Updated November 6, 2026. Applies to Valheim 1.0, patch 1.0.21. Health, damage and cooldown numbers come from the community Valheim Wiki. We also checked Iron Gate's patch notes on Steam up to patch 1.0.21. None of Iron Gate's 1.0.x patch notes on Steam mention a change to Fader's health or attacks. The 1.0 launch gave his drop a new use.
Fader is the seventh Forsaken and the boss of the Ashlands. He is also the fight where most players' first attempt ends in a pool of green fire. He has 25,000 health, twice as much as The Queen. He is immune to Fire and Spirit damage, and his strongest attack can't be blocked or dodged at all.
This guide covers how to find his altar and build the 3 Bells you need. It lists every attack with its damage and cooldown, then gives melee, ranged and magic setups that work. It ends with what he drops and why you need it for the Deep North.
Quick answer: Fader is summoned by placing 3 Bells at the Altar of Emerald Flame, a ruined coliseum in the Ashlands. Each Bell takes 3 Bell Fragments at a Black Forge, so you need 9 fragments from the altars inside Charred Fortresses (2 to 4 per fortress). Fader has 25,000 HP, is immune to Fire and Spirit and resists Pierce. Bring Fire Resistance Barley Wine, use blunt, slash, lightning, frost or poison, and run in a straight line from his green fissure attack. Magic with the Staff of the Wild or Trollstav is the easiest route. He drops his trophy and 5 Kindled Ribs, which build the Eternal Pyre you need for the Deep North.
Where is Fader in Valheim?
Fader's altar is the Altar of Emerald Flame. On the map it is marked "Emerald Flame", not "Fader". Every other boss is marked by name, so many players miss it.
The altar sits inside a large coliseum-style ruin in the Ashlands. The wiki's altar table lists 3 Fader altars per world, and the runestone inscription reads "RING HIS PRAISE".
How do you find the Emerald Flame altar? Read a Vegvisir (the glowing runestone that marks a boss altar on your map). For Fader, the Vegvisir is in the central tower of a Charred Fortress, with a 50% chance per fortress. It very rarely spawns on top of Charred Ruins. A Vegvisir always marks the altar closest to it, so reading a second one can point you to a different altar.
You can summon a boss without ever reading its Vegvisir. If you stumble on the coliseum while exploring, the Bells work there too.
Getting to the Ashlands is its own job. The biome is a crescent at the far south edge of the world, and the sea around it boils wooden hulls. Only the Drakkar survives the trip, and you unlock it by beating The Queen. Our Valheim boats guide covers the Drakkar's speed and cargo. Our Ashlands survival guide covers the landing and setting up a first base.
How do you summon Fader?
You need 3 Bells. Each Bell is crafted at a Black Forge (level 1) from 3 Bell Fragments, so the full summon costs 9 fragments.
| Step | What you need | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bell Fragments | 9 total | Bell altar in the central tower of a Charred Fortress, 2 to 4 per altar |
| 2. Bells | 3 total (3 fragments each) | Black Forge, crafting level 1 |
| 3. Altar | 1 Altar of Emerald Flame | Ashlands coliseum, 3 per world |
| 4. Summon | Place the 3 Bells around the coliseum | The bell spots inside the arena |
Bell Fragments and Bells both weigh 0.5, stack to 9 and can go through a normal Portal. You can carry everything to the arena by portal.
How many Charred Fortresses do you need to clear?
Each fortress altar drops 2 to 4 fragments, so you need between 3 and 5 fortresses for 9 fragments. The wiki's Charred Fortress page lists 20 Charred Fortresses per world, mostly on the inland islands between the lava fields. The eastern and western side islands usually have none, so land directly south of spawn.
A fortress still holding its Bell altar shoots a green beam of light into the sky. You can see it from far away. Once the altar is destroyed, the beam disappears, so a fortress with no beam has already been looted.
Three fortress details save a lot of time:
- The Bell altar has only 10 HP. It breaks from almost anything, including your own stray attacks. Break it on purpose to collect the fragments, and don't swing wildly in the tower.
- The outer gates have 6,000 HP and the outer walls are three layers of 1,500 each. Both need tool tier 5 (a Battering Ram or a Catapult). Most players climb in with a ladder or dig under the tower wall instead.
- The fortress is also your gem source. Charred Fortresses are where you find Jade, Bloodstone and Iolite, which turn Flametal weapons into the gem variants you'll want for this fight.
What are Fader's stats and weaknesses?
