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Fader is the Ashlands Forsaken, a 25,000-health boss that cannot be staggered. His attacks are mostly physical pierce, which is resisted; fire and spirit deal no damage. Blunt, slash, frost, lightning and poison are the dependable damage types. The safest general plan is to arrive in Ashlands-tier armor with fire resistance, strong food and healing mead, then use the arena’s outer ring to outrun fissures and meteors. Magic is the most forgiving approach in the reviewed strategy because Staff of the Wild can root Fader while Trollstav summons draw attention away from you.
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This guide explains how to locate the Emerald Flame altar, collect the nine Bell Fragments needed to summon Fader, prepare each combat style, read every attack, and recover from common failures.
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What Fader is and why the fight is different
Fader is the Ashlands Forsaken encountered at an enormous coliseum-like structure. The Valheim GameCore Wiki lists 25,000 health for the boss in 2026. Unlike many enemies, Fader cannot be staggered, so a shield parry or heavy hit never creates a guaranteed stun window. You must attack during recovery animations and disengage before the next area attack.
| Damage type | Result against Fader | Practical implication |
|---|---|---|
| Blunt | Full damage | A strong option for close-range weapons. |
| Slash | Full damage | Works well for melee weapons that let you reposition quickly. |
| Frost | Full damage | Useful for arrows and other ranged pressure. |
| Lightning | Full damage | Effective when your weapon or staff provides it. |
| Poison | Full damage | Poison ammunition remains worthwhile over a long fight. |
| Pierce | Half damage | Spears, bows and crossbows can work, but kills take longer. |
| Fire | Immune | Do not make fire damage the core of your build. |
| Spirit | Immune | Spirit-focused damage contributes nothing. |
His size and slow movement make the encounter readable, but the arena becomes dangerous as burning ground accumulates. Fissure is the decisive movement check: marked flame circles become spikes and leave fire pools that can kill a fully armoured character quickly. Survival, not maximum attack speed, determines most successful attempts.
Find the coliseum and summon Fader
Locate the Emerald Flame altar
Fader’s altar is inside an Ashlands coliseum. You do not need to search every island blindly. Find an Ashlands Vegvisir, usually inside a Charred Fortress, and interact with it to reveal the nearest Fader altar on your map.
Collect the Bell Fragments
Bell Fragments are found in Charred Fortresses. You need nine fragments in total. Each Bell is crafted at the Black Forge from three Bell Fragments, and the altar requires three Bells.
Summoning procedure
- Finish the earlier progression and enter Ashlands with fire resistance. The preparation guidance recommends Mistlands-tier equipment before making the crossing.
- Use a Vegvisir in a Charred Fortress to mark the closest coliseum.
- Raid enough Charred Fortresses to obtain nine Bell Fragments.
- At a Black Forge, craft three Bells, spending three fragments on each.
- Establish a recoverable route to the coliseum. Carry materials for a portal, but place it well away from the altar and from areas likely to be destroyed or covered by fire.
- Clear or route around Charred enemies on the approach, then establish food, rested status and fire resistance before the final summon.
- Place all three Bells on the altar. The summoning event begins after the third Bell is installed.
Do not place the portal directly beside the altar. If a death, fire pool or collapsing fight area makes the first approach unusable, a distant portal gives you room to recover and return safely.
Preparation that prevents avoidable deaths
Elemental protection and consumables
- Fire-resistance barley wine: Drink it before placing the last Bell and refresh it according to its normal duration. It is essential for the breath, meteors, fissure pools and the Ashlands route.
- High-health food: Use your strongest available health-focused meal so a single mistake does not become an immediate death.
- Healing mead: Keep it on a hotkey. Healing after leaving a fissure is safer than trying to trade hits while the floor is burning.
- Rested status: Enter with the Rested buff so stamina regenerates while sprinting between attack zones.
Armor, shield and power
An Ashlands-tier armor set is the baseline recommendation. Melee characters should carry an Ashlands shield such as the Flametal Shield or Flametal Tower Shield. Bonemass power is especially valuable because it reduces incoming physical damage, which covers the bite, claws and spin. Choose the power before summoning; changing it after the encounter starts is not an option.
