Tick

5:42 The Tick is a small blood-sucking creature of the Mistlands biome in Valheim that leaps onto a player, latches on and drains health with repeated bites until it is thrown off. It is fragile, with 50 health and a weakness to pierce, but it comes in groups, jumps fast and staggers its victim while it feeds, so a swarm of starred Ticks can kill a lightly armored Viking in seconds (Tick, Valheim Wiki). Ticks hatch from the eggs of the floating Gjall, guard the giant remains and nest in the Infested Mines; Iron Gate first showed one in June 2022 and added them with the Mistlands Update that December. The other creatures of the biome are on Mistlands Creatures.

Quick facts

How a Tick latches on and drains health

0:24 A Tick has a single attack. It leaps onto its target, clamps on and feeds every half second for five seconds, ten bites in all, each of 50 pierce at zero stars (Tick, Valheim Wiki). Armor cuts that sharply: FireSpark81, in a full Fenris set, loses 10 to 11 health a second while three feed, but his stagger bar fills as they bite, which leaves him open to anything else nearby. Because the Tick's reach is measured from the center of its tiny body, an attached Tick sometimes cannot reach a moving player at all.

How to get a Tick off you

1:01 The dependable escape is a dodge roll, which throws attached Ticks off almost every time; FireSpark81 warns that on rare occasions one stays stuck through the roll. Area damage is the other answer: a sledge's slam or an atgeir's spin both damages Ticks and knocks them loose, and his upgraded atgeir kills them outright. Ooze and Bile bombs, whose clouds linger, also clear them (strategies, Valheim Wiki).

2:09 Where a Tick lands matters. One on the player's front can be cut off with any weapon; one on the back can only be rolled off, hit with area damage, or struck by a friend. A player who keeps facing incoming Ticks and holds block knocks them back as they jump, and a tower shield's knockback is especially strong. A well-timed parry also forces an attached Tick to let go, and bites can still be blocked like attacks (Parrying and Blocking).

Where Ticks come from

2:00 The Gjall is the reason Ticks seem endless: it drops its eggs as one of its three attacks, after it has seen a player and fired at range, and keeps doing so for as long as it lives.

8:51 Its raid, active between the deaths of Yagluth and The Queen, brings a Gjall and its Ticks to a base, but only one built inside the Mistlands (Events, Valheim Wiki; Raids and Events). Killing the Queen instead unlocks Tick night spawns across the biome, the only post-Queen spawn that can carry stars (The Queen, Valheim Wiki).

How to kill Ticks

A zero-star Tick dies to one hit from almost any Plains-tier weapon or better, and pierce weapons do half again as much, so the Porcupine mace can kill several with one swing. Idle Ticks move slowly and rarely, so arrows are effective before they notice the player; once they are jumping, ranged attacks mostly miss. Against groups, two-handed clubs such as the Demolisher and the Staff of Embers, which hits several at range, work on any terrain, whereas an atgeir's flat sweep can pass under a leaping Tick. The Root harness's pierce resistance is the classic defense, and players in light armor such as the Eitr-weave set are most at risk from two-star Ticks (strategies, Valheim Wiki; Armor and Capes; Magic and Staves).

Tick drops and Blood Clots

The Blood Clot is the only reason to hunt Ticks. Four of them, with Yggdrasil wood and Refined Eitr, craft the Staff of Protection, the blood-magic bubble that absorbs damage; four, with ten Honey and five Royal Jelly, make the base for six Major Healing Meads; and one, with three Magecaps and two Turnips, makes an Uncooked Stuffed Mushroom, which bakes into an eitr food of 25 health, 12 stamina and 75 eitr (Blood Clot, Staff of Protection, Major Healing Mead, Stuffed Mushroom, Valheim Wiki; Mead and Potions; Food and Cooking; Eitr). The trophy has no recipe of its own and serves only as decoration or to set a ballista's targets.

0:53 The Stuffed Mushroom is why players farm clots. It is the one good eitr food that needs no Royal Jelly, which is scarce, while Magecaps and Turnips can be grown; FireSpark81 therefore keeps a Gjall alive, penned or held on a harpoon, as a permanent supply of Ticks and clots.

History and 1.0 changes

Iron Gate revealed the Tick in its Midsummer development blog of June 2022, noting that ticks are a common Swedish summer pest, if a much smaller one (Happy Midsummer!, Steam). During the public test the detach system was tweaked, and patch 0.214.2 of March 2023 fixed Tick respawns in dungeons and raised the chance of starred Ticks from 10 to 20 percent as intended (Patch 0.214.2, Steam). The Deep North Update (1.0 Patch Notes) of Sep 9, 2026 changed nothing about Ticks themselves; its wider mist-clearing and sturdier Mistlands gear make them easier to spot and survive (Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Steam).

Frequently asked questions

How do you get a Tick off you in Valheim? Dodge roll: it throws off attached Ticks almost every time. Otherwise hit it with area damage from a sledge or atgeir, swing at it if it is on your front, or parry its bite.

Where do Ticks come from? Mostly from the Gjall, which drops three at a time without limit; others guard the giant remains, live in the Infested Mines, and roam the Mistlands at night after the Queen is killed.

What are Ticks weak to? Pierce damage, which does one and a half times normal. They resist nothing and ignore only spirit.

What are Blood Clots used for? The Staff of Protection, the Major Healing mead base and the Stuffed Mushroom eitr food.

Sources

• Tick, Gjall, The Queen, Events and Aggressive creature strategies, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Blood Clot, Staff of Protection, Major Healing Mead and Stuffed Mushroom, Valheim Wiki
• Happy Midsummer!, Iron Gate Studio on Steam, Jun 22, 2022
• Patch 0.214.2 and Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate Studio on Steam
• The Ultimate Gjall Combat Guide For Valheim Mistlands and Farm Ticks Easily In The Valheim Mistlands Update, FireSpark81 (videos)
• Weaknesses for Every Mob in the Mistlands, Jiroc the Viking (video)
• Have YOU Mastered Valheim Raids?, SnazzyGames (video)