On this page7 sections
- Surtlings spawn in threes around Fire Geysers in the Swamp and die to almost any hit.
- They are immune to Fire, Poison and Spirit: skip
Fire Arrows and the 
Staff of Embers. - Each kill drops
Coal and has a 50% chance at a 
Surtling Core. - Before the Swamp, loot cores from Burial Chambers in the Black Forest.
- Dig a water pit around a geyser for a hands-off Coal and core farm, and keep
Portals and Workbenches 25+ meters away.
What Is a Surtling?
Surtlings are small, aggressive fire imps that spawn near Fire Geysers in the Swamp. They belong to the Demons faction and are among the weakest creatures in the game: a single hit from most weapons puts them down.
They still matter enormously because of what they drop. Surtling Cores gate your progression from the Stone Age into the Bronze Age and beyond.
The lore
Surtlings are named after Surtr, the fire giant of Norse myth. Swamp Runestones tell how the First Men struck Surtr down and shattered his fiery body into countless pieces, each still alive, still burning and still seeking revenge. A Surtling is one of those splinters of a god's rage.
“Every part of Surtr was Surtr still, only much weaker in power and in thought and in memory, with no way to become whole once again. Now we call these fragments Surtlings, and when they are found they should be stamped out like the last embers of a fire.
Where to find them
You first meet Surtlings when you enter the Swamp to prepare for the Iron Age. Look for columns of flame shooting from the ground: those are Fire Geysers, and three Surtlings spawn around each one. The Swamp's constant rain weakens their fire attacks, and you can build a farm that kills them for you.
Surtling Combat Stats by Star Level
| Health (0-star) | 20 |
| Health (1-star) | 40 |
| Health (2-star) | 60 |
| Fireball Damage (0-star) | 10 Blunt + 40 Fire |
| Fireball Damage (1-star) | 15 Blunt + 60 Fire |
| Fireball Damage (2-star) | 20 Blunt + 80 Fire |
| Fireball Cooldown | 3 seconds |
| Fireball Range | 10 meters |
| Fireball Speed | 11 m/s |
| Stagger Limit | 50% |
| Weak To (1.5x) | Frost |
| Also killed by | Standing water |
| Immune To (0x) | Fire, Poison, Spirit, Chop, Pickaxe |
How to Fight Surtlings
Fighting Surtlings is as simple as combat gets: virtually any weapon one-shots them. Their fireball applies Burning, but the Swamp's Wet debuff cuts the fire damage you take, so in the rain a fireball barely tickles a player in decent armor.
Parry the fireballs
Surtling fireballs can be parried. Time your block and the Surtling staggers, giving you a window to close in and finish it. It is more fun trick than necessity, but useful if one catches you off guard while you fight 
Draugr or 
Blobs.
What works and what does not
- Fire: completely immune. Do not bother with Fire Arrows or the Staff of Embers.
- Poison and Spirit: also immune.
- Physical weapons: fine, they die in one hit anyway.
- Frost: 1.5x damage.
- Water: let standing water do the work for you.
The real danger is the Swamp
While you dodge fireballs, you might wander into a 
Leech pool, attract Draugr or get blindsided by an Abomination. Treat Surtlings as background threats to clean up when convenient.
Spotting starred Surtlings
- 0-star: orange-red flames.
- 1-star: blue flames.
- 2-star: pink flames.
Prioritise starred ones: they drop far more Coal and more cores per drop.
Surtlings that spawn further from the world center are more likely to be starred. If you are farming Coal and Surtling Cores, seek out Swamps on distant islands. A 2-star Surtling drops four times the Coal of a 0-star, and when its core drop lands you get 4 Surtling Cores instead of 1.
Surtling Drops and Why They Matter
Every Surtling drops Coal, rolls a 50% chance for a Surtling Core and a 5% chance for the 
Surtling Trophy. Starred Surtlings multiply the amounts (double at 1-star, four times at 2-star), but the chances stay the same, so no core is guaranteed.
