Bloodgold is Valheim's top-tier metal, added when the game left Early Access with the 1.0 launch on September 9, 2026 and its final biome, the Deep North. It's what every Nord weapon, the best armor sets, and the endgame arrows are made from — and if you're hunting for it with a pickaxe, you'll never find a single node. Bloodgold doesn't work like any metal before it. This guide covers exactly where it comes from, the tools you actually need, and the full production chain from a frozen corpse to a finished weapon. Applies to patch 1.0.15 (September 18, 2026); all quantities and stats below are community-measured from the live build, not from an official Iron Gate stat sheet.
Quick answer: how do you get Bloodgold in Valheim?
You don't mine Bloodgold — you smelt it. Kill a Gammeltroll (a giant troll roaming the Deep North), which turns to stone when it dies, then throw Ember Charges at the petrified statue to break off Petrified Tissue. Smelt that Petrified Tissue in a Blast Furnace with Coal, and it becomes Bloodgold. A pickaxe does nothing to the statue — this is the single most common mistake new Deep North players make.
Key facts:
- Source: Petrified Tissue, harvested from a stone-dead Gammeltroll using Ember Charges (not a pickaxe).
- Refined at: a Blast Furnace (the existing late-game station) + Coal. A normal Smelter cannot process Petrified Tissue.
- Prerequisite: Fader, the Ashlands boss, must be dead — his Relic is what lets you build the Eternal Pyre that produces Embers.
- Used for: the full Nord weapon line, Deep North armor sets, ammo, and trinkets — the best gear in the game.
- Not gated by Kall: you gather Bloodgold on the way to the final boss, Kall Fimbulbringer, not after beating him.
What is Bloodgold, and why isn't it an ore?
Every metal in Valheim before the Deep North followed one pattern: find a deposit, swing a pickaxe, smelt the ore. Copper, tin, iron, silver, black metal, flametal — all mined. Bloodgold breaks that pattern completely.
Bloodgold is a processed material, not an ore. Its raw form is Petrified Tissue, which only exists inside the stone remains of a Gammeltroll. As one launch-week Deep North route put it: "Bloodgold does not come from a normal ore vein. A Gammeltroll turns to stone when killed, and Ember Charges break the petrified body into Petrified Tissue." If you sail into the Deep North expecting to spot glowing veins in a cave wall, you'll waste hours looking for something that was never there.
That design also means Bloodgold is combat-gated, not exploration-gated. You can't stumble onto a rich node early. You have to hunt a dangerous overworld enemy, and you need the right consumable prepared before you even swing.
Step 1: Get to the Deep North with the right prep
Bloodgold sits at the very end of the progression ladder, so you need to arrive in the Deep North as an Ashlands-ready character. Before you sail north, pack:
- Ashlands-tier armor and weapons — the Deep North's surface enemies (Elakings, Eyeless Ones, Krigen) hit hard.
- Frost resistance — a frost resistance mead or the right food; the biome is permanently freezing.
- A Black Metal Pickaxe — you'll need it for Ice, not for Bloodgold (more on that below).
- The Fader Relic from the Ashlands boss — the key to making Embers.
- Portal materials plus a matching portal at home, and a Wisplight for the dark tunnels.
One critical world check first: old saves and characters carry into 1.0 fine, but the Deep North only generates properly in unexplored northern terrain. Iron Gate's own 1.0 FAQ states old saves work, while new biome content appears in areas you haven't uncovered yet. If your map already exposes the far north from a pre-1.0 playthrough, the villages and dungeons you need may not spawn — carry your character into a fresh world instead, and back up your world file before sailing. Our Deep North survival guide covers the landing and early-base steps in detail.
Step 2: Build the Ember Charge supply
You cannot harvest Petrified Tissue without Ember Charges, so build the supply chain first:
- Build the Eternal Pyre — 1 Fader Relic + 10 Stone at a Stonecutter. This is the only source of Embers, which is why Fader must already be dead.
- Collect Embers produced by the Eternal Pyre.
- Hunt adult Seals along the Deep North coast for Seal Pelts. Seal pups do not drop pelts — you need adults.
- Craft Ember Charges at a Workbench: 1 Embers + 2 Seal Pelts per craft. One craft is reported to yield 10 charges, though that count is community-measured and may change with a patch.
Keep a healthy stack. A single Gammeltroll can take several charges to fully break, and an unfinished statue gives you no metal at all.
Step 3: Turn a Gammeltroll into Bloodgold
This is the heart of the farm:
- Find a Gammeltroll on open ground. They're the large, ancient trolls that wander the Deep North surface — fight them somewhere you have room to move.
- Kill it. When it dies, it collapses into a petrified statue rather than dropping loot directly.
- Throw Ember Charges at the statue's breakable sections — the ankles and body chunks. Pickaxes, axes and swords do nothing here; only the charges release material.
- Collect every Petrified Tissue the statue drops.
- Smelt the Petrified Tissue in a fueled Blast Furnace (with Coal). The output is Bloodgold.
If your first Bloodgold never appears, the fix is almost always the furnace: a normal Smelter cannot process Petrified Tissue — it must go in a Blast Furnace. And if the petrified Gammeltroll simply refuses to break, you've either run out of Ember Charges or you're hitting it with the wrong tool. Re-stock Embers at the Pyre and Seal Pelts on the coast.
