The Elder

1:09 The Elder is the second of the Forsaken bosses in Valheim, a towering tree with limbs for arms that stalks its altar in the Black Forest. It is summoned by burning three Ancient Seeds, has 2,500 health, and fights with vines, roots and a stomp. Killing it drops the Swamp Key that opens the Sunken Crypts of the Swamp, which is the only way to reach iron, so the fight is the gate between the bronze age and everything after it. Its trophy, hung at the Sacrificial Stones, grants a power that speeds up chopping and mining (The Elder, Valheim Wiki; Physgun boss checklist). The game's own description calls it "First of the Forest, King-in-the-Wood, Lord over those who dwell at his feet", and the files name it gd_king, the king of the greydwarfs.

Quick facts

Finding the altar

14:22 The Elder's Forsaken Altar is a stone platform in the Black Forest with four tall pillars at its corners and an eternal flame burning at its center. Its position is revealed by a Vegvisir, a glowing runestone that marks the nearest altar on the map when read; the Elder's Vegvisir "may be sometimes found in Burial Chambers or next to ruined towers" (Vegvisir, Valheim Wiki). Because Burial Chambers are also the source of the Surtling Cores needed for smelting, most players find the marker while looting them (Metals and Smelting). The altar can be a long way from home, so guides recommend carrying the materials for a portal and placing it near the arena before summoning (Portals).

Ancient Seeds

0:14 The offering is three Ancient Seeds, "a seed, with green growths stemming into a mace-like formation" that cannot be planted despite its looks (Ancient seed, Valheim Wiki). They come from two sources. Greydwarf Brutes, the 150-HP heavies of the greydwarf family, drop a seed 33 per cent of the time at zero stars, two seeds at one star and four at two stars (Greydwarf brute, Valheim Wiki). Greydwarf Nests, the 100-HP spawners that activate whenever a player comes within 60 meters, drop seeds when destroyed and are the reliable option: the wiki's farming table rates a nest at roughly 22 seeds an hour if left standing and its spawns culled (Greydwarf nest, Valheim Wiki; Meadows and Black Forest Creatures).

Seeds weigh 1.0, stack to 50 and pass through portals. Since the Call to Arms Update they have a second use: five seeds, five Bronze and a Greydwarf Shaman trophy craft the Heart of the Forest, a trinket that grants 25 per cent health regeneration for 60 seconds once the wearer builds up 50 Adrenaline (Heart of the Forest, Valheim Wiki).

0:40 The altar's runestone reads "Burn their young", and placing the three seeds in the flame consumes them. The screen shakes and the Elder rises out of the earth beside the altar.

Stats and attacks

1:57 The Elder has three attacks, each with a tell. Raising its right hand summons a ring of hostile Roots; lifting a foot precedes a stomp; and pulling an arm back before thrusting it forward launches a volley of vines, which it only uses when the player is at range (SnazzyGames, 3 Perfect Ways to Beat Every Boss).

Source: The Elder, Valheim Wiki.

The stomp's enormous chop and pickaxe values exist to flatten trees, rocks and player structures rather than Vikings; the 60 blunt is what a player takes. The vines are the dangerous attack, and the Elder is immune to being staggered, so the parry-and-punish rhythm that works on most enemies in Combat does nothing here.

The fight

0:00 Recommended preparation is Bronze or Troll armor, good food, a Finewood Bow with Fire Arrows and a melee weapon (Armor and Capes, Bows, Crossbows and Arrows, Food and Cooking). Fire does double damage and keeps ticking after each arrow lands, so a stack of Fire Arrows is the single most important item (Weapons and Shields).

2:51 The standard strategy uses the arena itself. The four pillars at the corners of the altar absorb the vine volley completely, so the fight becomes a cycle: shoot from behind a pillar, step out when the Elder closes in, block or dodge the stomp, deal melee damage, and retreat to the far pillar whenever it raises its hand to summon roots. Roots hit hard but can be destroyed, and they despawn on their own after about twenty seconds.

5:57 The bigger nuisance is the biome. Greydwarfs, Shamans and Brutes keep spawning during the fight, and a wandering Troll or a Bjorn bear can turn it into a rout, so clearing nests and camps around the altar first is standard advice. The Elder itself is slow, and a Viking can always outrun it to recover stamina.

4:42 Two well-known cheeses exist. Campfires built under the Elder's torso as it rises burn it continuously, though unlike Eikthyr it breaks them faster than they kill it, so they must be repaired while circling. The other is to dig beneath the altar until the stone cylinder that holds the eternal flame is exposed, then stand in the hole: the boss pathfinds to a point directly above the player and stands in its own fire until it dies (Samo, Ultimate Black Forest Guide).

12:47 When it falls the Elder drops its trophy and one Swamp Key for every player present; the roots it summoned remain briefly and still hurt. Because bosses can be summoned again with a fresh offering, players sometimes return later for extra trophies.