Prepare the arena
- Scout the outer edge and identify a continuous running lane before the fight.
- Keep the central space available rather than allowing every fire pool to overlap there.
- Place the portal far enough away that a death does not put it inside an attack zone.
- Put food, barley wine, healing mead and your preferred weapon set on the hotbar.
- Carry spare ammunition and, for ranged builds, at least one replacement bow.
Choose melee, ranged or magic
| Style | Damage and pace | Movement during fissure | Resource and control concerns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melee | Excellent when using blunt or slash; short punish windows of two or three hits. | Requires stamina for repeated dodge rolls and careful resets to the outer ring. | Shield durability and stamina management matter; parries can push you away from a safe retaliation position. |
| Ranged | Safe distance, but pierce resistance makes ordinary bow damage slower. | Easy to keep moving while circling the arena. | Consumes arrows and bow durability; spare bows prevent a durability failure from ending the attempt. |
| Magic | The reviewed strategy calls it the easiest option because it can create damage windows without standing beside the boss. | Roots and summoned distractions let you reposition before fissure reaches you. | Requires eitr food, Lingering Eitr Mead and attention to summon placement; Staff of Protection is not reliable against fissure or fire breath. |
Melee plan
Use the health-heavy food setup, fire-resistance barley wine, healing mead and a Flametal Shield or Flametal Tower Shield. Stay near Fader’s flank rather than directly in front of his head. Dodge rolling is stamina-efficient and avoids the frontal arcs. A strong shield can parry, but the knockback may leave you outside the recovery window; blocking and moving to the side is often more consistent.
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Wait for a missed bite, claw or spin. Land two or three attacks, then reset to a safe distance. Do not extend the combo because Fader cannot be staggered and can immediately transition into fissure. Activate Bonemass power when you expect to take repeated physical hits or when summoned Charred make a clean escape difficult.
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Circle at long range and keep a clear lane behind you. Frost Arrows are listed as the highest-DPS choice in the compared ranged options, with Charred Arrows close behind. Poison Arrows are also viable because poison is not resisted. Bows and crossbows remain usable because Fader is large and slow, but the pierce component means a standard pierce-heavy setup takes longer.
Watch durability as closely as health. A spare bow and extra ammunition let you finish a long fight instead of being forced into melee after your equipment breaks. Shoot during recovery animations, then stop firing long enough to sprint from every marked fissure circle.
Magic plan
Magic offers the most forgiving control pattern. Staff of the Wild can root Fader and create temporary walls, producing a short window for attacks or repositioning. Trollstav summons can tank and distract while you maintain distance. In a party, Staff of Protection can absorb ordinary hits, but do not rely on its barrier to survive fissure or fire breath.
Use two eitr foods plus one health food, or an equivalent feast, and carry Lingering Eitr Mead for regeneration. Keep enough stamina to sprint even while managing eitr. Place roots and summons so that they buy time without forcing you into a burning corner.
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Counter every Fader attack
Bite
The bite is a forward pierce attack reaching roughly 9–10 metres. Never stand at the head. Block with a shield or dodge sideways as the head commits, then attack from the flank during recovery. A backward retreat can still leave you inside the reach, so a lateral move is safer.
Claw swipes
Left and right claws cover frontal arcs. Block, dodge through the side or move to Fader’s flank. Once the swing finishes, take a short two- or three-hit punish and immediately reset. Staying in front for a second swing usually trades health for little extra damage.
Spin
The spin damages the area around Fader. Step outside its radius rather than trying to trade through it. The recovery animation is your opening for melee strikes, arrows or a spell, provided no fissure marker has appeared under you.
Fire breath
Fire breath travels in a line and leaves burning ground; it cannot be blocked. Walk or dodge perpendicular to the line instead of backing straight away. The guide notes that standing under Fader’s chin can avoid the breath, but use that position only briefly because fissure or a claw can catch you there. Do not cross the fresh burning strip to regain melee range.
