In Valheim there are alpha creatures which must be slain and given as tribute to the gods. The first boss you will have to defeat is called Eikthyr. You can find the first boss through the red stone at the starting area of the game. This will place a marker on your map where you will find a Mystical Altar. To summon the boss of this area you will have to place certain items on the altar to ‘call them to you’. What needs to be placed in the area depends on the type of enemy you will be facing. For example, to summon Eikthyr you will have to bring 2 Deer Trophies to the Mystical Altar.
This guide will focus on finding and summoning the first boss, regardless of your map named Eikthyr.
If you got here by accident and don’t know what Valheim is, you can check out my review here.
Contents
You can click the links below to skip straight to a relevant part of this guide
Finding Eikthyr
Summoning Eikthyr
Hunt His Kin
Getting Deer Trophys
Using the Mystical Altar
Fighting Eikthyr
Eikthyr’s Attack Set
Loot
Eikthyr Trophy
Hard Antler
How to Find Eikthyr
Eikthyr is the first boss that you will come across in Valheim. He is more-or-less used as a tutorial to fighting the other bosses of the game. Don’t let that statement fool you as Eikthyr is no pushover! This giant deer-like creature has some very powerful attacks ready to destroy any adventurer unworthy of facing this deadly opponent.
To find Eikthyr, from the very start of the game you will be placed among a series of stones with runes inscribed on them. The smaller red stone is the one we are looking for this time. Once you have found the smallest stone with red inscriptions on it, select it with the ‘E’ key on your keyboard.
You will then be informed that Eikthyr’s location has been added to your map. Once you have done this, it is a matter of opening your map and moving to that location.
To open your map press the ‘M’ key by default. If this doesn’t work, head to the controls through the pause menu and see if you’ve accidently changed the hotkey for the map. Once you have the map open you can see the starting stones where your enemies trophies can be offered, your bed/spawn point (if you’ve already put one down), and upon registering the location of Eikthyr you should also see the symbol on the map as shown below with the text underneath denoting this creatures name.
Once you see where you have to go on the map, head in that direction. If you are having trouble finding your way based on symbols and map directions alone, you can use the Mouse 3 button (click in the scroll wheel) to ‘ping’ an area on the map. Once you have pinged an area, for a short time you can close the map and see that location in the real world. Move over to this area to get to the location that Eikthyr can be summoned at.
Summoning Eikthyr
in order to fight and hopefully defeat Eikthyr you will have to first summon him to your area. To summon any ‘boss’ creature you will have to follow the hints given to you by the large stone at the area marked on the map. In this case you will see a large stone with a deer made out of stone above it. When you select the stone the inscription will read Hunt His Kin in Valheim.
Hunt His Kin
To hunt Eikthyr’s kin you will have to find and hunt down deer. You can find deer by searching around in the forest or meadows biomes. Generally speaking, around your starting area there should be a good amount of deer around. Given you are supposed to hunt them in order to spawn the boss in they should be spawning in the area. You may find that you have to move around a bit to actually find some deer to kill.
Getting Deer Trophies
Getting a Deer Trophy is not guaranteed from every Deer. There seems to be a random chance that you will get one every time you defeat a deer. More often then not, I haven’t received a trophy after defeating a deer. It doesn’t matter which breed of Deer you defeat in Valheim as trophies drop from male and female deer despite there being visible horns on the trophy item.
Once you have collected 2 Deep trophies you can summon Eikthyr and begin your battle.
Summon from the Mystical Altar
You can now move to the Mystical Altar which is located right in front of the ‘Hunt His Kin’ stone. Once you have made your way to it, when going near you can see that you can ‘use an item1-8’. Simply put a stack of at least 2 Deer trophies on one of the quick bar location in your inventory. (These are the boxes numbered 1-8 in your inventory screen). Once you have done that, get out of the inventory menu and press the number which corresponds to where you have the Deer trophies. Be careful, once you do this there is no going back. Eikthyr is coming! Make sure you are ready.
