Fader

0:00 Ashlands animated trailer

7:37 Fader is the seventh of the eight bosses of Valheim and the ruler of the Ashlands. He is a huge, skeletal dragon whose charred body leaks a green glow from every gap, and the game calls him "the Emerald Flame": uniquely among the bosses, that title, not his name, marks his altar on the map (Valheim Wiki). He arrived on May 14, 2024 with the Ashlands Update, patch 0.218.15 (Steam news post). With 25,000 health he has more than any earlier boss (Physgun boss checklist), and he sits between The Queen, whose defeat unlocks the ship that reaches his biome, and Kall Fimbulbringer, the final boss of the Deep North, against whom Fader's own power is the recommended choice.

Quick facts

Name and lore

"Fader" is the formal Swedish and Danish word for "father", the counterpart of Moder, the Mountain dragon whose name means "mother". His in-game epitaph tells of a father "noble and proud" whose heart's desire was warped by madness (Valheim Wiki). The same lore explains the Charred: those who die to drake fire are caught between life and death, with flames for flesh. See Lore and Setting and Ashlands Creatures.

Summoning

6:50 Fader is summoned not with a creature's drop but with three Bells, each crafted at the Black Forge from three Bell fragments, nine in all (Valheim Wiki: Bell). The fragments exist only inside Charred Fortresses, the strongholds visible from afar by the green column of light over their central tower. Each tower holds one bell altar that drops two to four fragments when broken, so at least three fortresses must fall; the altar has only ten health and is easily smashed by accident (Valheim Wiki: Charred Fortress).

8:43 Getting in is a siege. The gates have 6,000 health, so players build a Battering Ram for the gate or a Catapult loaded with stone or explosive payloads for the wall, while Skugg turrets fire back; the catapult needs a Charred Cogwheel that only the turrets drop, so the first fortress is usually rammed. Inside wait Charred Warriors, Marksmen and up to three Warlocks, a gem chest, Molten Cores and, half the time, the Vegvisir that marks Fader's altar on the map; it also appears, rarely, on top of Charred Ruins (Valheim Wiki).

14:22 The altar stands in a coliseum-like ruin with three empty stands around it. A Bell goes on each, and the altar at the center then offers the option to ring them.

14:43 Ringing them starts the boss music and the most elaborate summoning animation in the game: green shimmers stream to a point in the arena, a meteor-like impact follows, and Fader climbs out of it.

The fight

17:37 Fader has four melee attacks, a lunging bite, a left and a right claw swipe and a tail spin, and four ranged ones: green fire breath, a rain of meteors like Yagluth's, a wall of fire that encircles the player, and the fissure, the attack that decides most fights. Every fire attack leaves burning ground, and since 1.0 a player caught in it burns green (Steam 1.0 patch notes). He is immune to fire and spirit, resists pierce, and takes normal damage from blunt, slash, frost, lightning and poison (Valheim Wiki).

Figures from the Valheim Wiki, omitting damage to structures.

5:09 The fissure begins when Fader draws a line on the ground with a paw and slams it. Rings of small green flames appear under the player and keep appearing wherever the player goes, because the player, not the boss, is their origin; four seconds later spikes erupt from each ring and leave a pool of fire that kills a Viking in full Flametal armor with fire-resistance barley wine active in a few seconds. The flames cannot be dodged or blocked and last fifteen seconds.

7:50 The counter is discipline rather than speed: walk rather than sprint, watch the spikes rising behind, and curl the path back on itself so the fire is laid down in a tight area instead of a long wall that boxes the player in. The fire also kills Fader's own summoned Charred.

4:32 The meteors fall where the player stands when Fader rears up, so the only defense is to keep moving. The wall of fire has one gap that later flames often close, but a Feather Cape clears it with a jump; Fader tends to follow with his breath, so the escape is sideways. From about half health he spits orbs that hatch Charred with only 50 health, easy to ignore apart from the archers.

Strategies

18:30 A melee fighter in top-tier armor, on two health foods and one stamina food, gets in close, dodges or blocks the bite and claws, and circles away at a walk when the fissure or meteors come. Because Fader resists pierce, lightning-augmented Flametal axes are the usual choice; see Weapons and Shields and Combat.

6:56 Magic is often easier. In Embla armor with Eitr foods and lingering Eitr mead, the Staff of the Wild plants roots that hold Fader in place and hit him with poison, which he does not resist, while the Staff of Protection keeps a bubble up and the Staff of Embers fills the gaps. See Magic and Staves and Mead and Potions.

2:35 Summons also work. Two trolls conjured with a Troll Staff right after the bells are rung will beat him down slowly if the player withdraws to the edge of render range and never attacks, and a pack of tamed two-star Asksvin charges him the moment he lands. See Farming and Taming.

Drops and aftermath

15:16 Fader always drops his trophy and five Fader Relics. The trophy hangs on his stone at the Sacrificial Stones to claim his power; the relic shipped as a "placeholder item" and stayed useless until 1.0 (Steam news post).

Killing Fader changes the world: Charred Warriors and Marksmen begin spawning at night in the Meadows, Black Forest, Swamp, Mountain and Plains, the raids "The undead army marches" and "The dead have been summoned" stop (Raids and Events), and The Bog Witch starts selling Fiery Spice Powder for 200 coins (Valheim Wiki).

Forsaken power

7:58 As released in 2024, Fader's power was a carrier's blessing: 300 extra carry weight and 10% faster movement for five minutes, which guides praised as the first late-game power that was useful outside a fight.

