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Valheim Elder boss: how to summon and beat The ElderHow to find, summon, and defeat The Elder boss

How to find, summon, and defeat The Elder boss

A Valheim screenshot of The Elder, the second boss, standing and looking off-screen, with a Black Forest in the background.

Looking to find and defeat The Elder boss?Valheim’sfive unique bossesare tied to the game’s progression, and The Elder is no exception. This gigantic tree-like creature is a powerful foe, but finding and defeating it brings great rewards that will help you with the rest of your journey. You must defeat the first boss,Eikthyr, before finding and fighting The Elder.

OurValheim Elder boss fight guidewill walk you through how to find, summon, and beat the Elder, as well as the rewards you’ll reap after defeating this legendary foe.

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Valheim Elder boss location

Like all the bosses in Valheim, The Elder must be summoned at a Mystical Altar. While it’s possible to stumble across such an Altar, it’s very unlikely - so it’s best to search for one of the glowing red runestones in the Elder’s home biome - theBlack Forest.

You’ll know if you’ve found the right runestone because hovering over it will reveal the word “Elder”. Interact with it to reveal the location of an Elder Mystical Altar on the map.

A screenshot of a Greydwarf nest. Deal enough damage to this nest and it will be destroyed, dropping an Ancient Seed in the process.

A Valheim screenshot of a Greydwarf spawner, a source of Ancient Seeds found in the Black Forest.

How to summon Elder in Valheim

To summon the Elder, place 3 Ancient Seeds in the flaming bowl in the centre of the Elder’s Mystical Altar. This is the meaning behind the cryptic phrase “burn their young” which appears if you read the runestone next to the Altar.

Once you’ve destroyed 3 nests and obtained their Ancient Seeds, head back to the location of the Elder’s Mystical Altar. Place the Ancient Seeds in a stack on your hotbar, then place your crosshair over the flaming bowl and hit the corresponding number key to move the Ancient Seeds from your hotbar into the bowl.

After a few seconds, the Elder will be summoned into the world.

A Valheim screenshot of The Elder, the second boss, flanked by several Greydwarfs of different sizes and varieties.

Valheim Elder boss fight walkthrough

To make the Elder boss fight a lot easier, you should useFire Arrowsagainst it.The Elder is weak to Fire damage, so bringing a stack of Fire Arrows with you will make this fight shorter and less dangerous.

The Elder may put up a tough fight, but it’s actually a very simple enemy. A towering tree-like bipedal figure, the Elder has three attacks which it switches between depending on its distance from its target:

As for how prepared you should be, I would say you can take on the Elder if you have full Leather armor (preferably upgraded a little), a Crude or Finewood bow, and a stack ofFire Arrowswith some regular Flinthead Arrows to use as backup in case you run out. You’ll also need plenty of Stamina and HP, so try to give yourself enough food to get yourself above 100 max Health before summoning this boss.

The Elder Mystical Altar. In the centre is the flaming bowl where you must burn the 3 Ancient Seeds. Around the bowl are four pillars which you should use as cover against the Elder’s ranged vine attacks.

A Valheim screenshot of a Mystical Altar for The Elder, the second boss. At its centre is a flaming bowl, surrounded by four pillars.

This is definitely a fight where use of the bow is essential.Stick to the four pillars around the Altar, because you can hide behind them to avoid the Elder’s ranged attack. Whenever it summons the roots, just avoid them and run over to another pillar. Continue to attack from a distance with fully-charged Fire Arrows and you’ll whittle down the Elder’s health to nothing.

Elder Forsaken Power & loot drops

Once the Elder is destroyed, approach its remains to collect its unique loot: theElder Trophy, and theSwamp Key.

The Elder Trophy should be taken back to the circle of stones at spawn and placed on the Elder stone to unlock the Elder Forsaken Power. This ability, when activated, gives you increased damage against trees for 5 minutes. It can be activated once every 20 minutes.

The Swamp Key is even more useful, as it enables you to unlock Sunken Crypts in Swamp biomes. These areas areyour main source of Iron Ore, without which you won’t be able to progress much further in Valheim.

And that’s all there is to defeating the Elder and beginning the next chapter of your Valheim journey! Now that you’ve successfully bested the legendary Elder, why not play around with ourcheats guide?If you’re looking for more general help, be sure to check out our maintips & tricks guide.