Swamp Creatures

3:13 The creatures of the Swamp are the undead, slimes and spirits that make it the first biome in Valheim whose inhabitants are mostly not animals. Its Draugr are dead Vikings, its Wraiths are ghosts, its Blobs and Oozers are living poison, and its Abominations are trees that walk. Almost all of them belong to the Undead faction, and almost all of them either poison the player or resist fire, which shapes the whole biome's Combat: blunt weapons for the slimes and skeletons, fire for the Wraith and the Abomination, and a Poison Resistance Mead running at all times (Valheim Wiki: Swamp). This page covers the ordinary creatures; the boss is on Bonemass and the biome itself on Swamp.

Quick facts

Damage types at a glance

5:44 Every Swamp creature has a fixed table of damage multipliers, and a Viking arriving from the Black Forest with bronze gear can handle most of them by choosing the right weapon rather than by out-gearing them. Blobs, Oozers and Skeletons take half again as much damage from blunt; Draugr are neutral to everything physical but take half damage from fire; Wraiths halve all physical damage and are burned by fire and spirit; Abominations shrug off pierce and blunt and burn. The figures below are the wiki's (Valheim Wiki).

Draugr, Leeches and Surtlings can spawn with one or two stars, which doubles or triples their health and scales their damage and drops; Blobs, Wraiths and Abominations do not (Valheim Wiki: Draugr, Leech, Surtling).

Draugr and Draugr Elites

5:00 Draugr are the bloated, glowing-eyed corpses of Vikings and the biome's most common enemy. A zero-star Draugr has 100 health and comes in two versions: roughly three in four carry an axe that hits for 48 slash every three seconds, and the rest carry a bow that shoots for 48 pierce from up to 20 meters away (Valheim Wiki: Draugr). They are slow, telegraph their swings and are the creature most guides use to teach parrying: a bronze buckler's parry staggers a Draugr for long enough to finish it with a mace, even at low skill levels. One- and two-star Draugr have 200 and 300 health and hit for 72 and 96.

Draugr Elites are rarer, larger and marked by purple eyes. They have 200 health, swing a sword for 58 slash, and share the ordinary Draugr's profile: neutral to physical damage, half damage from fire, immune to poison. They drop 2 Entrails and, one time in ten, a Draugr Elite Trophy (Valheim Wiki: Draugr Elite). The trophy is a required ingredient of the Iron Sledge, the two-handed hammer crafted from 30 Iron, 10 Ancient Bark, 4 Ymir Flesh and the trophy (Valheim Wiki: Iron sledge; see Weapons and Shields).

Both kinds spawn in the open Swamp, inside Sunken Crypts, in Draugr Villages and around ruined towers, and they are also produced by Body Piles: fly-covered heaps of corpses that spawn a new Draugr every six seconds while a player is within 20 meters and fewer than two Draugr are nearby, 14 percent of them Elites, which makes an intact pile the usual way to farm the Elite trophy (Valheim Wiki: Body pile). Entrails make Sausages, the Swamp tier's staple food: four Entrails, one Boar Meat and one Thistle in a level-2 Cauldron yield four (Valheim Wiki: Sausages; Food and Cooking).

Blobs and Oozers

7:45 Blobs are green, bouncing slimes with 50 health. They have no melee attack; instead a Blob stretches, inhales, and compresses to release a poison cloud four meters across that inflicts 90 poison, with a two-second cooldown (Valheim Wiki: Blob). They are weak to blunt, frost and lightning, take half damage from fire, pierce and slash, and cannot be staggered, so a mace kills one in a few hits while a sword or bow struggles. Each drops one Ooze, the material for Poison Arrows, Ooze Bombs and the Muckshake (Valheim Wiki: Ooze). Blobs can jump about three meters and will follow a player into the sea and onto a boat.

11:05 The Oozer is the Blob's larger, night-time cousin: 150 health, an eight-meter poison cloud dealing 115 poison, and the same weaknesses. When it dies it splits into two Blobs, and it has a one-in-three chance of dropping Scrap Iron besides two Ooze (Valheim Wiki: Oozer). After Bonemass is dead, Blobs and Oozers form the raid "A foul smell from the swamp", which sends five Blobs and two Oozers against a base for two minutes; they deal no physical damage and cannot break walls, but their gas passes through them (Raids and Events).