0:29 The Call to Arms Update, first published to the public-test branch as patch 0.221.3 on Aug 21, 2025, added adrenaline: a bar that fills when a player wearing a trinket hits enemies, triggers a Forsaken Power, uses certain spells, or lands a perfect block or dodge. When full, the trinket fires a temporary buff and the bar resets; out of combat it drains away (Steam news post).

15:48 The same update rebalanced every power (see Forsaken Powers). Fader's carry-weight and speed bonuses went to Moder, and Fader became the one power tied to the new mechanic (Game Rant).

The change reached everyone with patch 0.221.4 on Sep 9, 2025, whose notes list the new power word for word and add that the carvings on Fader's sacrificial stone "now have more emission to match other sacrificial stones" (Steam news post).

Changes since release

The 1.0 spawn changes shape the trip to his altar as much as the fight: the notes reduced the chance of several enemies spawning at once in the Ashlands and shortened the time between Charred spawns, and raised the durability of Mistlands and Ashlands gear, so Flametal weapons and armor wear down less during a fortress siege (Steam 1.0 patch notes). No patch since 1.0, up to 1.0.20 of Oct 15, 2026, has changed Fader himself; the full list is on Patches Since 1.0.

The relic in the Deep North

3:07 Valheim 1.0 Release gave the relic its purpose; the notes say only "Updated functionality for Fader Relic" (Steam 1.0 patch notes). At a Stonecutter, one Fader Relic and ten stone build the Eternal Pyre, which works like the Mistlands' wisp fountain but gathers Embers. At a Workbench, one Ember and two Seal Pelts make ten Ember Charges, the explosive that breaks Deep North ice and blows apart petrified Gammeltrolls for the Petrified Tissue that smelts into Bloodgold; Embers also go into the Snow Shovel. Fader's relics thus open the whole Deep North Update (1.0 Patch Notes) progression; see Materials and Resources and Metals and Smelting.

Role against Kall Fimbulbringer

14:02 Kall Fimbulbringer's arena opens with a gauntlet of the earlier Forsaken, and Fader is among them: players who have just cleared The Queen find the dragon landing next, wall of fire and all, sometimes with a second boss active at once.

For that fight Game8 recommends Fader's power paired with the Neckstabber trinket, a Black Forge item (five Bloodgold, five Nornathread, a Hexen Trophy) that fires at 65 adrenaline to restore 100 health, add 20 armor, cut running and attack stamina costs by 10% and raise health regeneration by 20% for 30 seconds (Valheim Wiki). The gauntlet is continuous combat, Fader's power doubles the adrenaline every hit and parry produces, so the heal fires again and again through the longest fight in the game (Game8); the fire resistance also covers Fader's own turn. See Kall Fimbulbringer and Armor and Capes.

Frequently asked questions

How do you summon Fader? With three Bells, one on each of the three stands around his altar. A Bell is crafted at the Black Forge from three Bell fragments, and fragments come only from the bell altar in a Charred fortress's central tower, which drops two to four when broken, so at least three fortresses must fall.

How much health does Fader have? 25,000, more than any boss before him.

What is Fader weak to? Nothing, strictly: he is immune to fire and spirit and resists pierce, and blunt, slash, frost, lightning and poison all do normal damage. That is why lightning-augmented Flametal axes and the poison of the Staff of the Wild are the usual choices (Weapons and Shields; Magic and Staves).

What is the fissure attack? Fader draws a line on the ground and slams it, and rings of green flame appear under the player and keep appearing wherever the player goes, because the player is their origin. Four seconds later spikes erupt and leave pools of fire that cannot be dodged or blocked and last fifteen seconds. The counter is to walk rather than sprint and curl the path back on itself.

What is Fader's Forsaken power? Since the Call to Arms update (0.221.4, Sep 9, 2025) it doubles adrenaline gain, halves stagger and gives 50% fire resistance for 300 seconds, on a 20-minute cooldown. Before that it gave 300 extra carry weight and 10% faster movement, bonuses that went to Moder.

Where is Fader's altar? Its location is revealed by a Vegvisir found inside a Charred fortress about half the time, and rarely on top of Charred Ruins. On the map the altar is marked "the Emerald Flame", not with Fader's name.

What is the Fader Relic for? Nothing until the Valheim 1.0 Release, which made it build the Eternal Pyre: one relic and ten stone at a Stonecutter. The pyre gathers Embers, which make the Ember Charges that break Deep North ice and petrified Gammeltrolls.

Sources

• Fader, Valheim Wiki
• Bell, Bell fragment and Charred Fortress, Valheim Wiki
• Neckstabber, Valheim Wiki
• Patch 0.218.15 – Ashlands, Iron Gate Studio on Steam, May 14, 2024
• Patch 0.221.3 – Call To Arms (Public Test), Iron Gate Studio on Steam, Aug 21, 2025
• Patch 0.221.4 – Call To Arms, Iron Gate Studio on Steam, Sep 9, 2025
• Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate Studio on Steam, Sep 9, 2026
• Valheim's Latest Update Adds a Brand-New Mechanic, Game Rant
• How to Beat the Final Boss: Kall Fimbulbringer Guide, Game8
• Valheim 1.0 Patch Notes and Changes, Game8
• Valheim Deep North Guide: Make Intricate Keys and Trigger Jotun Invasions, 9Puz
• Valheim Boss Checklist, Physgun
• Valheim, Wikipedia
• Ashlands press material, Iron Gate Studio