Boss strategies

Bosses are unique creatures found throughout Valheim. They possess high volumes of health and output large numbers of damage respective to their biome location.
= Bosses =
== Eikthyr ==
Eikthyr is the first boss and is found in Meadows.
The fight against Eikthyr is not particularly difficult and serves to test the player's understanding of the basic game mechanics. Players may want to be rested for the fight and have the best food, armor and weapon available. Eikthyr has no resistances to any damage type, so the player can use their preferred weapon.
All of Eikthyr's attacks can be blocked with a Wood shield. Hitting Eikthyr in-between his attacks allows the player to whittle him down in under three minutes.
An easy way to deal with this boss is to use a bow. You can keep your distance and run around the big rocks of the altar while shooting him. The rocks will keep you safe from his forward charge however his AoE lightning discharge will still reach you if you are close to him.
== The Elder ==
The Elder is the second boss after Eikthyr and is found in Black Forests. 
He has a total of 2500 HP, with neutral resistances to most damage types, but is weak to Fire. As with all boss fights, the player will have the greatest odds of success when equipped with the strongest armor and weapons available (such as bronze equipment) and consuming the best available food.
=== Dealing with attacks ===
==== Vine shoot ====
The four pillars around the altar are indestructible and can be hidden behind for cover. The Elder will not use this attack against a player in melee range.
==== Stomp ====
Can be blocked, ran away from, or avoided with the brief invincibility of rolling. A solo player with a fully upgraded Bronze Buckler can fully block most stomps without being staggered. Parrying or having a block skill of 18 means the player will never be staggered. This is not the case when playing in a group, as enemies deal 4% more damage per extra player in the area.
==== Spawn roots ====
Running away from summoned Roots may be preferable to attacking them. They will despawn after a short while.
=== Other strategies and notes ===
* Ranged attacks with a bow can be a safer and simpler strategy than melee. The best bow typically available at this phase of the game is the Finewood bow and fire arrows are the most effective arrows. For a solo player, 200 fire arrows may be necessary, but the exact amount depends on bow skill.
* Use of Eikthyr Power can be desirable to reduce stamina drain from running.
* The entire area under the altar platform can be excavated, with the altar platform forming a sturdy roof to a large underground chamber. There is enough room for a fully equipped base down there, with a workbench, forge, and portal, beyond the reach of the Elder and any other enemy, for that matter.
=== Group strategies ===
* Splitting up so his ranged vine attacks only target one individual will allow other players to focus on attacking him, rather than running from his attacks.
* The Elder typically targets the player closest to him, so designating one player as the "tank" or even cycling this designated player may help the group manage the fight.
* Multiple players attacking The Elder with melee weapons can deal high amounts of damage in return for a higher level of danger to the stomp attack.
* Fire damage from multiple players do not stack separately per player. i.e. enemies can only be affected by a single fire effect at a time.
== Bonemass ==
Bonemass is the third boss after The Elder and is found in Swamps. 
=== Dealing with its attacks ===
* The fight is balanced around the expectation that players will use Root Mask or Poison resistance mead which reduces poison damage by 75%. Not doing so can be very dangerous, and would require prior experience with the fight to avoid being poisoned.
* Summon minions: If the minions are not prioritized they may overwhelm the player. Bonemass' armpit glob summon is generally aimed away from players and has a very slow animation, during which it is vulnerable to attack. Alternatively the player may prefer to back up and prepare to attack the spawned creatures the moment they land. The Stagbreaker and Iron sledge are very effective for this.
* Poison Cloud: To completely avoid this attack, players in melee range may need to start running away immediately when it looks like Bonemass is about to sneeze. Rolling can be too slow and drains more stamina than running.
* Melee: Very strong and poison-inflicting, normal blocking will likely stagger the player and inflict the leftover damage. Can be parried, or dodged using the brief invincibility of rolling. It can also be avoided by sprinting out of range.
=== Damage types ===
* Bonemass and its minions are weak to blunt damage and resistant to almost everything else. Players wanting as short of a fight as possible will want to use clubs.
** Frostner is the ideal weapon for fighting Bonemass due to it dealing both blunt and frost damage. It is theoretically possible to craft it prior to fighting Bonemass but finding the required silver is extremely difficult without the Wishbone.