Leeches

6:08 Leeches live in the Swamp's standing water and are the reason it is dangerous to wade. A zero-star Leech has 60 health and bites for 20 pierce plus 70 poison on a two-second cooldown; two-star Leeches reach 180 health and 140 poison per bite. Up to ten can be in the water around a player at once. They resist poison and are immune to fire and spirit, but have no physical resistances, so anything kills them once they can be reached (Valheim Wiki: Leech). Guides recommend fighting them from the bank, using the Stagbreaker's area damage from shore, or leveling the ground with a hoe to strand them on land. Each drops one to four Bloodbags, the ingredient of Medium Healing Mead and Black Soup (Valheim Wiki: Bloodbag; Mead and Potions).

Surtlings

6:20 Surtlings are small fire elementals that appear around Fire Geysers, the indestructible vents of flame scattered through the Swamp. They have only 20 health and throw a fireball every three seconds for 10 blunt and 40 fire, which applies the Burning effect; rain weakens the fireballs, they are weak to frost, and they die the instant they touch water. Each geyser has three spawn points that refill every five minutes (Valheim Wiki: Surtling).

15:30 Because they die in water, the standard Surtling farm is to dig or hoe the ground around a geyser below the waterline so that every Surtling drowns as it spawns. A zero-star Surtling drops four Coal and has a 50 percent chance of a Surtling Core, the component of Smelters, Kilns and Portals; starred Surtlings drop two or four cores and up to sixteen Coal (Valheim Wiki: Surtling core). The geysers also serve as a weapon: Draugr and Abominations kited through the flame take heavy fire damage.

13:58 Once a Surtling has been killed anywhere in the world, the raid "There's a smell of sulfur in the air…" can send up to four of them against a base under a harmless red ash rain; the drops make it one of the more welcome events. Surtlings also inhabit the Ashlands, where they are far more numerous.

Wraiths

9:41 The Wraith is a hooded, glowing blue specter and the Swamp's only flying enemy. It spawns anywhere in the biome at night, despawns at dawn, and rarely appears in daylight only at the abandoned huts that generate with one. It has 100 health and swipes for 60 slash on a two-second cooldown, enough to drop an unarmored player in two hits. All physical damage is halved against it, while fire and spirit do half again as much; frost and poison do nothing (Valheim Wiki: Wraith). Fire arrows, a Bonfire the Wraith is kited over, or simply waiting for daylight are the usual answers.

Every Wraith drops a Chain, and it is the only renewable source of them; Chains are otherwise looted from Sunken Crypt and Swamp chests and cannot be crafted. They go into the Forge Bellows, the Hanging Brazier, the Iron Cooking Station, the Wolf Armor Chest and the Black Metal shields (Valheim Wiki: Chain). After Bonemass falls, the raid "You feel a chill down your spine…" summons Wraiths in numbers (Raids and Events).

Abominations

16:46 The Abomination is the biome's giant: an ancient tree that lies dormant as a glowing, ooze-dripping stump until a player comes close, then rises on root legs. It has 800 health and three attacks (a wide swing for 60 blunt, a slam for 80 blunt and a ground slam of 80 blunt in a 5.4-meter radius) each carrying 100 chop and 60 pickaxe damage, so it demolishes buildings and terrain as easily as Vikings (Valheim Wiki: Abomination). It was added in late November 2021 together with the Root armor set (NME).

9:04 Fire is the Abomination's only weakness: it takes half damage from blunt and a quarter from pierce, so swamp-tier bows barely scratch it, while fire arrows, a Bonfire or a Fire Geyser burn it down quickly. At most one spawns per area, and a zone that has lost one does not produce another for about 66 minutes. It drops five Root, three or four Guck and its trophy half the time. Root is the material of the Root Harness, Mask and Leggings; the harness gives pierce resistance and the mask poison resistance, which is why the set is the light armor of choice for this biome and the Plains (Valheim Wiki: Root, Root mask; Armor and Capes).

How poison works

13:58 Poison is a damage-over-time effect rather than an instant hit. When a Blob, Oozer, Leech or Bonemass lands poison on a player, the total poison damage is spread over a duration that grows with the square root of the damage: roughly 1 + √(5 × damage) seconds for players, so a 17-damage hit ticks for about ten seconds and a Blob's 90 poison for around twenty. Enemies take the same total in far less time. Poison does not stack: a second hit only replaces the running effect if it has more damage left to deal (Valheim Wiki: Poison).

