On this page6 sections
- Drink
Poison Resistance Mead before you enter Swamp water, never after a bite. - Leeches cannot leave the water: fight from dry land with a bow or a mace secondary attack.
- They have no weakness, but are immune to Fire and Spirit, so leave
fire arrows at home. - Raise dry paths with the
Hoe and most Leech trouble disappears. - Every kill drops at least 1
Bloodbag; stockpile them for meads and 
Blood Pudding.
Why Leeches Are the Swamp's Real Threat
Every Viking remembers their first Leech. You wade into murky Swamp water looking for a Sunken Crypt or 
Turnip Seeds, and your health starts plummeting. A green Poison tick appears, and you realise something huge and worm-like has latched on from beneath the surface.
Why they kill so many players
Leeches are not tough, but they fight where you are weakest:
- Water cripples your movement and limits your options.
- The Wet debuff saps your stamina regeneration.
- Poison ticks eat through your health bar.
- Panicked running usually leads you into more of them.
The Draugr and 
Blobs get the attention, but veterans know the Leeches are the real killers here.
Why they are worth hunting
Once you understand them, Leeches become profitable. Their Bloodbags feed important mid and late game recipes, and players who farm Leeches instead of avoiding them have a much smoother run through the Swamp and beyond.
Leech Combat Stats by Star Level
| 0-Star Health | 60 |
| 0-Star Bite Damage | 20 Pierce + 70 Poison |
| 1-Star Health | 120 |
| 1-Star Bite Damage | 30 Pierce + 105 Poison |
| 2-Star Health | 180 |
| 2-Star Bite Damage | 40 Pierce + 140 Poison |
| Attack Range | 1.5 meters |
| Attack Arc | 48.5 degrees |
| Attack Cooldown | 2 seconds |
| Faction | Undead |
Leech Behavior and Spawning
Leeches spawn only in Swamp water and cannot leave it. That is their biggest limitation and their biggest strength: you will never be ambushed on dry land, but any water you wade through is their territory.
They are common in any Swamp water, with a limit of 10 per area.
Star variants
Starred Leeches are where things get truly dangerous. A 2-star bite carries double the Poison of a regular one, enough to kill an unprepared Viking outright. Colours tell them apart:
- 0-star: black and red
- 1-star: sickly green
- 2-star: purple and magenta
In the Swamp's darkness these colours are nearly impossible to read at a distance. Check the star rating with the targeting reticle at close range before engaging.
Faction
Leeches belong to the Undead faction, so they never attack Draugr or 
Skeletons. You cannot use other Swamp enemies as distractions: Leeches focus entirely on you.
Your best weapon against Leeches is the Hoe. Seriously. Use it to raise ground and create dry paths through the waterlogged areas of the Swamp. If the ground is level and dry, Leeches simply cannot reach you. Many experienced players make it standard practice to hoe a path from their Swamp outpost to every Sunken Crypt entrance. It takes a bit of time upfront but eliminates the Leech threat entirely for future trips.
Resistances and Weaknesses
Many guides get this wrong: Leeches have no weakness. Blunt, Slash, Pierce, Frost and Lightning all deal normal damage, so pick a weapon for practicality, not damage type.
What does not work
- Fire and Spirit: immune, so leave your fire arrows at home.
- Poison: resistant (half damage), irrelevant since you would never bring Poison to the Swamp.
- Stagger: immune, so shield bashes cannot interrupt them.
- Chop and Pickaxe: no effect.
Use whatever non-fire weapon you are most comfortable with. The right choice depends on how you engage them, covered below.
“The Swamp's Draugr can be parried, the Blobs are slow, and the Skeletons crumble in two hits. It is the Leeches, lurking beneath that murky water, that send most Vikings running back to the Meadows.
How to Fight Leeches Safely
- 1
Always bring Poison Resistance Mead
This is non-negotiable. The Poison from a bite does far more damage than the Pierce hit. Poison Resistance Mead cuts poison damage and duration by 75% for 10 minutes, but only for poison applied while the buff is active. Drink it before you enter the water.
- 2
Engage from dry land with ranged weapons
The safest approach is to stay on shore and shoot. Leeches cannot follow you onto land, and any bow works since they take full Pierce damage. Throwing spears are a good alternative if arrows are short. Stand at the water's edge, draw their attention, and fire while they bob uselessly at the shore.
- 3
Use melee from the shore
For melee, the mace secondary attack is the gold standard: its overhead scooping arc reaches down into the water while you stay on dry ground. Stand at the very edge, wait for a Leech to approach, and smash it. The Stagbreaker's ground slam can also hit Leeches within its area from shore.
- 4
If caught in the water, stay calm and retreat
Head steadily for the nearest dry or raised ground. Wet is already hurting your stamina regeneration, so sprinting until empty leaves you helpless. Eat if your food is running low and finish them from shore. If you must fight in the water, swing fast and get out: their 1.5-meter reach means they must be practically touching you to bite.