* Pierce damage (including bows) is extremely ineffective. Of the available arrows, Frost arrows are somewhat effective, but requires Mountain exploration to gather the required Obsidian and Freeze glands from Drakes.
=== Other strategies and notes ===
* Using a hoe to level out and/or raise the area around the summoning altar will serve the dual purpose of allowing better mobility for the player during the fight and also preventing leeches from interfering with the fight.
* Having multiple Medium healing mead and high health Food may be desirable.
* Use of Eikthyr Power can be desirable to reduce stamina drain from running and jumping.
* Crafting a hundred or so frost arrows and shooting Bonemass from up high in the trees is a safe and easy way of defeating Bonemass. Some spawn locations may have a large stone tower that can be accessed as well.
* Bonemass may be easily defeated using Poison resistance mead and a two-handed club, such as the Iron sledge or the Stagbreaker (The iron sledge is obtaineble after defeateing The Elder). By first summoning the boss, then climbing atop its altar from the rear, the player can take advantage of the large area of effect of some weapons to deal damage to Bonemass while knocking any spawned enemies off of the altar from knockback and remaining out of range of any of its attacks. The player is still likely to get poisoned, so poison resistance mead is necessary.
=== Group strategies ===
It may be ideal to have most players focused on killing the skeleton and blob spawns as soon as they land. While there is a cap on how many minions Bonemass can have spawned at once, it is very high at 8 Skeletons and 8 Blobs.
If the group is three or more players with a preference for bows, a ranged strategy can still work even without frost arrows. Despite the boss's resistances, the groups constant, combined damage can whittle it down fairly quickly. Players should spread out from each other so that only the one player Bonemass is currently chasing needs to run away. Minions should be focused as soon as they spawn, ideally switching to blunt melee damage to kill them quickly, and then swap back to bows for Bonemass. 
== Moder ==
Moder is the fourth boss after Bonemass and is found in Mountains.
Unlike the previous Bonemass fight, this fight can be done without top-tier armor as all of Moder's attacks are much easier to avoid. Provided the player keeps their distance from her, it is possible to complete the fight without taking damage. Her barrage can be avoided by running, rolling, blocking, or using the terrain. Building a pillar by raising the terrain with a hoe makes for effective cover to hide behind. Beware that her attacks will destroy naturally spawned rocks and trees due to the chop and pickaxe damage. 
Players should consider the possibility of their weapons breaking, and have either a forge or a portal nearby. Beware that Moder can choose to attack exposed major structures if she sees them, but will not specifically attack walls and roofing. Starting the fight late in the day can make the fight a lot harder than it needs to be, because at night dangerous creatures such as starred Wolves or Fenrings may join the fight.
Before starting the fight, make sure the nearby area is clear of Drakes and Stone Golems, who may otherwise join the fight throughout and pose an additional danger. Carefully placed trenches and other obstacles can protect against stone golems, though wolves are difficult to block completely. Prevent spawns in the area itself by placing sacrificial workbenches in an overlapping pattern; these may also distract Moder into attacking them rather than the player.
=== Melee ===
Despite Moder often taking flight, the most damage can be dealt in melee whenever she lands. If she does not see a flat path to approach a player then she will not move much until she decides to go airborne again.
Due to the immunity to Frost, the Frostner is ineffective compared to other melee weapons, such as the silver sword or even iron mace. The slash attack can be easily parried with a silver shield. It is possible to get stuck under the dragon, making her attacks not deal any damage, as they will be out of reach.
For quick health recovery, the player can consume a medium healing mead. Tasty mead and minor stamina mead are useful for quickly regaining stamina to continue attacking or dodging.
=== Ranged ===
During flight as well as while grounded, Moder is vulnerable to ranged attacks. She cannot navigate through rough terrain very well, making her an easy target.
A ranged approach can be safer, but is much slower. Especially in single player, attention should be given to the durability of the bow used, as it can break before the fight is over. However, if it does, one can still continue the fight without interrupting by attacking in melee.
==== Arrow effectiveness ====
Arrow effectiveness is typically in the order of Needle > Obsidian > Fire > Poison. Moder's only weakness is to fire, but Fire arrows still do slightly less damage than Obsidian arrows. However, fire arrows can be easier to craft.
