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Valheim Serpent spawn: how to solo kill Sea Serpents for Scales and Serpent Meat

A Valheim screenshot of a beached Serpent roaring at the player.
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Guide by Ollie Toms Guides Editor
Updated on

Wondering how to find and kill Valheim's Sea Serpents? Serpents roam the roiling seas of Valheim, preying on unprepared players that have ventured beyond the coasts. But in true survival game fashion, Serpents can be defeated with the right tools and tips. This Valheim Serpent guide will show you where Serpents spawn and how to kill them for their Scales and Serpent Meat.

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Valheim Serpent spawn locations

Serpents are giant sea creatures that spawn in the Ocean biome. They are currently the only hostile sea creature in the game, and they will readily attack both players and their boats of choice - even the mighty Longship.

There is no sure way to track down a Serpent because their spawns are completely random within the Ocean biome. Your best bet is to head far enough away from the coasts to get into the Ocean biome, but not to stray too much further into open sea, because you might want to return to the coast in a hurry once you've found your Serpent.

A Valheim screenshot of a Serpent in the ocean.

How to kill a Serpent

Serpents are large creatures with powerful bites, so you'll want to stock up on Health and Stamina by eating the right foods before taking on a Serpent.

There are two main methods for fighting a Serpent: by sea, or by land. By sea involves whittling the Serpent down with arrows before it can destroy your boat. I'd recommend a Finewood Bow or better, and Flinthead Arrows or better. I'd also recommend you avoid the open seas until you have a Karve, because ordinary Rafts will be destroyed very quickly by a Serpent.

Killing Serpents at sea isn't the best method though, because Serpents will try to swim away when low on Health - and even if you do kill them, its loot will sink to the ocean floor out of reach. To really start farming Serpents in Valheim, you'll need the Abyssal Harpoon.

A Valheim screenshot of a Serpent being dragged by a player using the Abyssal Harpoon.

Use the Abyssal Harpoon to kill Serpents

The Abyssal Harpoon can be crafted from Chitin, which you find on the back of Leviathans - giant creatures in Ocean biomes that look like tiny islands. Mine Abyssal Barnacles on the backs of these Leviathans before they sink, and bring 30x Chitin back to a Level 2 Workbench to craft an Abyssal Harpoon, along with 8x Fine Wood and 3x Leather Scraps that you can quickly acquire through boars.

You can throw the Abyssal Harpoon with left-click, much like a spear, and the Harpoon will latch onto the targeted enemy. While connected, you can drag the enemy in a direction of choice, which is fantastic for beaching Serpents.

If you find a Serpent fairly near to a coast, Harpoon it while on the boat and lead it to land. The connection may break at times so you'll need to keep harpooning the Serpent. Once on land, hop off the boat and keep dragging the Serpent far onto land; then start quickly attacking it with your strongest weapon. Frostner is one of the best weapons for dealing with Serpents because Serpents are weak to frost damage, but otherwise any Bronze or Iron weapon will do.

You'll want strong Bronze or Iron Armor and lots of Health and Stamina for this method, not just for going up against the Serpent but also for reeling it in with the Abyssal Harpoon. Dragging enemies uses up stamina, so you'll need to be well-prepared for this endeavour.

The good news is that Serpents don't have that much health, so you can kill it fairly quickly once it's beached.

Serpent Scales, Serpent Meat, and Serpent Stew

Serpents can drop three types of loot once killed:

  • Serpent Trophy
  • Serpent Scale
  • Serpent Meat

Serpent Trophies are purely decorative, like almost every other trophy item in Valheim.

Serpent Scales are rare crafting materials that can currently only be used to craft the Serpent Scale Shield, a tower shield of slightly greater strength than an Iron Tower Shield.

Serpent Meat is usually dropped in large quantities per killed Serpent, and can be cooked at a Cooking Station just like any other meat source. However, you can also preserve your Serpent Meat and turn it into Serpent Stew with 2x Honey and 1x Mushroom, which gives even greater benefits:

Cooked Serpent Meat:

  • Max Health: 70
  • Max Stamina: 40
  • Duration: 2,000s
  • Healing: 3 HP/tick

Serpent Stew:

  • Max Health: 80
  • Max Stamina: 80
  • Duration: 2,400s
  • Healing: 4 HP/tick

That's all you need to know to start hunting, killing, and eating those nasty Sea Serpents in Valheim. But Serpents aren't the greatest threats out there, so why not familiarise yourself with the five Valheim bosses or the best general tips and tricks while you're here?

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