Deep North Guide: Valheim's Final Biome in 1.0

Sail north past the snow-capped Mountains and frozen shorelines and you reach the Deep North, Valheim's final biome at the northern edge of the world. For years it was an empty placeholder of white hills and grinding sea ice. With the 1.0 release, the Deep North update, it became a full biome with settlements, new creatures, a new crafting tier and its own boss.

What this guide covers

This guide sticks to what is confirmed in the 1.0 game data: surviving the cold, the loot and crafting the biome unlocks, fishing, and what happens to worlds you explored before 1.0.

Surviving the Cold: Frost Resistance Options

The Deep North applies the same Freezing effect as the Mountain, so you take continuous damage without frost protection. Snowstorms roll through just as they do in the Mountains.

Frost Resistance Mead

The most accessible option is Frost Resistance Mead, a Swamp-tier brew:

1. Mix the Mead Base: Frost Resistance at a Mead Ketill (10 Honey, 5 Thistle, 2 Bloodbag, 1 Greydwarf Eye).
2. Ferment it for two in-game days.
3. Collect 6 meads per batch. Each gives 10 minutes of frost resistance (0.5x frost damage), with a 10-minute cooldown.

Frost-resistant gear

For longer trips, gear is far more convenient. These all give the same frost resistance:

• Wolf Fur Cape and Wolf Hide Chestpiece
• Fenris Coat
• Lox Cape
• Feather Cape (note: very weak to fire)
• Ashen Cape and Asksvin Cloak from the Ashlands

Sources do not stack with each other or with the mead, so one is all you need. By the time you head north, you likely already wear one.

What You Will Find in the Deep North

Settlements and loot

The biome is dotted with abandoned settlements. Their loot containers are where most of your early progress comes from:

• Deep North timber halls: Moulds, Bread, Onions and Bear Meat.
• Deep North granaries: Moulds plus Carrot Seeds, Turnip Seeds, Flax and Barley.
• Buried memorial chests: more Moulds.
• Deep North village chests: Coins and Torches.

Bread found in timber halls is a strong food (23 health, 70 stamina for 25 minutes) before you can bake your own, and the seeds let you restart a full farm if you are short on Plains crops.

Creatures

Two creatures from Iron Gate's pre-release teasers are in the game: the Elaking, a lantern-carrying hostile creature, and Seals along the shorelines. Seals are a good early target: they are weak to fire and drop 2 Seal Pelts and 2 Seal Blubber each, plus a Seal Trophy 10% of the time.

Ice and the coastline

Large sheets of ice and icebergs float along the shore and can damage your ship when docking, so approach slowly. Ice is now a real material: breaking ice yields Ice, which goes into recipes such as the Northern Vengeance staff (10 Ice).

Mountain overlap

At higher altitudes the Deep North can turn into Mountain terrain, so Frost Caves and their Tetra Pools can appear up north too.

New Crafting: Moulds, Nord Weapons and the Frost Foundry

The 1.0 crafting tier revolves around Moulds. Each Mould unlocks one item, such as Mould: Nord Bow or Mould: Nord Sword, and comes from Deep North timber halls, granaries and buried memorial chests.

Nord weapons

Nord weapons are made at a level 4 Black Forge and produced in the Frost Foundry. A typical recipe, the Nord Sword or Nord Bow, needs:

• 20 Bloodgold (smelted in a Blast Furnace)
• 10 Timberwood
• 1 matching Mould

Frostfire and Thunderblood upgrades

Each Nord weapon can be reforged into an elemental version using the base weapon, 20 more Bloodgold and an essence:

• Frostfire: adds frost and fire damage, using Frostfire Essence.
• Thunderblood: adds lightning damage, using Thunderblood Essence.

Both essences drop from Fallen Warriors, each 50% of the time.

Blood magic staves

The Galdr Table at level 3 adds new blood magic staves, also produced in the Frost Foundry. They use Nornathread plus a special ingredient:

• Spirit Caller: Frozen Branch and a Moose Trophy.
• Northern Vengeance: Ice and a Hexen Trophy.
• Echo Spike: Bloodgold and Frostfire Essence.

Catching the Northern Salmon

The Northern Salmon is caught in Deep North waters, and regular Fishing Bait will not do. You need Frosty Fishing Bait, made at a Food Preparation Table from 20 Fishing Bait (sold by Haldor) and 1 Drake Trophy. Each craft gives 20 bait, and Drake Trophies drop from Mountain Drakes 10% of the time.

Why catch it

Cast into the icy water and reel it in like any other fish. The salmon weighs 2, stacks to 10 and can be teleported. It is one of the 12 fish needed for the Fishing Hat. Examine it for a melancholy line: "Once I was free to jump upstream. But no longer."

Old Worlds and the 1.0 Update

If you visited the placeholder

Pre-1.0 visits leave pockets of empty terrain surrounded by the new content. Your options:

1. Keep your world and explore the parts of the north you never loaded. Most of the biome generates properly unless you visited nearly every chunk up there.
2. Start a fresh world for the full experience.

Many veterans keep their existing playthroughs, since re-grinding eight biomes is a big time investment.

Before you set out

• Back up your world save.
• Make room in your workshop: the Frost Foundry extends the Black Forge.
• Check for structures you built near the northern edge after the update, as large terrain changes can affect them.

The Deep North Boss

The 1.0 boss is Kall Fimbulbringer, the final boss of Valheim. Every earlier biome update shipped with its boss on day one, and the Deep North completes the set.