The Eikthyr Valheim boss guide
Eikthyr is Valheim’s first major boss and his defeat is required to unlock progression to bronze in the game. Just having trodden through the meadows of Valheim is enough to have put you in the great stag Eikthyr’s sights. And, until you defeat him, you will experience raids from the forest creatures responding to Eikthyr’s call.
“In the green meadows, I fought Eikthyr the Great Stag and lost an eye to his horns.” – Harald.
In this Eikthyr boss guide, we cover:
- Where to find Eikthyr in Valheim
- How to summon Valheim Eikthyr
- What you need to defeat Eikthyr
- Eikthyr’s abilities
- Eikthyr strategies
- Eikthyr’s loot and rewards in Valheim
- World boss events
Where to find Eikthyr in Valheim
Eikthyr is the Stag-lord of the woods in Valheim’s meadows. You will find multiple instances of the Mystical altars throughout the meadows, inciting you to hunt his kin. While the meadows may appear to be one distinct biome, it separates into two kinds of meadows; fields, and forests.
We are yet to find a mystical altar to summon Eikthyr in open fields, so we recommend that you keep to the wooded forest areas of meadows while you’re hunting for his summoning platform. Once you’ve found a mystical altar, the game will mark it on your map automatically. You’ll recognize his alter as a large, stone table with a nearby rune stone.
How to summon Valheim Eikthyr
At a mystical altar, you’ll need to place two deer trophies on the table to summon Eikthyr. You can get deer trophies from any of the deer found in the meadows. However, you seem to have a slightly better chance of looting them from deer with a higher star-rating.
Look for deer with stars after their names or stags with antlers for better odds of getting a trophy.
What you need to defeat Valheim’s Eikthyr
Eikthyr isn’t the most challenging boss in the game but will punish unprepared players. We recommend having both a wooden shield and a crude bow to take Eikthyr on.
Since you can’t craft the cooking pot until you defeat Eikthyr, you will be limited in the foods you can prepare for the boss fight. The best foods available are basic cooked meat, cooked neck-tails, and red or yellow mushrooms.
What to bring to an Eikthyr battle
- Wooden shield (upgraded if possible)
- Crude Bow
- Flint arrows
- 3 different kinds of food (cooked meat, neck tails and mushrooms for example)
- Full set of leather armor
- 2 deer trophies for every battle you wish to attempt
While it’s not essential, upgrading to leather armor you can craft from Deer hide will reduce Eikthyr’s overall damage if you’re struggling in the fight. If resources allow, upgrade your weapons and armor as many times as possible before engaging Eikthyr to reduce your damage taken from his attacks and to do more damage to him.
Eikthyr’s abilities
Eikthyr has three primary abilities he will use depending on his proximity to the player. He will switch between retreating to circle players and focus on one, then charging them intermittently, changing what attack he will use.
Antler swing
Eikthyr will close the distance on a player and swing with his antlers. You can either block this attack with a shield or dodge to the left or right. The most efficient defense is to deflect the swing by blocking at the last moment. Deflecting will give you an additional chance to attack before he returns to his attack pattern.
Lightning bolt
If Eikthyr is out of any player’s melee range, he will charge a lightning bolt that he fires in a cone in front of him. You can dodge beforehand if you are far enough away, as the wind up to the attack takes some time. If you don’t feel like you could avoid the bolt in time, merely holding up your shield should stop most of the damage.
Lightning smash
If surrounded by players or caught at an awkward distance, Eikthyr will rear up on his hind legs and strike the earth, causing a large ring of lightning damage and knockback around him. Again, if you feel like you are far enough away, you can roll back to avoid the damage entirely. However, if you’re not confident enough, hold up your shield to reduce the damage.
Eikthyr strategies
There are two primary ways to fight Eikthyr. If you’re well-fed and you have improved your armor and shield, you can take the fight to Eikthyr with your melee weapon of choice and a shield. Any weapon will do, even the wooden club. However, you can craft the flint spear, which will improve your damage output substantially.
Alternatively, you can craft a crude bow and a lot of arrows. Keeping Eikthyr at a range will force him to circle and charge you. He is relatively slow, and you can maneuver around his attacks when you’re at range. Keep shooting, and he’ll go down eventually, with little risk to yourself.
Eikthyr’s loot and rewards in Valheim
Each time you defeat Eikthyr, he will drop his trophy and three hard antlers. The hard antlers will allow you to craft the bone-pickaxe and substantially opening up the world of Valheim to you. You will get blueprints for armor, boats, weapons, and many new base components with access to metals.
You can hang the trophy at the sacrificial stones to receive his power. When active, the Power of Eikthyr will reduce your stamina drain from running and jumping for five minutes on a twenty-minute cooldown. Note that with four players in your team, you could keep your forsaken buff up indefinitely.
After you defeat him again, you can take the Eikthyr Trophy home and hang it on your wall. Just be aware that the beheaded Eikthyr will complain at you now and again, unhappy about being reduced to a wall ornament. Very amusing.
World boss events
Having defeated Eikthyr, some of the in-game events will change. Without their leader, the creatures of the forest will give up on attacking you, and you’ll no longer have to fend off attacks from boars and necks.
However, now that Eikthyr is gone, the second boss, the Elder, is aware of you and will move the forest against you, sending greybeards, shamans, and brutes in hordes. Without Eikthyr around, the Elder is not the only creature unafraid of stepping into the meadows.
If you have defeated Eikthyr and at least one forest troll, the event “the ground is shaking” can trigger, sending small groups of trolls to wherever you are on the map. Keep in mind that if this happens while you’re in your base, it’s a good idea to clear out. Trolls do substantial damage to base structures, so draw them away from your encampment if you’re not able to fight them just yet.
Eikthyr the Gatekeeper
We hope this Eikthyr Valheim boss guide has helped you overcome the first major hurdle in Valheim. Once Eikthyr is defeated, the rest of the Valheim world opens up to you. More crafting, more danger, and more opportunity to explore the vast expanse. Soon enough, The Elder will come into your crosshairs as the next boss to prepare to face-off.
Were you and your friends able to defeat Eikthyr? If you’re having any trouble with this Valheim boss and need some additional tips, or if you want to join a community of Valheim fans, be sure to join our Discord community!
