Every New Enemy In Valheim's Ashlands Update, Ranked By Difficulty

Summary Valheim's Ashlands update brings new enemies, challenging players with varying abilities and strengths.

From Charred skeletons to powerful bosses, the new biome is perhaps the game's most difficult in terms of combat.

Players must adapt their play styles and gear up for intense battles to conquer the new threats in the Ashlands.

The new Valheim Ashlands update adds a multitude of new enemies to the survival game, all of which vary in difficulty. Valheim has been one of the more popular survival games since its release, partially due to its addictive gameplay. The Viking game also made several systematic changes to the genre that removed much of the usual tedious grind. Ashlands will be the second large update for the game, the first being Mistlands in late 2022.

Ashlands is Valheim's huge combat-focused update made to challenge Vikings of any experience level. New enemies will feel vastly different from those of old due to new abilities and a focus on using them. To balance this out, players will get access to greater strengths in upgraded weapons, armor, and new magical items. The most noteworthy is magical gem cutting that can be forged into the newest weapon tier to create magical weapons tuned to different playstyles.

Related The Deadliest Enemy In Valheim's Ashlands Update Shown Off In Hilarious Video An unlucky Valheim player highlights one of the most deadly enemies included in the Ashlands update and it's not a typical monster or beast.

10 Charred

The Charred are burned skeletons and the most common enemy players will encounter in Ashlands, coming in four variants: Warrior, Archer, Warlock, and Twitcher. Charred will be immune to Poison damage, and resistant to Fire and Piercing. Spirit damage is the only damage type they are weak against. In this regard, the best weapons to use are swords, maces, or anything that does Spirit.

Warriors, Archers, and Twitchers are all basic enemies with little complexity. Warriors will charge with twin axes and moderate armor, Archers will fire arrows from range, and Twitchers are fragile but quick unarmed combatants. Warlocks are the interesting ones, as while they attack from range with magic, they can also summon more Twitchers to aid them in battle. Overall, the Charred are not a huge threat solo, but they become significant when they have the number advantage.

9 Skugg

The Skugg is a giant, unmanned ballista on the top of Charred Fortresses. These ballistas are extremely accurate and do moderate damage on hits. However, they will also have a knockback, which could put players in tricky situations with surrounding Charred forces. The best way to destroy Skuggs is to get behind them and attack with blunt weapons. Skuggs destroyed this way will also drop pieces that can be used to build the new siege catapult.

Skuggs are mainly difficult due to their accuracy, but the slow rate of fire and moderate travel speed can be exploited. This is important, as they can damage the siege weapons needed to break into Charred Fortresses. These fortresses hold some of the most important loot in the Ashlands, which makes sense why the Skugg was designed to protect them.

8 Volture

Voltures are one of the two new flying enemies in the Ashlands but are the significantly weaker ones. They are birds of medium size that will swoop down for surprise melee attacks. Voltures can attack solo or in small packs, making encounters with them semi-random. They are immune to Poison damage and weak to Frost.

Overall, Voltures are the weakest enemies when it comes to health and the only thing that will prolong fights is their maneuverability. A single one won't be much an issue, but multiple at once could pose an issue for unsuspecting Vikings. The most annoying part of these birds is the potential to knock players into lava due to the stealth and small knockback. Thus, it would be wise to keep eyes on the skies while exploring the Ashlands.

7 Askvin

Another new creature in the Ashlands is the bigger cousin of the Neck. Askvins are hostile by default but can be tamed. Their only attack is a powerful headbutt, but it is not an attack to take full on. Askvins are not weak to any type of damage, but resist Fire and Poison while being immune to Spirit. Overall, the only difficulty they will provide is trying to stay alive while taming them.

Once tamed, Askvins are one of the best creatures to have around. They can be ridden with the new saddle, but that will require the new Flametal ore to craft. The investment is worth the result as players can then traverse the fiery hellscape quickly and with more protection. Askvins can also be bred together with a new resource called Smoke Puffs to produce offspring for food or extra mounts.

6 Bonemaw

The first enemy most will encounter as they sail to the isolated Ashlands biome is the Bonemaw Serpent. This aggressive skeleton sea monster calls the boiling seas its home and will attack anyone that gets in range. They are quite large but will rarely expose their full bodies above the surface. Bonemaws are immune to Fire and Spirit damage, resistant to Poison, but weak to Frost.

