Valheim bosses in order

1. Eikthyr

Eikthyr's altar stands in the Meadows, rarely far from spawn. The red-glowing vegvisir at the Sacrificial Stones marks the nearest altar on your map. Lay two Deer Trophies on the altar to call him. Like every Forsaken, he can be summoned again whenever you can pay the price.

He drops Hard Antlers and his trophy. The antlers craft the Antler Pickaxe, your first mining tool, and with it copper, tin and the whole bronze tier open up.

Full Eikthyr guide: attacks, strategy and drops

2. The Elder

The Elder's altar hides in the Black Forest. Vegvisirs inside Burial Chambers point to it. Burn three Ancient Seeds in the offering bowl to summon him; the seeds drop from Greydwarf brutes, shamans and the nests they guard.

He drops the Swamp Key. It unlocks Sunken Crypts, the main source of scrap iron and the reason to fight him at all.

Full The Elder guide: attacks, strategy and drops

3. Bonemass

Bonemass sleeps under a skull-marked stone in the Swamp. Vegvisirs in Sunken Crypts reveal the altar. Offer ten Withered Bones, dug from muddy scrap piles and looted in the crypts themselves.

He drops the Wishbone. Wear it and it pings buried silver veins in the Mountains, muddy scrap piles in the Swamp and hidden treasure elsewhere.

Full Bonemass guide: attacks, strategy and drops

4. Moder

Moder's altar crowns a mountain summit. Vegvisirs wait in ruined stone towers near the peaks. She demands three Dragon Eggs from drake nests, and each egg weighs 200, so plan a trip per egg or wear the Megingjord from Haldor.

She drops Dragon Tears. They build the Artisan Table, which unlocks the blast furnace, the windmill and the rest of the Plains workshop tier.

Full Moder guide: attacks, strategy and drops

5. Yagluth

Yagluth's altar is a giant stone hand reaching out of the Plains. His vegvisir hides in Stonehenge formations and spawns rarely, so you may stumble on the altar first. Five Fuling Totems summon him; raid fuling villages to collect them.

He drops the Torn Spirit. It builds the Wisp Fountain, and without wisps the Mistlands stays a wall of fog.

Full Yagluth guide: attacks, strategy and drops

6. The Queen

There is no altar in the open world. The Queen waits inside the Infested Citadel, a sealed dungeon in the Mistlands. Vegvisirs in Infested Mines mark the citadel, and the door only opens to a Sealbreaker, forged from nine fragments looted in those same mines. The first fight costs nothing. To face her again, offer three Seeker Soldier Trophies at the hive seat above the arena.

She drops the Majestic Carapace, which builds the Artisan Press.

Full The Queen guide: attacks, strategy and drops

7. Fader

Fader's arena is a coliseum in the Ashlands. Vegvisirs sit in the central towers of Charred Fortresses. Collect nine Bell Fragments from those fortresses, forge them into three Bells, and hang the Bells at the coliseum to wake him.

He drops the Kindled Ribs and his trophy. The ribs are proof of the kill; the power is the prize.

Full Fader guide: attacks, strategy and drops

8. Kall Fimbulbringer

Kall waits at the bottom of an Aesir Passage, a Deep North location a world places three of, and the bowl down there takes three Malicious Blood. Each one costs a Jotun Invasion, which means the last fight in the game is gated on an event back in the old world rather than on anything you find in the north.

One invasion is one blood. Breaking the Black Ice in a Mörkhalla dungeon, 1,000 health and no drop of its own, starts it and marks it on the map. The invasion itself lands in the Meadows, Black Forest, Swamp, Mountain or Plains, somewhere between 1,000 and 12,000 metres from the centre of the world, and freezes a 100 to 300 metre radius of ice shelves around a Black Ice Core. The core is another 1,000 health, and while it stands it feeds the area: one wave every 50 seconds once you are within 120 metres, up to 6 near you and 50 in total, half Krigen and the rest Hexen and dual wielders, any of them up to two stars. Break the core and it drops exactly one Malicious Blood and ends the invasion, though the Jotun already standing stay where they are, so clear them or leave. Three cores, three bloods, one fight, and another three for every rematch.

Up to three invasions can run at once and they sit at least 400 metres apart, so you can start all three from Mörkhalla and collect in one trip. Offer at the bowl and he tears out of the chains 12 seconds later.

He drops Sacrificial Blood and the Crown Jewel, and that is the end of the chain that started with a stag in the Meadows. The jewel plus five Bloodgold at a level 4 black forge makes the Crown of Valheim: 50 armour, 5 percent movement speed, 20 percent off attack, run, swim and sneak stamina, and every creature that sees you flees instead of fighting. Worth knowing before you assume it trivialises a rematch: the fear check skips anything in the Boss faction, so Kall and the other seven ignore the crown entirely.

Full Kall Fimbulbringer guide: attacks, strategy and drops