves, has a huge amount of water as well and is overseen by Yggdrasil in the sky.
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Vardiland
Vardiland is in the south of Midgard on Fjordur. It contains a rocky hill Pine landscape, cold rocky beaches and some snow covered mountain peaks. It can and will get cold in Vardiland in the night, so you need to have campfires, and in the best case also shelter. Vardiland is the place where you can find the cave that leads to the Dragon Arena teleporter. It is also the home of the blue obelisk.
The best creatures to tame here are Desmodus, Andrewsarchus and also Rexes. While it is a harsh surrounding, it resembles a Fjord landscape the best. Building a base here is probably challenging but just as much rewarding, because many cliffs offer a beautiful view over the water to Vannaland or over the rest of Vardiland.
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Vannaland
Vannaland is in the north of Midgard and the place to find big loot. Temperaturewise it is a little more settled. You have a lot of green pine areas that are more flat compared to Vardiland. Building big bases is easier because of all the horizontal space. Vannaland contains the cave that leads to the Broodmother Arena and has all the way in the north also the cave to fight Beyla, the gigantic bee boss.
The tribe that manages to build on the big golden pillar has probably the best spot in Vannaland. The snow area on Vannaland let’s you tame Ferox and Snow Owls while also giving you access to the best loot cave on the whole map while the cliffs have Gigas and Deinonychus. Vannaland has in the south an Aberration inspired cave that gives you access to Ravagers, Roll Rats and some of the best loot but also contains the teleporter to the Megapithecus arena. .
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Balheimr
Balheimr is an active Volcano which created an Island around it by erupting several times. Balheimr is quite warm—as you can assume and gives you access to Magmasaurs, Firewyverns, Element Shards and Sulphur. It is also the go-to place when you want to farm for Chitin—just like on other maps that have a volcanic biome. Just bring your Megatherium and go wild.
Balheimr is dangerous and building a base here should not be done without some more safety measures. Balheimr also gives you access to the Space Cave that can be accessed through an opening in the water. Balheimr is the place where you will find the red Obelisk.
Vanaheim
Vanaheim can be accessed either via the radial teleport menu when long pressing R or through the portal cave by entering the green portal. If I had to describe the flair of Vanaheim then it is like the Swamp in Genesis 1 but on a pretty day with sunshine. Vanaheim is a fairly friendly place with little threats and beautiful pillars to build bases on.
Vanaheim is also the realm to go when you want to have Poison Wyvern or Gachas. Gachas will spawn here in a big amount, so you don’t have to worry too much about resource-production when settling down here. I might be biased, since I have my base at this spot.
Asgard
Asgard is the golden, wide and fairly friendly realm with autumn vibes. This is where you want to go when looking for beavers and otters because both spawn here. It also contains two pink, purple glowing swamps—surprisingly friendly swamps—where you can find Rock Drakes and Shadowmanes.
Asgard is the place where you will fight Hati and Sköll since they are spawnable in world bosses there. It is also a very good spot to tame Andrewsarchus and Gasbags because the wide and open area can be kept clear from threats easily that would otherwise interrupt the taming. Asgard is also the place where you would get Lightening Wyvern.
Jotunheim
Jotunheim wants to see you dead. Don’t even attempt to enter it without a good fur armour and enough points in Fortitude, maybe even an otter around your neck or better a Fjordhawk that can bring you your inventory when you die here—and you will. Jotunheim reminds me a little of the Snow-Biome on Extinction.
Jotunheim contains the cave in which you will have to fight Steinbjörn. You can get everything here that you would otherwise expect in snow areas but especially horses and Ovis are very well tameable here.
Some finishing words
Fjordur is one of the few maps that offers the feeling of having several maps combines in one. Even though the realms themselves are not very big and at best have the size of a quarter or fifth of Midgard, it makes it easy to spread out bases a little better to now be stuck with other players closely. Fjordur feels like an alternative to The Island, with more DLC animals but without ever feeling too overpowered. A good map to have a main base on.