Drop Rates by Star Level
| Stat | 0-Star | 1-Star (Blue) | 2-Star (Pink) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coal | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Surtling Core | 1 (50% chance) | 2 (50% chance) | 4 (50% chance) |
| Surtling Trophy | 5% | 5% | 5% |
Surtling CoreMaterial · Black ForestThe key to the Bronze Age: Kiln, Smelter and Portals
- Weight
- 5
- Stack size
- 10
Why Surtling Cores matter
Without cores you cannot smelt 
Copper or 
Tin, make 
Bronze or build the portal network that makes the game manageable. Early on you need them for:
Charcoal Kiln: 5 cores
Smelter: 5 cores- Portal: 2 cores each
Why the Coal matters
The Coal is just as valuable once you smelt in earnest. A Smelter burns one Coal every 15 seconds and takes 30 seconds per ingot, so Coal goes fast. A renewable Surtling farm means you never chop wood for the Charcoal Kiln again.
Where to Find Surtling Cores Early Game
Before the Swamp, your first cores come from Burial Chambers in the Black Forest. These small dungeons are guarded by 
Skeletons and 
Ghosts, with Surtling Cores sitting on small metal stands along the corridors. A single chamber usually yields 5 to 13 cores.
Recognising Burial Chamber entrances
New players often recognise only one of the three entrance styles:
Stone slab structure: like a miniature Stonehenge.- Sunken entrance: a hole with stairs leading down, ringed by a rocky base.
- Hillside entrance: a mine-shaft-style doorway built into a slope, the one most often missed as terrain decoration.
The telltale sign is a group of three Skeletons at the entrance. If you see Skeletons in the Black Forest, look around: a dungeon is almost certainly nearby. Crow sounds are another hint, since crows gather near Skeleton spawns.
Do not forget to check the small altar-like ledges and wall niches inside Burial Chambers. Surtling Cores often sit on tiny shelves that are easy to miss in the dark. Always bring a 
Torch or 
Dverger Circlet, and follow one wall consistently (left-hand or right-hand rule) to make sure you do not miss any rooms.
Get started with only 5 cores
You need 10 cores to run a Charcoal Kiln and Smelter at the same time. A veteran trick halves that: build the Kiln first, make a stockpile of Coal, then dismantle the Kiln with your Hammer to get all 5 cores back and build the Smelter.
Later sources
- Recycling Bonfires in captured Fuling Villages (Plains).
- Destroying or recycling naturally spawned
Dvergr Lanterns in the Mistlands.
Surtling Cores weigh 5 each, stack to 10 and can be teleported through Portals.
How to Build the Ultimate Surtling Water Pit Farm
- 1
Find a Fire Geyser in the Swamp
Look for columns of flame shooting up from the ground in any Swamp biome. These are Fire Geysers, and three Surtlings spawn around each one every 5 minutes. Ideally, find a Swamp with multiple geysers close together for maximum efficiency. Clear out any nearby enemies before you start digging.
- 2
Dig a Water Pit Around the Geyser
Equip your Pickaxe and dig the ground down around the Fire Geyser until water fills in. You do not need deep water; ankle-deep is enough. Surtlings take continuous damage from any water contact and die almost instantly. Dig roughly a 4x4 meter area around the geyser, making sure there are no dry spots where a Surtling could stand safely. Use the
Hoe to raise the edges if water is not filling in properly. - 3
Build a Safe AFK Platform Nearby
Find one of the large indestructible Ancient Trees near the geyser and build a small wooden platform on it. Enemies cannot reach you up there, and you remain close enough for Surtlings to keep spawning. Add a roof for shelter, a Bed for respawning, and a Campfire for the Rested bonus. You need to stay within rendering distance of the geyser for spawns to occur.
- 4
Place a Portal Away from the Geyser
This is critical: place your Portal at least 25 meters from the Fire Geyser. Portals suppress enemy spawns the same way Workbenches do. If you build too close, you will disable the Surtling spawns entirely. Put the portal on your treehouse platform or on top of a nearby crypt entrance for safety. The same rule applies to Workbenches and Campfires: keep all player structures well away from the geyser.
- 5
Collect Your Loot
Surtlings spawn, hit the water and die. Their drops pile up around the geyser, so visit periodically to collect Coal and Surtling Cores. Players report roughly 29 cores and 170 Coal per hour of AFK farming at a single geyser, and an overnight session multiplies that. Place a Chest nearby to store the haul between runs.
