Valheim Swamp Key Guide: Defeat The Elder and Unlock Sunken Crypts

Looking for a way into those locked Sunken Crypts hidden in the swamps? You will need the Swamp Key, and there is only one place to find it: dangling off The Elder, the second boss of Valheim. Get past that fight and the crypts open up, along with their stash of Chain, Ruby, Withered Bone and other materials worth braving the poison for.

Where to Find The Elder

The Elder hides out in the Black Forest biome. Scout the area until you locate a Forsaken Altar, then drop 3x Ancient Seed onto it to trigger the encounter.

The Fight Itself

The Elder uses three main attacks. Knowing them in advance saves a lot of unnecessary deaths:

• Stomp: hammers the ground for AoE damage in a wide circle around it
• Vine Shoot: launches a vine at wherever the targeted player happens to be standing
• Spawn Roots: drops stationary Roots around the arena that lash at anything within melee range

Fire is The Elder's weakness. The Staff of Embers and Fire Arrows do roughly double damage compared to physical weapons, so prioritize those.

When the boss falls, it drops the Swamp Key along with The Elder Trophy.

Prefer to skip the fight entirely? Console commands let you spawn the Swamp Key directly, no boss required.

Using the Swamp Key

The Swamp Key has exactly one purpose: opening the doors of Sunken Crypts scattered across the Swamp biome. The good news is the key does not get consumed. Open as many crypts as you want, and any door you crack stays open permanently afterward.

Before walking in, stack up your Comfort rating with food, rugs, banners and a fire. Higher comfort means faster health and stamina regen during the run.

What You Can Loot Inside

Sunken Crypts are some of the best Draugr and Draugr Elite farming spots in the game. Most chests inside hold a mix of the following:

• Amber
• Amber pearl
• Ancient bark
• Chain
• Coins
• Entrails
• Ironhead arrow
• Ooze
• Poison arrow
• Ruby
• Scrap iron
• Withered bone
• Yellow mushroom

One Warning: The Poison

Sunken Crypts spawn Blobs that release toxic gas. Getting hit by one applies the Poison debuff, which chews through health fast. Bring Poison Resistance Mead before stepping inside. Cheap insurance, and a lot less embarrassing than running back to your corpse in green fog.