So you want to tame a boar in Valheim? Good call. It's one of the first big upgrades for any Meadows base, and once it clicks you'll never go back to hunting wild pigs in the woods.
The best way is simple enough: trap one in a safe pen, drop carrots, stay close, and wait for the taming bar to fill. Get two tamed boars and you can breed them for a steady supply of leather scraps and boar meat. I've gone through this whole song and dance more times than I'd like to admit, from harpoon kiting my first one to building a carrot pen that never quite sealed right.
New Player Warnings
- Don't leave gaps in the pen. Boars squeeze through the tiniest openings and bolt, and chasing them down again is miserable.
- Don't wander off mid-tame. If you get too far, the timer pauses.
- Don't hit the boar, even by accident or "just to test it." Damage or fear resets your taming progress.
Why Tame Boars in Valheim?
Boars aren't just cute pigs trotting around the Meadows. They're a renewable resource. That matters.
Tamed boars breed, which means you can produce your own boar meat and leather scraps without spending every afternoon chasing wild boars through the trees.
Leather scraps go into a ton of early and mid-game recipes. Boar meat is solid early food, especially once it's cooked. Build a decent boar farm and you basically never run out of either.
You'll sometimes get a boar trophy when you harvest extra pigs. Nice little decoration for your base. But honestly, the trophy is the fun side effect. The real value is that steady supply of materials.
What You Need Before You Start
Tools and Materials
You don't need much to start taming boars, but a handful of things make the whole thing way less painful:
- Wood for a pen, ideally stakewalls or wood fences
- A gate for the pen
- Carrots or other boar food
- A weapon for culling extra boars later
- An Abyssal harpoon if you want the fastest dragging method
- A cultivator if you plan to farm carrots
The Abyssal harpoon is optional. It's made from chitin you get off Leviathans. No harpoon yet? Totally fine. You can still tame boars. It just takes more patience and a little more running around.
Best Food for Boars
Carrots are the best food for taming and breeding boars, no contest. Easy to farm, they stack well, and boars eat them without complaint. Turnips, onions, raspberries, blueberries, and red mushrooms also work if you're out of carrots.
Boars don't eat meat. Don't waste cooked meat or raw meat on them. It just sits on the ground.
For breeding, carrots are the go-to. Plant a small carrot farm near your pen so you always have a stack ready.
Best Way to Tame Boar in Valheim: Step-by-Step
Step 1: Build a Safe Carrot Pen
Find a flat spot in the Meadows, preferably near your base. Build a pen using stakewalls or wood fences. A 4x4 pen is fine for two boars.
If you want to actually breed them in any volume, make it bigger — 6x6 or 8x8. Add a gate so you can get in and out without tearing the walls down every time.
No gaps. I cannot stress this enough. Boars push through small openings and escape, and once they're out, catching them again is a nightmare.
A roof is optional. The main goal is keeping the boar inside and keeping enemies outside. That's it.
Step 2: Get the Boar Into the Pen With Harpoon Kiting
The fastest way to move a boar is with the Abyssal harpoon. Equip it, use the secondary attack to throw it at the boar, and once it latches on, walk backward.
The boar gets dragged toward you. Lead it through the gate, then slam the gate shut. That's harpoon kiting in a nutshell.
It works on wild boars and it's way faster than trying to shove them in by hand. No harpoon? Drop carrots on the ground to lure one instead. Boars walk toward food. You can also just build a pen around a boar while it's standing still. Slower, but it works.
Just watch the harpoon itself — it does a little damage, so don't spam attacks on the boar you're trying to befriend.
Step 3: Feed and Wait
Drop a stack of carrots inside the pen. The boar will eat when it gets hungry. Taming progress only climbs when the boar is fed and you're nearby.
Stay within about 20 meters of the boar. Wander too far and taming pauses. You can do nearby chores while you wait, though.
Chop wood. Repair walls. Farm carrots. Sort your inventory. Taming a boar takes about 30 minutes of real time if you stay close and keep it fed.
Check the boar now and then. You'll see a taming bar on it.
Don't attack the boar. Don't let enemies attack it either. If the boar takes damage or gets spooked, taming progress can reset.
Keep greydwarfs, skeletons, and raids away from your pen. I build my carrot pen right next to my base so I can farm and repair walls while the taming bar slowly fills.
Step 4: Confirm Taming and Start Breeding
When the taming bar fills, the boar becomes tamed. It stops running from you and settles into the pen. Now you need a second tamed boar if you actually want to breed.
Tame another boar the same way. Put both in the same pen. Drop carrots.
If they're close to each other and have enough space, they'll breed and produce a piglet. Piglets grow into adult boars over time, and once they're adults, they breed too.
Keep feeding them carrots. Keep the cycle going.
How to Breed Boars for Leather Scraps and Meat
Breeding Basics
Breeding is easy once you've got two tamed boars. They need food, space, and each other. Drop a few carrots in the pen.
The boars eat. Then they mate. You don't need a male and a female. Any two tamed boars can breed in Valheim.
A piglet appears after a while. There's a cap on how many animals breed in one area. Crowd the pen too much and the boars stop making babies.
When that happens, kill some adult boars to make room. Keep at least two adults for breeding.
Harvesting Extra Boars
When the pen is full, it's harvest time. Kill extra boars with a weapon. You get boar meat and leather scraps.
Sometimes a boar trophy drops too. Leather scraps go into crafting. Boar meat goes into your stomach.
Keep the best adults for breeding and cull the rest. That gives you a steady loop of materials without ever leaving your base.
Common Mistakes When Taming Boars
- Leaving gaps in the pen. Boars squeeze through small openings. Use stakewalls and a gate, and check for holes.
- Standing too far away. Taming pauses if you leave the area. Stay within about 20 meters.
- Feeding the wrong food. Boars don't eat meat. Use carrots, turnips, onions, berries, or red mushrooms.
- Attacking the boar. Hitting it resets taming progress. Keep your weapon away until it's tamed.
- Ignoring enemies. Greydwarfs, skeletons, and raids can kill or scare your boar. Build walls and clear the area.
- Taming only one boar. One boar can't breed. You need at least two tamed boars.
- Overcrowding the pen. Too many boars in one spot stops breeding. Kill extras to keep the herd growing.
- Taming in a dangerous biome. Meadows is the best place. Boars spawn there, and it's safer than the Black Forest or Swamp.
FAQ
How long does it take to tame a boar in Valheim?
About 30 minutes of real time if you stay nearby and keep it fed. If you leave the area, the timer pauses. If you attack it, progress can reset.
What's the best food to tame and breed boars?
Carrots are the best. They're easy to farm, stack well, and boars eat them.
Turnips, onions, raspberries, blueberries, and red mushrooms also work. Meat doesn't.
What's the best way to tame boar without a harpoon?
You can lure a boar with carrots or build a pen around one. It's slower than harpoon kiting, but it still works. Just keep the boar fed and stay close until the taming bar fills.
Can you tame a boar without a pen?
You can tame one in the open if you keep it fed and stay close, but it may wander off or get killed. A simple fenced pen is the best way to tame boar safely and start breeding.