Fighting Eikthyr
Once Eikthyr is summoned it is time to fight! The sky turns grey, thunder clouds boom as this thunder boss materializes before your very eyes. Eikthyr is a large deer-like creature with 3 different attacks. Eikthyr has a large, visible health bar during the fight and has no way of healing itself, so every hit counts! Read about Eikthyr’s attacks below and what you can do to counter them.
Eikthyr’s Attack Set and Movement
Eikthyr is a land based creatures who attacks, moves away and then comes in for another attack. Eikthyr cannot utilize any type of flying and cannot jump at all. Eikthyr has 3 main attack that we will talk about and how you can counter these. Of the three attacks one of them is melee, one a targeted range attack and the other an area of effect attack.
Attack 1 – Melee Horn Attack
When you are in close range of Eikthyr you will mostly be at the mercy of a horn attack. The Thunder Deer will lower its head and push the horns up towards you and deal a good deal of damage if you are not careful. This is just a single move and once it has used the attack, Eikthyr tends to run away and gain some distance between you.
Countering the Attack:
You can block this attack. By blocking, you will reduce some of the damage dealt by the attack and if your blocking skill and item is high enough you may negate all damage from the attack.
You can also completely avoid the attack by either moving out of the way, to the side or backwards, or by using the dodge roll. You can dodge roll by holding down the block button and pressing the jump key.
Attack 2 – Targeted Thunder Attack
Another of Eikthyr’s attacks has the creature rear up and shoot lighting in a straight line in front of it. This is a powerful targeted blast of electricity which stems from Eikthyr’s horns. This is one of two attacks that will be used when Eikthyr rears itself up onto it’s back legs.
Countering the Attack:
You are able to block this thunder blast, as with the other two attacks. Once again blocking is likely not to negate all of the damage but to shield you from some of the blast, depending on you blocking skill and your blocking item’s stats.
The best thing you can do is use the dodge roll to dodge to one side. The attack shoots in a straight line so dodging to the left or right will make you take no damage at all.
Attack 3 – Area of Effect (AOE) Thunder Ball Attack
For this attack, Eikthyr will charge up by once again standing up on it’s hind legs. Once it has charged up it will slam it’s two front legs into the ground and create a lightning blast in the area around it. The blast will affect a pretty large area around Eikthyr.
Countering the Attack:
Like the other moves you can just simply try to block the attack to take less damage.
Unlike the other attacks dodge-rolling will not help you if you are already in close proximity to Eikthyr. When you notice Eikthyr getting ready to use this attack run as far away as you can. If you run a short distance away from Eikthyr you will be able to get out of the blast radius of this attack.
Loot from Defeating Eikthyr
Once you have completed the task of defeating Eikthyr, first of all well done! You have helped slay one of Odin’s great enemies and helped bring order to Valheim. Secondly, your actions will not go unrewarded! Upon defeating this great beast you will be given a few different items in loot for your troubles. See below for more details on what you will receive.
Eikthyr Trophy
Upon defeating Eikthyr you will gain the Eikthyr Trophy item. I believe this this is a guaranteed drop because it dropped the 3 times I’ve defeated Eikthyr! The item description for the Eikthyr Trophy reads; “This severed head oozes power. Offer it to the sacrificial stones.”
Once you have obtained the trophy you can take if back to the sacrificial stones, (the area you started your adventure from) to offer it to the gods. Once you are back at the stones, select the hook on the smallest hooked stone which describes Eikthyr. Your character will lose the Eikthyr Trophy item from their inventory but be blessed with the Forsaken Power of Eikthyr.
Hard Antler
Eikthyr will also drop 3 units of Hard Antler upon death. These antlers are use in different crafting recipes primarily used for tools and weapons. Upon picking up your first Hard Antler the Antler Pickaxe crafting recipe will be learnt. The in-game description for the Hard antler item reads “A piece of very hard antler.” Each 1 Hard Antler weights 2 units of weight.
That’s all there is to say about Eikthyr in Valheim. How did you find this first boss of Valheim? Did you manage to defeat Eikthyr on your first turn? Did you have to bring a friend into your world and beat him in co-op? Let me know in the comments below and stay tuned for more Valheim content warriors!
Related: Valheim Announcement | A Guide to Vegvisir The Elder – Valheim
