Clear Growths, drain a tar pit and bring the Tar home

Before you start

• Use the Plains entry kit and recovery plan. Familiar upgraded Mountain equipment can begin this optional route; established Plains armor and meals give more margin. Tar is not required to defeat Yagluth.
• Bring a repaired bow, Fire arrows, a practiced blunt backup such as an Iron mace, shield, pickaxe, Hammer, three current foods, finished poison-resistance and healing meads.
• Have a tested portal outside the work area and spare food, poison mead and equipment at home. Mark the pit and its approach; do not bring the only recovery supplies into it.

Choose a pit with room to fight and somewhere lower to drain

Look for nearly black pools among the Plains grass. Scout in daylight from an established approach and mark each candidate before committing. Check the ground beyond the pit for Lox, Deathsquitos, Fuling groups and a second tar pool; your withdrawal must not lead into them.

Walk around the outside on dry ground and choose a lower depression or downhill route away from your shelter, portal and crops. The drain needs somewhere below the pit for liquid to spread. A nearby sea is not required. A pit surrounded by awkward flat terrain can cost more digging than it is worth for the amount you need.

Set a concrete material target from your intended build. A small home improvement may only need accessible edge pickups and Growth drops; a large roof is a reason to drain a fresh pit. Bank an early useful load before beginning a long excavation.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Gamecore: Tar pitGamesRadar+: Tar extraction and Darkwood

Protect against poison before the first volley

1. Eat three fresh foods and renew Rested before the approach. Use the Plains food chain if established; if your meals or equipment cannot handle ordinary Plains travel, postpone the pit until that route is dependable.
2. Drink finished Poison resistance mead before combat. It reduces the poison applied while active; taking it after being poisoned does not cure or retroactively reduce that existing effect.
3. Keep healing mead ready and leave stamina for sideways movement or a dodge. Poison resistance does not remove the Tarred movement penalty or the other damage in a volley.
4. Take only the excavation equipment you can afford to recover. A repaired Iron pickaxe is a practical choice, and a spare Antler pickaxe can keep terrain work going with Workbench repairs. Return home to the appropriate station to repair a metal pickaxe.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: PoisonValheim Wiki: Status effectsValheim.tools: Growth resistance and drops

Move across the volley, then take a short opening

Growths are weak to blunt and fire, resistant to slash, pierce and frost, and immune to poison. Fire arrows are a practical existing-ammunition choice; a powerful physical arrow can still work but loses damage to resistance. Do not treat Frost arrows or Poison arrows as the preferred answer merely because they are later ammunition.

Tarred also makes fire more dangerous to you. Avoid dragging the fight past a torch-carrying Fuling, shaman or your own open fire. Do not try burning the pool away: the pit liquid cannot be ignited to extract its contents.

Growths can fight nearby Plains creatures, but deliberately recruiting a Lox herd or village adds another uncontrolled threat to the excavation. If a natural fight starts, stay out of it and reassess the survivors. A high rock or trench alone is not invulnerable cover; Growths can fire upward.

1. Begin from dry, open ground where you can see the nearest Growth and move laterally. Use a bow to start the engagement without walking into the liquid; watch for another Growth moving from behind the first.
2. When it launches a volley, move sideways across its aim and keep moving until the burst finishes. Shoot during the opening afterward. Avoid emptying stamina on repeated draws while several Growths are attacking.
3. If an isolated Growth reaches you after a missed volley, use a short blunt-weapon opening and move again. Do not rush into the pit to finish it. A shield is a backup, not a plan to absorb an entire close-range burst.
4. If Tarred, stop trading attacks. Use a timed dodge toward your cleared exit and let stamina recover between movements. Seek a better position before returning fire; simply retreating slowly in a straight line can expose you to the next volley.
5. Clear the remaining guards and nearby approach threats before switching to the pickaxe. Recheck the pit after every repair or food trip, because a previously cleared location is not permanently safe.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Aggressive creature strategiesValheim.tools: Growth resistance and dropsValheim Wiki: Status effectsValheim Gamecore: Tar pit

Dig the receiving area first and connect the pool last

These are proposed excavation steps based on the documented downhill-drain method. There is no universal trench length, depth or completion time: the pit and surrounding terrain determine the work. Do not replace a drainage problem with a larger flooded hole directly under your feet.

Excavation Stone can fill your pack before the Tar harvest starts. Put unwanted Stone on a dry bank away from the outlet, or store it in a chest outside the danger area. Do not throw a tool into the pool to free an inventory slot.