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Meteors
Look up and keep moving when meteors begin. Impacts leave fire zones and their landing spread varies, so there is no permanently safe fixed spot. Continue your circle around the arena, using the open side rather than stopping to attack through the impact pattern.
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Fissure
Fader marks the ground, then flame circles appear around players. Those circles become spikes followed by lingering flame pools. Sprint out of every marked circle before the spikes emerge. Keep running until you are clearly outside the burning area; returning for a quick hit is a common cause of death because the pool remains dangerous after the visual spike ends.
Fissure cannot be blocked. Treat the warning as a full movement phase: stop attacking, preserve stamina, and use the outer ring to keep the next escape route open. Resume damage only after the ground is safe.
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Fader’s roar can create Charred Warriors or Marksmen. His ranged attacks can damage Ashlands enemies, so kiting can make the boss thin his own reinforcements. Kill the adds when they pin you, cut off the escape path or combine with fissure to remove your running lane. Otherwise, keep moving and let Fader’s attacks do some of the clearing.
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- Pre-buff: Confirm Rested status, eat your full food set, drink fire-resistance barley wine and place healing or eitr mead on the hotbar.
- Start wide: Pull Fader toward the outer arena instead of camping at the altar. This leaves the centre available if meteors or fissure cover your first route.
- Read the opener: Respond to bite, claws, spin or breath with the corresponding counter rather than attacking immediately.
- Take short windows: Melee characters use two or three hits after a miss; ranged and magic users fire during recovery and then keep moving.
- Call fissure: The moment flame circles appear, stop damage and sprint. Preserve stamina for the entire escape.
- Manage the floor: Continue around the perimeter so fire pools do not overlap in the centre. Avoid crossing old burning ground simply to reach Fader.
- Handle adds: Let Fader damage Charred when possible; remove any Warrior or Marksman that blocks your next escape.
- Repeat patiently: Fader’s large health pool rewards consistent safe windows. A slower attempt that preserves food, stamina and healing is better than a risky burst.
- Finish and secure the area: After the kill, collect the reward items only when remaining Charred and fire zones are safe.
Multiplayer assignments
Two or more players should avoid standing in the same marked circle. Assign one player to maintain distance and call fissure as soon as the ground marks appear. Other players can exploit melee recovery windows from the flanks while the caller keeps the boss moving. A ranged or magic player can kite Charred away from the group, while the shield user handles a Warrior that reaches the damage dealers.
Spread out during meteors and breath so one line attack cannot hit everyone. If a player is downed, the remaining team should prioritize clearing an approach lane rather than reviving in a burning pool.
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Common failures and fixes
Fader is taking almost no damage
Check the damage type. Pierce is reduced, while fire and spirit are ineffective. Change to blunt, slash, frost, lightning or poison. A bow can still finish the encounter, but expect a slower kill and bring extra durability and ammunition.
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You are probably fighting in the centre and allowing fissure and meteor pools to overlap. Move Fader around the outer ring from the start, sprint through every warning, and never return to a fresh pool for one more hit.
Stamina runs out during fissure
Stop attacking earlier, keep Rested active and avoid unnecessary jumps or repeated rolls. Melee players should use one lateral dodge instead of chaining rolls. Magic players need to reserve stamina even while spending eitr.
The portal is destroyed or unsafe
A portal placed beside the altar can be caught by destructive effects or leave you surrounded after a death. Rebuild it well away from the coliseum and keep the route clear enough to recover food, mead and equipment.
Charred enemies overwhelm the group
Do not automatically focus every add. First ask whether Fader can hit them while you kite. Kill a Warrior or Marksman when it pins a player, blocks the only clear fissure route or prevents a safe revive.
A ranged weapon breaks before the boss dies
Carry a spare bow and more ammunition. The long fight length created by pierce resistance makes durability a real failure condition even when your positioning is safe.
Rewards and progression
The preparation guide documents five Fader Relics and a Fader Trophy among the encounter rewards. Defeating Fader also ends the undead raids described in that guide and advances late-game progression. Secure the arena before collecting everything, because a surviving Charred enemy or a lingering fire pool can still kill a victorious party.
Quick Recap
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