Valheim Bosses Guide

Valheim Bosses Guide

When you first create your character and spawn in Valheim, you may notice a few things right off the bat. You will first appear on a circle surrounded by five altars. These altars represent the five main bosses in Valheim.

After you defeat each boss, you will hang their trophy on the altar, which will activate a buff that you can use. The buffs give a temporary boost, and you can only have one buff on you at a time. In order to switch the buff that you have equipped, you have to revisit this area and switch it out.

Before we go on into our step by step Valheim bosses guide, here’s a brief introduction of each of them.

Valheim Bosses – At A Glance

Boss Name Biome Summon Requirements Rewards Buff
Eikthyr Meadow Deer trophy x2 Hard antlers, Eikthyr Trophy Reduces stamina cost of running and jumping by 60%
The Elder Black Forest Ancient Seeds x3 Swamp Key, Elder Trophy Increases damage to trees by 60%
Bonemass Swamp Withered Bones x10 Wishbone, Bonemass Trophy Gives 50%-75% Blunt, Slash, and Pierce resistance
Moder Mountain Dragon Eggs x3 Dragon tears, Moder Trophy Gives wind advantage while sailing
Yagluth Plains Fuling Totems x5 Yagluth Trophy Gives 50%-75% Fire, Frost, and Lightning resistance

There are five bosses in Valheim. Whenever the Mistlands opens, then there will likely be a sixth boss. But for now, five bosses take you through the story of Valheim. Each boss requires different items to summon them and a smaller altar that needs to be unlocked.

I suggest resting near a fire before fighting any boss and always having three of your best foods to eat a minute before starting. Please don’t eat them directly before the fight, or else your health won’t have enough time to fill up.

Valheim Bosses Step-By-Step Guide

The bosses in Valheim can be tough to defeat the first time or two. I find it easier to take them down with multiple players. More often than not, I have a full server with ten people, making it easier to defeat the bosses.

However, it does seem like the bosses scale with the number of players. This does matter, but the damage output from the players is almost always more significant than the scaled HP.

Eikthyr

Eikthyr

Eikthyr is the first boss you should face in Valheim. He is a deer boss whose altar is quite close to the starter area. To find out where to summon Eikthyr, interact with the glowing runestone to the left of the starting area. .

This will show you where to spawn him on the map. You’ll know it’s the right place whenever you see the Forsaken altar with a deer on top. When you’re ready, place the deer trophies on the altar.

Eikthyr Attacks

  • Melee Attack – his most extensive output damage where he rams players with his antlers
  • Lightning – ranged lightning attack
  • Stomp – AoE attack

Eikthyr Strategy

If you are soloing Eikthyr, I suggest using a bow and staying far away, rolling out of his lightning attack. If you’re playing with multiple players, you can have one player bait with a shield, trying to avoid attacks, and the others burn the boss with arrows. This is relatively quick if you all have bows.

Eikthyr Rewards

Eikthyr Rewards

  • Pickaxe is craftable
  • Stamina buff
  • Hard Antlers
  • Eikythyr Trophy

Once you defeat Eikthyr, you can place the trophy on the altar at the start and unlock the buff. This is my favorite buff in the game and the one I keep on me 90% of the time. I only switch out for specific situations. After you defeat Eikthyr, you can also start crafting the first pickaxe, which will allow you to mine copper, tin, and more. This opens up a whole new world.

The Elder

The Elder is the second boss in the game, located in the Black Forest. You can find his glowing runestone in the Black Forest Burial Chambers. This is also an excellent place to get a lot of gold to use at the merchant later on.

Skeletons usually surround the Burial Chambers in the Black Forest. So, defeat them and then go inside and find the runestone. Once you activate it, the altar will appear on the map. The altar is difficult to miss as it is surrounded by four pillars with a fire in the center. Summon him with three Ancient Seeds.

