5 Tips For Fighting Tar Monsters - Valheim

[@billyh8668]

Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge.

[@quicksandriggs]

I was so close to saying those tips at the beginning!

[@Flowmaster925]

if you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball - Patches O'Houlihan

[@novaknavekey]

The perfect comment doesn’t exis….

[@porous9]

My best tip for taking on Growths is... don't. There are plenty of monsters in Plains who have mutual loathing of the Growths, get them to fight for you. Some Tar Pits spawn out in the open and not near anything you can use. I would skirt these Pits. The ones I target either have a Fuling village or a herd of Lox nearby. You can get pretty close to Lox or to a Fuling village without aggroing them. The other key factor is that Growths, like Fulings, are VERY sensitive to missiles thunking down into the ground near them, so they will come to investigate. I position myself close to the Lox/Fuling village and fire off arrows randomly at the Tar Pit in the near distance. You don't need to hit anything, just fire that your arrows land in the general vicinity of the tar pools. When 2-3 Growths come plopping out to investigate, I run past the Lox or village in such a way that it is within the Growth's missile range. Then I let them engage, wait till the battle is over and scoop up the loot. Rinse and repeat until the Tar Pit is empty of its guardian Growths (usually around five or six), and you're good to go. I don't use much Tar in the game as I'm not into building with dark wood. However, I do need it for the Hot Tub, Blackmetal Chests and a few other furniture items. So 40-50 Tar covers me for the game. That's less than one Pit. So I clear one out using other monsters, drain it, get the heck out of Dodge and never come back. I also made the mistake of building my Plains farm within range of a Pit, a mistake I won't repeat. I now put at least 200m distance between any Pit (even a drained one) and any farm/base that I make. When draining the Pit, don't go half-measures. Back off about 30 yards or so, dig down with your Pick and don't stop digging until you hit bottom and can't dig any deeper. Then dig towards the pit. I initially tried shallower channels and it was a mess, me having to swim through tar to try and find where I could dig the channel deeper because the pit only half-drained. Go full depth from the start, it's the only way and drains the whole pit. I am currently playing a pre-H&H character who had to find a new Plains for Tar as it won't spawn in explored Plains areas. Using the above technique, I landed on a Plains coast at dawn, found a Pit with a Fuling village nearby, got rid of all the Growths, dug my channel, drained the pit and was back in my boat sailing home with 72 Tar before sunset. I took 0 damage from either Fulings or Growths. Done and dusted, and I never have to see Growths or Tar again. At least, not on this character. That's a good outcome for me.

[@quicksandriggs]

Sounds like a pretty good method!

[@pappymomo1741]

I do kinda opposite of you. I eat high stamina food run through the filing village and pull the fulings to the pits. I then find a rock to watch on and pick off survivors with my bow.

[@porous9]

I just found an ace new strategy for killing Growths. If you can find a Tar Pit near to a Fuling Tower (must be a stone Tower with Fulings up in the levels above the ground, the type that often has a Fuling Totem on a stand at the bottom of the tower), you can kill them easily. Get rid of all the Fulings at ground level but leave one or two in the upper parts of the tower. They can't get down to the ground and the Growths can't get up to them. That is the key. Aggro the Growth(s) at the Tar Pit and run to and past the Tower. As the Growths approach the Tower, their AI will lock on to the Fulings because they are closer than you and AI aggro is proximity-based. Once that happens, the Growth will try to get as close to the Fulings as possible to attack them. The Fulings, meanwhile, will spot the Growth(s) and will make their usual 'Oh!' sound to signal aggression. But neither one can get at the other so they just stand looking dumbly at each other without attacking anything. You can then pick off the Growth(s) with your bow at your leisure. It doesn't matter when your arrows hit it, the Growth's AI stays locked onto the Fulings as long as it is closer to the Fuling than to you. The Fulings can't attack you at ground level so you can just ignore them, scoop up the Tar and off you go.

[@nozee77]

Very helpful tips! I had no idea those mobs where weak to spirit damage! I used to think fire against tar would be the logical way to go. So, thank you for pointing that out!

[@quicksandriggs]

For sure!

[@saulithyia]

My tactic? "Hey hon, wanna play Valheim with me? I need tar." Haha... he farmed tar whilst I did other busy work at my base. Good tactic, if you ask me! 😂

[@quicksandriggs]

That is the best tactic!

[@keyoke69]

My wife does the same thing lol.

