Valheim raid messages: what starts each raid

Raids are random events that send creatures at you. Which raids can happen depends on where you are, which bosses you have defeated, and in most cases whether you are near a player base. This guide covers the message of every raid and what starts it, how the random roll works, early and late raids, and what each event sends.

Every raid message and what it means

When a raid begins, an on-screen warning message appears across your display. Which raid triggers depends strictly on your game progress, boss milestones, and creature trophies. Each message links directly to its raid details:

In-game message	What starts it	Stops after	Biome	Creatures sent
Eikthyr rallies the creatures of the forest	Available from start	Eikthyr is defeated	Meadows, Black Forest	Neck, Boar
The forest is moving...	Eikthyr is defeated	The Elder is defeated	Meadows, Black Forest, Swamp, Plains	Greydwarf, Greyling, Greydwarf Shaman, Greydwarf Brute
A foul smell from the swamp... (Draugr)	The Elder is defeated	Bonemass is defeated	Meadows, Swamp, Mountain, Black Forest, Plains	Draugr, Skeleton
The ground is shaking	The Elder is defeated, a troll has been killed	None	Meadows, Swamp, Black Forest, Plains	Troll
You are being hunted...	Bonemass is defeated	None	Mountain, Plains	Wolf
A skeleton surprise!	Bonemass is defeated	None	Meadows, Swamp, Mountain, Black Forest, Plains, Mistlands	Skeleton, Rancid Remains
A cold wind blows from the mountains	Bonemass is defeated	Moder is defeated	Meadows, Swamp, Mountain, Black Forest, Plains	Drake
A foul smell from the swamp... (Blobs)	Bonemass is defeated	None	Meadows, Swamp, Black Forest, Plains	Blob, Oozer
There's a smell of sulfur in the air...	Bonemass is defeated, a surtling has been killed	None	Meadows, Swamp, Black Forest, Plains	Surtling
You feel a chill down your spine...	Bonemass is defeated	None	Meadows, Swamp, Mountain, Black Forest, Plains	Ghost, Wraith
You stirred the cauldron	Bonemass is defeated, a bat has been killed	None	Any biome	Bat
The horde is attacking!	Moder is defeated	Yagluth is defeated	Meadows, Black Forest, Plains	Fuling, Fuling Berserker, Fuling Shaman
What's up, Gjall?!	Yagluth is defeated	The Queen is defeated	Mistlands	Gjall, Tick
They sought you out	Yagluth is defeated	The Queen is defeated	Black Forest, Plains, Ashlands, Deep North, Mistlands	Seeker, Seeker Brood
She's hot on your tail!	Hildir's first request is completed	None	Any biome	Brenna, Skeleton, Rancid Remains
You get the chills...	Hildir's second request is completed	None	Any biome	Geirrhafa, Fenring, Cultist
They were bros, man	Hildir's third request is completed	None	Any biome	Zil & Thungr, Fuling, Fuling Berserker
The undead army marches	The Queen is defeated	Fader is defeated	Black Forest, Plains, Ashlands, Deep North, Mistlands	Charred Warrior, Charred Twitcher, Charred Marksman
The dead have been summoned	The Queen is defeated	Fader is defeated	Black Forest, Plains, Ashlands, Deep North, Mistlands	Charred bone piles, Charred Twitcher
They emerge from below...	An Eyeless One is defeated	The Frozen King is defeated	Deep North	Eyeless One, Elaking
The Jotun have found you	A Jotun is killed	The Frozen King is defeated	Meadows, Swamp, Mountain, Black Forest, Plains, Deep North, Mistlands	Krigen, Elaking

How often the game rolls

The game rolls for a raid every 46 minutes. Each roll has a 20 percent chance of starting a raid.

