Hildir's Dungeons

2:30 Hildir's dungeons are the three special mini-boss locations in Valheim that hold the stolen stock of the trader Hildir: the Smouldering Tomb in the Black Forest, the Howling Cavern in the Mountain and the Sealed Tower in the Plains. Each is a harder version of a familiar place, full of starred enemies and guarded by a unique mini-boss who drops one of Hildir's brass, silver or bronze chests, which unlock her stock in three tiers. They arrived with the Hildir's Request Update on Aug 22, 2023 and suit three stages of a playthrough (Patch 0.217.14, Steam).

Quick facts

How to find Hildir's dungeons

4:01 A map lies on the table in front of Hildir, and interacting with it registers every Smouldering Tomb, Howling Cavern and Sealed Tower in the world on the player's map. There are at most three of each, and Hildir accepts only one chest of each kind. The dungeons exist even before she is found, and Hugin warns anyone who wanders into one that the place may be harder than it looks (Hugin, Valheim Wiki). Placement rules (Hildir, Valheim Wiki):

Smouldering Tomb and Brenna

0:26 From outside the Smouldering Tomb looks like one of the Burial Chambers, and it names itself only once entered. Inside is a crypt of starred skeletons and ghosts whose coffins, NickRawcliffe notes, spawn more skeletons, in corridors so tight that Jade PG's swings kept hitting walls. The loot is Black Forest fare: amber, amber pearls, rubies, coins, bone fragments, surtling cores and yellow mushrooms (Smouldering Tomb, Valheim Wiki).

1:05 Brenna is a charcoal-black burning skeleton with a flaming Krom and 1,200 health. Her sword does 60 slash plus 20 fire every three seconds, and every ten seconds she plunges it into the ground for a three-meter fire nova of 75. She resists pierce, is immune to fire and poison, and is listed as weak to blunt and frost (Brenna, Valheim Wiki). Jade PG's tests found the blunt weakness mattered more: an Iron Mace did far more than Frostner's frost ticks. Both attacks can be blocked or parried, and Fire Resistance Barley Wine blunts the burning (Weapons and Shields; Mead and Potions).

Howling Cavern and Geirrhafa

19:37 The Howling Cavern is a rare variant of the Frost Caves, told apart from outside by two small blue-burning braziers at its icicle-hung mouth. It only generates above 200 meters, and its loot is the usual Frost Cave haul of Fenris hair and claws, crystal, obsidian and coins (Howling Cavern, Valheim Wiki).

0:52 Everything inside is elite: Jade PG met ten to twenty one-star Ulvs on one run, besides starred bats and Cultists, so guides clear the cave before opening the boss's door (Mountain Creatures).

2:10 Geirrhafa is an ice Cultist with white fur, a black-and-red cloak and 3,700 health. His claws do 40 slash and 60 frost, or 60 and 70 in a double swing. An unblockable frost cone of 100 only fires at two to six meters, so standing right against him disables it, and every 15 seconds an ice nova sends out three rings of 90 frost that can be neither blocked nor dodged. He is weak to fire and immune to frost (Geirrhafa, Valheim Wiki). Jade PG found fire and poison weapons effective and Fenris armor useful; the wiki recommends the Staff of Embers (Magic and Staves).

Sealed Tower, Zil and Thungr

13:06 The Sealed Tower is an open-air dungeon with no loading screen: a tower of unbreakable black stone with no door at ground level, entered by a balcony or the roof. NickRawcliffe climbs on ladders laid sideways against the wall and notes that fall damage caps at 100, so a Viking with more than 100 health survives a slip. Nothing can be built inside except on the balconies (Sealed tower, Valheim Wiki).

Its upper four floors hold Fulings, shamans, traps under straw and rusted gates. The bottom floor has two or three special chests, each with 44–165 coins, chains, amber pearls and a chicken egg, which otherwise costs 1,500 coins from Haldor (Farming and Taming).

16:59 Zil and Thungr were the first mini-boss pair in the game. Thungr, a huge Fuling berserker with 4,200 health, swings a club for 150 blunt and every 20 seconds rages into a triple ground slam of 130 each. Zil, a 2,400-health shaman riding on his back, throws fireballs of 20 blunt and 100 fire and casts a barrier that absorbs 100 damage for every ally within six meters. Both are immune only to spirit (Zil & Thungr, Valheim Wiki). NickRawcliffe parries the slams, strikes while Zil raises his barrier and, once Thungr falls, sprints sideways whenever Zil points (Plains Creatures).

Hildir's chests and what they unlock

6:40 Each chest weighs 200, stacks to one and cannot pass through a wooden portal, only the Ashlands' stone portal, so most travel by boat with Haldor's Megingjord belt on; a dropped chest floats (Hildir's chests, Valheim Wiki; Carry Weight). It is handed over from the hotbar at Hildir's camp. Each return adds a 90-second raid by that mini-boss and its followers, in any biome (Events, Valheim Wiki; Raids and Events).

History

Iron Gate promised mini-bosses in its April 2023 development blog, while the update was still called Hildir's Quest, and the dungeons reached the public test branch in patch 0.217.4 on Jun 16, 2023 before going live on Aug 22 (Development blog: Fearsome Foes!, Steam; Patch 0.217.4, Steam). The Bog Witch Update of October 2024 added the harvest clothes to the brass tier, and the 1.0 patch notes do not mention the dungeons.

Frequently asked questions

Where are Hildir's dungeons? Use the map table at Hildir's camp in the Meadows and all of them appear on your map: tombs in the Black Forest, caverns high in the Mountain, towers in the Plains.

In what order should you do Hildir's dungeons? In biome order: the tomb with iron gear, the cavern once you have silver and frost resistance, the tower with Plains-tier weapons.

Can Hildir's chests go through a portal? Not a wooden portal, but an Ashlands stone portal can carry them.

Do you need to clear every Hildir dungeon? No. One of each type is enough, since Hildir accepts only one chest of each kind.

Sources

• Hildir, Hildir's chests, Hugin and Events, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Smouldering Tomb, Howling Cavern and Sealed tower, Valheim Wiki
• Brenna, Geirrhafa and Zil & Thungr, Valheim Wiki
• Patch 0.217.14 – Hildir's Request, Iron Gate Studio on Steam, Aug 22, 2023
• Patch 0.217.4 – Hildir's Request (Public Test), Iron Gate Studio on Steam, Jun 16, 2023
• Development blog: Fearsome Foes!, Iron Gate Studio on Steam, Apr 26, 2023
• The Ultimate Guide To Hildir's Request Valheim Update, FireSpark81 (video)
• VALHEIM Brenna Mini Boss Guide and VALHEIM New Mini Boss! Geirrhafa!, Jade PG (videos)
• Ultimate Hildir's Request Valheim Guide, NickRawcliffe (video)
• 30+ Need to Know Valheim Tips for the Mountains!, Samo (video)