[@melma2753]

I get fulings to kill them for me, if a village is nearby. If i want the fulings dead, i lead them to the pits where the growths have an advantage, as the fulings get stuck in tar. If i want the growths dead, i lead them to the village, where the fulings kill them easily in an open field. Either way it makes for quite a spectacle, as both parties are very efficient in killing one another.

[@quicksandriggs]

Sounds like good entertainment!

[@Ramschat]

Definitely use the Huntsman bow! It has a far smaller sound radius: 4m. Meaning only enemies within 4 meters of where your arrow lands will notice you when you fire. You can pick them off one by one, where other bows will draw attention from multiple growths at the same time.

[@quicksandriggs]

Great tip, thanks!

[@BrianShamie]

Thank you for this! I kept getting killed with my heavy armor and fire arrows, but with silver arrows and spirit damage, I’ve been clearing out tar pits like a pro all weekend. I appreciate all your Valheim tips!

[@michaeljohnson1076]

Don't forget about the Root Helm as well, it makes you resistant to poison attacks. Another tactic that I don't see many people using in a lot of videos. Works great in a pinch if you don't have the potions or if your potions run out.

[@quicksandriggs]

That would definitely have saved me once in my last play through! But I will say, the majority of the time, if I take hits from growths, I mostly die from the impact damage and almost never notice the poison. But that root mask can be a lifesaver sometimes!

[@mikebell7813]

Anything in valheim can be killed with terrain manipulation. Either to give you a height advantage with an invulnerable wall to hide behind or a ditch to drag them into. But yeah these methods are good too. I don't recommend the troll armor against a full spawn of tar dudes. Poison resist goes a long way.

[@quicksandriggs]

Troll armor is definitely difficult!

[@Omaha_Paulie_E]

Love this video. Tar is easy now for me. 1) Typically find a big rock/next to the tar pit-climb up top. 2) Shoot an arrow to get attention 3) wait til they shoot (it won't hit you as you are above them)-now they have 5 seconds before they can reload 4) quickly climb down and run towards tar and hold attack down using a knife. EzPeeze

[@quicksandriggs]

Awesome! I’m glad it helped!

[@Sir_Moth]

I love fighting the challenging enemies it keeps me coming back.

[@hellofditties]

thank you SO much for providing a guide that isn't just cheesing the game!!!

[@quicksandriggs]

I’m glad it helped you!

[@Komyets]

I like to use obstacles to force them into closer range. Hiding behind a boulder of a bush makes enemies approach, perfect to melee them that way. Let them approach you, not the other way around, then knife the heck out of them with silver!

[@quicksandriggs]

Nice plan!

[@cindy1763]

i needed this, died thrice to the growths trying to get tar for roofing.. i hate how they are so many

[@quicksandriggs]

It’s definitely easy to get overwhelmed by them!

[@MegaTerryNutkins]

I do the opposite - try and pick them off with arrows and draw them out individually, then block their ranged attacks and finish them with the porcupine before they jump. Easiest way is to draw them to a fuling camp if there's one nearby.

[@quicksandriggs]

If you can get one at a time, things can go smoothly!

[@barrygwilliam5367]

Thank you for this video. Found it very helpful. Now...... lets go and test your ideas lol 👍

[@quicksandriggs]

Hopefully some of them work out for you!

[@joet7136]

Most are near Fuling villages. I just lure a bunch of Fulings to the nearest tar pit and watch them kill each other.

[@quicksandriggs]

That’s a solid plan!

[@Count_Gustav]

Damn That thing scarier than Deathsquito, my strat was just runaway as possible while using fire arrow, and thx for the tips in this video.

[@quicksandriggs]

They can definitely be difficult when unprepared!

[@Count_Gustav]

@@quicksandriggs Yep I underestimated it on my first encounter, I was like "Meh probably just like a blob its not that dangerous" and it clapped me over and over and cant runaway, thx to Wolf Armor that slowed me down.

[@ScarryHarry93]

I witnessed 2 wild lox start a fight at a tar pit...they were certainly useful at killing most of them. But with that knockback and poison, the growths almost killed both lox (only 1 alive with like 10-20% hp left). Part of it was getting the last couple in deep tar, were the lox couldn't seem to attack them. So ya...growths can almost survive 2 lox in the right circumstance lol

[@quicksandriggs]

Wow! Those guys are brutal!

[@msarilyn7677]

It's weird that tar monsters are weak to spirit, you would think it would be weak to fire and if they group up the fire would spread. Ah, well things in video games don't have to make logical sense.

