Meadows Guide: Resources, Enemies & How to Survive Valheim's Starting Biome

Welcome to the Meadows

The Meadows is the first biome you will encounter in Valheim, and it is arguably the most important one to master. You land here naked, confused, and surrounded by rolling green hills, melodic music, and the gentle rustle of Beech trees in the wind. Do not let that serenity fool you into complacency. The decisions you make in your first few in-game days set the tone for your entire playthrough, and veterans know that a strong Meadows foundation makes everything that follows significantly easier.

This biome is characterized by open grassy fields punctuated by thickets of Beech, Birch, and Oak trees, with streams and rivers carving through the landscape. Deer graze peacefully in forest clearings, Boars root around aggressively, and small lizard-like creatures called Necks sun themselves along the shoreline. You will also spot Greylings, small mossy tree creatures that love to take swings at you and, more annoyingly, at your structures.

Your primary objective here is straightforward: build a base, gear up with Flint weapons and Leather Armor, and defeat the first boss, Eikthyr. But there is a surprising amount of depth hidden in this "beginner" biome that most players overlook on their first run. This guide covers every resource, creature, point of interest, and strategy you need to fully conquer the Meadows before moving on.

Resources and Gathering

The moment you spawn, your first instinct should be to pick up everything off the ground. Branches and loose Stones are scattered everywhere and give you Wood and Stone without needing any tools. Once you have 5 Wood and 4 Stone, craft a Stone Axe at your inventory and start chopping Beech trees for a proper Wood supply. Beech trees yield Wood and occasionally Resin, Feathers, and Beech Seeds.

Flint is absolutely critical and is found exclusively near water. Walk any shoreline, river, or lake edge and you will spot flat, pale stones on the ground. Grab every piece you find, because Flint weapons are the backbone of your Meadows combat kit. Stone can also be picked up off the ground in large quantities, particularly near cliffs and river valleys.

You will also find Birch and Oak trees in the Meadows, but you cannot chop them with a Stone Axe. They require a Bronze Axe, which is a Black Forest tier tool. However, there is a well-known trick: chop down nearby Beech trees and hope they fall into the Birch or Oak. If you are lucky, the falling tree deals enough damage to topple the harder tree. You can also roll the resulting logs into the Birch tree repeatedly to break it down. It is tedious, but it gives you early access to Fine Wood, which lets you craft the Finewood Bow and comfort-boosting furniture.

Raspberries grow on bushes scattered throughout the Meadows and respawn over time, so always pick them as you pass. Mushrooms appear on the forest floor (turn down your foliage quality in the graphics settings to spot them more easily). Dandelions are another gatherable but are primarily used for Mead recipes later. Finally, keep an eye out for wild Beehives inside Abandoned Houses. Destroying the structure around a Beehive drops a Queen Bee, which you can use to craft your own Beehive for a steady supply of Honey.

Surviving Early Combat

Combat in the Meadows is forgiving but teaches fundamental skills you will rely on for the rest of the game. The three hostile creatures you will encounter regularly are Boars, Necks, and Greylings, and each one teaches you something different.

Boars have 10 HP and deal 10 Blunt damage per hit. They aggro on sight and charge at you, then briefly retreat before charging again. This predictable pattern is perfect for practicing parrying. Here is something most guides do not tell you: both Boars and Greylings are afraid of fire. Carrying a Torch makes you essentially invulnerable to them in the early game, as they will flee on sight. You can even place standing Torches and Campfires around your base or logging area to keep them away while you work.

Necks have only 5 HP and hang out near water. They are weak to fire (1.5x damage) and drop Neck Tails, which cook into a decent early food source. Greylings are the most annoying of the three. At 20 HP they take more hits to kill, and they love attacking your structures. They are very weak to fire (2x damage) and drop Resin, which you need for crafting Fire Arrows and Torches.

Deer are passive and will bolt the moment they detect you. The most reliable way to hunt them early is to crouch-sneak behind one and hit it before it flees. Alternatively, craft a Crude Bow as soon as possible. You can also throw a Flint Spear using the middle mouse button for a more accurate ranged option. A sneak attack with a Flint Knife deals 6x backstab damage, which is more than enough to one-shot a Deer. Deer drop Deer Hide and Deer Meat, both of which are essential. You need 2 Deer Trophies (50% drop rate) to summon Eikthyr, so hunt them early and often.

