Valheim: How To Survive The Swamps | Third Biome & Bonemass Boss Guide

The Swamps are a muddy, dangerous mess in Valheim. This water-logged biome is packed with challenging enemies that make early attempts to explore the area practically suicidal. You’ll have to deal with leaches, skeleton archers, Draugr, poisonous blobs, and so much more. To make it through the area safer, you’ll need a few tricks.

Why enter the Swamps? The third major biome in Valheim is where the Bonemass lives — a boss that drops the Wishbone. The Wishbone is a ridiculously useful accessory that allows you to find secrets like veins of scrap iron underground, buried treasures, or silver veins. The only way to find silver veins at all is with the Wishbone, so you’ll need it to get better-and-better armor.

Now let’s talk a little bit about the Swamp — and how to survive it.

More Valheim guides:

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The Swamps are a dangerous biome filled with monsters — and it’s where you’ll find the Bonemass. The third boss of the game rewards you with the Wishbone, which can be used to locate silver ore veins underground. Very handy! But you’ll have to survive the Swamps first. Here’s a few tips to keep you alive.

• Use the Hoe to level the ground in the Swamps. Create a safe path through the muddy water and you’ll avoid leeches completely.

• Poisonous Blobs can be killed in 1-hit with the Bronze Mace. Use the middle-mouse strong attack to splatter a blob before it can poison you.

• Poison Resist Mead is important in the Swamp.
  • Poison Resist Mead requires a Fermenter and Poison Resist Mead Base. Place the Poison Resist Mead Base in the Fermenter to acquire x6 Poison Resist Mead.
  • Poison Resist Mead Base Ingredients: x10 Honey, x10 Coal, x5 Thistle, x1 Neck Tail

• Tower Shields will help against Skeleton Archers in the open. Medium Shields are important for the Sunken Crypts — learn to parry to get free hits on your opponents.

• Stealth is your friend. Bring plenty of arrows to deal with Archers and other enemies from afar — enter Stealth Mode for bonus damage with arrows. A bow while stealthed will kill all 1-Star enemies in a single shot.

• Go straight to the Sunken Crypts! Sunken Crypts contain valuable scrap iron, which you can use to make iron armor. Avoid all enemies and stealth / sprint to the crypts as soon as possible.
  • NOTE: Defeat the Elder in the Black Forest to obtain the Sunken Key. Otherwise, you won’t be able to access the Sunken Crypts.

• Deal with enemies easier by clearing Sunken Crypt muddy scrap piles about halfway. Then you can arrow any enemies you see through the hole.

• To find the Bonemass boss, explore Sunken Crypts until you locate a Rune Stone — this will show you the skull altar on your map. Go to the altar and sacrifice 10 Withered Bones to summon the Bonemess.
  • Defeating it will give you the Wishbone, which is needed to find Silver Ore Deposits underground in the Mountains biome.

• Skeleton Archers and the Bonemass boss are weak to the Iron Mace — crushing blunt damage is far more powerful against them. Enemies like Blobs and Draugr are weak to fire damage, so stock up on Fire Arrows.