Gammeltroll

9:58 The Gammeltroll is a colossal stone-skinned troll of the Deep North biome in Valheim, the largest creature in the game and the only source of Petrified Tissue, the raw material of the biome's metal, Bloodgold (Gammeltroll, Valheim Wiki). Its name means "old troll" in Swedish, and SnazzyGames explains the lore behind it: Gammeltrolls are the same species as the trolls of the Black Forest, grown enormous with age and gone north to live out their last days in the snow. It arrived with the Valheim 1.0 Release on Sep 9, 2026, listed in Iron Gate's patch notes simply as a new enemy (Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!). Unlike every other creature it drops nothing when it dies. It petrifies where it stands, and the statue has to be blown apart with Ember Charges before a Blast Furnace can turn its tissue into Bloodgold (Game8). The biome's other animals and enemies are on Deep North Creatures.

Quick facts

Where to find Gammeltrolls

Gammeltrolls turn up at random across the Deep North rather than at fixed spawn points; AllThings.How finds them by exploring the frozen forests and the abandoned villages, and Game8 advises looking deep in the woods and listening for falling trees, since a Gammeltroll fells the trees around it (AllThings.How; Game8 walkthrough). Their spawn limits and any day-night pattern had not been documented by launch week; the wiki's page is still marked as a work in progress.

0:36 Jade PG found that they seem to respond to noise. While he was exploring settlements, breaking ruins or crafting, Gammeltrolls came for him again and again, and even the coast was not always safe, so he warns players to think about where they put a forward base. The villages and other sites of the biome are described on Deep North Locations.

3:41 Not every Gammeltroll has to be fought. Petrified Gammeltrolls also generate as part of the landscape, half-buried in the snow, and EmmaTpotato marks them on the map as ready-made mines: they yield the same tissue without a fight, which makes them the easiest first source of Bloodgold (Game8).

Gammeltroll attacks

14:32 At range a Gammeltroll hurls a barrage of whole logs that covers a wide area and can almost kill in one hit. The logs stay in the world afterwards and can be chopped, so Kysen jokes that a Gammeltroll doubles as a wood farm. Up close it switches to a heavy stomp and a wide swiping slap. AllThings.How notes that every attack can be dodged or blocked but each drains a lot of stamina, which is what decides the fight (AllThings.How). The creature is so tall that its health bar is hard to keep in view.

1:59 The blows are slow enough to parry. In jonplaysgames' first encounter a group of four parried its swings and even its stomp, then kept hitting until the troll froze in place, and Game8 likewise describes its attacks as slow and easy to parry or dodge (Game8 walkthrough).

How to beat a Gammeltroll

The first Gammeltroll is usually fought with Ashlands gear, since every Nord weapon and armor piece is cast from the Bloodgold the troll itself provides. Its resistances rule out much of that kit: fire and spirit do nothing, and blunt, slash, pierce and frost do half damage, while lightning and poison do full damage. The head is its weak point, where every damage type counts in full and a pickaxe does double (Valheim Wiki).

1:02 Jade PG points out that ranged attacks are a real option given how many of its attacks are close-range, and that summoning a flaming troll with the Trollstav is not a bad way to deal with it (Magic and Staves). In melee, Kysen works his way behind it and dodge-rolls through the stomps. AllThings.How recommends Lingering Stamina Mead to keep dodging and blocking through a long fight, and later the Nord Sword for melee or the Nord Crossbow with Charred Bolts for range (Mead and Potions; Weapons and Shields).

Petrified Gammeltrolls and Ember Charges

15:20 A defeated Gammeltroll neither falls nor bursts into loot; it turns to stone and stays standing. The statue becomes part of the terrain, so it can be built on or kept as a landmark, and it cannot be mined with a pickaxe (Valheim Wiki). Only Ember Charges break it. Ten charges are made at a Workbench from one Ember and two Seal Pelt; the Embers come from an Eternal Pyre, built from the Fader Relic and ten Stone (Game8: Eternal Pyres; Fader), and the pelts from adult Seals, since Jade PG found that Baby Seals give none.

15:52 A charge is thrown or placed and explodes after a short delay, and it hurts anyone standing too close. The standard method is to plant one at each leg: once both legs are gone the whole statue collapses and drops its tissue (AllThings.How).

1:27 The release build is less generous than the preview. Jade PG found that two charges at the legs no longer bring down the whole body, so he advises carrying spares and blasting from the top down to get every piece. The wiki counts 52 segments in a statue, each giving two or three items, two-thirds Stone and one-third Petrified Tissue, for averages of about 87 Stone and 43 tissue per troll.

Petrified Tissue and Bloodgold

16:12 Petrified Tissue has a golden sheen, and its in-game description says it must be refined in a Blast Furnace. It weighs 14 per unit, stacks to 30 and cannot go through a wooden portal, so Kysen expects boat trips between the Deep North and home unless the world's modifiers allow metals through portals (Game8; Portals; World Modifiers). Loaded into a Blast Furnace with Coal, it comes out as Bloodgold after about 30 seconds per piece.

Bloodgold is the metal of the whole Deep North tier. It goes into the Intricate Key that opens the Gates of Mörkhalla, the casts of the Nord weapons and the Smith's Aprons extension for the Black Forge, and the Crown of Valheim takes five more (Metals and Smelting; Crafting Stations and Upgrades; Kall Fimbulbringer). Full page: Bloodgold.

Frequently asked questions

How do you mine a petrified Gammeltroll? With Ember Charges only. Craft them at a Workbench (one Ember and two Seal Pelt make ten), plant one at each leg to collapse the statue, and use spares on whatever is left standing.

Do you have to kill a Gammeltroll to get Bloodgold? No. Naturally petrified Gammeltrolls stand half-buried in the snow across the Deep North, and blowing one up with Ember Charges yields the same Petrified Tissue.

What is the Gammeltroll weak to? Pickaxe damage, and damage to its head, which takes every type in full. Its body takes half damage from blunt, slash, pierce and frost and none from fire or spirit, while lightning and poison do normal damage.

Can Petrified Tissue go through portals? Not through a wooden portal. It has to travel by ship or cart, or through a Stone Portal, unless a world modifier allows metals through portals.

How much Petrified Tissue does a Gammeltroll give? About 43 on average, with around 87 Stone, according to the Valheim Wiki's count of the statue's 52 segments.

Sources

• Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate Studio on Steam, Sep 9, 2026
• Gammeltroll, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• How to Farm Bloodgold, How to Farm Petrified Tissue, How to Build and Use Eternal Pyres, Deep North Biome Guide and Valheim 1.0 Complete Walkthrough, Game8
• Valheim: How to Beat and Mine Gammeltrolls, AllThings.How, Sep 10, 2026
• So... Valheim 1.0 Is the Most AMBITIOUS Update EVER, SnazzyGames (video)
• Valheim 1.0 Deep North Full Guide!, Kysen (video)
• VALHEIM How To Craft Nord End Game Gear - 1.0 Update Frost Foundry!, Jade PG (video)
• Ultimate Deep North Guide - EVERYTHING NEW!, EmmaTpotato (video)
• Barka & Gammeltroll (new enemy fights) | Valheim Deep North, jonplaysgames (video)