1. After clearing the area, stand at the lower receiving ground you selected. Dig enough of a depression or downhill channel to sit below the liquid surface in the tar pit. Keep a ramp or steps back onto dry ground; do not leave yourself in a steep-sided hole.
2. Extend the trench uphill toward the pit. Remove high spots that would form a dam, while leaving an unbroken strip of soil between the trench and the pool. Keep the tool work and your escape route outside the liquid.
3. Before breaking that final strip, put the combat weapon within easy reach, recover stamina and inspect for returning enemies. Move any loose gear or temporary storage away from where the liquid will go.
4. Break the remaining connection from a position where you can immediately step onto the bank. Leave the trench as the tar enters it. Watch from dry ground rather than standing in the new flow to hurry it along.
5. Once the flow settles, inspect the original pit. If pickup nodes are still submerged, deepen a high section of the outlet or enlarge the lower receiving area from a dry approach, then let it drain again. Keep an exit open through every adjustment.
6. Return to the exposed pit floor only after checking that the route is walkable and clear. If the terrain prevents a useful outlet, take the reachable material, mark the remainder and choose another pit rather than digging indefinitely.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Gamecore: Tar pitGamesRadar+: Tar extraction and Darkwood

Pick up exposed nodes, then use the portal

1. Collect loose drops from the cleared Growths and interact with exposed Tar clumps around the edge and floor. The pickaxe changes the terrain for drainage; the exposed resource nodes are harvested by hand.
2. If the game says a clump is stuck in tar, improve drainage until it is exposed. Do not keep walking into the liquid to reach it; approach from the cleared bank and reassess the outlet.
3. Check inventory space and weight before the final pickups. Tar weighs two per unit, so a full stack of 50 weighs 100 before your equipment and other cargo. Split the trip before becoming unable to move safely.
4. Take the banked material through the tested ordinary portal under normal portal settings. If teleporting fails, inspect the rest of your inventory for restricted cargo such as Black metal scrap; Tar itself is allowed.
5. Label the pit as harvested or partially drained, with the unfinished side noted. Return home to sort the material and repair. Use the cargo route if your world disables portals or the approach requires a boat.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Gamecore: Tar pitValheim Wiki: Tar

Use fresh pits for bulk supply and Growths for top-ups

The large initial stock is the pit’s finite collection of nodes. Harvested nodes do not refill for the next visit. Growths can return even after the liquid has been drained, and their drops provide the renewable part of this resource.

For a major construction project, find another fresh, workable pit rather than waiting for enough enemies to replace a whole drained harvest. For a small ongoing reserve, revisit marked pits as part of other Plains errands and clear the returning Growths with the same preparation.

Nearby base structures can affect spawning; consult the spawn-suppression limits when choosing a permanent outpost. A drained pit is neither a guaranteed unattended farm nor a safe place to put your only portal. Inspect the actual approach every time and keep the storage point separated from the spawn area.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Spawn pointsAlmar’s Guides: Plains Tar supplyValheim Gamecore: Tar pit

Choose the improvement before spending the reserve

For a useful home upgrade, follow the comfort and Rested guide and build the appropriate furniture where you actually rest. Put that material aside before spending a stockpile on a large roof.

For a shingle extension, discover Tar and Wood, equip the Hammer within Workbench range and build the selected panel on supported walls or beams. The base 26° panel recipe is below. It provides roof cover, but the darker appearance does not give it stronger structural support or make it fireproof.

Fit the roof edges and ridge without gaps, check support before removing temporary scaffolding, and retain smoke ventilation over active fires. You do not harvest Darkwood from a special tree or refine Tar into a separate Darkwood inventory material. Finish a small usable section before stripping an existing shelter’s entire roof.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Shingle roofsJotunn: Shingle roof piece dataGamesRadar+: Tar extraction and Darkwood

Recover from the bank, not by repeating the same rush

1. If the fight goes badly, retreat along the cleared dry route and use healing supplies where you can avoid another volley. Leave the remaining Tar for a later trip.
2. After death, take the spare kit, eat, regain Rested and drink poison resistance before approaching. Clear the Growths again from outside their pool before trying to retrieve equipment.
3. For loose items dropped into liquid Tar, use the drain rather than repeatedly attempting underwater pickups; the documented pit behavior traps those items until the liquid is removed. Do not assume a loose-item rule describes every tombstone position: inspect the actual interaction and create a walkable approach before retrieving it.
4. Bank recovered gear and repair before resuming the excavation. Replace home food and mead reserves first; a half-drained pit is a useful checkpoint, not a reason to force another depleted attempt.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Gamecore: Tar pitValheim Wiki: Poison

You are ready when…

When something goes wrong

Sources & checks

Default survival rules · 1.0 release context checked 9 September 2026. Each source carries its own check date below; those dates do not certify every mechanic on this page for the current build. Shopping targets, route choices, and combat tactics are editorial recommendations. No firsthand gameplay test is claimed. How to read the evidence.