Bonemaw Serpents combine powerful melee attacks with a ranged multi-fireball ability. It is best to use bows or magic against them since the boiling seas will kill players quickly, making melee options a near impossibility. They have a moderate amount of health, so encounters with them will not be as quick as with other common Ashlands enemies. Luckily, Bonemaws will only spawn in the sea, so Vikings can largely avoid them once a base has been established on the mainland.

5 Lava Blob

The Ashlands introduces a new variant of the deadly Swamp biomes' Blob in the Lava Blob. These blobs are immune to Fire and Poison, while being resistant to Piercing and Slashing. Like the Blobs found in the Swamps, Lava Blobs will also jump to close in on players and deal initial damage. After that, these new blobs will ignite explosions in themselves to deal fire damage.

The fire damage alone makes the Lava Blobs an annoying prospect, and in packs they are one of the deadliest threats. It is best to keep these blobs at range and kill them with bows. This is to keep damage taken to a minium, and avoid their on-death ability which will trigger an even bigger explosion. Lava Blobs are a helpful enemy to farm as they drop some power minerals needed for multiple high-end crafting recipes.

4 Fallen Valkyrie

The new Fallen Valkyrie is one of the most dangerous enemies to be found in the Ashlands. These Valkyries will swoop down and use one of their three attacks to quickly dispatch players. The ranged ability will fire spheres that explode on impact to cause Fire and Poison damage. They also have two melee attacks, a spin attack to hit everything in range, and a peck attack that will hit anything in front of it.

Much like everything else in the new biome, the Fallen Valkyries are immune to Poison and resistant to Fire. Their main weakness is Spirit, but they do not resist any weapon damage type. It is best to play it carefully when fighting these winged monsters, waiting for them to use an ability before striking. On death, Fallen Valkyries will drop a new kind of feather that's use is currently unknown.

3 Morgen

The Morgen is the most dangerous non-boss enemy players can encounter in any Valheim biome. They are tanky and have just as much agility to go with it. Morgens will roll around and jump for movement and to avoid attacks. Their only attack is a forward punch, but that punch is immensely powerful. This skeleton monster is made even trickier by the fact it resists, Fire, Peircing, Slashing and Blunt damage.

The only damage Morgens are weak to is Lightning damage. This means that ranged magic attacks, or the new craftable magic weapons, are the best options for taking on the Morgen. Since it isn't immune to any type, anything can work, but fights will become longer and give an edge to the skeleton monstrosity. When killed, Morgens will drop a trophy and their heart, which has an unknown use.

2 Lord Reto

Lord Reto is the miniboss of the Ashlands update, needing to be killed to craft the new, named magic sword. However, his fight will be one of the hardest in the whole game, rivaling those of biome bosses. Lord Reto will easily one-hit kill anyone who does not have the best armor and food buffs. Even with the best equipment, players will be lucky to survive two hits from this powerful miniboss.

Lord Reto is immune to Poison damage while being resistant to Fire, Frost and Piercing. Spirit magic and ranged attacks will be the best/safest options for taking him out. Blunt damage, especially if it can be mixed with Spirit will also work since it can stagger him back a bit. However, dodging is a huge part of this fight, so if players choose to go with melee attacks, then patience will be required. Also, since this fight takes place in a small cave, positioning during fights will be important.

1 Fader The Eternal Flame

Fader The Eternal Flame is the newest biome boss to Valheim since Yagluth, and possibly the most difficult. Melee wise, he can perform a spinning circle attack, swipe with his claw, or lunge forward and bite. His two area attacks include summoning down a meteor shower and summoning bone spikes from the ground, which both set players on fire for massive damage. His final ability is a straight line fire breath attack after a telegraphed buildup.

Related How to Summon & Defeat Yagluth in Valheim The final boss in the Early Access version of Valheim is Yagluth, a terrifying skeleton missing the lower half of his body. Here's how to beat him.

Fader is a prolonged fight that can be handled in a variety of ways. He is immune to Fire and Spirit, but only resistant to Piercing. Since Fader's melee attacks are not the strongest, well-equipped players can go for melee builds, but must be ready to disengage. Ranged attacks are the safer route, but will take longer due to the limitations of damage per second.

Overall, Ashlands' new enemies change everything about combat in Valheim. Not only will proper gear and preparations be needed, but play styles will also have to be adjusted. Previous Valheim enemies were more susceptible to spamming attacks and disregarding damage. Though the Mistlands update changed this slightly, the Ashlands takes it even further. Thus, players should be wary of these new difficult enemies coming to Valheim in the Ashlands update.