Valheim Mountain Biome: How to Survive, Mine Silver, and Beat Moder

The wind hits you before anything else. A sudden, biting cold that drains your health bar in a way no other biome does. Snow whips across barren rock faces, wolves howl somewhere above you, and the peaks disappear into blinding white. The Mountain biome is Valheim's first real survival check: if you walk in unprepared, you will die. Not from a mob, not from falling, but from the cold itself.

But once you know what you're doing, the Mountains become one of the most rewarding biomes in the game. Silver ore, the wolf armor set, frost caves packed with loot, and the Moder boss fight all await. This guide covers everything: how to handle the freezing effect, what gear to bring, how to fight every creature you'll encounter, and how to come home alive with an inventory full of silver.

Surviving the Freezing Effect

The Mountain biome applies a Freezing debuff the moment you step in. This is not a minor inconvenience. You lose 100% of your health regeneration, 60% of your stamina regeneration, and take 1 damage per second. Without protection, you're on a countdown timer.

Frost Resistance Options

Your first trips will rely on Frost Resistance Mead. Brew it at a cauldron using 10 honey, 5 thistles, 2 bloodbags (from swamp leeches), and 1 greydwarf eye, then ferment it. Each dose gives 10 minutes of protection and they stack to 10 in your inventory, so bring several. Craft at least two batches before your first expedition.

The permanent solution is wearing frost-resistant gear. The Wolf Fur Cape is the earliest option, requiring silver and wolf pelts. The Wolf Armor Chest piece also provides frost resistance (the legs do not). Later options include the Lox Cape, Feather Cape, and Fenris Coat from frost caves. Once you have any of these equipped, the mead becomes unnecessary for general exploration.

In an emergency, placing a campfire on the ground will counter the freezing effect while you stand near it. This is unreliable during heavy snowstorms since the fire can go out, but it can save your life if your mead runs out mid-expedition.

Creatures of the Mountain

The Mountain biome has some of the most dangerous regular enemies in the game. Every creature here demands respect, and fighting multiple at once can overwhelm even well-geared players.

Wolves

Wolves are fast, aggressive, and often travel in packs. They close distance quickly and chain attacks that drain your stamina through blocking. The best approach is to pick them off with your bow from elevation before they detect you. If you're forced into melee, parrying is essential. Timing the parry visually is tricky because their lunge animation is fast. Instead, listen for their growl: wolves always growl right before attacking, and that audio cue is far more reliable than watching their body.

The Atgeir is excellent against wolf packs since its secondary attack causes a 360-degree knockback that staggers everything around you. Frostner also works well because its knockback and slowing effect reduce their movement and attack speed. If a wolf howls, it may be calling reinforcements, so kill it quickly before friends arrive. Wolves drop wolf fangs, meat, pelts, and rarely their trophy (which you need for the Wolf Fur Cape recipe).

Drakes

Drakes are airborne enemies that circle overhead and fire frost projectiles. Their attacks are slow and easy to sidestep: just walk laterally when you see the ice forming. The real strategy is patience. Wait for a Drake to finish its patrol animation and hover in place, then hit it with fire arrows. Drakes are weak to fire and will burn for additional damage over time. Two or three well-placed fire arrows will bring one down. Always try to kill Drakes over flat, accessible ground. If they die over a cliff edge, their drops (freeze glands and the rare Drake trophy) may roll somewhere unreachable.

Stone Golems

Stone Golems look like piles of rock until you get close, at which point they stand up and hit like a truck. They have a one-handed swipe and a slower, more devastating two-handed slam. Both attacks are telegraphed, so dodge to the opposite side of their swing arm and get one hit in before backing away. Fights against golems are slow and punishing if you make mistakes.

Their major weakness is pickaxe damage. An iron pickaxe deals significantly more damage than regular weapons. You can also parry them with an iron buckler and follow up with a mace secondary attack for double stagger damage, which makes the fight much shorter. If you don't need their drops (crystal, stone, and the rare trophy), honestly just run past them. They're slow enough that sprinting away is almost always an option.

Fenrings

Fenrings only spawn at night, and they are arguably the most dangerous regular mob in the Mountains. They have a fast slash attack and a lunging leap that closes distance instantly. They're weak to fire, so fire arrows help, but their speed makes ranged combat difficult. In melee, parrying is possible but the stagger window is very short. The safest strategy is to simply avoid them by sleeping before heading to the Mountains and returning to your base before nightfall. Starred wolves also only appear at night, compounding the danger.