The Swamp Key

The Swamp Key, "partly covered in caked mud", opens the iron-barred gates of the Sunken Crypts in the Swamp, the dungeons whose muddy scrap piles are the game's first source of iron (Swamp key, Valheim Wiki). It must be in the inventory the first time each crypt is opened, after which that crypt stays open; it weighs 0.1, cannot stack and passes through portals. Physgun's boss checklist summarizes the chain: each boss "gates the next by dropping the material or key you need for the following biome" (Physgun), and for the Elder that means iron, the Stonecutter and the road to Bonemass (Swamp Creatures).

The Elder's power

13:46 Hanging the trophy on the Elder's stone at the Sacrificial Stones unlocks the Elder Power. Its text reads: "The power of the forest invigorates you. You shall gather its bounties faster, just as you shall regain your own vitality should you lose it." For 300 seconds it gives +60 per cent chop damage, +60 per cent pickaxe damage and +30 per cent health regeneration, on a 20-minute cooldown (The Elder Power, Valheim Wiki; see Forsaken Powers).

14:38 That is the version rebalanced in the Call to Arms update of Aug 20, 2025. Before it the power only raised axe damage against trees by 60 per cent, which made it, in the words of one guide, "the most useless forsaken power ever" (Samo). Call to Arms added the mining bonus, which until then belonged to The Queen, and the health regeneration (Game Rant, Call to Arms patch notes). Valheim 1.0 left it unchanged.

Raids and events

6:23 Killing Eikthyr adds "The forest is moving…" to the raid pool: for 120 seconds greydwarfs, up to six at a time, with a Shaman, a Brute and four Greylings, attack any base in the Meadows, Black Forest, Swamp or Plains (Events, Valheim Wiki). Killing the Elder removes that raid and opens the way to the Swamp-tier events (Raids and Events).

The Elder in the Kall gauntlet

4:21 In Valheim 1.0 Release the Elder returns once more. Before Kall Fimbulbringer fights in person, he summons the earlier Forsaken in order, Eikthyr, the Elder, Bonemass, Moder, Yagluth, the Queen and Fader, with later bosses arriving "while two boss slots are active" (Game8, Kall Fimbulbringer guide). The Elder therefore shares the arena with Bonemass, and its roots fill the ground while the swamp boss closes in.

16:21 Game8's advice is to leave either the Elder or Bonemass alive and kill each newly arriving boss instead, so that two late bosses are never active together; leaving the Elder alive "works well for mobile players who can avoid its vines". Players fighting the gauntlet in the Deep North have reported the Elder's roots there firing bolts of lightning rather than swiping, which the wikis have not yet documented.

Achievement and music

The Elder has its own track in Patrik Jarlestam's score, a low, swelling theme that plays for the length of the fight (Soundtrack). Among the 53 Steam achievements introduced at 1.0, "The Elder" is awarded for defeating "the Living Forest" (BisectHosting, Valheim 1.0 achievements); as with every achievement, only kills made after 1.0 was installed count.

Frequently asked questions

How do you summon the Elder? By placing three Ancient Seeds in the eternal flame at its Forsaken Altar in the Black Forest. The altar is found through a Vegvisir, which may appear in Burial Chambers or beside ruined towers.

Where do you get Ancient Seeds? From Greydwarf Brutes, which drop one 33 per cent of the time at zero stars, two at one star and four at two, and from Greydwarf Nests, which drop seeds when destroyed. Seeds stack to 50 and pass through portals.

What is the Elder weak to? Fire, which does double damage and keeps burning after each arrow lands, so a stack of Fire Arrows is the single most important item. It is immune to poison, spirit and stagger, so parrying does nothing.

How do you dodge the Elder's attacks? Each has a tell: a raised right hand summons roots, a lifted foot precedes the stomp, and an arm pulled back precedes the vine volley, which it only uses at range. The four pillars at the corners of the altar absorb the volley completely.

What does the Swamp Key do? It opens the iron-barred gates of the Sunken Crypts, whose muddy scrap piles are the game's first source of iron. It must be in the inventory the first time each crypt is opened, after which that crypt stays open.

Sources

• The Elder, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• The Elder Power, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• The Elder trophy, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Ancient seed, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Swamp key, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Greydwarf brute, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Greydwarf nest, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Heart of the Forest, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Vegvisir, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Events, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Valheim boss checklist, Physgun
• Valheim Call to Arms update patch notes, Game Rant
• Kall Fimbulbringer boss guide, Game8
• Valheim 1.0 achievements guide, BisectHosting
• How To Beat the Elder Boss in Valheim 2026, ClickTockClock (YouTube)
• 3 PERFECT Ways to Beat Every Boss in Valheim, SnazzyGames (YouTube)
• Ultimate Black Forest Guide, Samo (YouTube)