Black Forest Guide: Resources, Enemies & How to Survive Valheim's Second Biome

Stepping Into the Dark: What to Expect

Cross from the sunny Meadows into the Black Forest and the canopy closes overhead. Pine and Fir trees block the sun, ferns cover the floor between logs and boulders, and Thistle glows in the undergrowth. Somewhere nearby, Greydwarfs are grunting. This is Valheim's second biome, and where your adventure truly begins.

The gateway to the Bronze Age

Everything you need to move from stone to metal is here: Copper and Tin Ore, Surtling Cores for your first smelting setup, and Haldor the merchant. Come prepared and this becomes one of the most rewarding stages of the game. Stumble in unprepared and the Skeletons outside a Burial Chamber will teach you a painful lesson.

Before you go

1. Defeat Eikthyr and craft the Antler Pickaxe. Without it you cannot mine Copper or Tin.
2. Eat three foods at all times. With no food you have just 25 health and 50 stamina; three cooked Meadows foods push you to roughly 115 health.
3. Activate Eikthyr's Forsaken Power for cheaper running and jumping, which makes escapes much more forgiving.

Creatures of the Black Forest

Greydwarfs

The Greydwarf is by far the most common enemy. These mossy, tree-like creatures roam in groups, especially at night when spawn rates roughly double. They are very weak to fire (2x damage), so Fire Arrows are devastating, and they resist poison.

There are three kinds:

• Greydwarf: the basic version. Drops Wood, Stone, Resin and, half the time, a Greydwarf Eye for Portals.
• Greydwarf Brute: larger and tougher. Drops 2 Greydwarf Eyes half the time and an Ancient Seed 33% of the time, which you need to summon The Elder.
• Greydwarf Shaman: heals its allies and poisons you.

Skeletons

Skeletons guard Burial Chamber entrances and lurk inside. They are weak to blunt and fire (1.5x) but resist pierce and frost (0.5x) and are immune to poison. Do not use a spear or bow as your main damage: bring a Club, Mace or the Stagbreaker. Even the basic wooden Club works well.

About 80% of Skeletons carry swords, while 20% use bows, shooting from up to 20 meters.

Trolls

These towering blue giants are 7 meters tall, punch for 60 blunt damage and swing logs that reach up to 9 meters. Trolls are weak to pierce (1.5x), and headshots deal double pierce damage, so a bow with Fire Arrows is ideal. They resist blunt, so leave the club for Skeletons.

Kiting is the safest strategy: keep your distance, backpedal while shooting, and use the dense forest, since Trolls' large bodies get stuck on terrain. A 0-star Troll always drops 5 Troll Hide and 20-29 Coins, plus a Troll Trophy half the time.

Other creatures

• Bears: tough, with 500 health. Weak to fire, resistant to blunt, pierce and frost.
• Ghosts: found only in Burial Chambers. Resist all physical damage but are weak to spirit.
• Rancid Remains: found only in Burial Chambers. Weak to blunt and fire, like Skeletons.
• Passive wildlife: Deer, Crows, Gulls, and Perch, Pike and Trollfish if you have a Fishing Rod.

Mining Copper and Tin: Entering the Bronze Age

From a progression standpoint, the Black Forest exists to get you into the Bronze Age, which needs two ores found only here.

Copper

Copper Deposits are large boulders with subtle yellow-bronze veins that catch the sunlight. Each holds 138 nodes of 50 health reaching deep underground, and a fully mined deposit gives about 117 Copper Ore and 234 Stone.

Deposits are much bigger than they look:

• Mine around the perimeter first, then dig down.
• The deposit reaches the eight-meter dig limit, and about 10% of nodes sit below it, out of reach.
• Set up a small camp with a Workbench nearby so you can repair your Antler Pickaxe on site.
• Mark deposits on your map for return trips.

Tin

Tin Deposits are much smaller: shiny, silver-streaked rocks found only near water along Black Forest shorelines. Each has 30 health, gives 3-4 Tin Ore and breaks in one session. Sweep every shoreline, because Tin does not respawn.

Hauling ore

Neither Copper Ore nor Tin Ore can go through Portals. Haul ore home on foot, by Cart or by Karve, or build a temporary smelting outpost near rich deposits.

Burial Chambers and Surtling Cores

You need Surtling Cores before you can smelt anything. These glowing red cubes are found in Burial Chambers, the Black Forest's dungeon. Entrances come in three styles: stone doorways, sloped earth leading to a hole, and cave mouths in hillsides. About three Skeletons usually guard the outside.

Inside the chambers

The dark, maze-like corridors hold Skeletons, Evil Bone Pile spawners and the occasional Ghost. Bring a Torch, or a Dverger Circlet from Haldor for hands-free light. Pick one wall when you enter and always follow it, so you see every room and find the way out.

Loot

Surtling Cores sit on stands or in side rooms. You also find:

• Yellow Mushrooms (respawn after about 4 hours)
• Bone Fragments and Coins
• Amber, Amber Pearls and Rubies to sell to Haldor

Chests can hold 1-3 Amber, 10-30 Coins, 1-10 Feathers, 5-10 Flinthead Arrows or 1-2 Rubies (20% each). Enemies killed inside do not respawn.