Workbenches, Portals, and Campfires all suppress enemy spawns in their radius. If your Surtling farm stops producing, check that you have not accidentally built any of these structures too close to the Fire Geyser. Keep all player structures at least 25 meters away.
Advanced Farming: The Portal Chain Strategy
Once you have found several Fire Geysers, the most efficient method is a portal chain: a water pit at each geyser, linked by Portals so you can run a fast collection loop.
How to run the loop
- Name the portals in sequence: surt01, surt02, surt03 and so on. Your base holds the first and last portal.
- Portal to surt01 and collect the drops.
- Rename that portal to link to surt02, step through and collect.
- Continue down the line and return home.
By the time you finish a circuit of 5 to 11 geysers, the first spawners have refilled. A loop of 9 to 11 geysers typically yields 12 to 15 cores and 100 to 150 Coal, in a couple of minutes.
Build it as you go
Fold Surtling farming into your normal Swamp trips. When you raid Sunken Crypts for 
Scrap Iron, dig water pits at any Fire Geysers you pass and drop a portal nearby. Over time you build a network of passive farms, like tending crops: plant the infrastructure, harvest periodically, never stand around waiting.
What Surtling Cores Are Used For
Surtling Cores appear in recipes throughout your whole journey: the two structures that unlock metalworking, your portal network, and several later crafts. These are the key recipes.
Key Surtling Core Recipes
Workbench
Finewood
Greydwarf EyeOther uses
Blast Furnace (late-game ores)- Bonfire
Stone Oven (advanced foods)- Battering Ram
- Dvergr Lantern,
Shield Core and Staff of Embers - Fireworks
You never stop needing Surtling Cores, so a passive farm is one of the smartest investments you can make.
The Surtling Raid Event
After you defeat Bonemass, a new raid can trigger: "There's a smell of sulfur in the air..." It sends Surtlings straight at your base, up to 4 at a time and at a very high spawn rate. Raid Surtlings are always 0-star.
Defending your base
Fireballs can ignite wooden buildings, so four Surtlings at your longhouse spell trouble.
- Surround the base with stone or a moat.
- A shallow water trench turns the raid into a free Coal delivery, and many veterans look forward to it.
- If you build with wood, keep a Hammer ready to repair burning pieces.
- Better still, unlock the Stonecutter and switch to stone walls before you fight Bonemass: stone does not burn.
Surtling FAQ
Does rain damage Surtlings?
No. Rain does not hurt them. Only standing water (pools, the ocean or dug pits that fill with water) kills them. Rain does give you the Wet debuff, which reduces incoming Fire damage and makes their fireballs much less threatening.
How many Surtling Cores do I need to start smelting?
You need 5 for the Charcoal Kiln and 5 for the Smelter, so 10 total to run both simultaneously. However, you can get away with just 5 by building the Kiln first, producing Coal, then dismantling it and rebuilding as a Smelter. Dismantling with the Hammer returns all materials.
Can Surtling Cores be teleported through Portals?
Yes. Surtling Cores can pass through standard wood Portals with no restrictions. This makes farming them in remote Swamp locations very convenient, as you can portal the cores back to base instantly.
Why did my Surtling farm stop working?
The most common cause is spawn suppression from nearby player structures. Workbenches, Portals, and Campfires all prevent enemy spawns within their radius. Move any structures at least 25 meters away from the Fire Geyser. Also make sure you are close enough for the spawner to be active, as Surtlings only spawn when a player is within rendering distance.
Do starred Surtlings always drop Surtling Cores?
No. The core still drops 50% of the time at every star level. Stars multiply the amount when it does drop: 2 cores from a 1-star and 4 from a 2-star.
Surtling Data
Exact values from the game files (version 1.0 (build 2026-09-17)).
Stats
| Health | 20 |
| Run speed | 6 |
Resistances & Weaknesses
- chopIgnore
- fireImmune
- frostWeak
- poisonImmune
- spiritImmune
- pickaxeIgnore
Attacks
| Fireball | 10 blunt, 40 fire | Ranged |
|---|
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: corrected Surtling Core drops for starred Surtlings, fixed resistances, and reorganised the guide for easier reading.