The Elder Attacks

  • Vine Attack – this is a weaker attack but still does decent damage for this stage. It will target a specific player and has a great range. The Elder will only target players who are far away from him, and the attack can be blocked by hiding behind a pillar.
  • Stomp – the stomp attack is reasonably straightforward. This can be dodged by rolling if you have the stamina.
  • Root Attack – the root attack can be avoided by running away as the despawn after a few seconds. However, they can also be attacked.

The Elder Strategy

The Elder Attacks

My favorite strategy is fire arrows. At this point, you can craft them or find them in hidden chests. However, the boss isn’t all that difficult to take down regardless since all of his attacks are easy to avoid. When playing alone, keep a pillar close by between you and The Elder, using arrows to attack him from afar. Or, for melee players, increase your block skill to 18 or more, and he cannot stagger you.

The Elder Rewards

  • Swamp key
  • Elder Trophy
  • Damage to tree buff
  • New creature spawns

The Elder unlocks a few things, but the most important is the Swamp key. The Swamp key can be used to visit chambers in the Swamp to gather iron. The iron is heavy, but the items you can craft with it will be worth the many trips to the base and back.

Bonemass

Bonemass

Bonemass is the third boss in the game. He is summoned to the Swamp. To find his altar, you have to visit the crypts that you can now enter, thanks to the Swamp key. Please keep it in your inventory whenever you visit the Swamp. Bonemass’ altar is easy to spot as it is a giant skull with a mouth full of green gas. This is where you will place ten Withered Bones to summon him.

Bonemass Attacks

  • Melee – his melee attack is vital. It is close-range, but it can be dodged.
  • AoE – Bonemass’ AoE attack is deadly. He creates a green cloud of poison that will one-shot anyone without poison resistance. However, he does charge it, so it’s easy to recognize and sprint or roll out of the way. It lasts a while, so ensure that you stay out of the cloud until it dissipates.
  • Minion Spawn – the minion spawn is a considerable inconvenience. Bonemass throws out blobs that will have either skeletons or simply blob minions that will attack you. There can be a maximum of eight minions at a time on the battlefield.

Bonemass Strategy

Strategy

In my opinion, Bonemass is the most annoying boss in the game. You can’t simply power through and burn him down. It takes a bit longer as you have to avoid his poison. My number one tip is to create Poison Resistance Mead. This will help tremendously. Keep at least three on you in case the battle takes longer than expected. Always focus minions but ensure you keep an eye on Bonemass while you defeat them.

Avoid the poison cloud by running away from Bonemass when he rears up. I find Stagbreaker an appropriate weapon for this fight, but bows are always my choice for boss fights. They may be slower, but they are more consistent.

Bonemass Rewards

  • Wishbone
  • Bonemass trophy
  • Physical damage buff

The main reward from Bonemass is the Wishbone. With the Wishbone, you can find silver deposits in the mountains, buried treasure in the meadow, and iron in the swamps. Use it as a dowsing rod. The closer you are, the more sparkles and the faster the beeping will be. The buff you receive will grant you resistance to physical damage of all types.

Moder

Moder

Moder is a flying wyvern that you can find in the Mountain biome. To locate him, activate the runestone at the top of the mountain. His altar looks like a round red nest that lays flat in the snow. To summon him, you need three Dragon Eggs that you can find around Dragons in the mountains. The eggs are extremely heavy, and without a belt or cart, you can only carry one at a time.

Moder Attacks

  • Melee – claw or bite attack that deals significant damage.
  • Barrage – barrage attack that fires ice shards that deal tons of Frost damage if they hit a player.
  • Breath – medium-ranged breath attack that deals Frost damage.

Moder Strategy

Honestly, Moder is one of the easier bosses. While she does pack a punch, she is also easy to fight without even taking damage. I’d rather fight her than the wolves that may appear if you fight her at night. Her melee attack can be avoided just like any other melee attack. Her barrage is inaccurate and seemingly random, so watch her and don’t stand in her range. Finally, the breath attack isn’t long-range and can also be avoided.