[@quicksandriggs]

That would’ve been cool being able to spread fire on them!

[@brandontwohawks]

These are surprisingly difficult mobs.

[@quicksandriggs]

Yep! They still give me trouble when I’m unprepared…

[@Alex-mv2dr]

Tip number 7, attract fulings or wild loxes to the pit, the mobs will kill each other.

[@quicksandriggs]

Good idea, thanks!

[@1Mountinman]

Three pits in one spot... tar bonanza. Wow! I've only found one pit on my entire map so far.

[@Estergent]

Running at plains with a troll armor sounds like a complete suicide mission. Yeah theoretically a working idea, in practice I would avoid trying it out.

[@porous9]

It's the approach I favour. Armour only matters when you're hit. The only thing you should be hit by in Plains is surprise Squito attacks and those are easily survivable in Troll armour. I don't melee Lox and I thin out Fuling pairs or packs with Frost arrows first, leaving only one or two to melee where blocking suffices. That said, I've had to go Padded in my latest playthrough. Usually I build only a crop farm and adjoining Lox farm in Plains, visit during the day and then portal back to my main base in Meadows at night. This time, I built my main base in Plains near the farms. I have 16-20 tame Lox scattered around the base so anything that spawns in the vicinity is spotted and attacked. Days aren't too bad but nights are insane. Forget sleeping, it is all combat all the time. Over the course of one particularly memorable and foggy night, my Lox were attacked by NINE groups of four Fulings each, with pairs of Squitoes added in for good measure. I couldn't see a thing in the fog and was using the sounds of nearby battle as my guide, running from one group of Lox to the next to help out and heal them. I ran slap-bang into a 2-star spear Fuling who almost one-shotted me but was immediately stomped into dust by three Lox. The combat is so hectic that I don't even use my shield as it slows me down. I just rush in and slash at everything, drop Cloudberries for the Lox to heal and move to the next group. So I need to be able to take hits and had to forego the mobility of Troll armour. It's a fun and different playstyle because it's all fighting all the time. I do not have time to smelt, farm, craft or anything as helping and healing the Lox is a 24-hour job. But if you want loot, it's very productive. I've only been doing it for about seven game days but I have over 150 Black Metal waiting to be smelted, nearly 100 Needles and several hundred Wood and Stone from the Lox's stomp attacks. I scoop it all up, run to the base, store the loot, repair my gear and am back into the fray again immediately. It's too intense to sustain, though. So I'm now portaling out at night to my other base in Meadows again. It's the only way to get a break and do the game's routine chores, heh.

[@Estergent]

@@porous9 I mean you can just wear padded armor and use rocks to block attacks or roll them. So that you can also tank mosquito attacks if they get you buy surprise. Wearing troll armor gets you one shot by mosquitos especially if / when you get slowed. And you will get slowed a lot, no one can dodge all the attacks. And yeah I live at plains and usually skip sleeping as it gets more intense at night time. I taimed a lox and mr. lox decided to fuck up my base when troll attacked. So decided not to taim any more of them. :D

[@porous9]

Yeah, Lox can do a number on structures when they get panicked. I have a perimeter fence around my base of a palisade wall with a single layer of stone tiles clipped to the base of the palisade on the outside, then another single layer of stone tiles clipped to the first layer. Even if Lox stomp near the fence, it usually doesn't break the wall. There's an old Fuling tower near my base and several Lox are near it. They have almost demolished the tower by now, purely by stomping Squitoes and Fulings that come close. The big problem with tamed Lox everywhere is that they stomp the Cloudberry patches, thereby making it harder and harder to gather food to heal and breed them. Luckily there are some distant patches I can still harvest but it's something to consider when releasing tamed Lox into the wild. When Lox have been in an area for a while, there is nothing left standing except grass.

[@quicksandriggs]

I would definitely only use troll armor against these guys, fulings always get hits in on me! It worked while I was doing all of these tests and I didn’t get caught by any deathsquito attacks, but it was definitely an isolated incident. If you have high sneaking, then the troll armor may have more viability in the plains.

[@porous9]

Squitoes are the problem. Not on their own, they're easy then. But in conjunction with Fulings, they are lethal. The problem is when you're running from Fulings and Squitoes bushwhack you. I can kite Fulings all day long in Troll armour. But you can't kite Squitoes, they're too fast. So then I have to switch to melee and stop to nail the Squito, and that's when the Fulings can get hits in. The key is to listen for the buzzing and deal with them before they see you. And then also to never run from Fulings into an area you haven't covered. Always turn back and run the way you've come. It's not guaranteed safe, Squitoes can respawn within seconds of the previous lot being killed. But it's safer than running into areas you haven't cleared.