Not every raid can start on every roll. A raid only enters the pool if its conditions are met:

Biome: you must be in one of the raid's listed biomes. Some raids list "All" and are not limited by biome.
Near a base: most raids only happen near a player base. "You are being hunted..." is the exception.
Needs: some raids require a boss to be defeated, or a certain creature to have been killed.
Never after: some raids stop once a boss is defeated. These are mostly the early raids, which drop out as you move on.

Each raid also has a set duration, from 80 to 150 seconds, and each creature it sends has a maximum number.

Early raids

The first raids need no boss at all, or only Eikthyr or The Elder.

Eikthyr rallies the creatures of the forest

This is the first raid. It has no requirement, but it never happens after Eikthyr is defeated.

Biomes: Meadows, Black Forest
Near a base: yes
Lasts: 90 seconds
Sends: up to 2 Neck and up to 2 Boar

The forest is moving...

This raid needs Eikthyr to be defeated and never happens after The Elder is defeated. It covers more biomes than the first raid: Meadows, Swamp, Black Forest and Plains.

Lasts: 120 seconds
Sends: up to 6 Greydwarf, up to 4 Greyling, up to 1 Greydwarf Shaman and up to 1 Greydwarf Brute

A foul smell from the swamp... (Draugr)

This raid needs The Elder to be defeated and never happens after Bonemass is defeated. It lasts 150 seconds, longer than the raids before it.

Biomes: Meadows, Swamp, Mountain, Black Forest, Plains
Sends: up to 3 Draugr and up to 6 Skeleton

The ground is shaking

This raid needs two things: a troll has been killed, and The Elder is defeated. It is the shortest raid at 80 seconds.

Biomes: Meadows, Swamp, Black Forest, Plains
Sends: up to 2 Troll

Later raids

Bonemass opens up the largest group of raids. Several raids have no "never after" limit, so once they are available they stay in the pool.

After Bonemass is defeated

You are being hunted... is the only raid that does not require you to be near a base. It happens in Mountain and Plains and sends up to 6 Wolf over 120 seconds.
A skeleton surprise! sends up to 20 Skeleton and up to 1 Rancid Remains. It covers the most biomes of any raid in this group, including Mistlands.
A cold wind blows from the mountains sends up to 3 Drake over 150 seconds. It never happens after Moder is defeated.
A foul smell from the swamp... is the same message as the earlier Draugr raid, but it needs Bonemass and sends up to 5 Blob and up to 2 Oozer. Which creatures arrive depends on whether Bonemass is defeated.
There's a smell of sulfur in the air... needs a Surtling to have been killed as well as Bonemass. It sends up to 4 Surtling.
You feel a chill down your spine... sends up to 3 Ghost and up to 2 Wraith over 150 seconds.
You stirred the cauldron needs a bat to have been killed as well as Bonemass. It can happen in any biome and sends up to 10 Bat.

After Moder is defeated

The horde is attacking! needs Moder to be defeated and never happens after Yagluth is defeated. It happens in Meadows, Black Forest and Plains and lasts 120 seconds. It sends up to 8 Fuling, up to 2 Fuling Berserker and up to 1 Fuling Shaman.

After Yagluth is defeated

Both of these raids stop once The Queen is defeated.

What's up, Gjall?! happens only in Mistlands and sends up to 1 Gjall and up to 4 Tick over 90 seconds.
They sought you out happens in Black Forest, Plains, Ash Lands, Deep North and Mistlands. It sends up to 3 Seeker and up to 8 Seeker Brood.

Hildir's raids

These three raids can happen in any biome. Each lasts 90 seconds, and each needs a completed request for Hildir:

She's hot on your tail! starts once Hildir's first request is completed. It sends up to 1 Brenna, up to 4 Skeleton, up to 3 Skeleton (meadows) and up to 1 Rancid Remains.
You get the chills... starts once Hildir's second request is completed. It sends up to 1 Geirrhafa, up to 3 Fenring and up to 1 Cultist.
They were bros, man starts once Hildir's third request is completed. It sends up to 1 Zil and Thungr, up to 4 Fuling and up to 1 Fuling Berserker.