0:57 Resistances are applied when the effect is created, not on each tick, so a mead drunk after the bite does nothing for that bite. Poison Resistance Mead, six bottles fermented from 10 Honey, 5 Thistle, 1 Neck Tail and 10 Coal, cuts both the duration and the tick damage of new poison by 75 percent for ten minutes, and guides treat it as mandatory for the whole biome; the Root Mask adds its own "resistant" tier on top (Valheim Wiki: Poison resistance mead; Mead and Potions).

Bottled Blobs

8:21 The Call to Arms Update, patch 0.221.4, which reached the public-test branch on Aug 20, 2025 and went live on Sep 9, 2025, turned the Swamp's slimes into weapons. The Bog Witch sells Corked Vials, five for 150 Coins, and each vial plus a trophy makes a throwable that spawns a blob on the player's side (Steam news: Patch 0.221.4 – Call To Arms; Game Rant; Valheim Wiki: Corked vial).

The Frost Blob exists only as a bottled creature; no wild version was added to the Mountain (BLAST.tv).

The boss and the 1.0 newcomer

The creatures' damage profile is the boss's too. Bonemass has 5,000 health, spews a poison cloud, lobs lumps of itself that hatch into Blobs and Skeletons, is immune to poison and is the only boss weak to blunt and frost, so the mace, buckler and mead that clear the biome are also the kit that ends it (Physgun boss checklist).

Valheim 1.0 Release on Sep 9, 2026 added one further Swamp creature, the Writhan, a rare undead with 400 health that explodes when brought low and drops Writhan Roots for the Shield of Roots, the Lox Fur Hood and the feather-producing Birdnest; it is weak to slash and resists blunt and fire (Valheim.tools; Game8). It is described on Swamp and in Deep North Update (1.0 Patch Notes). Neighboring tiers are on Meadows and Black Forest Creatures and Mountain Creatures.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best weapon for the Swamp? A blunt weapon such as a mace, because Blobs, Oozers and Skeletons all take half again as much damage from it and cannot be staggered out of a bow's way. Fire is the answer to Wraiths and Abominations, and Draugr are neutral to every physical type, so a buckler and a parry matter more than the weapon.

How do you get Chains in Valheim? Kill Wraiths. Every one drops a Chain and they are the only renewable source; otherwise chains are looted from Sunken Crypt and swamp chests, and they cannot be crafted. After Bonemass falls, the "You feel a chill down your spine…" raid summons Wraiths in numbers.

How do you farm Surtling Cores? Dig or hoe the ground around a Fire Geyser below the waterline so that every Surtling drowns the moment it spawns. A zero-star Surtling drops four Coal and has a 50 per cent chance of a Surtling Core; each geyser has three spawn points that refill every five minutes.

How does poison work in Valheim? It is damage over time, spread over roughly 1 + the square root of five times the damage, in seconds, so a Blob's 90 poison ticks for about twenty seconds. It does not stack, and resistance is applied when the effect is created, not on each tick, which is why a mead drunk after the bite does nothing for that bite.

What is an Abomination weak to? Fire, and nothing else. It takes half damage from blunt and only a quarter from pierce, so swamp-tier bows barely scratch it, while fire arrows, a Bonfire or a Fire Geyser burn it down quickly.

Sources

• Swamp, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Draugr, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Draugr Elite, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Body pile, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Blob, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Oozer, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Leech, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Surtling, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Wraith, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Abomination, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Skeleton, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Poison, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Poison resistance mead, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Root mask, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Iron sledge, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Sausages, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Corked vial, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Events, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Patch 0.221.4 – Call To Arms, Iron Gate Studio via Steam News
• Patch 0.221.3 – Call To Arms (Public Test), Iron Gate Studio via Steam News
• Valheim August 2025 Update Patch Notes, Game Rant
• Valheim Releases New Update for September 2025, Game Rant
• All Blob Bombs in Valheim and how to get them, BLAST.tv
• Valheim adds a terrifying swamp monster and new light armour set, NME
• Valheim boss checklist, Physgun
• Writhan: location, drops and how to fight it, Valheim.tools
• How to Farm Writhan Roots, Game8
• Press, Iron Gate Studio