[@robertjohnston8531]

6. Kite wild lox over to the pit to kill them for you.

[@quicksandriggs]

Definitely gotta utilize those other plains creatures!

[@johna3357]

At first I thought they were super hard to fight but now they're super easy.

[@quicksandriggs]

Practice makes perfect!

[@benjaminjones5744]

I'm kinda lazy to get silver knife skills up, however Fenris gear with silver arrows seems like a good idea with some stamina potions, thank you.

[@quicksandriggs]

For sure!

[@squeak5242]

I think it’s be really cool if they bugged all undead or spirit dmg takers health and then buff spirit dmg so that silver can have a use for all stages of the game unless they don’t take spirit dmg that’s be really cool

[@quicksandriggs]

I’m with you there, it’s too easy to kill undead and never need spirit damage!

[@squeak5242]

@@quicksandriggs yeah spirit is good it’s just that u never really see the use since everything that silver is good against is a lower biome and maybe the mistlands will account for that

[@quicksandriggs]

@@squeak5242 Hopefully!

[@Txhalfnote]

The Huntsman bow will also only aggro one tar monster at a time

[@haiiix3]

Would bringing a stack of stone to create a high vantage point work?

[@quicksandriggs]

Terraforming a pillar could definitely help, but if you happen to get hit and knocked off, you’d be in a real bad spot.

[@IamGhede]

I have to disagree that slowing them down is ineffective. Divide and conquer.

[@quicksandriggs]

If you can get them separated, that is definitely the way to go! I've mostly been unsuccessful with it unfortunately...

[@mclaine7342]

Silver Arrows? Not Fire Arrows?

[@quicksandriggs]

Fire arrows may be helpful too, but silver just hit so much harder and the growth are still weak to it. I'd like to see the option for us to craft all of the elemental arrows at end game with equal pierce damage.

[@is1578]

Bruw, just make it easy: Fire arrows. Your welcome. 2 Shot, any weapon, any range, any armor.

[@squeak5242]

What if they made dual wielding knife only but u can only (strike twice) with the middle button

[@quicksandriggs]

I’d like dual wielding in any form!

[@panurge987]

The valheim wiki says they are weak against fire. It doesn't say anything about spirit.

[@quicksandriggs]

There isn’t a technical ‘weakness’ to spirit. Most things don’t even take spirit damage, so if the enemy takes spirit damage I consider them weak to it, but all it really means is they are affected by spirit damage.

To avoid stucking your saddle in the tar, might as well remove the saddle when unmounting the Lox?

[@quicksandriggs]

If you’ve got quick reflexes, that’ll definitely be the best plan!

[@Momoka7]

Why only Troll Armor? That Root Armor adds +15 to Bow Skill on top of reducing Poison Damage, so I would say either one of them fully Upgraded is fine. If you want to use the Silver Dagger go with the Troll Armor for the added Sneak, if you choose a Bow I would use the Root Armor for the added Bow Skill. Also, weirdly the Wiki says they take x1.5 from Blunt and Fire damage... only x1 from Spirit. So I not know is the Wiki wrong... or are you wrong. I need to test that myself I guess.

[@quicksandriggs]

They do take a decent amount of fire damage, but spirit damage typically hits harder since it is found later in the game. (Provided the creature takes spirit damage) Fire arrows for example have a bit more fire damage than silver arrows have spirit damage, but silver arrows hit much much harder on impact. Beyond using a bow though, there isn’t really an option to use fire in the late game. And this video was released before root armor was in the game. But yes, root armor is a very good choice now!

[@Momoka7]

@@quicksandriggs Yeah, I would guess the base instant damage for the arrow to be different. Fire and Silver arrows DoT are similar, but fire is overall weaker as far as I understand it. Because fire = fire, no matter what source it comes from... be it from a campfire or a fire arrow.

[@jessepatterson8897]

half the time he's dying using his own tactics, i learned nothing from this lol

[@quicksandriggs]

Same here!

[@hshsgjakanss]

The more I play this game the more I can tell its under developed with almost no skill involved but rather the devs have just upped the damage output of certain mobs to stupid levels. Empty biome with 2 over powered mobs and some berries..... Seems like thats the case with every biome and a common practice for the dev team.