Valheim may be a survival game, but much of your progression in the game is gated by tricky boss battles, and the first boss can easily kill your Viking if you confront it unprepared. There are a couple things that must be done, however, before you can summon the mighty stag Eikthyr. Nothing a fresh off the raven Viking like yourself can’t handle, of course.
You need two deer heads to summon the first boss in Valheim: the great stag Eikthyr.
When you’re first deposited in the land of Vanheim you’ll find yourself surrounded by a bunch of stones, and with Huginn the raven perched upon a glowing red one. This is a Vegvisir, and it will mark the location of the biome’s boss on your map. Since you start out in the Meadows the great stag Eikthyr is be the first boss you’ll have to slay in Valheim.
The location marked on your map is the ritual “sacrificial” stone used to summon Eikthyr, but you’ll need two heads from his “kin” to summon him forth. Since Eikthyr is a deer that means you’ll need to obtain two deer trophies from slaying deer, which are common enough in the Meadows. They are easily spooked though, so there are a couple of ways to kill them without having to chase them all over Vanheim.
The first option involves stealth: after you’ve crafted a basic stone axe enter stealth by crouching when you see a deer in the distance (by tapping CTRL). Stealth will consume stamina, but if you stop moving you’ll regenerate it. Simply sneak up on the deer and give it a smack with your axe from behind: tada, easy kill.
Alternatively, you can try and kill them with a bow, though the starter Crude Bow is slow to fire and has terrible range. It’s not too difficult to craft, but if you are of an enterprising spirit I recommend crafting the Finewood Bow instead. You can create it early in the game (as detailed here), but it will take a little bit of time, and some solid dodging skills. If you opt to use the bow – whether Crude or Finewood – you’ll still want to use stealth to get close to the deer you are stalking. Just keep in mind you leave stealth while aiming.
Personally, I went with the axe/stealth method, but use the one that best suites your playstyle. Once you’ve killed yourself a few deer and have grabbed a couple trophies you’re ready to summon Eikthyr. Thing is, Eikthyr will kill you swiftly if you attack him without some decent equipment. He may be the first boss in Valheim, but you shouldn’t attack him without a couple of fresh upgrades.
Hunt some more deer and the boars in Meadows to gather some deer hide and leather scraps. Grab twenty of each, farm up 40 wood with your axe, and grab 20 stones from off the ground. You’ll need all these materials to create a workbench, then some leather armor. If you want to go the extra mile grab some flint from off the ground as well to make a Flint Axe once the workbench is up and running. The workbench needs a roof over it before you can use it, so be sure to use one of the abandoned homes littering the Meadows to set up shop.
Once you have a functioning workbench craft at the very minimum the leather tunic, leather pants, and round shield (and the stone axe if you haven’t already). The leather helm and Flint Axe go a long way, but with those items you at least stand a chance against Eikthyr. Equip these items, eat some food (to increase your health; create a fire and cooking rack to grill up all that deer meat sitting in your inventory), then head towards Eikthyr’s altar. To summon him all you have to do is equip your two deer trophies in a numbered slot, then click that number while aiming at the alter. The sky will darken, lighting will strike, and Eiktyhr -the first boss in Valheim – will appear.
Use your shield to block Eikthyr’s attacks, and strike between his blows.
Eikthyr doesn’t have a complex moveset: he will lower his head to quickly strike you, and he will rise up to channel the ongoing storm to create a lightning-infused shockwave. You can block both of these attacks, and so long as you have stamina you will mitigate all the damage. Strike Eikthyr with your weapon between his attacks to deal damage, and simply rinse-repeat the block-strike-block rotation until he dies. Do note that if you fight Eikthyr near water it will rise above the land on occasion, forcing you to swim and holstering your weapons. Swim away from the deadly stag when this happens, and don’t forget to tap “R” to re-equip your weapon and shield once the tide subsides.
Once Eikthyr falls before your onslaught he will lie on the ground for a few moment before exploding into antlers and a trophy. The trophy is required to progress in Valheim, and the antlers are used to craft the pickaxe. Hoover up the gory goods and make your way back to the Sacrificial Stones (the area you first arrived in Vanheim at; the circle with four smaller circles around it on the map). Once there equip Eikthyr’s trophy the same way you did the deer trophies and click the number while aiming at the hook on the stag Sacrificial Stone. You’ll unlock his Forsaken ability (running and jumping will cost less stamina while it is active), and be tasked with hunting down the next Valheim boss, who is located in the Black Forest.
