Before you start
- Hildir discovered and her table read through the first Hildir journey. The brass chest is not a required unlock for entering this cavern.
- A completed Mountain equipment and food setup, including a wolf fur cape, Draugr fang, a practiced physical melee weapon and shield.
- Finished frost-resistance mead for recovery, healing mead, three food types with refills, and a tested outside portal plus downhill chest route.
Prepare for the Mountain and the boss separately
Use your Mountain armor with the wolf fur cape for frost protection. Keep spare frost-resistance mead on the home side of the portal: a cape in the grave cannot protect the recovery climb. Get dry before ascending and check your active protection.
Geirrhafa is immune to frost and weak to fire. Bring the existing iron mace or a stronger physical melee weapon; the Draugr fang with fire arrows provides another option. A frost-damage loadout alone is the wrong match for this fight.
Eat wolf skewer, sausages and onion soup, or stronger equivalents already supported by your kitchen. Take healing mead and spare servings. Frost protection reduces the elemental danger; it does not make close combat harmless.
| Make | Materials per craft | Station |
|---|---|---|
| 1 × Wolf fur cape | 6 Wolf pelt + 4 Silver + 1 Wolf trophy | Workbench level 2 |
| 1 × Iron mace | 4 Wood + 20 Iron + 3 Leather scraps | Forge level 2 |
| 1 × Draugr fang | 10 Ancient bark + 20 Silver + 2 Deer hide + 10 Guck | Forge level 2 |
| 20 × Fire arrow | 8 Wood + 8 Resin + 2 Feathers | Workbench level 2 |
| 1 × Wolf skewer | 1 Wolf meat + 2 Mushroom + 1 Onion | Cauldron level 3 |
| 4 × Sausages | 4 Entrails + 1 Boar meat + 1 Thistle | Cauldron level 2 |
| 1 × Onion soup | 3 Onion | Cauldron level 2 |
| 1 × Mead base: Frost resistance | 10 Honey + 5 Thistle + 2 Bloodbag + 1 Greydwarf eye | Mead ketill level 1 |
| 6 × Frost resistance mead | 1 Mead base: Frost resistance | Fermenter |
| 1 × Mead base: Medium healing | 10 Honey + 4 Bloodbag + 10 Raspberries + 1 Dandelion | Mead ketill level 1 |
| 6 × Medium healing mead | 1 Mead base: Medium healing | Fermenter |
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: GeirrhafaValheim Wiki: Boss strategies
Choose the way down while unburdened
Your portal carries you and ordinary supplies. The silver chest will need the physical descent, so take unnecessary cave loot home separately. The hauling guide covers splitting the load and marking transport caches.
- Follow the marked Howling Cavern approach in daylight, avoiding cliff-edge fights. Look for the distinctive blue icicles at its mouth.
- Mark a walkable descent to lower ground and a boat landing if the return crosses water. Choose traverses and steps rather than planning to jump down with the reward.
- Place and test a portal outside the cave in a protected position with room to arrive. Keep its route separate from a golem or other active threat.
- Clear Bats and Ulvs room by room inside. Check doors and break ice barriers that block passages; follow explored branches until you reach Geirrhafa. Return outside to restock before the boss if the clear consumed your supplies.
| Make | Materials per craft | Station |
|---|---|---|
| 1 × Portal | 20 Fine wood + 10 Greydwarf eye + 2 Surtling core | Hammer; within workbench range |
| 1 × Workbench | 10 Wood | Hammer; no station required |
| 1 × Karve | 30 Fine wood + 10 Deer hide + 20 Resin + 80 Bronze nails | Hammer; within workbench range |
| 1 × Longship | 100 Iron nails + 10 Deer hide + 40 Fine wood + 40 Ancient bark | Hammer; within workbench range |
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Howling CavernsEIP Gaming: How to complete Hildir’s questsValheim Wiki: Hildir%27s chests
Leave room for the frost attacks
Work from short physical attacks or fire-arrow shots between these patterns. Keep enough stamina to change position, and heal when you have space. If caught by the nova, prioritize surviving the remaining pulses instead of rushing back into melee.