A mistake that catches nearly every new Swamp explorer: drinking Poison Resistance Mead after you have already been poisoned. The mead only reduces Poison applied while the buff is active. If you are already taking poison ticks, the mead does nothing for that existing debuff. You need to pop it before combat, not as a reaction. With a 10-minute duration and 10-minute cooldown, time your drinks around when you expect to be in the water.
Drops: Why Bloodbags Matter
Leeches always drop Bloodbags, scaling with star level: 1 from a regular Leech, 2 from a 1-star and 4 from a 2-star. They also have a 10% chance to drop a 
Leech Trophy at any star level, but the Bloodbags are the real prize.
Recipes across the whole game
Bloodbags show up in recipes from the Swamp to the Plains:
- Swamp:
Black Soup, a solid health food, and the 
Swamp Dweller's Delight feast - Mountain prep:
Mead Base: Frost Resistance and 
Mead Base: Medium Healing - Plains: Blood Pudding, one of the best stamina foods in the game
- Building: the Red Banner
Many players hit a wall in the Mountain because they run out of 
Medium Healing Mead and never stocked Bloodbags back in the Swamp. Farm them steadily.
Key Recipes Using Bloodbags
Cauldron (Level 4)
Thistle
Barley Flour
Mead Ketill
Honey
Greydwarf Eye
Raspberries
Dandelion
Neck Tail
Coal
Mead Base: Poison ResistanceHow to Farm Leeches for Bloodbags
For bulk Bloodbags, build a raised path along a Swamp coastline. Leeches mostly spawn along the coast and in shallow water, so a path running parallel to the shore lets you pull many of them while standing on safe ground.
Building a coastal farming path
- Find a Swamp that borders the ocean.
- Raise a walkable path along the water's edge with the Hoe.
- Run along it: Leeches sense you and swim toward the shore.
- Stop, let them close in, and kill them with a mace secondary attack or bow.
- Leave and come back to make them respawn. A
Portal nearby speeds this up, as long as its Workbench radius does not suppress spawns.
Experienced farmers report 20 or more Bloodbags per run on larger coastlines.
The Kvastur trap
For a more automated setup, lure the 
Kvastur, the sentient broom from the Bog Witch's hut, into a purpose-built water trap. It kills any Leech that enters in a single hit, leaving Bloodbags for you. Herding it there takes a harpooned Leech as bait and plenty of patience, but once built it farms passively whenever you are nearby.
Preparing for Your First Swamp Trip
Poison Resistance Mead comes first. Brew the mead base at a Mead Ketill (recipe above), then ferment it for two in-game days. Each batch gives 6 meads lasting 10 minutes each; bring at least 3 to 4 per expedition.
Swamp Expedition Checklist
- 3-4 Poison Resistance Mead
- Bronze or Troll Leather armor
- A bow and plenty of arrows
- A Hoe plus spare Stone for path-building
- Good food and the Rested buff
- Outpost at the Swamp edge: Workbench, bed, Portal and a chest
Rest and set up an outpost
Rested matters more here because Wet constantly drains your stamina. Build a small shelter with a fire near your Swamp entrance to refresh it between runs, and store Bloodbags and loot in the outpost chest.
The Swamp punishes reckless explorers. Vikings who charge in without Poison Resistance Mead end up swimming back to their tombstone in the dark, surrounded by Leeches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Leeches come onto land?
No. Leeches are strictly aquatic and cannot reach you on dry ground, which is why raising ground paths with the Hoe works so well.
What is the best weapon for killing Leeches?
A bow is safest because you can attack from dry land. For melee, the mace secondary attack reaches into the water while you stay on shore. All physical damage types deal equal damage, so no weapon has a damage advantage.
Are Leeches weak to any damage type?
No. They take normal damage from Blunt, Slash, Pierce, Frost and Lightning, half damage from Poison, and none from Fire or Spirit. They also cannot be staggered.
How do I tell the star level of a Leech?
Regular Leeches are black and red, 1-star Leeches bright green and 2-star Leeches purple and magenta. The Swamp's darkness makes colours unreliable, so use the targeting reticle at close range to see the star rating next to the name.
Leech Data
Exact values from the game files (version 1.0 (build 2026-09-17)).
Stats
| Health | 60 |
| Run speed | 2 |
Resistances & Weaknesses
- chopIgnore
- fireImmune
- poisonResistant
- spiritImmune
- pickaxeIgnore
Attacks
| Bite attack | 20 pierce, 70 poison |
|---|
Base damage on Normal difficulty. 1-star creatures deal 1.5x and 2-star creatures 2x. Spells whose damage comes from a separate projectile are not listed.
Drops
Recent Updates
- Updated for Valheim 1.0: verified Leech stats, resistances, Bloodbag drops and every Bloodbag recipe, and reorganised the guide for easier reading.