After The Queen is defeated

Both raids need The Queen to be defeated and never happen after Fader is defeated. They cover Black Forest, Plains, Ash Lands, Deep North and Mistlands, and each lasts 90 seconds.

The undead army marches sends up to 2 Charred Warrior, up to 3 Charred Twitcher and up to 3 Charred Marksman.
The dead have been summoned sends up to 3 Charred bone piles and up to 3 Charred Twitcher.

Deep North and the Jotun

Both raids stop once the Frozen King is defeated.

They emerge from below... happens only in Deep North and needs an Eyeless One defeated. It sends up to 2 Eyeless One, up to 10 Elaking and up to 3 Elaking (lantern).
The Jotun have found you needs a Jotun killed. It happens in Meadows, Swamp, Mountain, Black Forest, Plains, Deep North and Mistlands. It sends up to 3 Krigen and up to 3 Elaking.

All raids at a glance

Every raid in this table is part of the random roll and only happens near a player base, except "You are being hunted...".

Raid	Needs	Never after	Lasts (seconds)	Sends (at most)
Eikthyr rallies the creatures of the forest	None	Eikthyr is defeated	90	Neck (2), Boar (2)
The forest is moving...	Eikthyr is defeated	The Elder is defeated	120	Greydwarf (6), Greyling (4), Greydwarf Shaman (1), Greydwarf Brute (1)
A foul smell from the swamp...	The Elder is defeated	Bonemass is defeated	150	Draugr (3), Skeleton (6)
The ground is shaking	A troll has been killed, The Elder is defeated	None	80	Troll (2)
You are being hunted...	Bonemass is defeated	None	120	Wolf (6)
A skeleton surprise!	Bonemass is defeated	None	120	Skeleton (20), Rancid Remains (1)
A cold wind blows from the mountains	Bonemass is defeated	Moder is defeated	150	Drake (3)
A foul smell from the swamp...	Bonemass is defeated	None	120	Blob (5), Oozer (2)
There's a smell of sulfur in the air...	A surtling has been killed, Bonemass is defeated	None	120	Surtling (4)
You feel a chill down your spine...	Bonemass is defeated	None	150	Ghost (3), Wraith (2)
You stirred the cauldron	A bat has been killed, Bonemass is defeated	None	120	Bat (10)
The horde is attacking!	Moder is defeated	Yagluth is defeated	120	Fuling (8), Fuling Berserker (2), Fuling Shaman (1)
What's up, Gjall?!	Yagluth is defeated	The Queen is defeated	90	Gjall (1), Tick (4)
They sought you out	Yagluth is defeated	The Queen is defeated	90	Seeker (3), Seeker Brood (8)
She's hot on your tail!	Hildir's first request is completed	None	90	Brenna (1), Skeleton (4), Skeleton (meadows) (3), Rancid Remains (1)
You get the chills...	Hildir's second request is completed	None	90	Geirrhafa (1), Fenring (3), Cultist (1)
They were bros, man	Hildir's third request is completed	None	90	Zil and Thungr (1), Fuling (4), Fuling Berserker (1)
The undead army marches	The Queen is defeated	Fader is defeated	90	Charred Warrior (2), Charred Twitcher (3), Charred Marksman (3)
The dead have been summoned	The Queen is defeated	Fader is defeated	90	Charred bone piles (3), Charred Twitcher (3)
They emerge from below...	An Eyeless One is defeated	The Frozen King is defeated	90	Eyeless One (2), Elaking (10), Elaking (lantern) (3)
The Jotun have found you	A Jotun is killed	The Frozen King is defeated	90	Krigen (3), Elaking (3)

The boss events (Boss eikthyr, Boss bonemass, Boss moder, Boss gdking, Boss goblinking, Boss frozenking, Boss queen and Boss fader) and Fimbulvinter are not part of the random roll. They send no creatures.

Written from the game data of Valheim 1.0.17, last updated October 20, 2026.

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