1. Valheim Wiki: Tar

   Tar from Growths and pit pickups, normal wooden-portal compatibility, building uses and carrying weight.

   Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. Substantive indexed reference text/table inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Research-based pre-1.0 guidance, not a recorded gameplay test or installed-build verification. Expedition choices and excavation sequence are editorial recommendations.

2. Valheim Wiki: Status effects

   Tarred slows movement and increases vulnerability to fire; the status comes from Growth attacks or entering tar.

   Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. Substantive indexed reference text/table inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Research-based pre-1.0 guidance, not a recorded gameplay test or installed-build verification. Expedition choices and excavation sequence are editorial recommendations.

3. Valheim Wiki: Poison

   Poison resistance is evaluated when the poison effect is applied, not retroactively after drinking mead.

   Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. Substantive indexed reference text/table inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Research-based pre-1.0 guidance, not a recorded gameplay test or installed-build verification. Expedition choices and excavation sequence are editorial recommendations.

4. Valheim Wiki: Aggressive creature strategies

   Growth projectile volleys, lateral movement and dodge responses, ranged openings and the danger of relying on elevation alone. Old exact arrow-damage and survival claims are excluded.

   Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. Substantive indexed reference text/table inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Research-based pre-1.0 guidance, not a recorded gameplay test or installed-build verification. Expedition choices and excavation sequence are editorial recommendations.

5. Valheim Wiki: Spawn points

   Tar pit layouts contain initial and recurring Growth spawns; recurring spawns are distinct from the harvested material nodes.

   Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. Substantive indexed reference text/table inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Research-based pre-1.0 guidance, not a recorded gameplay test or installed-build verification. Expedition choices and excavation sequence are editorial recommendations.

6. Valheim Wiki: Shingle roofs

   Roof panel material costs, Workbench requirement, rain cover and ordinary wood support; shingles are not fireproof.

   Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. Substantive indexed reference text/table inspected; direct Fandom retrieval was unavailable. Research-based pre-1.0 guidance, not a recorded gameplay test or installed-build verification. Expedition choices and excavation sequence are editorial recommendations.

7. Valheim Gamecore: Tar pit

   Plains location, downward trench drainage, hand-harvested nodes, Growth return even after draining, unburnable pit liquid and dropped items trapped until drainage.

   Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. Full location/resource/notes sections inspected. Community reference/mirror, not independent game-data extraction. Terrain-dependent drainage time and yield are not guaranteed; no exact excavation depth is prescribed.

8. Valheim.tools: Growth resistance and drops

   Blunt and fire weakness; slash, pierce and frost resistance; poison immunity; ranged tar volley and Tar drop.

   Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. Full resistance, drop and attack tables inspected. Its prose recommends frost despite its own frost-resistance table; this guide follows the table and recommends blunt/fire. Its broad claim that Tarred slows attacks is excluded because the dedicated status reference only establishes movement reduction.

9. GamesRadar+: Tar extraction and Darkwood

   Dark Plains pools, Growth clearing before extraction, stuck-in-tar message, digging a downhill trench and connecting it after preparation, and Wood plus Tar rather than a Darkwood tree.

   Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. Full relevant harvesting and construction sections inspected. Supports downward trench then final connection; the sequence below adds explicit dry exits and inspections. Its map-fog shortcut for new world generation and blanket recipe-unlock claim are excluded.

10. Almar’s Guides: Plains Tar supply

    Growth drops are the repeatable Tar supply after the pit’s initial harvest; a return circuit can supplement fresh-pit harvesting.

    Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. The Tar-supply paragraph inspected in the full walkthrough. Only recurring Growth drops after clearing a pit are used. Unrelated outdated Artisan table and broad safe-island/boss claims are excluded.

11. Jotunn: Shingle roof piece data

    Basic Shingle roof 26° materials and wood structural material.

    Community reference · Checked 2026-09-08. The darkwood_roof row inspected, corroborating two Wood and one Tar for the 26° panel. The external page identifies Valheim 0.221.12 as its generation source; this is not a locally extracted record or proof of the user’s installed build.