Valheim Ashlands Guide — Flametal, Charred Fortresses, Portal Stone and Fader

The Ashlands is a volcanic hell — and the home of the Portal Stone

The moment your Drakkar crests the final wave and the Ashlands coastline fills your screen, everything has changed. Ash rains from a burning sky. The water itself boils — only the Drakkar survives it. The ground is a cracked wasteland of scorched ruins and flowing lava, crawling with the Charred army. And somewhere in the haze, Fader waits.

This is Valheim’s only biome that introduces a new portal type in 1.0 — the Portal Stone — which is the single biggest logistics quality-of-life upgrade in the entire progression line. Before you fight Fader, make this your first priority.

Getting to the Ashlands — you need the Drakkar

Boiling water destroys every boat except the Drakkar. You unlock the Drakkar after beating The Queen in the Mistlands — the Queen’s drop, the Majestic Carapace, unlocks the Ceramic Plate (10 Ceramic Plates + 500 Iron Nails → Artisan Table upgrade, then Ceramic Plates at the upgraded Artisan Table).

Drakkar recipe: 100 Iron Nails + 30 Ceramic Plates + 50 Finewood + 25 Yggdrasil Wood at a Workbench. It has 3000 durability, 32 storage slots, 9 seats — the most durable and spacious boat in the game.

Sailing tips

• Bring 10 Wood for emergency repairs. Bonemaw Serpents in boiling water hit harder than regular Sea Serpents.
• Sail toward the centre of the map, not the east/west edges — the Ashlands does not extend to map borders.
• Land near an existing ruin whenever possible — the structure gives immediate shelter from ash rain and initial enemy contact.
• Set up a portal on a rock spire near shore before your first landing attempt. Your first docking is dangerous.

The Portal Stone — game-changing logistics upgrade

Valheim — Ashlands Official Gameplay Trailer (Iron Gate)

The single most important thing to do in the Ashlands is not fight Fader. It is craft the Portal Stone.

The Portal Stone is a special portal variant that works exactly like a regular portal — except it lets you carry normally-blocked items through it. That includes:

• All ores/ingots (Copper, Tin, Iron, Silver, Black Metal, Flametal)
• Dragon Eggs
• Hildir’s Chests
• Dvergr Extractors
• Mechanical Springs

This is a full progression-chain reset. After the Portal Stone, you never sail metals home again. You mine, portal back with ore, smelt at your base. The Plains’ Black Metal scrap hauling, the Mountain’s Silver ore hauling, the Mistlands’ Dvergr Extractors — all of it disappears.

Portal Stone recipe: 30 Grausten + 10 Grey Dwarf Eye + 2 Molten Core at a Stonecutter. Place it like any other portal — inside Workbench radius, then it works independently. Regular portals and Portal Stones connect to each other — you can mix both in your hub.

Grausten (fireproof stone — also build tier 4)

Grausten is the Ashlands’ fireproof building material. It does not burn, does not take fire damage, and is mined from black rock clusters only in the Ashlands. Mines it with Black Metal Pickaxe or better. Grausten also unlocks the Ashlands building set — walls, floors, pillars, all fire-resistant.

Flametal — the final classic metal tier

Flametal is the Ashlands’ primary metal and the strongest ore tier before the Deep North. You mine Flametal ore from glowing red lava rock formations scattered near lava pools. Do not fall into the lava — even with Flametal Armor, lava kills you fast.

Flametal mining strategy

1. Approach lava pools with a Bow + fire arrows first — kill any nearby Surtlings
2. Mine Flametal ore from rocks adjacent to lava, not inside it
3. Fall into lava? Swim upstream (away from lava flow) and press E on the shore rock to climb out quickly
4. Portal Stone + Flametal ore = portal home → smelt → craft gear at home

Molten Core — a separate item from Surtling Core, found inside Putrid Holes and on the ground in Charred Fortresses (Mysterious Locations also spawn with a few). You need Molten Cores for the Portal Stone recipe only. Smelting Flametal does not use Molten Cores — it is plain ore → ingot in a Blast Furnace with Coal.

Charred enemies — who fights you here

Morgen (the ambush king)

Morgen are four-legged bone creatures that run on all fours. They attack by rolling at you (high damage, hard to dodge) and biting. They ambush from underground — you will see dirt clumps rise, then Morgen explodes out.

Strategy: fight them in open ground, not near rubble piles (they can ambush from those too). Frost arrows stun them briefly. Porcupine’s blunt damage works well.

Charred Warriors/Twitchers/Skeletons

Regular undead, but every single one has fire resistance and sometimes fire damage weapons. They are similar to Mistlands Seekers in numbers but weaker individually. Porcupine and Frostner are both good here — Porcupine bypasses fire resist with its blunt damage.

Fallen Valkyrie (flying)

Winged bone creatures that spit poison and claw from the air. They are fast and hard to hit with melee. Use fire arrows — they are weak to fire. One volley takes a Valkyrie down.

