Charred

0:01 The Charred are the burnt undead soldiers of the Ashlands biome in Valheim: skeletons with embers glowing in their ribs who fight as an army of four kinds, the greatsword-wielding Charred Warrior, the archer Charred Marksman, the rock-throwing Charred Twitcher and the fire-casting Charred Warlock. All four take extra damage from spirit, shrug off pierce and fire and ignore poison, and together they garrison the biome's twenty Charred Fortresses (Charred Warrior, Valheim Wiki). They arrived with the Ashlands Update of May 14, 2024, whose notes called the Marksman the Charred Archer (Patch 0.218.15, Steam). The biome's other creatures are on Ashlands Creatures.

Quick facts

Charred Warrior

0:39 The Warrior is the line infantry. Its vertical greatsword swing and forward thrust each have a twin: a feint that starts with the same wind-up, pauses, then strikes from a new angle about 0.6 seconds later. The wiki's advice is to parry the first motion; if no parry animation plays, it was a feint, so release and raise the shield again, listening for the feint's distinct sound (Charred Warrior, Valheim Wiki; Parrying and Blocking). Warriors walk slowly and can be outrun, but several thrusting at once can break a guard or kill through a Staff of Protection bubble.

Charred Marksman

2:52 The Marksman has no melee attack. Inside 20 meters it shoots single arrows for 90 pierce, which can be parried like a Draugr archer's; from 20 to 100 meters it aims high and looses a volley of ten arrows for 60 pierce each (Charred Marksman, Valheim Wiki). With only 200 health and a resistance to pierce, it is best rushed and cut down in melee.

Charred Twitcher

5:00 Twitchers are the biome's cannon fodder, forever jerking and twitching as the name says. Iron Gate added them in 2023, borrowing from the Greydwarf: they circle the player, pick up stones and throw them for 75 pierce, and dash in now and then to claw for 100 slash (Development blog: Creature Feature, Steam; Charred Twitcher, Valheim Wiki). One is little threat, but packs knock players toward worse enemies, and the two-star Twitchers of elite spawners are dangerous in their own right. They drop no trophy.

Charred Warlock

6:07 The Warlock is the priority target. Every eight seconds it launches a green fireball for 100 pierce that leaves a 3.5-meter vortex of green fire burning for seven seconds; every ten seconds it raises a Summoned Twitcher, a green copy with only 50 health, up to ten across all loaded Warlocks (Charred Warlock, Summoned Twitcher, Valheim Wiki). Maxxramus, testing several at once, is pinned by the summons within seconds. Warlocks live only in fortresses and at the Dyrnwyn "mysterious locations"; Fire Resistance Barley Wine blunts their fire (Mead and Potions).

Where the Charred spawn

16:42 The Monument of Torment is a charred stone pillar with 400 durability that resists most damage and takes normal damage only from pickaxes and axes; breaking one ends its stream and drops two to five items, Grausten or Charred Skulls (Monument of Torment, Effigy of Malice, Valheim Wiki). Between the deaths of The Queen and Fader, two raids bring the Charred home: "The undead army marches" and "The dead have been summoned", which plants three Monuments that stay after it ends (Events, Valheim Wiki; Raids and Events).

Charred Fortresses

2:50 Each world has twenty Charred Fortresses on the inland islands of the Ashlands, marked from afar by a beam of green light from the bell altar in the central tower. Their walls and gates yield only to tier-5 pickaxe damage, meaning the Battering Ram or a catapult's explosive payloads, and up to four Skugg ballistae guard the corners (Charred Fortress, Valheim Wiki).

5:03 Samo clears one from a stone pillar raised 15 to 20 meters outside the walls: fireballs first destroy the two Effigies, then the Skuggs, then the Warlocks, before he jumps in. Inside wait Bell Fragments, Molten Cores and Charred chests; the full siege is on Charred Fortresses.

How to kill the Charred

3:15 Avoid pierce: spears, atgeirs and bows without elemental arrows do half damage. SnazzyGames's choice on arrival is the Mistwalker, with Frostner as a sleeper pick, because neither deals pierce, both bring spirit damage once upgraded, and their frost slows the horde; silver arrows deal the most damage, frost arrows slow, and the Staff of Protection, Staff of Frost and even the blunt-heavy Staff of Embers serve mages (Weapons and Shields; Magic and Staves). Area weapons such as the Himminafl and Demolisher sweep up Twitcher packs, and Dead Raiser skeletons or Trollstav trolls split a crowd (strategies, Valheim Wiki).

Charred drops

Charred Bone is an ingredient of the Flametal armor, Charred arrows and bolts, the Ash Fang, Berserkir Axes, Flametal Mace, Nidhögg, Staff of Fracturing, Trollstav and Bone Throne, and fuels a shield generator (Charred Bone, Valheim Wiki; Armor and Capes). Charred Skulls are not dropped by the Charred themselves; they come from Monuments and Charred chests and go into the Bone Throne and the Pile of Skulls, which stores fifty (Charred Skull, Valheim Wiki; Furniture and Decoration). The Warrior trophy makes Hot Fishing Bait, and a Warrior head, Warlock body and Marksman legs stacked on three item stands form a decorative skeleton (Trophies, Valheim Wiki; Fishing).

Lore and history

A runestone says those burned by a drake's fire are killed and brought back at once, trapped between life and death in bodies of living flame (Charred Warrior, Valheim Wiki; Lore and Setting). Iron Gate showed Charred concept art in January 2023 and working models that April, and patch 0.218.21 of August 2024 cut their spawn rates, more than halving the Twitchers' spawn chance (0.218.17 test notes, 0.218.21, Steam). The Deep North Update (1.0 Patch Notes) of Sep 9, 2026 reduced the chance of multiple Ashlands enemies spawning together and the time between Charred spawns, and made Ashlands gear more durable (Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Steam).

Frequently asked questions

What are the Charred weak to in Valheim? Spirit damage, such as silver arrows or Frostner. They halve pierce, take a quarter of fire damage and ignore poison.

How do you parry a Charred Warrior's feint? Parry the opening motion; if no parry animation plays, it was a feint, so release and block again for the real strike about 0.6 seconds later.

Where do you get Charred Skulls? By breaking Monuments of Torment or looting Charred chests; no Charred creature drops them.

Do the Charred appear outside the Ashlands? Yes: in their two raids before Fader dies, and at night in earlier biomes after he dies.

Sources

• Charred Warrior, Charred Marksman, Charred Twitcher, Charred Warlock and Summoned Twitcher, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Monument of Torment, Effigy of Malice, Charred Fortress, Events, Charred Bone, Charred Skull, Trophies and strategies, Valheim Wiki
• Patch 0.218.15 – Ashlands, Patch 0.218.17 (Public Test), Patch 0.218.21 and Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate Studio on Steam
• Development blog: Creature Feature and Development blog: Fearsome Foes!, Iron Gate Studio on Steam
• Valheim Ashlands Charred Enemy Complete Breakdown, Back To Basics Gaming (video)
• BEST Weapon For Each Ashlands Creature, SnazzyGames (video)
• Valheim Ashlands - All new regular monsters, Maxxramus (video)
• Easy Fortress Siege Guide, Samo (video)