Poison arrows can potentially do high damage but most of the damage is usually wasted because reapplying the poison does not stack the damage (though the poison effect of the Draugr Fang bow and that of poison arrows does stack). Players in a group should make sure that only a single player is using any one kind of damage over time projectile; one player rotating between poison and needle/obsidian, and one doing the same with fire would be optimum. 
== Yagluth ==
Yagluth is the fifth boss after Moder and is found in Plains.
=== Attacks and abilities ===
* The fight is balanced around the expectation that players will use Fire resistance barley wine which reduces fire damage by up to 75%. Not doing so can be very dangerous. Armor further reduces fire damage.
* Meteors: They can be outrun, or the stone pillars can be used as cover. If melee'ing Yagluth, remaining in front of his face is an option, as his head will block most of the meteors.
* Nova: Can be dodged using the brief invincibility of rolling as Yagluth slams his fist down.
* Fire Breath: Yagluth only uses this attack against a player not in melee range. It can be avoided by moving in either side direction. The stone pillars can be used as cover, although they will take damage and eventually break from repeated attacks. It can also be blocked with a shield, but this is not an effective strategy as it will rapidly drain the players stamina.
=== Melee strategies ===
Trying to avoid taking damage entirely can make for a very long fight, as Yagluth does not provide many openings. With Bonemass Power (Mostly for uninvited guests as Yagluth does not deal too much physical damage), good Food and reasonable armor, his attacks can be ignored for quite a while before getting low on health. Otherwise, it may be preferable to dodge-roll his Nova as it deals massive damage when directly hit.
=== Other strategies ===
* Make sure there are no enemies near the altar before summoning Yagluth. A Fuling village might spawn adjacent to the altar and it is not impossible for tar pits to spawn near as well. Not clearing them out before starting the fight might make the battle drastically and unnecessarily more difficult.
* Frost arrows are the best arrow type for dealing damage to Yagluth.
* It is possible to hit freely and backstab Yagluth while he is raising from the ground (starting animation).
* Yagluth takes spirit damage, making the Silver sword and Frostner decent weapon choices against him. Raw damage of Blackmetal sword also works.
* Movement and fire resistance are key factors in this fight, making Fenris set a very reliable option. Although is worth noting that the set only provides Resistant to fire contrary to the Barley Wine's Very Resistant. However, consuming Barley Wine is still an option as the highest resistance will override the lowest one. Even more, the very low armor rating could make the player vulnerable to other Plains enemies, especially Deathsquitos (Making Bonemass' power even more important for this strategy).
* It is possible to try blocking wild spawns during the fight by placing spawn-prevention build pieces all over the battle area, with campfires and Workbenches being some of the cheapest options. Although they can be destroyed by either Yagluth's several AoE attacks or mobs that spawned outside of the pieces' radius but were attracted by the sounds of the fight.
* A tunnel can be dug under his altar to provide a safe place to regenerate health and repair weapons or portal out. A campfire can be built for the resting bonus. Just make sure the camp is deep enough so it does not get hit by Yagluth's attacks (More specifically his nova), which makes it important to keep him away from the altar to prevent him from destroy the camp by accident.
* Yagluth will not cast Fire Breath and Meteors when his target is beyond a certain range. Players can hit him with arrows while standing in this "safe" spot.
* Yagluth only becomes Wet when completely submerged which means trying to make him a Frost weakness is not practical.
== The Queen ==
The Queen is the sixth boss after Yagluth and is found in the Mistlands.
=== Attacks and abilities ===
* The Queen deals extremely high damage and knockback with all her attacks, the knockback is enough to throw the player quite a ways across the arena, even when the attack is successfully parried.
* Her hitboxes are extremely large, especially the lunge/bite attack, which will hit players well to the side of her, inflicting poison.
* She moves extremely quick, making it difficult to keep distance while attacking.
* Seekers constantly spawn during the fight, dealing significant damage. Seeker Brood are not dangerous on their own, but may swarm around players, restricting movement and allowing them to be hit.
=== Preparation ===
* The Feather cape is extremely useful for this fight, since the Feather fall effect it provides allows players to easily survive being knocked off a staircase or one of the higher floors. Without it, players attempting to fight her on the higher elevations of the arena are at extreme risk of dying due to fall damage. It also allows players the option of safely jumping down to a lower level, to put some distance between themselves and The Queen.