Keep your distance and fire arrows. When she lands, stand behind her and attack with melee. This is a simple fight, and the most challenging part is hitting her while she is flying. I recommend using arrows whenever she charges an attack, as she will hover for a second, letting you deal extra damage.

Moder Rewards

rewards

  • Dragon tear
  • Moder trophy
  • Sailing buff

The buff for this boss isn’t ideal for most situations, but it can help you sail across the world with greater ease. Utilize it properly as it isn’t permanent. Activate it, and you will have a few minutes of sailing with full wind power.

I recommend using it when the wind is giving you trouble. The Dragon tear you get is used to create the Artisan Table. This is a real game-changer as it can be used to build Blast furnaces, Stone ovens, Spinning wheels, and the Windmill. These are all extremely useful.

Yagluth

Yagluth

Yagluth is the fifth boss in the game and the most frightening. He is a giant skeleton found in the Plains. The Plains are horrifying unless you’re equipped, so finding the runestone alone can be dangerous. You can find it in stone pillars in the Plains which will reveal the altar location. The altar is a giant hand coming out of the ground. You need five Fuling totems to summon him. The goblins are my least favorite wild enemy, but you need to farm them to summon Yagluth.

Yagluth Attacks

  • Nova – Nova sounds scary, and that’s because it is. Yagluth raises his fist (blue glow) and slams it on the ground. It is an AoE attack that deals Fire and Lightning damage. A lot of Fire damage.
  • Meteor – Meteor rains down on players, dealing a ton of Fire damage again. This time, his fist reaches up and glows red instead of blue.
  • Fire Breath – his breath attack deals the least amount of fire damage per hit but the most overall. The line of fire is straight in front of him.

Yagluth Strategy

Yagluth Strategy

Yagluth is a tough boss, but you can utilize the stone hand to avoid some of his attacks thanks to the terrain around him. Before you begin, get some Fire Resistance Barley Wine that you can make in the Cauldron after using the Fermentor to ferment Barley. This is a late-game boss, so you want to have a base set up with every crafting station. Keep a few wines on you, and then use the stone pillars/fingers to block meteor attacks or run out of them if you have the stamina.

You can either stay out of range for the Nova or roll right as he slams down. Then, the fire breath deals the most damage, but you can simply avoid them by not standing in front of him. I recommend using Frost Arrows as much as possible and then slashing his back with melee weapons when he raises his fists for his attacks.

Yagluth Rewards

  • Element resistance
  • Yagluth Trophy

Yagluth doesn’t drop anything too cool yet because he is currently the last boss in the game. Whenever the Mistlands come out with a new boss, I believe Yagluth will have something new. For now, we get an excellent element resistance buff.

Valheim Bosses FAQs

Question: Can You Build A Base Under Valheim Boss Altars?

Answer: Yes, you can. This is a common strategy for most bosses. You can dig a tunnel under the larger altars that the bosses can’t fit through. There, you can place your bed and crafting stations so that you can hop right back into the fight if you’re playing with others. Dig deep but leave yourself a quick exit.

Question: Can You Fight The Valheim Bosses More Than Once?

Answer: Yes, you can. Fighting the bosses is an excellent way to ensure all players get the items they need. It also helps improve fighting skills and abilities. You do need the sacrifices each time, though.

Question: What’s The Hardest Boss in Valheim?

Answer: This is debatable, but I believe that Bonemass is the most difficult. His mechanics are not easy to deal with, especially since he isn’t the final boss. Some may say that Yagluth is the hardest, but I think that Bonemass takes the cake.

Valheim Bosses Conclusion

The bosses in Valheim can be challenging, but if you know what you’re doing, they are much more manageable than bosses in other games. This isn’t a Souls game, and in my opinion, the bosses in other survival games are more complicated than Valheim bosses. However, Valheim is about so much more than combat.

The bosses are a fun aspect of the game but should not stress you. If you have difficulty, call in a friend or two to help out. Never be afraid to step away for a few days and level before going back in with better power and equipment. Games should be fun; never forget that.

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