The Elder Boss Guide: Summon Items, Fire Weakness & Strategy

The Elder, the towering tree-king of the Black Forest, is boss two — and the first fight where damage type genuinely matters. He’s also the first boss whose summons (his roots) will eat an unprepared melee player.

How do you summon The Elder?

Sacrifice three Ancient Seeds at his Forsaken Altar. Ancient Seeds drop from Greydwarf Brutes and from smashing the greydwarf nests around Black Forest burial grounds. His altar’s location is revealed by vegvisir runestones inside burial chambers and ruins — the same dungeons that hold the surtling cores you need for portals.

What are The Elder’s stats and attacks?

The Elder has 2,500 HP and one glaring weakness: fire deals double damage. He’s immune to Poison and Spirit; everything else is neutral.

Attack	Damage	Notes
Root summon	—	Up to 15 roots at a time (25 s cooldown); they despawn after ~20 s
Vine volley	35 Pierce per vine	Up to 25 vines per volley, 15–50 m range, 6 s cooldown
Stomp	60 Blunt	5 m radius melee answer

One quirk worth knowing: his passive aura removes darkness and rain in the arena — the fight is fought in eerie daylight.

What is the best strategy against The Elder?

Bring fire, clear roots, keep moving at mid-range. Fire arrows are the classic answer to his ×2 weakness; a bonfire kited around the arena also works. His roots hit hard in melee — burn or chop them down rather than tanking through, and never stand still during the vine volleys: strafe between shots. Bronze armor plus a shield handles the stomp. The prep checklist (bronze tier gear and food) is in the boss order guide and the beginner guide.

What does The Elder drop?

A trophy, one Swamp Key per player, and his Forsaken Power. The Swamp Key is the key item of the mid-game: it unlocks swamp crypts, the main source of scrap iron — the third crafting tier. His power boosts chopping and mining by 60% and health regeneration by 30%, making it the default gathering power. Defeat also unlocks new Haldor trader stock, the troll event, and swamp events. Next on the ladder: Eikthyr is behind you, Bonemass and the iron age ahead.