How many cores you need

You need at least 10 Surtling Cores for your first Charcoal Kiln and Smelter (5 each), plus 2 per Portal, so plan on clearing several chambers. Some also hold Runestones that reveal The Elder's location.

Troll Hide Armor: The Smart Player's Choice

Here is a tip that saves a lot of Bronze: skip Bronze Armor and craft the Troll Hide set instead. It is made at a level 2 Workbench and costs no metal, so all your Bronze goes to weapons, the Forge and the Cultivator.

What it costs

• Troll Leather Hood: 5 Troll Hide, 3 Bone Fragments
• Troll Leather Tunic: 5 Troll Hide
• Troll Leather Trousers: 5 Troll Hide
• Troll Hide Cape: 10 Troll Hide, 10 Bone Fragments

That is 25 Troll Hide, or 5 Troll kills, for the base set. Upgrading all four pieces to quality 4 brings the total to 91 Troll Hide, about 19 Trolls.

The Sneaky set bonus

Wearing all four pieces gives the first set bonus in the game, Sneaky: +15 to your Sneak skill. It is fantastic for opening fights with backstab damage.

To farm Trolls, use a bow with Fire Arrows, keep trees between you and the Troll, and backpedal while shooting. If a log-wielding Troll is chasing you, lure it into the Meadows, where fewer other threats join in.

Haldor the Merchant

Haldor, the Dvergr merchant, spawns at one of 10 possible locations, always in a Black Forest at least 1,500 meters from the world center. Within about 300-450 meters, a bag icon appears on your minimap. A shimmering dome around his camp keeps creatures out, making it a safe haven.

What to buy

• Megingjord (950 Coins): raises carry weight by 150, from 300 to 450. Transformative for hauling ore.
• Dverger Circlet (620 Coins): a permanent headlamp for Burial Chambers and night work.
• Fishing Rod (350 Coins): unlocks fishing.
• Ymir Flesh (120 Coins each): stocked after you defeat The Elder; used in the Iron Sledge and Frostner.

Fund it all by selling Amber (5 Coins), Amber Pearls (10), Rubies (20) and Silver Necklaces (30).

Points of Interest

• Abandoned Outposts: stone structures sometimes guarded by Greydwarfs or Skeletons. Barrels outside can drop Blueberries, Coal, Deer Hide, Flint, Greydwarf Eyes, Leather Scraps, Resin or Tin Ore; chests inside can hold Amber, Coins, Feathers and Flinthead Arrows.
• Shipwrecks: break them for Finewood; they often have treasure chests.
• Greydwarf Nests: spawners that keep producing Greydwarfs until destroyed. They drop Ancient Seeds when broken.

Portals: The Game-Changing Unlock

The Portal is arguably the biggest unlock in the Black Forest. Build two at a Workbench (10 Greydwarf Eyes, 20 Finewood, 2 Surtling Cores each), give them matching names, and they connect for instant travel.

Portal best practice

• Keep a Portal at your home base and carry Portal materials when exploring.
• Drop a Portal as soon as you land on a new shore or reach a boss altar, so a death means a short trip back to your gear.
• Keep an unnamed Portal at base, then build one in the field and leave it unnamed too for an instant link.
• Names are case-sensitive: "home" and "Home" are different Portals.

Ores, metals, Dragon Eggs and certain other items cannot travel through standard Portals. You will need boats and Carts for those.

Resources and Food Sources

Materials

• Corewood: from Pine trees. Unlocks the Cultivator, Finewood Bow and Stagbreaker.
• Finewood: from breaking furniture in Abandoned Outposts and Shipwrecks, or from Birch and Oak once you have a Bronze Axe.
• Thistle: a small thorny plant with a blue glow, easy to spot at night. Essential for many Mead bases.
• Carrot Seeds: rare on the forest floor. Plant them with a Cultivator to start your first farm.

Food and the Cauldron

Blueberries grow on bushes throughout the biome, and Yellow Mushrooms grow in Burial Chambers. With Tin, build a Cauldron (10 Tin at a Forge) to unlock Carrot Soup, Deer Stew and Queen's Jam. These are a big upgrade over Meadows meals and carry you well into the Swamp.

Also build a Fermenter (30 Finewood, 5 Bronze, 10 Resin at a Workbench). It turns Mead bases into Meads, including the Poison Resistance Mead you want before entering the Swamp.

Brenna and The Elder

Brenna

Brenna is the Black Forest miniboss, part of Hildir's quests. She is an undead fighter with 1,200 health, immune to fire and poison, resistant to pierce, and weak to blunt and frost. Bring a mace instead of fire. She drops her trophy and Hildir's Brass Chest.

The Elder

The Elder is the Black Forest boss. Summon him at his altar with 3 Ancient Seeds from Greydwarf Brutes and Greydwarf Nests. Runestones in Burial Chambers reveal his location.

The Elder is very weak to fire (2x damage) and immune to poison and spirit, so Fire Arrows are the weapon of choice. He has 2,500 health and drops his trophy and the Swamp Key, which opens Sunken Crypts in the next biome.