Do not start the boss with Ulvs or Bats behind you. A failed attempt is a reason to restore food, resistance and equipment before re-entering; this optional reward can wait for stronger Plains gear.
| Attack | Response |
|---|---|
| One or two claw swings | Keep stamina to evade; only block or parry with a shield and health pool that can handle the hit. Wait for the follow-up before committing to a combo. |
| Forward frost cone | Move sideways out of the front line. It cannot be blocked. Attack from the side only while you have a clear exit. |
| Hands strike the ground; circular frost waves | Retreat out of the nearby blast area as the windup begins. There are three pulses: stay out until the sequence ends. The waves cannot be blocked or defeated by dodge-roll immunity. |
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: GeirrhafaValheim Wiki: Boss strategiesValheim Wiki: Howling Caverns
Recover and deliver the silver chest
With default world-based raid rules, the silver hand-in enables Geirrhafa’s event. If you die on the descent, use the reserve frost mead and outside portal to recover deliberately. Clear the threat first, then retrieve the chest with free carrying capacity; repeating an unprotected climb does not restore the load.
- After Geirrhafa falls, collect the trophy and locate the silver chest. Empty enough inventory for its 200 weight before carrying it out.
- Take the marked descent while fed and frost-protected. Stop on safe ground to recover stamina; do not shortcut across a cliff with the chest.
- Transfer the chest to the waiting transport when needed and return to Hildir. Put it on the hotbar and use that slot while facing her.
- Check the new shawl-dress, cape-tunic and headwear choices. These are additional purchases; keep coins for the pieces you want.
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Hildir%27s chestsValheim Wiki: EventsEIP Gaming: How to complete Hildir’s quests
You are ready when…
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Saved in this browserWhen something goes wrong
The frost waves hit through my roll or shield.
The nova cannot be blocked or avoided through roll immunity. Move away during the windup, stay clear for all three pulses, and keep frost protection and health active.
My weapon barely hurts the boss.
Check the damage type. Frost is ineffective here; use physical melee damage and fire arrows with a repaired bow.
I cannot find the lower part of the cavern.
Retrace unexplored doors and look for breakable ice barriers. Clear enemies before checking another branch; do not attack every solid stone wall.
The portal is inaccessible without my cape.
Drink the reserve frost-resistance mead before the return and bring food and spare gear. If necessary establish a lower, safer staging point before attempting the climb.
Sources & checks
- Valheim Wiki: Howling Caverns
Blue-icicle entrance, Bats and Ulvs, Geirrhafa and the silver chest.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text and tables inspected on 2026-09-08 UTC; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Exact mechanics remain needs-review against a game build. Preparation and recovery choices are editorial advice, not gameplay observations or a 1.0 compatibility claim.
- Valheim Wiki: Geirrhafa
Fire weakness, frost immunity, claw attacks, unblockable cone and three-pulse nova that cannot be blocked or dodge-rolled.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text and tables inspected on 2026-09-08 UTC; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Exact mechanics remain needs-review against a game build. Preparation and recovery choices are editorial advice, not gameplay observations or a 1.0 compatibility claim.
- Valheim Wiki: Boss strategies
Geirrhafa cone sidestep and physical/fire options; ranged openings and stair retreat against the tower duo. Its invulnerability description is not adopted; see the dedicated creature reference.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text and tables inspected on 2026-09-08 UTC; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Exact mechanics remain needs-review against a game build. Preparation and recovery choices are editorial advice, not gameplay observations or a 1.0 compatibility claim.
- EIP Gaming: How to complete Hildir’s quests
Build exterior platforms/stairs and extend workbench range up the tower; break cave ice barriers and check doors; put a recovered chest on the hotbar and use it while facing Hildir.
Community reference · Checked . Article updated 3 May 2025, directly inspected on 2026-09-08 UTC. Used for exterior workbench/platform access, cave ice and doors, and chest hand-in controls. Older power, food and potion tables are not adopted. This is reference research, not our gameplay test.
- Valheim Wiki: Hildir%27s chests
Each chest weighs 200; ordinary wood portals block them, stone portals can carry them; chest-specific shop unlocks.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text and tables inspected on 2026-09-08 UTC; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Exact mechanics remain needs-review against a game build. Preparation and recovery choices are editorial advice, not gameplay observations or a 1.0 compatibility claim.
- Valheim Wiki: Events
Default world-based Hildir raid prerequisites are the respective brass, silver or bronze chest returned; player-based raids use separate rules.
Community reference · Checked . Substantive indexed reference text and tables inspected on 2026-09-08 UTC; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Exact mechanics remain needs-review against a game build. Preparation and recovery choices are editorial advice, not gameplay observations or a 1.0 compatibility claim.