* A Wisplight is highly recommended during the fight, as it is almost impossible to see through the mist that enshrouds the ground floor without one.
* The following Mead choices are highly recommended for this fight:
** Major healing mead is especially important for melee fighters, although other builds (e.g. magic users) might be able to get away with Medium healing mead instead.
** Poison resistance mead is also crucial, since The Queen can deal a lot of poison damage.
** Lingering stamina mead is highly recommended, as it increases Stamina regeneration over a long period of time, reducing players' need for Stamina foods in place of Health or Eitr foods.
** Tasty mead is another decent option, providing a quick burst of Stamina to get out of a sticky situation.
* The entrance to The Queen's arena is effectively completely safe, she will not attack while you are there, only lingering just beyond the wall. On occasion her rear end may clip through the wall, and can be hit if you are quick, though this would take a very, very long time if it was all you were doing. The enemies she spawns will chase you into the entrance, but no more will spawn until you leave, making it a safe place to regenerate health.
** Additionally, upon leaving the entrance area after a while, The Queen will always do a roaring animation, giving players time to hit her freely.
** Creating a mini-base immediately outside the entrance could help, allowing faster health regen, renewing resting bonuses, repairing gear, and portal access. The Queen will not start regenerating health until some time has passed, meaning you can leave the arena, heal, and go back in with no penalty.
* The Queen's high speed and pierce resistance make bows and crossbows relatively ineffective against her. Players attempting to fight her at range might consider a magic-based strategy instead (see below).
=== Melee strategies ===
* Carapace Armor is the recommended armor set to use when attempting to fight The Queen in close-quarters, since it provides the highest armor rating of all armor currently. 
** However, since Quality 2 is currently the highest achievable with Carapace Armor, a full set of Quality 4 Padded Armor is a very close second place.
** Players should still wear a Feather cape regardless of whichever other armor choices they decide on.
* Because of The Queen's enormous knockback, even when parried, hitting her with all three hits from most weapons' combos is nigh impossible. She turns very quickly for her size, making it also unlikely a single player will be able to circle around her backside. Using strong, single attacks such as the secondary attack on Krom is the most viable way to deal damage. 
** If The Queen is near a wall or pillar, you can position yourself between it and her to minimize the knockback distance enough to allow time for three-hit combos, often with just enough time to block her next attack.
** Alternatively, using evasion against The Queen's attacks can be viable. Timing the roll right before the impact of The Queen's attacks will avoid damage and knockback altogether, allowing to maintain optimal melee distance and giving enough time to land two hits before The Queen prepares another attack.
* Polearms are useful for clearing out the Seeker Broods quickly, using the secondary spin attack, though they are not useful against The Queen herself as she resists pierce damage.
* The Demolisher is also excellent for clearing out Seeker Broods - even more so than polearms, since it works even despite differences in elevation, such as on the stairways of the citadel. It is also capable of damaging The Queen simultaneously - even through the walls near the entrance. Note that the Demolisher has a longer wind-up time than the secondary attack of a polearm, which leaves players momentarily vulnerable.
* Melee-focused players will want to choose from the best Food available to boost their Health (and maybe some Stamina food as well, depending on their choices of gear and tactics). Two top-tier Health foods and one top-tier Stamina food make for a decent balance of prioritizing health while also leaving enough stamina for maneuvering and for dodging her many attacks.
* Bonemass Power and good armor and food can be used to effectively tank all her hits and retaliate, but killing her in less than the five minutes the power lasts would be challenging, if not impossible.
** While waiting for the Bonemass power to regenerate, you can negate the healing that would otherwise occur by moving back and forth from one end of the entrance area to another, which makes The Queen clip her model through the wall more consistently and allow for more free hits.
=== Magic strategies === 
* Magic users have a considerable advantage over melee users in this fight simply because they can (attempt to) keep The Queen at a safe distance and attack her from afar. Since most of her moves are melee attacks which are fast and hard to dodge, being able to stay at a distance and still fight is obviously beneficial.
** The Queen has no particular resistances to magic attacks.
** Magic users should still prioritize dodging from and dealing with Seeker minions, which can still sneak up on players even when The Queen is far off.