Weapons, Armor, and Crafting

Your crafting progression in the Meadows revolves around the Workbench. Place one down with a roof over it and you unlock a wide range of essential gear. Priority number one is a weapon. The Club is your very first option (crafted from your inventory), but you should upgrade to Flint weapons as soon as possible.

The Flint Knife is an underrated powerhouse. It deals 5 Pierce and 5 Slash damage with a lightning-fast three-slash combo, where the last swing does double damage with knockback. Its secondary attack is a leaping stab dealing 15 Pierce and 15 Slash. Most importantly, it has a 6x backstab multiplier, making it devastating for sneak attacks. The Crude Bow is your best ranged option, dealing 22 Pierce damage at base quality. It is inaccurate at distance, but serviceable for Deer hunting. For arrows, Wood Arrows cost just 8 Wood for 20, while Fire Arrows (requires Workbench level 2) need Wood, Resin, and Feathers.

For armor, you have two tiers. The Rag set (tunic and pants) uses only Leather Scraps and provides minimal protection. The Leather Armor set is the real goal: Leather Helmet, Leather Tunic, Leather Pants, and Deer Hide Cape. The first three pieces each require 6 Deer Hide at Quality 1, while the Deer Hide Cape needs 4 Deer Hide and 5 Bone Fragments. A full Quality 1 set provides 7 total armor. Upgrading requires Bone Fragments, which you can find by digging up Viking Graveyards with a Pickaxe or by venturing into the Black Forest to fight Skeletons. In my experience, getting the base set without the cape is the sweet spot before fighting Eikthyr.

Food and the Rested Bonus

Food is not optional in Valheim. Your base HP is 25 and your base Stamina is 50, which is barely enough to survive two hits from a Boar. You can eat up to three different foods simultaneously, and each one adds HP, Stamina, or both for a set duration. In the Meadows, your best food combination before fighting Eikthyr is Cooked Deer Meat (35 HP, 12 Stamina, 1200s), Cooked Boar Meat (30 HP, 10 Stamina, 1200s), and Honey (8 HP, 35 Stamina, 300s). This gives you a solid balance of health and stamina regeneration.

Raspberries (7 HP, 20 Stamina, 600s) and Mushrooms (15 HP, 15 Stamina, 900s) are good filler foods while you build up your meat supply. Grilled Neck Tail (25 HP, 8 Stamina, 1000s) is another solid option. Cook all raw meats on a Cooking Station placed over a Campfire. Watch the cooking timer carefully, because overcooking turns your meat into Coal.

The Rested bonus is the single most impactful buff in the early game. Sit near a fire with a roof overhead and you will gain increased HP and Stamina regeneration that lasts several minutes, scaling with your comfort level. Build a Campfire inside your base, add a bed, and sit down before any dangerous activity. You can increase your comfort level by adding different furniture pieces: a chair, a bench, a rug, and a Deer rug all contribute. If you managed to get Fine Wood early, the Finewood chair adds even more. Always have the Rested bonus active. Make it a habit from day one.

Points of Interest

The Meadows is packed with interesting locations that reward thorough exploration. Abandoned Houses are scattered throughout and often contain chests with useful early loot: Amber, Coins, Feathers, Flint, Flinthead Arrows, and Torches. More importantly, many of these houses contain wild Beehives. Shoot the hive with a bow from a distance, or place a Workbench nearby and deconstruct the building. Either way, you get a Queen Bee, which lets you craft your own Beehive for passive Honey production.

Abandoned Villages are clusters of these houses and come with additional perks: Raspberry bushes, woodpiles for free Wood, and sometimes multiple Beehives. Viking Graveyards are boat-shaped rock formations that contain buried treasure. Once you have the Antler Pickaxe from defeating Eikthyr, dig between the stones to find chests with Amber Pearls, Coins (20-50), Fire Arrows, Rubies, and occasionally a Silver Necklace. These treasures are worth saving for the trader Haldor, who you will find in the Black Forest.

