If you've been exploring Valheim after the Deep North update dropped, then you might have come across a few Idols while looting chests in the wilderness. These are actually upgrade materials that you can spend to make your weapons and armor stronger. However, unlike the normal upgrade system via workstations, Idols can only be used in the Forge of Potential, a new type of station that can only be found in the Mountains biome, and you can't make or take one home with you.
The Forge of Potential can make strong gear even better in Valheim, but success is not guaranteed. If the refinement process fails, your weapon will be dismantled into its most basic crafting components.
Idols are commonly found inside the random chests you find in the different biomes. The higher the biome's tier, the higher-quality Idols you'll get (Wood Idols drop in Meadows, while Bronze ones drop from Dark Forests, and so on). As a rule of thumb, the gear you make from a biome's unique resources require Idols made of the same unique material found or made in that biome. There are exceptions to this, though, such as the Early Axes requiring Iron Idols despite being weapons from the Meadows biome.
You'll find either Protection or Battle Idols during your adventures; the former is for refining armor, while the latter is for weapons. Any attempt to refine a piece of equipment will consume an Idol, regardless of whether it fails or succeeds.
You can find a Forge of Potential out in the open, but only on Mountain biomes. If you come near one, it'll automatically get marked on your map. Look for a totem/idol icon.
Every Mountain biome in Valheim is covered in snow, which means you'll need to bring some means of regulating your body temperature, whether it's through drinking Frost Resistance Mead, wearing warm clothing, or by building big-enough fires. If you're having trouble dealing with biting cold, you can always just build a trail of Campfires until you get Wolf Armor.
Ideally, you should be heading up Mountain biomes after you complete the Swamps or get some iron-tier equipment.
It works much like a regular crafting station, except you can only use it to upgrade gear. Once you've found a Forge of Potential, simply interact with it, then pick the piece of gear you want to upgrade from the list that appears.
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