How to Defeat Brenna: Hildir's Burning Miniboss Guide

Who Is Brenna?

Brenna is the first of three minibosses introduced as part of Hildir's Request, and she is arguably the most approachable one for players still working through the early-to-mid game. She is a burning Skeleton with charcoal black bones and fire aspects, wielding a fiery version of Krom, the two-handed greatsword. The Swedish word "branna," with similar pronunciation to her name, means "to burn," and that fiery theme carries through her entire design and moveset.

Found inside Smouldering Tombs in the Black Forest biome, Brenna is part of an optional side quest chain that rewards cosmetic items and functional upgrades from the NPC trader Hildir. Defeating her drops Hildir's Brass Chest, which you carry back to Hildir to unlock the first tier of her expanded shop inventory. She also drops a Brenna Trophy every time, which doubles as a surprisingly cool decorative light source for your base.

Do not let the word "miniboss" fool you into walking in unprepared. With 1,200 HP, fire damage on every attack, and a room full of one-star Skeletons backing her up, Brenna will absolutely punish overconfidence. That said, if you bring the right weapon and understand her two attacks, the fight becomes very manageable.

Finding the Smouldering Tomb

Before you can fight Brenna, you need to find her. Smouldering Tombs are special dungeon variants located in the Black Forest biome. There are exactly three of them on any given world, and from the outside they look almost identical to regular Burial Chambers. The only way to tell the difference is by entering; the game will display "Smouldering Tomb" as the location name when you step inside.

The fastest way to locate all three Smouldering Tombs is through Hildir herself. Once you find Hildir in the Meadows (she spawns similarly to Haldor, with 10 possible locations but only one active per world), walk up to the map table directly in front of her and press E to "register chest locations." This marks every Smouldering Tomb, Howling Cavern, and Sealed Tower on your map instantly. It is an easy detail to miss, but it saves an enormous amount of blind exploration.

If you happen to stumble across a Smouldering Tomb before finding Hildir, Hugin will appear with a warning that this dungeon is tougher than what you are used to. Take that warning seriously: every Skeleton inside is one-star, and coffins throughout the tomb will spawn additional Skeletons as you move through the corridors.

Best Weapons for Brenna

Weapon choice matters more against Brenna than most players realize. She takes 50% extra damage from both Blunt and Frost, she resists Pierce at half damage, and she is completely immune to Fire and Poison. This means your Flint Spear, Fire Arrows, and Poison Arrows are all terrible choices. You want to lean into Blunt damage as hard as possible.

The absolute best weapon for this fight is Frostner. It deals 35 Blunt, 40 Frost, and 20 Spirit damage at base quality, hitting both of Brenna's weaknesses simultaneously while adding Spirit damage on top. If you have access to Silver and have reached the Mountain biome, crafting Frostner before taking on Brenna is the single best preparation you can make. You will melt through her 1,200 HP in no time.

If you have not reached the Mountain yet, the Iron Mace is your next best option. At 55 Blunt damage (base quality), it exploits her Blunt weakness cleanly and is available as soon as you start processing Iron from the Swamp. An upgraded Iron Mace at quality 3 or 4 will deal 67-73 Blunt damage per swing, which is more than enough.

A Bronze Mace works in a pinch if you are tackling Brenna early, but expect the fight to take noticeably longer. The Stagbreaker is another option that can work since it deals pure Blunt damage in an area, though its slow wind-up can leave you vulnerable in the tight tomb corridors. The Silver Sword is worth mentioning for its Spirit damage, but since Brenna is only neutral to Spirit (not weak), a Blunt weapon will always outperform it here.

Rewards: What Does Defeating Brenna Unlock?

Returning Hildir's Brass Chest to Hildir unlocks the first tier of her expanded shop inventory. The majority of these items are cosmetic clothing, but they add genuine variety to your Viking's wardrobe. The brass chest tier unlocks: Simple Dress Brown, Simple Dress Blue, Simple Dress Yellow, Simple Tunic Blue, Simple Tunic Red, Simple Tunic Yellow, Tied Headscarf Blue, Fur Cap Brown, Straw Hat, Harvest Tunic, and Harvest Dress.

Returning the chest also unlocks a new raid event called "She's hot on your tail!" where Brenna herself can invade your base accompanied by Skeletons. This event is worth knowing about, and it also provides a way to farm additional Brenna Trophies for decoration since she drops one every time she is defeated.

The Brenna Trophy is a guaranteed 100% drop and functions as a light source when mounted on an Item Stand, giving off a fiery glow. Veterans who enjoy decorating their bases often farm multiple trophies through the raid event, since there is a known bug where only the first Smouldering Tomb reliably spawns Brenna after she has been defeated once.

When Should You Fight Brenna?

Brenna is designed to be the easiest of the three Hildir minibosses, scaling roughly to the Black Forest and Swamp tier of progression. You can tackle her as soon as you have Iron-tier gear, and she becomes straightforward with Silver-tier equipment. Here is the honest truth: if you have Frostner and decent food, this fight is not particularly hard. The real danger is the one-star Skeletons catching you off guard in the corridors, not Brenna herself.

In my experience, the ideal time to fight Brenna is right after clearing your first few Sunken Crypts in the Swamp. By that point you will have Iron Armor, an Iron Mace, and enough combat experience to handle the Smouldering Tomb without breaking a sweat. If you want to save it for later, returning with Mountain-tier gear makes Brenna trivial, but you also miss out on the cosmetic unlocks during the mid-game when they feel most rewarding.

One detail worth remembering: Brenna is part of an independent quest line that runs parallel to the main boss progression. You do not need to defeat Eikthyr, The Elder, or any other world boss to access the Smouldering Tombs. If you are feeling adventurous and have decent Bronze-tier gear, you could technically challenge Brenna before entering the Swamp at all, though the one-star Skeletons will hit hard.