Step 4: The finishing chain — from Bloodgold to Nord gear
Here's the second thing that trips people up: Bloodgold on its own doesn't craft anything. Deep North equipment uses a three-stage production line, and this is where the two new stations come in.
The three stages, in order:
- Make a Cast. Combine Bloodgold with a Mould (a physical item looted from Winding Tunnels and Gates of Mörkhalla dungeons) at an upgraded Black Forge — or the Galdr Table for magic gear. The mould's recipe tells you which station to use.
- Make Liquid Frost. Load Ice — mined with your Black Metal Pickaxe — into the Frigid Kiln, which converts it to Liquid Frost.
- Harden the Cast. Place the Cast in the Frost Foundry, add Liquid Frost, and collect the finished Nord item.
You unlock each new station by picking its trigger material directly into your inventory: grab a Frostcore to reveal the Frost Foundry recipe, pick up Ice to reveal the Frigid Kiln. Moving those materials through a chest doesn't count — you have to hold them.
The two new stations at a glance
| Station | Community-reported build cost | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Blast Furnace | Existing late-game station | Smelts Petrified Tissue into Bloodgold |
| Frigid Kiln | ~10 Frostcore, 20 Stone, 5 Ice | Turns Ice into Liquid Frost |
| Frost Foundry | ~10 Frostcore, 15 Iron, 20 Stone | Hardens a Cast into the finished item |
| Black Forge / Galdr Table | Existing upgraded station | Creates Casts from Bloodgold + a Mould |
Build costs are community-measured on patch 1.0.15 and not confirmed by Iron Gate; treat them as a planning guide, not gospel.
Because the Frost Foundry and Frigid Kiln both need Frostcore (blue, snowflake-shaped nodes found in the Winding Tunnels), a good first-trip target is 20 Frostcores — 10 for each station — so you can build the whole line in one expedition. See our Deep North best gear guide for which Nord piece to craft first.
How much Bloodgold do you need?
Community measurements on the live 1.0.15 build put per-item Bloodgold costs in a rough range — expect around 20 Bloodgold per Nord weapon, a similar amount again for an elemental (Frostfire or Thunderblood) upgrade, roughly 12 per heavy armor piece, less for lighter gear, and 1 per arrow or bolt. A full weapon-and-armor loadout comfortably runs into the low hundreds of Bloodgold, which means several Gammeltroll hunts, not one. These figures aren't in an official stat sheet, so budget generously and don't dismantle your Blast Furnace after the first batch.
Prioritise by your weakness: a melee build gets the most from a matching Nord weapon, while a character taking repeated surface hits should craft an armor mould first. The moulds you find are what determine which Nord recipes you can even start, so clear every corridor of a Winding Tunnels dungeon before you leave.
Common Bloodgold mistakes to avoid
- Swinging a pickaxe at the petrified Gammeltroll. It does nothing. Only Ember Charges release Petrified Tissue.
- Using a normal Smelter. Petrified Tissue only smelts in a Blast Furnace.
- Skipping the Ashlands prerequisite. No Fader kill means no Fader Relic, no Eternal Pyre, no Embers, and therefore no Ember Charges.
- Farming seal pups. Only adult Seals drop the Seal Pelts you need for charges.
- Expecting Bloodgold to craft gear directly. It only makes Casts; the Frost Foundry and Frigid Kiln do the rest.
- Exploring the far north on an old, already-mapped world. The Deep North may not generate — carry your character into a fresh world if needed.
If you're brand new to the game and this all reads like a foreign language, start with our Valheim beginner guide and work up the boss ladder before worrying about the Deep North.
FAQ
Can you mine Bloodgold with a pickaxe in Valheim? No. Bloodgold is not an ore and has no mineable node. You get its raw material, Petrified Tissue, by killing a Gammeltroll and breaking its petrified statue with Ember Charges, then smelt that in a Blast Furnace. A pickaxe is only used in the wider chain to harvest Ice for Liquid Frost.
What do you need to make Ember Charges? One Embers item plus two adult Seal Pelts at a Workbench. Embers come from the Eternal Pyre, a build piece that costs one Fader Relic and 10 Stone at a Stonecutter — so you must have beaten Fader, the Ashlands boss, first.
Where do you smelt Petrified Tissue into Bloodgold? In a Blast Furnace with Coal, the same station you already use for black metal and flametal. A standard Smelter will not accept Petrified Tissue, which is why some players think their Bloodgold "isn't working."
Do you need to beat Kall Fimbulbringer to get Bloodgold? No. Bloodgold is gathered on the way to the final boss, and Nord gear made from it is exactly what you use to fight him. See our Kall Fimbulbringer boss guide for that fight.
What is Bloodgold used for? The full Nord weapon line, Deep North armor sets, elemental Frostfire and Thunderblood upgrades, trinkets, and top-tier arrows and bolts — the best equipment in Valheim as of patch 1.0.15.
Why can't I build the Frost Foundry or Frigid Kiln? You unlock each recipe by picking the trigger material directly into your inventory — a Frostcore for the Frost Foundry, Ice for the Frigid Kiln. Storing those materials in a chest does not unlock the build option; you have to hold them at least once.
