The fourth boss you'll take on in Valheim is Moder, the frost dragon queen of the Mountain biome. Moder is a huge enemy that fights on the ground and can take to the skies, but the terrain on which you face the boss can give you an advantage. It's possible to defeat Moder all by yourself if you bring the right gear and carefully manage the fight. Here's everything you need to know to beat Moder.
To take on Moder, you'll first need to clear the way to the Mountain biome by taking down Eikthyr in the Meadow, The Elder in the Black Forest, and Bonemass in the Swamp. You'll also need the ability to withstand the cold, so it's highly recommended that you mine and craft some Wolf armor ahead of this battle--at least the Wolf Cuirass or the Wolf Cape, which will give you automatic Frost resistance. We've outlined exactly what gear you should have below, which will give you the best chance of defeating Moder even if you can't bring a squad of other Vikings to help you.
We've got lots more Valheim coverage, check out our complete Valheim armor guide, as well as our guide for finding Iron and crafting Iron gear and for finding Silver and crafting Wolf armor, for venturing through the Swamp biome, and for taking down the Elder boss. And if you really want to bend Valheim to your will, check out our cheats guide using the game's console codes.
How To Find Moder
Moder is located in the Mountain biome, but you won't find it just waiting for you when you climb up just any cliffs. Like the other bosses, you'll need to summon Moder with a sacrifice at a specific location--but first, you need to get that location marked on your map. You can get Moder's location from special rune stones you'll find in the Mountain biome, which are usually secreted in ruins around the area. Look for stone towers and decrepit fortifications
Ruins scattered across Mountains will sometimes hide the rune stone that will lead you to Moder.
Interacting with the rune stones will mark Moder's altar for you, where you can summon the boss. You'll need to sacrifice three Dragon Eggs at the altar to bring the dragon into your game world to defeat it. These are best sourced from around Moder's altar, especially if Moder is located on a different mountain from the one you're currently exploring. Dragon Eggs are very heavy (they weigh about 200 pounds each), and like metal, they can't be teleported. It's best to just find some near the altar and drag them up to the boss than to try to bring them from farther away.
What You'll Need To Fight Moder
Armor: Wolf Armor (Upgraded If Possible)
A great deal of the fight against Moder is about withstanding its attacks. To do that, you'll need to be able to block and absorb a fair amount of damage. First and foremost, you could outfit yourself completely with Wolf armor so that even if you take a few hits from Moder, you won't be killed right away. Check out our Wolf armor guide to see what you need and how to make it. If you've got the resources, it's worth it to upgrade your Wolf armor to at least Level 2--this isn't essential, but if you're soloing the boss, you'll want all the damage resistance you can get.
Ranged Weapons: Draugr Fang Bow, Poison Arrows
Because Moder can fly, a lot of this fight will rely on your bow. You'll want the best bow you can get, which at this point is the Draugr Fang. Craft it with 20 Silver, 2 Deer Hides, 10 Ancient Bark, 5 Guck. The last two items you can source from the Swamp biome; cut down a couple of Ancient Trees and you'll have the bark you need, and cut Guck from the big green pustules stuck to Swamp trees. If you can afford to upgrade the bow, do so, since you'll be fighting Moder for a while and your Draugr Fang's durability is likely to become an issue. Moder is weak to fire, so Fire arrows are a good bet. We found Poison arrows were also very effective, maybe even more so than Fire arrows. Soloing the boss, we needed around 170 Poison arrows, so make sure you have a lot.
Outfit yourself in as much Wolf and Silver gear as possible. The more you have, the easier a time you'll have withstanding Moder's attacks.
Melee Weapons: Silver Sword, Silver Shield
Moder won't always be in the air; the dragon also likes to land near you to hit you with melee attacks. This is actually good news, since fighting up close allows you to give your bow a break and you'll do more damage with melee strikes than with arrows. Bring your favorite, strongest weapon; we recommend the Silver Sword since it should be among the strongest you can craft at this point.
More important than the sword, however, is your shield. Moder does two different melee attacks on the ground, but the damage you'll take against either is negligible if you can block it with a good shield. The Silver Shield absorbs most of what Moder dishes out, especially if you can upgrade it ahead of the fight, so you should absolutely craft one. Coupled with Silver armor and the Bonemass ability it makes fighting the boss on the ground a breeze.
Food
You're going to need as much as health as you can get in this fight, but another major consideration is stamina regeneration. The fight with Moder takes place on rough Mountain terrain and you'll need stamina to be able to cross it and reposition yourself, block Moder's big attacks, and get your own swings in. You can get high stamina through potions and foods, but your best bet is to get a high Rested bonus before starting the fight.
In general, aim for high-health, long duration foods--if you can source it, Lox Meat is a great for this fight, as are other long-lasting foods like Sausages. We did the fight with Lox Meat, Cooked Meat, Sausages, and Queen's Jam; you can also get a useful stamina boost out of Carrot Soup.
It's also a good idea to make some Healing Mead for emergencies. Tasty Mead can also be useful if you're desperate for stamina, but it halves your health regeneration and therefore should be used very sparingly. stamina Meads are good if you can get them as well, if you find you're having trouble.
Ability: Bonemass
Since you've beaten Bonemass, keep its ability at the ready for fighting Moder. It'll decrease the damage you take from Moder's melee attacks, giving you the incentive to get in close. The ability will also help protect you from other enemies if they happen to show up during the fight, which can be a big problem.
Get Your Rested Bonus
It's hard to overstate how good the Rested bonus is in boss fights. It increases your health and stamina recharge rate significantly, so it's worth sleeping or sitting by a fire before getting into this fight. While food and mead are good for keeping you alive, the Rested bonus is going to do the most work in keeping you in this fight, and you run the risk of getting yourself killed by unforeseen consequences (like wolves joining the battle) if you can't recharge stamina fast enough to deal with them.
Try to find a good place to avoid Moder's aerial attacks--if you can find a runestone to duck behind, you'll have a piece of cover that can't be destroyed.