Knowing where to find iron in Valheim can be tricky if you don’t know where to start. If you’re reading this, you’re probably at the end of the Bronze age. You’ve defeated Eikthyr, you’ve mined some copper and tin, smelted it, and made yourself a nice set of armour. But how to progress to Iron?
Iron is only found in the Swamp biome, inside Sunken Crypts. These are small dungeons littered around various points in Swamp biomes. To get inside them, you will need a Swamp Key.
Swamp Key
To obtain iron, you will need the Swamp Key. This item can only be obtained by defeating The Elder boss. If you don’t know how to find The Elder, or don’t know how to beat it, simply follow this guide on IGN.
Once you have the Swamp Key, head on over to your nearest Swamp biome.
Where is the Swamp biome?
You will find many Swamp biomes all over the Valheim map, and finding them can be a hassle, but if you sail around for long enough, you will eventually find one. Look out for the spooky looking trees in the mist.
Sunken Crypts
Once you have found a Swamp biome, start looking around for Sunken Crypts. They can be difficult to find, so if you can’t find any in a biome, get back on your boat and keep sailing. They are RNG based, so there is no guarantee that you will find one. In some Swamp areas, you can find several. You will find one eventually, and then know exactly where to find iron in Valheim in future.
As the Swamp will make the game darken, the crypts will be easily identified through the mist by the green flames. Once you have found one, approach the gate and open the door, which if you have a Swamp Key equipped, will open and you can go inside.
Muddy Scrap Pile
Once you go into the Sunken Crypt, you will find lumps on the wall, titled Muddy Scrap Pile. Strike these with your pickaxe and collect the Scrap Iron that falls from it.
Smelt the Scrap Iron just the same way you did with the Copper and Tin Ore, and you will have Iron ready to start crafting with.
Watch out for Oozes and Skeletons. You can easily get stuck in a tight space and become overwhelmed.
How much Iron do I get?
We have found that the haul from one Sunken Crypt can be anywhere from 140 Scrap Iron, all the way to an unfortunate 0. This is all luck, and based on the equipment requirements, you will likely need to hit several Sunken Crypts to get all the gear you need.
Does the Swamp Key do anything else?
The Swamp Key’s only function is to open the Sunken Crypts. Once you’ve opened the gates, then you won’t need the key anymore; the gates will stay open forever. But keep it in your inventory for any future crypts you might come across.
Or you can even use them as a light source like this user on Reddit.
