Brave the snowy Mountains biome of Valheim with a few extra tips to keep your Viking alive. You’ll want to visit the Mountains after completing the Swamps — that way you’ll have the Bonewish accessory and can start farming for valuable Silver ore. The Mountains are where you’ll find Moder, the dragon mother, and defeating her gives you access to the (current) highest tier of crafting.
While the Mountains aren’t the toughest area in the game, they’re basically your final true goal. As of this writing, there’s no reason to visit the Plains and defeat the boss — it doesn’t give you anything special. Moder, the giant dragon that guards the mountains? That gives you an invaluable item. The Dragon’s Tear allows you to craft Artisan Table — from which you can create a Blast Furnace, Windmill and Spinning Wheel.
We’ve got more tips to help you traverse the peaks and stay alive in the killer cold. Check out the full guide below.
More Valheim guides:
12 Tips The Game Doesn’t Explain | Beginner’s Guide | How To Tame & Breed Boars | Comprehensive Healing Potion Crafting Guide | 4 Tips To Improve FPS Performance | 9 Tips To Survive The Swamps | How To Summon All Bosses | Best Mods List | How To Move Loot Easier | Inventory Guide | How To Unlock & Craft Portals | How To Find Haldor The Trader | How To Unlock The Best Weapons
The Mountains are the freezing peaks of the realm. These snowy areas will literally put you into a freezing status if you don’t wear warm clothes. Huge enemies like Stone Golems are hidden in the rocks, and Drakes patrol the skies — so you’ll need good arrows to take them down. The Mountains is one of the most treacherous zones, so here’s what you need to know to survive solo.
- Before travelling to the Mountains, you’ll need to acquire freezing-proof clothing. The Lox Cape / Wolf Fur Cape / Wolf Chest Armor. You’ll be able to craft them by hunting the mighty Lox in the Plains, or taking out any wolves. The freezing-protection of these items is negated if it’s raining in the mountains.
- The Mountains biome is where you’ll find valuable Obsidian and Silver ore deposits. Both require an Iron Axe. To mine Silver, you’ll need the Wishbone accessory acquired by defeating the Bonemass boss in the Swamps.
- When the wishbone beeps, dig directly down to discover a vein. You’ll find 60+ silver ore per vein.
- The Mountains are exceptionally steep. To make climbing ledges easier, jump and hit the rocks with your pickaxe to make little footholds. Just keep going and you can reach the top of just about anywhere.
- If it is raining, build a fire and a small shelter to wait it out. Standing near a fire will protect you from wet / freezing status. You can also brew Anti-Freezing potion.
- Stone Golems are tough critters on the snowy mountains. Instead of fighting them on a level playing field, why not attack from above? Jump on the golem’s head from a high ledge, and you can just stand on his skull, whacking him endlessly from your safe spot. Otherwise… just ignore them. They’re not worth the effort.
- Wolves are a pain. Use a Medium Shield to block and parry their attacks.
- Drakes are tricky enemies. Use your best bow — and just keep hitting them. Move and shoot to avoid their attacks. You’ll usually find Drakes guarding nests. These nests are important for their dragon eggs. Obsidian / Fire Arrows are best against them.
- To summon Moder the dragon boss, you need to locate 3 Dragon Eggs. You’ll find rune stones on peaks that point you to the sacrifice site. Place all three dragon eggs to summon Moder — each egg weights 200 weight, so you’ll want to store every egg you find somewhere safe.
- Dragon eggs are found in dragon nests on high peaks.
- To fight Moder, bring a Huntsman Bow and Obsidian Arrows. Fire Arrows are also good for this ice-elemental boss. To make the battle easier solo, you can also try building a workbench / portal in the area to get aggro — dig a hole so it can’t easily reach and place them below. Moder will ignore you and try to destroy those instead.
Moder — and any boss — will retain any damage you’ve done to it. If wolves or drakes appear while you’re fighting Moder, retreat and deal with them before continuing the fight. Moder is very, very powerful, so it’s okay to come back for a second or third round later.