Asksvin (tameable!)

Toad-like salamanders that roam near lava pools. They are hostile but tameable — feed a trapped one Smoke Puffs, Vineberry Clusters or Fiddleheads until the yellow star fills (see the taming guide). You can ride tamed Asksvin once you craft a saddle. They are slow but can walk on lava for short periods.

Charred Fortresses — Bell Fragments and Fader’s arena

Charred Fortresses are large ruined structures scattered across the Ashlands. They are the source of Bell Fragments and also contain the Vegvisir that points to Fader’s Colosseum.

Fortress layout

• Outer walls: Charred enemies patrol constantly. Clear the perimeter first.
• Inner towers: 3-4 towers per Fortress, each containing 2-3 Bell Fragments (in chests and on pedestals)
• Vegvisir room: every Fortress has one Vegvisir rune inside. Activate it — it points the way to Fader’s arena.
• Charred mobs inside: expect 8-12 Charred Warriors + 2-3 Morgen per Fortress.

Bell Fragment → Bell conversion

3 Bell Fragments → 1 Bell (at Black Forge). You need 3 Bells total to summon Fader. So:

1. Clear 3 Charred Fortresses (each has enough fragments for 1 Bell)
2. Craft 3 Bells at Black Forge
3. Sail/walk to Fader’s Colosseum (marked by Vegvisir)
4. Place the 3 Bells on the stone thrones around the arena

Fader — the Ashlands boss

Fader is a massive green-glowing bone dragon that flies over its Colosseum arena. It has an 8-attack kit with one notoriously unblockable move.

Fader mechanics

• Fire breath: wide cone — Flametal Armor’s heat resistance reduces the burn, but it is still dangerous. Otherwise, 30+ damage per hit.
• Fire line (unblockable): a straight beam that goes through everything — including walls. Only fires between 5% and 85% of Fader’s health — the very start and very end of the fight are safer. Dodge sideways, do not try to block.
• Meteor drops: Fader flies up and drops 3-4 meteors. Each creates fire on the ground for 5 seconds.
• Tail swipe: classic dragon move — wide arc at close range. Jump or dodge.
• Summons Charred: below 55% of its health, Fader periodically calls waves of Charred Warriors into the arena — the back half of the fight is a swarm fight.

Recommended gear for Fader

Full Flametal Armor, Flametal Sword, Porcupine (for Charred adds), Bow with frost arrows, three Ashlands-tier foods (Volture Meat + Asksvin Tail + Bonemaw Meat), and The Queen Forsaken Power (poison resist + sneak stamina). Bring the Wisplight even though this is the Ashlands — Fader’s arena is large and visibility matters.

Fader drops

Fader Relic (×5) + Fader Trophy. The Fader Relic is needed to craft the Eternal Pyre (10 Stone + 1 Fader Relic at Stonecutter), which lets you farm Embers for the Deep North’s Ember Charges. This is the gate into the Deep North progression.

Before you leave the Ashlands

1. Portal Stone built and placed — the single biggest quality-of-life upgrade in the game
2. Flametal Armor fully crafted — its heat resistance keeps the boiling water and lava from instantly killing you (it does not reduce fire damage)
3. Fader Relic × 5 — needed for Eternal Pyre (Deep North access)
4. Grausten mined — build tier 4 fireproof stone for your base
5. Portal Stone hub set up — one Portal Stone at your home base, one at your Flametal mine. Now go anywhere and portal ore home.

The six mistakes that get you stuck in the Ashlands

1. No Portal Stone first

You came to the Ashlands for Flametal, but the Portal Stone makes every biome after this one easier. Build it before Fader.

2. Longship instead of Drakkar

Boiling water sinks every boat except the Drakkar. You will lose everything.

3. No fire resistance gear

Ashlands enemies deal heavy fire damage. Bring fire resistance from the Fenris set and a fire mead (Flametal Armor only gives heat resistance against lava/boiling water, not fire). Padded Armor from the Mistlands is a fine body frame but carries no fire resistance, so pair it with the fire mead.

4. Trying to fight Morgen near rubble

They ambush from underground near rubble. Fight them in open ground.

5. Not falling back when Fader hits 5% or 85%

The unblockable fire line only fires between those HP ranges. Use the full-health and low-health pauses to heal.

6. Forgetting the Eternal Pyre needs Fader Relic

You beat Fader and sailed home. Now you need the Deep North. The Eternal Pyre (which produces Embers for Ember Charges) needs 1 Fader Relic. Do not waste them on anything else.

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Related

• plains guide — Black Metal scrap logistics that the Portal Stone completely fixes
• mistlands guide — Dvergr Extractors and how the Portal Stone lets you portal them
• portal-network-guide — regular portal tag rules + how Portal Stones connect with them
• Fader boss page — summon recipe, full attack patterns and loot