Surviving Valheim's Ashlands: Complete Biome Guide

Ash falls from the sky like grey snow. The ground cracks with veins of glowing lava, and the distant rumble of meteors slamming into the earth never quite stops. The Ashlands is Valheim's endgame biome, a molten crescent-shaped hellscape at the southern edge of the world where everything burns, the water boils, and an army of undead Charred patrols every ruin. If the Mistlands tested your patience, the Ashlands tests everything else.

This isn't a biome you stumble into. Getting here requires defeating The Queen, crafting specialized equipment, and making deliberate preparations. But the rewards are worth it: flametal weapons, gemstone augmentation, siege equipment, and some of the most powerful gear in the game. The progression path from first landfall to conquering Fader is long and dangerous, but with the right approach, entirely manageable.

Getting to the Ashlands

Building the Drakkar

Your longship won't survive the journey. The water surrounding the Ashlands is boiling hot, dealing 1 to 30 blunt damage per second to wooden ships depending on proximity. Only the Drakkar can handle these waters. To build it, you first need the Majestic Carapace (dropped by The Queen), which upgrades your Artisan Table with the Artisan Press. That unlocks Ceramic Plates, crafted from Black Marble. The Drakkar itself costs 100 Iron Nails, 30 Ceramic Plates, 60 Fine Wood, and 25 Yggdrasil Wood.

Navigating Boiling Seas

Sail toward the center of the map and head straight south. The bulk of the Ashlands landmass always generates near the center, with smaller islands further out. You want to land on the largest landmass possible to avoid island-hopping by boat later.

You'll know you're close when the water changes color and jagged rocks start jutting from the surface. Drop to paddle speed here. The Drakkar turns slowly and the rocks are dense. Two threats patrol these waters: Bonemaw serpents and Voltures. Bonemaws hit hard but attack slowly. The Drakkar can absorb a surprising amount of punishment, so don't panic. Stop the ship, keep a protection bubble up if you're running magic, and hit the serpent with frost damage (it's wet, so frost is devastating). Voltures land on the deck and can be dealt with at close range. Carry 20 extra wood on your person so you can place a workbench on a nearby rock and repair the ship after any encounter.

Players swimming in boiling water accumulate heat and start taking 50 pure damage per second after about 28 seconds. Flametal Armor's 40% heat resistance extends that window significantly, but early on you have no such luxury. Stay on the ship or on rocks.

Creatures and Combat

The Ashlands has 13 hostile creatures, a mini-boss, and a final boss. Enemy density is extremely high, and encounters chain together fast. The single most important combat mechanic in this biome is friendly fire. Unlike every other biome, several Ashlands creatures can damage each other. Morgen, Fallen Valkyries, Bonemaws, Lava Blobs, and Skugg turrets all have attacks that hit other enemies. Learning to position yourself so enemies damage each other is a core survival skill here.

The Charred Clan

Four types of undead Charred form the backbone of the Ashlands threat. Twitchers are the weakest, throwing rocks before closing to melee. Warriors are tougher melee fighters. Marksmen fire volleys of arrows that deal alarming damage, especially in groups. Warlocks are the real menace: they attack at range and continuously spawn Twitchers during combat, turning any fight into a war of attrition. Destroy Monuments of Torment (outdoor Charred spawners) and Effigies of Malice (fortress spawners) on sight, or they'll keep producing reinforcements.

All Charred drop Charred Bones and Skulls. Notably, Charred do not have friendly fire with each other, so you can't trick them into killing their own.

Overworld Threats

Beyond the Charred, several creatures roam the open Ashlands. Voltures nest on piles of Asksvin bones and attack from the air, but they're relatively fragile. Mine their nests for bones and Volture Eggs (excellent cooking ingredient). Asksvin are fast, aggressive quadrupeds that charge in groups of two or three. They're the only tameable creature in the biome, and once saddled, they're the fastest mount in the game. Morgen are the Ashlands equivalent of trolls: massive, surprisingly quick with their rolling movement, and capable of devastating melee hits. They drop Morgen Hearts and Sinew.

Fallen Valkyries are arguably the most dangerous overworld creature. They fly, deal both fire and poison damage at range, and hit hard in melee. They drop Celestial Feathers, a crafting material you'll need in quantity. Lava Blobs leap toward you and explode on death, covering you in lava. They drop Sulfur and Proustite Powder. Keep your distance when they die, and never fight them near your portal.

Resources and Progression

The Ashlands doesn't introduce new tool tiers. Your Black Metal Pickaxe and Axe handle everything in the biome. What it does introduce is an entirely new material progression centered on Flametal, plus a gemstone augmentation system that transforms your weapons.

