Creatures & Animals

This category covers everything in Valheim that moves on its own: the hostile enemies that fill each biome, the bosses that gate progression, the animals you can tame and breed, the passive wildlife you hunt for materials, and the trophies they leave behind. No wall locks a biome. What locks it is what lives there, and whether your gear is ready for those creatures.

The peaceful side of the world is small, and it is kept apart under NPCs: the traders, the ravens, a god and a valkyrie, all of them non-hostile. Everything on this page is a fight, a hunt or a pen.

Hostile Creatures and Bosses

Hostile creatures are the main threat in every biome. You will find them under Enemies with their health, damage types, weaknesses and drops. Many only appear at night or inside specific locations such as Troll caves, Sunken Crypts, Infested Mines, Frost Caves or Charred Fortresses.

The main bosses have their own category. You summon each one at its own altar with a specific offering, and killing one unlocks the next material tier and a permanent Forsaken power. Bosses do not respawn on their own.

Tameable Animals

Several animals can be tamed and bred once you know the correct food and build a secure pen:

Boars (Meadows) are the easiest first tame. They eat berries, Carrots, Turnips or Mushrooms, and give a good early supply of meat and Leather Scraps.
Wolves (Mountains) become combat companions that can follow you and fight. They eat raw meat.
Lox (Plains) are large rideable mounts. They eat Barley, Flax or Cloudberries and need strong stone pens.
Asksvin (Ashlands) make fast mounts and strong defenders. They eat Smoke Puffs, Vineberries or Fiddleheads.
Moose (Deep North) are a rideable animal that prefers Lingonberries.
Chickens and Hens hatch from eggs (bought from Haldor after Yagluth) and give a steady supply of Feathers and eggs.

Tamed animals keep their star level and can pass stars to their offspring. Breeding has population limits, and the animals must be calm, fed and within range of a player.

Passive Wildlife

Not everything attacks. Deer flee on sight and are a reliable early supply of hide and meat. Birds (seagulls and crows) drop Feathers when you kill them with a bow. Hares in the Mistlands and various seals in the Deep North follow the same pattern: they run rather than fight, but their materials are useful.

These passive animals never aggro, but they scare easily, so you usually need ranged weapons and patience.

Stars, Factions and Weaknesses

A 1-star creature has double health and more damage, and a 2-star has roughly four times the health. Stars are rolled at spawn and do not change weaknesses or resistances.

Every creature belongs to a faction, and creatures from different factions attack each other. That is why a Troll walking through a Greydwarf camp often clears it for free.

Damage type decides most fights. Early enemies are often weak to fire. Swamp undead take extra from spirit and blunt, Mistlands Seekers resist most physical damage, and Ashlands Charred are weak to spirit. Bringing the right damage type usually matters more than raw weapon numbers.

Notes

Stars raise health and damage but never change the weakness table.
Trophy drop rates are usually low. Higher-star versions improve both the chance and the quantity of other materials.
You can breed tameable animals for a steady supply of meat, hide, feathers and other resources.
To fight a boss a second time, you must summon it again at its altar.
Most dangerous enemies spawn more often at night or inside dungeons.