How to summon the first boss in valheim

How to summon the first boss in valheim

This is a boss battle guide on how to summon and beat Eikthyr, the first boss of Valheim. Read on to find out what you need to summon Eikthyr, its attack patterns, and how to beat it!

Eikthyr
How to summon the first boss in valheim
Behavior Hostile
Health 500
Damage ・15-20 Antler Melee・10-15 Thunder Bomb

・10-15 Lightning Beam

Tameable? No
Enemy Spawn Code Eikthyr

How to summon the first boss in valheim
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Eikthyr's vegvisir is located just beside its sacrificial stone at the Forsaken Altar. Activate it to display one of its summoning altars on your map.

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Interacting with Eikthyr's vegvisir at the Forsaken Altar reveals one of its Deer Shrines on your map. Eikthyr's Deer Shrines are located within Meadows biomes.

How to summon the first boss in valheim

To summon Eikthyr, gather two Deer Trophies by hunting Deer. Once you have that, equip it in your quickselect slots (slots 1-9). Approach the stone slab and press the button that corresponds to the Deer Trophies. The trophies will then be consumed and the ground will shake, and lights will appear, and then the boss fight will begin.

How to summon the first boss in valheim
Crude Bow
How to summon the first boss in valheim
Wood Arrow

You should already have bows and arrows because you need it to hunt Deer. Use them against Eikthyr to easily chip away its HP from range.

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Leather armor should be easy to access by now because you'd have Leather Scraps from Boars and Deer Hide from Deer.
List of Leather Armor

How to summon the first boss in valheim
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A flint axe will be your strongest melee weapon as of now, so make sure to have it equipped.
How to Craft the Flint Axe

The ideal food combo would be these three to prepare for the fight.

Item Name How to Get

How to summon the first boss in valheim
Cooked Meat

Can be cooked from the Cooking Station with the right ingredients.

How to summon the first boss in valheim
Grilled Neck Tail

Can be cooked from the Cooking Station with the right ingredients.

How to summon the first boss in valheim
Mushroom

Can be gathered from the Meadows Biome or the Black Forest Biome

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Eikthyr raises his front legs and slams them down, causing a large electric explosion. Rolling away twice will get you out of its range.

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Eikthyr charges up and fires a beam of lighting in a straight line. Be sure to dodge or step to the side to avoid this.

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Eikthyr goes up to you and gores you with his antlers. Simply block with a shield or roll away from his attack.

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Eikthyr has very slow turn speed after attacking, take advantage of this by attacking from its flank or rear as much as possible!

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Shields are extremely effective in absorbing all of Eikthyr's attacks! Consider crafting either one of these early game shields to make Eikthyr's boss fight a piece of cake:

How to summon the first boss in valheim
Wood Shield
How to summon the first boss in valheim
Wood Tower Shield
Item Drop Rate Amount
Eikthyr Trophy 100% 1
Hard Antlers 100% 3

Defeating Eikthyr rewards you with its Trophy and Hard Antlers. In addition to the loot, hanging Eikthyr's Trophy at the sacrificial altars and activating it also grants you Eikthyr's Forsaken Power.

Eikthyr's power reduces for running and jumping by 60% for 5 minutes when activated, and has cooldown of 20 minutes.
List of Forsaken Powers

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Boss Guide: How to Beat All Bosses

All Bosses
How to summon the first boss in valheim
Eikthyr
How to summon the first boss in valheim
The Elder
How to summon the first boss in valheim
Bonemass
How to summon the first boss in valheim
Moder
How to summon the first boss in valheim
Yagluth

There’s a lot to do in Valheim, but your main goal involves summoning and defeating powerful creatures. Their heads are your tickets out of purgatory and into the glory of Valhalla. Beating them is no small feat.

In this Valheim boss guide, we’ll explain everything you need to summon the game’s first boss, Eikthyr. Once you’ve met the requirements, we’ll give you the strategies and tips you’ll need to defeat your first prey.

