Valheim bosses order: how to summon and beat each Valheim boss
Here are the five Valheim bosses in order and how to slay them
Looking for the best strategies to defeat Valheim's five bosses? Valheim's boss fights are integral to the game's progression, as each one marks your journey from a beginner, in need of tips and tricks, to a powerful Viking. The game — which is still in Early Access, even as of its recent arrival on Game Pass — currently contains five boss battles with legendary creatures called Forsaken. Learn about each of the Valheim bosses below, with important information on how to summon and defeat them, and the rewards you gain from each one.
On this page:
Valheim bosses order
The five Valheim bosses are central to your journey through the game. Each of the stones in the circle where you spawn represents a different Forsaken. Defeating each of the bosses in order is one of the cornerstones of Valheim's progression.
Here are the five Valheim bosses in order:
- Eikthyr
- Elder
- Bonemass
- Moder
- Yagluth
Each boss must be summoned at particular (procedurally generated) locations before they appear in the world, so you won't accidentally stumble across any of them while out exploring or hunting. Make sure you've crafted the best weapons before you summon any bosses, because they're all very powerful.
But defeating them is well worth the effort. Each of the Valheim bosses will drop unique materials as they die, which will help you progress through the next chapter of the game. They'll also drop a trophy in the form of their head: take each head and hang it on the correlating stone back at spawn, and you'll unlock a special Forsaken Power for each felled boss, which you can call upon at any time.
How do you find the Valheim bosses?
To reveal the location of a boss's Mystical Altar (where you can summon them), you must search for and interact with the glowing red runestones with their name. One such runsetone is part of the stone circles at spawn, and tells you where the first boss, Eikthyr, resides.
But subsequent boss locations are harder to discover. You must go out exploring up towers and down crypts to find the corresponding runestones. Each boss is tied to a specific biome type, so you'll find the corresponding runestones hidden in the structures of that particular biome.
Eikthyr: first Valheim boss
- Biome: Meadows.
- To find: Interact with the red runestone at spawn.
- To summon: Place 2 Deer Trophies on Eikthyr's Mystical Altar.
- Unique loot: Hard Antler (required to unlock Pickaxe).
- Forsaken Power: 60% less Stamina drain while running/jumping.
Eikthyr is the first of the Valheim bosses. An intimidating sight, this giant stag is wrapped in chains and can call forth lightning in large area-of-effect attacks around itself.
Lots of stamina and a shield are key to weathering Eikthyr's assaults. Learn more about how to defeat this powerful foe with our Valheim Eikthyr boss fight walkthrough.
The Elder: second Valheim boss
- Biome: Black Forest.
- To find: Interact with Runestones in the stone structures and Burial Chambers of the Black Forest.
- To summon: Place 3 Ancient Seeds in the Elder's Mystical Altar.
- Unique loot: Swamp Key (unlocks Sunken Crypts in Swamps so you can find Iron).
- Forsaken Power: Faster wood cutting.
The Elder is a gigantic tree-like being with a humanoid shape that can summon damaging roots from the ground and fire vines towards players.
Patience, good dodging, and healing is required to defeat The Elder, but the rewards more than make up for the cost. Learn everything you need to know about beating it with our Valheim Elder boss fight walkthrough.
Bonemass: third Valheim boss
- Biome: Swamp.
- To find: Interact with Runestones in Sunken Crypts of the Swamp.
- To summon: Place 10 Withered Bones on Bonemass's Mystical Altar.
- Unique loot: Wishbone (used to find underground treasure including Silver).
- Forsaken Power: Resistance to Blunt/Slash/Pierce damage.
Bonemass is a particularly troublesome Valheim boss. Poison and health regeneration are its forte, making it very difficult to tank this gloopsome entity.
There are two or three items you'll need to prepare yourself with to make taking down Bonemass so much easier. To learn more, consult our Valheim Bonemass boss fight walkthrough.
Moder: fourth Valheim boss
- Biome: Mountains.
- To find: Interact with Runestones in stone structures in Mountains.
- To summon: Place 3 Dragon Eggs on Moder's Mystical Altar.
- Unique loot: Dragon Tear (used to create Artisan Table).
- Forsaken Power: Always tailwind while sailing.
Moder is a particularly intimidating boss hiding in a particularly dangerous area of the Valheim world: the mountains. A giant black and white wyvern, Moder flies around and uses ice attacks to slow you down, leaving you vulnerable to her claws.
Learn exactly what to expect with this formidable Forsaken by reading through our Valheim Moder boss fight walkthrough.
Yagluth: fifth Valheim boss
- Biome: Plains.
- To find: Interact with Runestones around standing stones in Plains.
- To summon: Place 5 Fuling Totems on Yagluth's Mystical Altar.
- Unique loot: "Yagluth thing" (placeholder item with no current use).
- Forsaken Power: Resistance to Frost/Fire/Poison damage.
Yagluth is the fifth and currently final boss in Valheim, and once summoned takes the form of the glowing upper body of a colossal skeleton.
Yagluth is slow and telegraphs its attacks, which is good because if you're hit by one of them, they are extremely painful. Find out how well-prepared you must be before taking on the final boss with our Valheim Yagluth boss fight walkthrough.
That covers each of the five Valheim bosses implemented so far, but it's likely we'll see more bosses introduced as the game progresses through its early access journey. If you've managed to beat them all, check out the other best survival games on PC. In the meantime, why not expand your horizons with our Valheim building guide?