* The Eitr-weave Set is highly recommended. Although it provides barely over half of the defense of e.g. a same-quality Carapace Armor set, it offsets this with a +100% Eitr regeneration rate boost, which is critical for magic builds.
* Bonemass Power is highly recommended for players' first fight with The Queen.
** If she has already been defeated, The Queen Power is also highly useful in this fight: The +100% Eitr regeneration rate boost helps significantly when using magic, especially when paired with the similar effect from the Eitr-weave Set.
* The Staff of embers is a particularly good weapon option since it deals large amounts of AoE Blunt and Fire damage (neither of which she resists), making it especially useful since it can clear entire waves of Seekers in just a few attacks; it is also possible to damage The Queen and some of her Seeker minions simultaneously with it.
* The Staff of frost is also a viable weapon to use, although it is relatively inaccurate and drains Eitr very quickly.
* Blood magic weapons should only be used sparingly if fighting The Queen solo, since they drain the caster's Health upon use. They are more viable if fighting her in a party.
** The Staff of protection is recommended when fighting her in a group, since the protection it adds can be of great benefit to other party members (especially when cast with a high Blood magic skill level).
** The Dead raiser is not very useful in this fight. Even if a player casts it at max Blood magic skill level, the summoned Skeletts just do not deal enough damage per second to remain useful for long (especially the archers), and the melee Skeletts are too easily knocked out of melee range by enemy attacks. They also are less mobile than players, and may be unable to keep up with The Queen's mobility. The Dead raiser also consumes a large amount of Eitr to cast, which can leave players momentarily unable to attack with magic.
* Magic-using players will want to select the best Food possible for boosting their Eitr (and maybe some Health food as well, depending on their choices of gear and tactics). Two top-tier Eitr foods and one top-tier Health food make for a decent balance of prioritizing a large Eitr pool while also having enough Health to tank at least one strong hit without dying.
* Minor eitr mead is very highly recommended for providing a quick burst of Eitr in a pinch.
* For dealing with Seekers and Seeker Broods, magic users have several options:
** As mentioned above, the Staff of embers is great for this purpose due to its ranged area-of-effect damage.
** The Demolisher is also excellent for clearing out Seeker Broods. It is also capable of damaging The Queen simultaneously - even through the walls near the entrance. Note that the Demolisher has a long wind-up time which leaves players momentarily vulnerable.
= Minibosses =
== Brenna ==
Brenna is an aggressive miniboss found in the Black Forest inside Smouldering tombs as well as the "She's hot on your tail!" event.
Brenna has two attacks, a basic sword slash and a fire explosion where she takes her sword and stabs it into the ground. Both attacks can be blocked or parried, with the fire explosion having a lengthy windup. Fire resistance barley wine, if available, makes the player resistant to her attacks. If a player's armor, especially paired with barley wine, reduces her damage enough, her attacks will not set the player on fire. If a player is already on fire, her attacks will restart the burning timer.
Various clubs are effective versus Brenna due to their blunt damage being 1.5x more effective against her. A shield can also be useful, as both of her attacks can be parried, allowing 2x damage on follow-up attacks. In addition, the Staff of frost is particularly effective against this miniboss.
== Geirrhafa ==
Geirrhafa is an aggressive miniboss found in Mountains inside Howling caverns.
Geirrhafa uses melee attacks, swinging his claws, as well as a dangerous ice throwing attack which has long reach. Geirrhafa can only throw this in a straight line, giving the opportunity to attack him from the side. He can be defeated with normal melee weapons, but the Staff of embers is particularly effective. Fire arrows seem to deal more damage than the needle arrows. 
== Zil & Thungr ==
Zil & Thungr is an aggressive duo miniboss found in Plains inside Sealed tower.
Thungr will use melee attacks, while Zil will fire elemental magic from the top of Thungr's neck. Zil will sometimes cast a blue shield, which will make Zil and Thungr invulnerable. Wait for the shield to disappear before attacking again.
The best way to defeat this duo boss is with ranged weapons, such as bows. Shoot arrows or Eitr magic from the bottom of the spiral stairs, and before Zil & Thungr can touch you, run upstairs. Repeat the process until the great Fuling is down.
Zil is much more vulnerable to melee damage, but beware of his powerful elemental attacks. It is still best to wait for his elemental attacks on the stairs, then return to inflict a few melee blows immediately afterward.
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