Dolmens are small stone structures, sometimes holding Skeletal Remains with Bone Fragments underneath. Ancient Stone Circles are large ring formations that are mainly decorative but have a useful property: their stones act as foundational building pieces, so you can attach structures to them for extra stability and protection during raids.

Boar Taming and Your First Farm

One of the smartest things you can do in the Meadows is start taming Boars early. Tamed Boars are a renewable source of Boar Meat and Leather Scraps, both of which you will need throughout the entire game. To tame a Boar, build a pen from Roundpole fences, lure a wild Boar inside (they will chase you), then drop Raspberries, Mushrooms, Blueberries, Carrots, or Turnips on the ground near it. Stay nearby but avoid frightening the Boar. The taming process takes about 30 real-time minutes with food available.

Keep an eye out for Boar Runestones, which are marked by a specific Runestone text mentioning "wild boar who roam these lands." These spawn 1-9 Boars in the vicinity as a one-time event, and they have an increased 15% chance to be 2-star instead of the normal 1% for wild Boars. Two-star Boars drop 4x the meat and Leather Scraps of a normal Boar, making them enormously valuable for breeding. Abandoned farms in the Meadows also have elevated star chances. If you find 2-star Boars, tame two of them and start a breeding program. Once tamed and fed, two Boars within 3 meters of each other will breed. The pen can hold a maximum of 5 Boars within 10 meters before breeding stops.

Preparing for and Defeating Eikthyr

Eikthyr is the first boss in Valheim and your gateway to the Black Forest. He has 500 HP and uses three attacks: an Antler swipe (20 Pierce damage, 4.5 meter range), a Lightning beam that fans out 45 degrees for 20 meters (15 Lightning damage), and a Stomp that hits everything in a 10-meter radius (15 Lightning damage). All of his Lightning attacks apply the Lightning status effect.

To summon him, interact with the glowing Vegvisir Runestone near the Sacrificial Stones at spawn to mark his altar on your map. Then bring 2 Deer Trophies to the Forsaken Altar and place them. Before you head to the fight, make sure you are well prepared: eat your best three foods (Cooked Deer Meat, Cooked Boar Meat, and Honey is ideal), get the Rested bonus, and equip the Leather Armor set. Bring a Crude Bow with Fire Arrows for ranged damage, plus a melee weapon and shield as backup.

The fight itself is straightforward if you keep your distance. His Lightning beam has a long cooldown of 25 seconds and is telegraphed by a clear windup animation, so dodge to the side when you see it coming. Kite him around trees and terrain features, peppering him with arrows. Placing a Campfire directly under his spawn point before summoning him deals passive fire damage, which is a clever trick. Building a small shelter with a bed near the altar is also smart insurance in case things go sideways.

Defeating Eikthyr drops 3 Hard Antlers and the Eikthyr Trophy. The Hard Antlers let you craft the Antler Pickaxe (10 Wood + 1 Hard Antler at a Workbench), which unlocks mining and is your ticket to the Black Forest for Copper, Tin, and eventually Bronze. Mounting the Eikthyr Trophy on the Sacrificial Stone at spawn grants the Eikthyr Forsaken Power: a 60% reduction to running, jumping, and swimming stamina costs for 300 seconds. This power remains useful well into the mid-game for long exploration trips.

What Changes After Defeating Bosses

The Meadows does not stay the peaceful biome it starts as. After defeating each boss in the game, new hostile creatures begin spawning here. After Eikthyr, Greydwarfs start appearing in the Meadows at night. After The Elder, Greydwarf Brutes and Greydwarf Shamans join them. After Bonemass, Skeletons begin spawning. After Yagluth, Fulings appear. After The Queen, Seekers and Ticks show up. And after Fader, Charred Marksmen and Charred Warriors begin patrolling your once-peaceful homeland.

This escalation is gradual and follows your boss progression, so you will always be geared to handle whatever new threats appear. But it does mean your Meadows base needs proper defenses eventually. Stake walls and raised earth barriers become essential in the late game. On the positive side, these later-game creature spawns near your base can actually be convenient: Fulings drop Black Metal, and Seekers drop valuable Mistlands materials, saving you trips to those dangerous biomes.