Mining Silver and Gathering Resources

Finding Silver with the Wishbone

Silver veins are buried underground and completely invisible without the Wishbone (dropped by Bonemass). Equip the Wishbone and walk around the Mountain. You'll see blue particle effects and hear a pinging sound that increases in frequency as you get closer to buried treasure. When the pings are rapid and almost constant, start digging straight down with your iron pickaxe.

Silver veins spawn at elevations of 120 meters and above. A quick way to gauge whether your Mountain is tall enough: if you see Drakes and obsidian deposits (which spawn at 100m+), the peak likely reaches silver elevation. Small mountains often lack silver entirely, so seek out the larger ranges.

Once you uncover a vein, dig out a large area around it. Silver extends further underground than what's initially visible. A pro technique: excavate the entire vein until it's no longer touching any surrounding ground, then smash it with your pickaxe. The whole thing crumbles at once, saving significant time. Note that you cannot equip the Wishbone and Megingjord (weight belt) simultaneously, so locate your silver first, then swap to the belt for hauling. For transporting heavy loads of silver and dragon eggs down the mountain, load them into a cart and push it off the edge. It will tumble down intact.

Obsidian, Onion Seeds, and Dragon Eggs

Obsidian deposits are dark, distinctive rock formations scattered across the Mountain surface. They require an iron pickaxe to mine and yield obsidian for crafting obsidian arrows, which have the highest base damage of any arrow at this tier. Gather obsidian whenever you see it.

Ruined cabins and structures are worth exploring for their chests, which can contain onion seeds. This is the only way to obtain onions in the game, and onions unlock several powerful food recipes. Check every structure you find.

Dragon eggs sit at Drake nests on mountain peaks, often guarded by multiple Drakes. Each egg weighs 200 units and you need three to summon Moder. Mark every egg location on your map: they respawn after roughly 8 hours of in-game playtime. Since eggs cannot be teleported through portals, plan your transport route carefully.

Frost Caves: The Mountain's Hidden Dungeons

Frost cave entrances blend into the rocky terrain and are easy to miss. Look for dark openings framed by ice. Inside, you'll break through sheets of ice to enter a sprawling dungeon filled with unique enemies and valuable loot.

Three enemy types inhabit frost caves. Ulvs are pale wolves that travel in packs. They resist fire but are weak to poison, so bring poison arrows. Bats are weak nuisances that drop leather scraps. Cultists are the real threat: fire-casting enemies that deal heavy damage and are immune to fire. Like Ulvs, they're weak to poison. Cultists drop red jute (for decorations) and rarely the cultist trophy, which is a component in the Fenris armor set.

The real prize in frost caves is fenris hair, found on pedestals and draped over wooden structures deeper in the dungeon. This crafts the Fenris armor set, which is the only armor in the game that provides a movement speed bonus. The full set also grants fire resistance and boosts your unarmed skill. Pair it with flesh rippers for a surprisingly powerful melee build.

A few lesser-known tips for frost caves: iron doors and braziers inside can be broken for iron and bronze respectively. Crystals on the walls yield more if you break them with a weapon rather than picking them by hand. In extremely rare instances, a large frozen underground lake can spawn containing tetra fish and a fishing rod next to a skeleton. If you find one, mark it on your map since tetra respawn over time.

Defeating Moder, the Mountain Boss

Moder is a massive dragon and the fourth boss in Valheim. To find her altar, look for runestone tablets inside ruined Mountain structures or occasionally within frost caves. Once you have her location marked, haul three dragon eggs to the altar (no portals, remember) and place them in the offering slots.

Moder alternates between flying and ground phases. While airborne, she fires barrages of ice projectiles. Dodge these by moving laterally and return fire with arrows. On the ground, she uses claw swipes, bites, and a devastating breath attack that deals frost plus chop and pickaxe damage. The breath attack has a wide cone, so sprint to her side rather than trying to back away.

Moder is immune to frost, spirit, and stagger, so leave Frostner at home. She is weak to fire, making fire arrows a solid choice. However, obsidian arrows deal higher base damage, and many experienced players find the raw damage output edges out fire's bonus. Bring both types and see what feels best. Wear your highest-tier armor, keep stamina food active, and be ready to deal with wolves, fenrings, and Drakes that can spawn mid-fight. Fighting during the day significantly reduces these add spawns.

Defeating Moder drops her trophy and a Dragon Tear. Mount the trophy on its sacrificial stone to unlock her forsaken power: five minutes of guaranteed tailwind while sailing, which is a massive quality-of-life upgrade for ocean travel. The Dragon Tear unlocks the Artisan Table, your gateway to processing Plains biome resources and the next stage of progression.