Harvesting Flametal

Flametal ore sits in tall columns surrounded by lava fields. You cannot simply walk to them. Craft Basalt Bombs (from Asksvin Hides, Bladders, and Proustite Powder at a workbench) and throw them into the lava to create temporary solid platforms. Hop across these platforms to reach the column and start mining. Here's the catch: Flametal deposits behave like Leviathans. After several hits, the column groans, shifts, and sinks into the lava permanently. Always bring extra Basalt Bombs for the return trip, because your platforms are temporary. Plan your escape route before you start swinging.

Smelt Flametal Ore in a Blast Furnace. The good news: Stone Portals (a new buildable structure in this biome) allow teleportation of all items, including metals. Once you craft two Stone Portals, you never need to sail Flametal out of the Ashlands.

Gemstone Augmentation

Three gemstones found in Charred Fortress chests unlock a weapon transformation system at a level 3+ Black Forge (upgraded with Metal Cutter and Gem Cutter). Craft a base Flametal weapon, then augment it with one of three gems:

Bloodstone increases damage as your health decreases, rewarding aggressive, high-risk play. Jade gives a 15% chance to completely immobilize an enemy on hit, which is exceptional for crowd control. Iolite adds lightning damage to your weapon. Each gem creates a visually distinct weapon variant. The system applies to greatswords, one-handed swords, maces, berserker axes, spears, bows, and crossbows.

Conquering Charred Fortresses

Charred Fortresses are the Ashlands' main dungeons, and they play unlike anything else in Valheim. These massive stone structures are completely impenetrable by normal means. You can't break the walls. You can't dig under them. The only way in is to build siege equipment and smash through the gates.

Start with a Battering Ram. Pull it into position like a cart, fuel it, and ram through the fortress gate. (The Catapult is stronger but requires Charred Cogwheels, which only drop from Skugg turrets inside fortresses, so your first siege is always a battering ram job.) Watch for Skugg turrets on the walls as you approach. Use the Staff of Embers or ranged attacks to destroy corner turrets before pulling up.

Inside, expect a brutal fight against Charred Warriors, Marksmen, and Warlocks. Warlocks continuously summon Twitchers, so the fortress fills with enemies fast. Focus on destroying the Effigies of Malice in the corners first. These are the Charred spawners, and until they're gone, reinforcements never stop coming.

The loot makes it all worthwhile. Fortress chests contain Flametal, Molten Cores, Celestial Feathers, gemstones (Bloodstone, Jade, Iolite), and Bell Fragments. You need 9 Bell Fragments (from multiple fortress clears) to craft the 3 Bells required to summon Fader. There's also a reinforced inner door that requires the battering ram to breach, and behind it you'll find the most valuable loot.

After clearing a fortress, its thick stone walls make it the best base location in the biome. Nothing in the Ashlands can destroy the outer walls except siege equipment that only you can build. Place a portal inside the central column (dig a small hole underneath it), add workbenches to suppress spawns, and you have a permanent, nearly indestructible home.

Base Building and the Shield Generator

Building in the Ashlands requires a different mindset. Cinder rain (constant meteor strikes) damages structures, and fire spreads between wooden pieces in this biome. The Shield Generator is non-negotiable for any permanent base. Crafted from Iron, Copper, and a Shield Core (from a level 2 Artisan Table), it creates a barrier that blocks all projectiles: meteors, arrows, even Skugg turret bolts. Fuel it with bones (Charred Bones or Bone Fragments both work). The shield does not stop creatures from walking through it, so pair it with workbenches or campfires for spawnproofing.

Two new building material sets define Ashlands construction. Ashwood (from the biome's scorched trees) provides a warm-toned wood set with walls, floors, stairs, and a distinctive window piece. Grausten (mined from rock structures with the Black Metal Pickaxe) is a dark stone material with pillars, walls, steep stairs, and roof tiles. Both look striking and hold up to the biome's hazards when protected by a Shield Generator.

Defeating Fader

Fader is Valheim's most spectacular boss: a massive dragon-like creature with spinning melee attacks, ground stomps, and fire summoning abilities. His Vegvisir runestones tend to appear at the top of larger ruins throughout the biome. You need 3 Bells (crafted from 9 Bell Fragments at the Black Forge) placed on the three thrones in his arena to trigger the summon.

Fader's Fissure and Wall of Fire attacks have friendly fire, which matters if other creatures wander into the arena. His melee (spinning and stomping) hits hard, so stay mobile. Bring your best Flametal armor, top-tier food, and upgraded weapons. Magic builds with the Staff of Protection and offensive staves remain strong here, just as they were throughout the rest of the biome.

Defeating Fader drops his Trophy and the Fader Relic (reserved for the Deep North update). Hang the trophy on his sacrificial stone at spawn to unlock his Forsaken Power: +300 carry weight and +10% movement speed. It's a quality-of-life power rather than a combat one, but that extra carry weight changes how you approach every resource run from here on out.