How to summon Eikthyr

Before you can fight the lightning-launching stag, you’ll need to meet some requirements.

When you first spawn at the sacrificial stones, you’ll find a glowing red rock (next to the stone where you’ll eventually hang your Eikthyr trophy). Interacting with this rock will reveal the location of Eikthyr’s summoning altar.

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing via Polygon

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing via Polygon

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing via Polygon

At Eikthyr’s summoning altar, you’ll find a glowing red runestone and a large stone slab that the game refers to as an offer bowl. Reading the runestone gives you the clue to “Hunt his kin.” The kin in question are the various deer you’ll find roaming the forest nearby.

Hunting deer

Hunting deer can be a bit annoying in Valheim because they’re easy to scare away. If a deer sees you, it’ll scurry off. Deer can also smell you, so pay attention to the direction that the wind is blowing and make sure the deer you’re hunting isn’t downwind.

To locate deer, explore the woods and listen for their telltale cry. It sounds sort of like a seal barking. When you hear them call out, crouch and investigate your surroundings. (Running around will only scare them off.)

If you have the bow, it’s the best tool for hunting them. A clean headshot should take down a deer silently. Just keep an eye on your stamina as you line up your shot.

If you have a bit more patience, slowly creep toward them and take them out with a flint knife.

Keep hunting deer until you get two deer trophies. With those in hand, head back to Eikthyr’s altar and offer them up.

The chained stag is your first real battle in Valheim. Taking it down isn’t much of a challenge. It just requires patience and preparation.

Before taking it on, be sure to:

  • Craft whatever available armor you can, as well as a weapon and a shield. Before setting off, repair all your gear.
  • Brush up on how to cook, and fill your belly with meals to maximize your health.
  • Place your two deer trophies in your inventory hotbar (or else you can’t offer them up).

Once you’re ready, interact with the offer bowl and get ready to take on Eikthyr.

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing via Polygon

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing via Polygon

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing via Polygon

The forest will grow dark and a flash of light will appear, summoning Eikthyr. As the creature’s lightning crackles through the now misty forest, you might be a bit intimidated. But keeping the stag’s limited moveset in mind will make the fight much easier:

  • When Eikthyr rears up in a quick motion, it’ll come back down with a large lighting bolt that shoots in a straight line in whatever direction it’s facing. When boss kicks up its legs, move to the side, avoiding the lighting bolt attack, and rush in for an attack.
  • Look for a similar movement where Eikthyr rears up but hangs in the air a bit longer. It’ll crash back down with a bubble of lightning. If you see the boss kick up its legs for more than a second, keep your distance. Once the ball of energy dissipates, go in for a strike.
  • Attack Eikthyr from the side. Whenever you meet the boss head on, there’s a chance it’ll make a quick swipe at you with its massive horns. When in doubt, approach with your shield drawn to absorb the blow.

Eikthyr will run around the forest, kicking up dirt and knocking down trees. Its constant movement and lightning attacks make it a challenge to attack from its sides. If you can manage to consistently flank the creature, make attacks safely, and anticipate which powerful attack it’ll toss out, you’ll have a fighting chance.

How to summon the first boss in valheim

Once you defeat Eikthyr, you can show off your triumph

Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing via Polygon

After you’ve defeated Eikthyr, it’ll drop an Eikthyr trophy plus some hard antlers. Return to the sacrificial stones and place the creature’s head on the corresponding stone slab (the one furthest to the left, near the red stone you interacted with earlier).

Mounting Eikthyr’s head will unlock your first Forsaken power, which temporarily boosts your stamina and movement abilities. The antlers that Eikthyr drops also let you create the antler pickaxe, which is perfect for learning how to mine, smelt, and make metal tools.

Valheim guide: From the black forest to The Elder walkthrough

Defeating Eikthyr and collecting hard antlers puts you on the path to crafting metal tools. This Valheim walkthrough begins after defeating Eikthyr and ends at the next boss, The Elder.