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Health | 25,000 |
| Immune | Fire, Spirit |
| Resistant | Pierce |
| Weak | None listed |
| Summon | 3 Bells |
| Drops | Fader Trophy, 5 Kindled Ribs |
Fader is immune to Fire and Spirit. Any Fire or Spirit part of a weapon's damage is wasted. The Dyrnwyn's fire, the Mistwalker's spirit and fire arrows all lose damage, while the Ashlands melee weapons (Berserkir Axes and Nidhögg deal Slash, the Flametal Mace deals Blunt) hit him normally. The wiki's boss strategy page also notes the reverse: Fader takes poison damage even though the Charred around him don't. That's why the Staff of the Wild and Poison Arrows hold up here.
He resists Pierce. Bows, crossbows, spears and knives deal reduced damage, and all of his melee attacks deal pure Pierce. Pierce resistance on your armour matters more here than in most fights.
What are all of Fader's attacks?
Fader casts more ranged attacks as his health drops. The cooldowns below come from the wiki, and several get shorter under 35% and 25% HP.
| Attack | Damage | Cooldown | Health window | Can you block it? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fissure | 120 Fire + 80 Spirit per pool | 30 s, 20 s under 35% | Below 85% | No, and can't dodge |
| Bite | 210 Pierce | 3 s | Any | Yes |
| Claw (left and right) | 200 Pierce | 3 s each | Any | Yes |
| Spin | 140 Pierce, 8.5 m radius | 20 s | Any | Yes |
| Flamebreath | 60 Fire, 17 m line | 25 s | 5 to 85% | No |
| Meteors | 40 Blunt + 120 Fire per impact, then 80 Fire + 80 Spirit pools for 20 s | 25 s, 18 s under 25% | Any | Dodge |
| Roar (summons) | Spawns Charred | 45 s, 26 s under 35% | Under 55% | n/a |
| Wall of fire | 80 Fire + 80 Spirit | 60 s | 15 to 90% | Jump or move |
Fissure is the attack that kills you. Fader drags his left paw and slams it down. 12 to 16 circles of small green flames then spawn around you, each with an 11 m radius. After a 4-second delay they burst into spikes and leave a burning pool for 15 seconds. The wiki is blunt: it can kill a player "even with full Flametal Armor and a Fire Resistance Barley Wine active in mere seconds."
The fix is movement, not armour. The flames follow you slightly faster than walking speed, so run in a straight line with a short sprint now and then. Don't circle back through your own trail. Keep stamina for this attack.
Wall of fire is 12 fire circles placed 8 m around you, starting from the point furthest from Fader. They spawn relative to where you are standing, so moving while they appear opens a gap. You can also jump them.
Roar fires 8 green orbs into the air. Each one lands as a Summoned Charred Warrior or Marksman, with a cap of 7 of each. They have only 50 HP, deal half the damage of normal Charred, and take damage from Fader's own fire. Lure them into his attacks or kill them with one charged bow shot.
Meteors come 10 at a time. Each impact leaves a 5 m pool of green fire for 20 seconds, so keep moving after the last one lands. Looking up helps, since they deviate a lot.
Flamebreath is a 17 m line. Walk sideways to dodge it. The long windup gives a melee player time for a full combo, and standing right under his chin avoids it.
What is the best gear for Fader?
Fader is the last boss before the Deep North, so you fight him in Ashlands gear. Upgrade the Black Forge first. The higher Ashlands recipes need its Mistlands and Ashlands attachments, which our crafting station upgrade guide lists piece by piece.
Bring this whatever your build:
- Fire Resistance Barley Wine. The wiki calls it "basically mandatory". Almost every ranged attack is fire, and the pools keep burning.
- Major Healing Mead plus Medium or Lingering Stamina Mead.
- Tonic of Ratatosk and Lightfoot Mead for extra mobility against the fissure.
- Bonemass's Forsaken Power helps against his Pierce melee and the meteors, but does little against the fire. See our Forsaken Power tier list for how it compares.
Melee setup
- Weapons: the Berserkir Axes give the highest DPS and use less stamina than swords or maces. The Nidhögg and Flametal Mace are good if your Axes skill is low. Iolite gem variants give the best damage. Jade roots him in place but matters less late in the fight.
- Armour: Flametal gives the most protection. The Ask set cuts attack stamina cost, and pairs best with the Ashen Cape. A Root Harnesk adds Pierce resistance, which is all his melee does.
- Play: dodge roll his bites and claws, then land two or three hits. Parrying works with the Carapace Buckler or Flametal Shield, but it pushes you back.
- Opener: a Slayer power attack right as he spawns counts as a sneak attack and deals big damage.
Ranged setup
- Bows: the Ash Fang has the best DPS but gem versions break before the fight ends, so carry spares. The Storm Fang is a strong pick, and the Root Fang keeps him out of melee range.
- Arrows: Frost Arrows first, Charred Arrows a close second, Poison Arrows also work.
- Crossbows deal only Pierce and are hard to reload while sprinting from the fissure.
