- Ancient Altars can only be found in the Deep North in Valheim; they are not present in any other biome and have no fixed spawn locations.
- Memorial Coal is needed to activate an Ancient Altar; the material can be found in abundance in Mörkhalla.
- When an Ancient Altar is activated, an Ancestor is summoned, who can then be defeated to get Thunderblood Essence and Frostfire Essence.
Ancient Altars in Valheim are the newest addition to the world and can be found in the Deep North. It’s unclear who created them or how long they’ve been there, but they’re important. They connect players to the ancestors, but at a cost. If you’re willing to pay your dues, we can tell you everything you need to know about Ancient Altars in Valheim, including how to use them in the Deep North.
Requirements to Activate an Ancient Altar in Valheim
You need Memorial Coal to activate an Ancient Altar in Valheim. This is like a very unique material in Valheim, as Traders won’t accept it, no Recipes utilize it, and it cannot be consumed for a buff. This material burns hot with a hazy glow, and somewhere within, you can faintly see an old memory play out.
To get Memorial Coal in Valheim, you need to find and enter the Deep North Fortress of Mörkhalla. They are scattered across the newly added biome, but can be tricky to get into without the use of a Grappling Hook in Valheim.
Reaching the Fortress is just the first step of the journey. You need to create an Intricate Key in Valheim to access the lower levels of the Fortress. To do this, mine Ice in Valheim, build a Frost Kiln, and get Liquid Frost to fuel the Frost Foundry.
Finally, you need to fight Elaking or the Eyeless One to get a key mould. Alternatively, you could fight Hexen instead to get the key itself. These are just some of the new creatures in Valheim that can be encountered as of the 1.0 Deep North update.
Once you have everything, you need to open the door to the lower chambers of the Fortress to reach Mörkhalla. When inside, you can either fight Krigen, who are skilled Jotun warriors, mine Memorial Coal, or break the firepits of Mörkhalla in Valheim to get the material. Once you have at least three Memorial Coal , you can activate an Ancient Altar and fight an Ancestor.
How to Activate Ancient Altars and Get Rewards in Valheim
To activate an Ancient Altar in Valheim, you need to approach it with the Memorial Coal slotted into one of the 8 inventory slots. When in front of it, interact and use the Memorial Coal to activate it. Once done, an Ancestor will appear. You can fight them for rare materials such as Thunderblood Essence and Frostfire Essence. These can be used to craft any weapons that with which to challenge any of the bosses in Valheim.
During my playthrough, I encountered three different Ancestors. One was armed with a ranged weapon, the other was armed with a melee weapon and shield, and the third wielded just an axe. If you manage to defeat any of these warriors, you stand a chance of receiving the aforementioned materials that allow you to craft the most powerful weapons in Valheim.
Keep in mind that based on your Valheim Seed, an Ancient Altar could spawn close to where you embark in the Deep North or far inland within the archipelago. There’s no telling. Either way, if you want to defeat Valheim’s ‘Kall Fimbulbringer’ Deep North Boss, you need to find Ancient Altars and fight Ancestors for rare materials.
That’s about everything we can tell you about Ancient Altars in Valheim’s Deep North. When you’re ready to travel to the far ends of the world, remember to use this guide as a reference point. For more information on what to expect in this frigid landscape, check out our Valheim 1.0 Deep North patch notes.
Let us know in the comments below how many Ancient Altars you have managed to find in Valheim.
Yes, you can use the Ancient Altar in Valheim as many times as you need to, provided you have enough Memorial Coal.
Yes, as long as you have enough Memorial Coal, you can activate the Ancient Altar multiple times at once. However, this is not advised, as every Ancestor summoned attacks you.
Ancient Altars can only be found in the Deep North, as they are connected to that specific Biome. They do not spawn in any other Biome in Valheim.
No, Ancient Altars do not have fixed locations in Valheim. Depending on the seed used, they can spawn anywhere within the Deep North.
Ajith Kumar
Ishan Adhikary
