The new Viking survival game Valheim has taken the world by storm, selling more than four million copies in less than a month. With so many new players, it’s important to look at how best to overcome the many, many challenges the title presents.
One of the first challenges players will face is Eikthyr, the lord of the Meadow biome. This first boss will unlock the ability to benefit from the copper and tin in the Black Forest, pushing the game into a new phase and unlocking significantly better gear.
The good news is that Eikthyr is more or less a tutorial boss, and players shouldn’t have that huge of an issue with overcoming the challenge that the enormous stag presents. With proper presentation, Eikthyr is downright easy!
When challenging anything in Valheim, the first step should always be a good meal. At this stage of you game, you’ll likely have access to some decent food – Neck tail and cooked meat are a must, and you’ll likely have picked some berries or mushrooms to help as well.
On top of that, it’s a good idea to take a moment to set up a Rested buff to help keep you as strong as possible for the fight. This buff lasts a good while, and the fight is rather short, so it should be able to be active through the whole fight.
Summoning Eikthyr requires a couple deer trophies, so hunt down some deer if you haven’t yet. You’ll need only two deer trophies, but if you’ve built up and upgraded some leather armor, there’s a good chance you have more than that lying around.
Bring a piercing weapon as well, as clubs and axes don’t quite hit the giant stag as impactfully. A flint spear will do nicely, especially if you’ve upgraded it a few times, and a flint knife will be rather effective as well – just do your best to have a shield if you’re in melee.
If you decide you’d rather be ranged, just bring as upgraded of a bow as you can manage and a stack or two of arrows – flint arrows would certainly be a better choice than wooden arrows, but if you’re struggling to find the flint you need, wooden will kill the boss as well.
The fight shouldn’t take you too long. Eikthyr has around 500 health and that’s nothing too formidable at this point. For comparison, the trolls that call the Black Forest home in the next zone have about 600 depending on their star level, so Eikthyr won’t hold you back much.
Do your best to dodge the AoE lightning attacks and charges and keep your shield up if you’re in melee. You’ll have a lot of chances to strike the boss between his moves, so take your time and try not to get greedy to avoid being knocked down by a pair of iron antlers.