- Play: circle him. He's slow and huge, so he's easier to hit than The Queen.
Magic setup (easiest)
The wiki calls magic "by far the easiest option for defeating Fader". You keep your distance, attacks cost Eitr instead of stamina, and you can summon things for him to fight.
- Staff of the Wild: the strongest choice. Its vines can root him and act as temporary walls, and its poison damage works because he doesn't resist poison.
- Trollstav: its summoned Trolls are immune to fire, resist blunt and tank a lot. Recast them when they die. The fissure still targets you, so you can drag it away from them.
- Staff of Protection: shields you and your party from heavy hits. Don't count on the bubble against the fissure or flamebreath, which hit many times.
- Staff of Embers deals enough blunt damage to be useful and clears the summoned Charred.
- Eitr: the Embla set, Lingering Eitr Mead, The Queen's power and the Rested buff stack for the best Eitr regeneration. Two Eitr foods plus one health food is a good balance.
Our Valheim magic guide explains how Eitr and staff damage work if you haven't played a mage before.
How do you prepare the Fader arena?
The arena is build-protected, like the Sacrificial Stones, so you can't build or raise terrain inside it. You can still work around the outside:
- Raise earth walls in a ring outside the arena to stop Ashlands mobs from walking in mid-fight.
- Put a portal in a walled-off spot nearby, then a backup portal further out. The fight wrecks the area around the altar.
- Know that he won't leave. Once summoned, a boss doesn't despawn when you die, log out or portal away. You can run back and finish him.
Is Fader harder in multiplayer? He gets tougher with more players. The wiki's multiplayer page lists +30% effective health and +4% damage per extra player within 100 m, capped at 5 players. A group still kills him faster, and the summons split their attention.
What does Fader drop?
Fader always drops:
- Fader Trophy. Hang it at the Sacrificial Stones to unlock his Forsaken Power.
- 5 Kindled Ribs. Before 1.0 this item was called Fader Relic and did nothing. The 1.0 patch notes list "Updated functionality for Fader Relic".
What are Kindled Ribs used for? One Kindled Ribs plus 10 Stone builds an Eternal Pyre at the Stonecutter. The Pyre draws Ember spirits (50% chance every 5 seconds, up to 3 at a time), and each one gives 1 Ember. Embers go into Ember Charges, which you throw at petrified Gammeltrolls in the Deep North to get the tissue you smelt into Bloodgold. Our Bloodgold farming guide covers the full chain. In short, you can't make top-tier Deep North gear without killing Fader.
Fader's Forsaken Power
Iron Gate's Call to Arms patch notes (0.221.4) list it as: "Fader: 100% Adrenaline increase, 50% reduced stagger meter modifier, 50% fire resistance." Like every power, it lasts 300 seconds per use and covers nearby allies.
What changes in your world after you kill Fader?
- Charred Warriors and Marksmen can now spawn at night in the Meadows, Black Forest, Swamp, Mountain and Plains (always 0-star).
- The "The undead army marches" and "The dead have been summoned" raids are disabled.
- The Bog Witch starts selling Fiery Spice Powder for 200 Coins.
Next up is the Deep North and the final boss, Kall Fimbulbringer. For where Fader sits in the full order, see our Valheim boss order guide.
FAQ
Where is Fader in Valheim? At the Altar of Emerald Flame, a ruined coliseum in the Ashlands. The map shows it as "Emerald Flame". Each world has 3, and a Vegvisir in a Charred Fortress tower (50% chance) marks the nearest one.
How do you summon Fader? Place 3 Bells at the Altar of Emerald Flame. Each Bell takes 3 Bell Fragments at a Black Forge, so you need 9 fragments. They come from the Bell altar in the central tower of a Charred Fortress, 2 to 4 per altar.
What is Fader weak to? The wiki lists no weaknesses. He is immune to Fire and Spirit and resists Pierce. Blunt, Slash, Lightning, Frost and Poison all do normal damage, which is why Iolite weapons, Frost Arrows and the Staff of the Wild work well.
How much health does Fader have? 25,000 HP in a solo fight, with 30% more effective health for each extra player nearby. None of the 1.0.x patch notes up to 1.0.21 mention a change to it.
Can you beat Fader solo? Yes. Magic with the Staff of the Wild or the Trollstav is the safest solo route, because summons pull his attention while you keep your distance. The main rule for any build is to run in a straight line from the green fissure attack.
What do you need Kindled Ribs for? One builds an Eternal Pyre (plus 10 Stone, at the Stonecutter). It produces Embers for Ember Charges, which you need to get Bloodgold in the Deep North.
More Valheim guides
Heading for the Ashlands or the Deep North? These guides cover what comes before and after Fader.
