Lord Reto in Valheim: The Ashlands Miniboss Guarding the Dyrnwyn
Lord Reto is an Ashlands miniboss the wiki describes plainly as part of "the sub-quest to craft the Dyrnwyn." He carries 7,500 health, hits for up to 500 damage with his Feint, and — per the wiki — "is also capable of killing a player in one-hit, even if they have got the currently max health and best armor possible." He's found inside a specific dungeon, not wandering the biome, which makes tracking him down its own small puzzle before the fight even starts.
Where to Find Him, and What He's Guarding
Lord Reto's internal ID is Charred_Melee_Dyrnwyn — the "Dyrnwyn" suffix isn't decoration, it's the wiki's own confirmation of what he's for. He's found "inside the dungeon Tomb of Lord Reto," and the wiki states that "the location of the dungeon is given by following a series of 3 Vegvisirs." That's three separate map markers to track down before the Tomb even appears on your map — this isn't a boss you stumble into on an Ashlands walk, it's a dungeon you have to locate first, one Vegvisir at a time.
He spawns naturally at 2 stars, and only at 2 stars. The wiki is explicit about this: "Lord Reto spawns naturally with 2 stars, so all of his stats are listed with those multipliers taken into account." There's no documented 0-star or 1-star version of him to compare against — every figure below is already the 2-star number, and that's the only tier the source gives.
His faction is Demon, his weakness is Spirit, he's resistant to Pierce, Fire and Frost, and immune to Poison.
His Four Attacks
| Attack | Damage | Cooldown | Arc / Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swing | 480 Slash | 3s | 3m, 115° arc, within 1.6m |
| Thrust | 460 Pierce | 3s | 3m line, arcs ~10°, within 1.6m |
| Feint | 500 Slash | 8s | 3m, 77.3° vertical arc, within 1.6m |
| Thrust feint | 420 Pierce | 3s | 3m, 60° vertical arc, within 1.6m |
The wiki notes he "has an attack move set similar to a regular Charred Warrior, but more health and damage than even a 2-starred Charred Warrior" — a direct comparison the source itself makes, without giving the Warrior's own numbers on this page to check it against.
His Feint is his single hardest-hitting move at 500 Slash, ahead of his regular Swing's 480. The catch is the windup: "shares the same windup as the swing, but Lord Reto will suddenly pause before shifting stances to attack." The wiki times that pause precisely — "the timing difference between the regular swing and the feint is approximately 0.57 seconds" — and calls it "practically no difference between the animation for this attack and that of the regular swing." His Thrust feint works the same way off the Thrust windup, with "the timing difference between the thrust and the feint thrust... approximately 0.631 seconds."
Reading the Feints, and What He Drops
For both feints, the wiki gives the same caveat: "there is more than enough time to react and parry again, but the attack will catch rolling players unless completely moving out of his range." A parry read is safe; a roll timed for the visible windup is not, since the feint's pause happens after the roll window most players would already be committing to.
The wiki also points to audio as a tell: "Feint attacks can be identified by their unique sounds," and it lists distinct sound files for Swing, Thrust and Feint — "both feint attacks share the same set of sounds" with each other, separate from the regular Swing and Thrust cues.
The wiki lists his stagger value as 0.5, but it doesn't document what that figure converts to in raw damage, so the exact hit-to-stagger threshold is undocumented here — don't assume it maps to a specific health fraction.
His drop is a single, specific item: the Dyrnwyn hilt fragment, listed in the drop table at a flat quantity with no star-based scaling documented — unlike his own combat stats, the drop itself isn't tiered.
On survivability, the wiki is blunt: Lord Reto "is also capable of killing a player in one-hit, even if they have got the currently max health and best armor possible," naming Piquant Pie, Mashed Meat and Fiery Svinstew — the last "which provides 300 health" — as the food setup referenced alongside that claim. The source doesn't spell out the exact health total those three foods combine to, so treat that as the wiki's own stated ceiling, not a number to extrapolate further.
Practical tips
- Track down all 3 Vegvisirs first. The Tomb of Lord Reto's location isn't guessable — it's revealed only by following that full sequence.
- Bring Spirit damage. It's his only documented weakness; Pierce, Fire and Frost are all resisted, and Poison does nothing at all.
- Parry, don't roll, on the feints. Both feints share a near-identical windup with the real Swing/Thrust, with only a ~0.57–0.63 second tell — a parry has time, a badly-timed roll doesn't.
- Listen for the feint sound cue. The wiki calls out distinct audio for Swing, Thrust and Feint specifically to help tell them apart on reaction.
- Don't fight this one solo if you can help it. A stated one-hit-kill threat "even with max health and best armor possible" is a fight built around backup and revives, not perfect play.
Running your own Valheim server
Locating three Vegvisirs, opening a hidden Tomb, and surviving a Feint you can't always roll away from is a lot easier with a full group in the world at once instead of split across separate saves. A gamever Valheim server keeps the Ashlands persistent for up to 10 players, so everyone's online for the same Vegvisir hunt and the same Tomb attempt.
Conclusion
Lord Reto is the Ashlands miniboss gatekeeping the Dyrnwyn questline, found only inside the Tomb of Lord Reto after tracking down 3 Vegvisirs. He spawns naturally at 2 stars only — with 7,500 health and a listed stagger value of 0.5 (what that converts to in damage is undocumented) — and hits with four attacks: a 480 Slash Swing, a 460 Pierce Thrust, a 500 Slash Feint, and a 420 Pierce Thrust feint, the two feints sharing their windup with the real attacks and differing by only about 0.57–0.63 seconds. He's weak to Spirit, resistant to Pierce, Fire and Frost, immune to Poison, and per the wiki is capable of a one-hit kill "even if" a player has max health and the best armor available. His reward is a single Dyrnwyn hilt fragment, undocumented for any star-based scaling.
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