After you’ve been toiling away, mining for copper and tin to smelt together into bronze, you probably want something better in Valheim. Once you’ve defeated the second Forsaken, the Elder, you’ll be ready to venture into the Swamp in the Black Forest. This is a tough biome, so you’ll want plenty of protection and bronze weaponry to fight off the leeches and Draugr. If you brave these enemies and have a keen eye, you’ll be able to find the next resource in this region: iron.
Where to find iron
There are a few ways for you to find iron. Probably the first way you’ll encounter it is by encountering swamp crypts. Given the name, you can find them in the Swamp biome. However, unlike the Black Forest dungeons, these crypts require that you have a key to unlock them. You can obtain this key by defeating the Elder. You can obtain several keys from farming the Elder, but the key does not go away when you use it.
When you enter the crypts, iron will be found in the muddy scrap piles inside. The crypts will have distinctly green pillars with flames on them. If you don’t have a swamp key, you’ll want to obtain those before you venture out and go crypt hunting.
Alternatively, you can find iron deposits in the Mountains. The mountains are the snowy locations you may have seen that are typically found near the Black Forests and Meadows locations. Unfortunately, you’re likely to find dragons and wolves wandering around these regions. You’re better off adventuring here after you’ve taken out the third boss, Bonemass.
Other players have reported that you can also find iron in craters that are guarded by Surtlings. Surtlings are flame-based creatures that drop Surtling Cores, which you need to use for forges, a smelter, charcoal kiln, and several other high-quality projects.
When you’re ready to bring them to your smelter, you’ll need to have plenty of charcoal, much like the copper and tin you’ve been harvesting. However, you do not need another, smaller resource to make it into a worthwhile ingot.
