The cycle shifting in vanaheim needs precise timing with those celestial altars to really make the most of exploration. When you're first getting your bearings, watch for the day-specific paths since many bridges and climbing spots only show up during daylight, especially that tricky bridge near the summer stag area which needs your blades. For creature encounters, timing matters a lot - you'll face nastier draugr groups at night while daytime brings out those plant-based enemies, and their attack patterns change completely depending on when you fight them.

The real technical stuff comes with puzzle solving where you've got to work fast with those time states. Like that nornir chest in the jungle area needs you to hit those spinners just right as day shifts to night, and timing those ice platform jumps works better in darkness since they stay solid longer. When you're dealing with river areas watch the tide levels carefully, since low tide opens up those hidden cave networks especially around the wishing well section. One interesting bit about elite fights is in the eastern barri woods where you need to time your attacks with the light patterns hitting their weak spots just wait for that golden glow and strike immediately after.

Just keep in mind some areas won't open up until you've knocked out earlier objectives, like that return of the river favor needs completing before you can access those daytime-specific encounters in the jungle region. Really worth learning the timing on those altar activations since you'll be using them constantly for both combat and exploration.