Every great Viking needs a loyal companion, and in the wilds of Valheim, there’s no better starting friend than a boar. These seemingly simple creatures, often found snuffling through the Meadows, can be transformed from aggressive foes into a valuable source of leather and meat. Taming them is a classic Viking rite of passage. This guide will walk you through the entire process, from building a secure pen to breeding your very own boar farm.
Before you chase down your first boar, you need to build it a home. A secure enclosure is non-negotiable. Trying to tame a boar in the open is a recipe for frustration, as they will simply run away or constantly attack you.
Find a flat piece of land near your base for easy access. Open your crafting menu and look for the fencing options. The most cost-effective choice is the roundpole fence, which uses minimal wood. Build a pen of any size, but make sure to leave one section of the wall unfinished. This gap is your doorway to lure the boar inside. Ensure you have a workbench nearby, as it’s required for all building projects.
Luring and Trapping
Now for the exciting part: capturing a boar. You can find these creatures roaming freely in the Meadows biome. When you get close, a red exclamation point will appear over its head, signaling that it sees you as a threat. It will charge, and this is exactly what you want.
Instead of fighting, turn and run. Let the boar chase you all the way back to the pen you built. Carefully lead it through the open gap and into the enclosure. Once it’s inside, quickly open your hammer menu and place the final fence piece, sealing the exit. Unlike the boar, you can simply jump over the low fence to make your escape, leaving it safely contained.
The Taming Process
With the boar trapped, the real work begins. A frightened boar will not eat, so you may need to step away for a short while to let it calm down. The key to taming is food. Boars are not picky eaters; they will happily accept raspberries, blueberries, red mushrooms, carrots, or turnips.
To feed them, simply click and drag the food from your inventory and drop it on the ground inside the pen. You don’t need to drop one at a time; they will eat from a stack. When the boar feels safe and is hungry, it will wander over and eat. The moment it takes its first bite, you will see soft yellow hearts float above its head. This is your signal that the taming process has started.
You can check its progress by sneaking up close and looking at the boar; a tooltip will show its “Tameness” percentage. Taming takes about 30 minutes of real-time and requires you to stay in the general area. If you go too far away, the process will pause. Avoid sources of fire like torches or campfires near the pen, as they can frighten wild boars and disrupt their calm.
Building a “Boar Breeding Operation”
Once you have one tamed boar, it’s time to get a second. A single boar is a pet, but two boars are a business. Repeat the trapping process to get a second tamed boar in the same pen. Breeding is a natural extension of keeping them happy and well-fed.
Ensure there is always food on the ground for them. When two boars are fed, their status will change to “happy.” If they are close to each other and content, you will eventually see a cloud of pink hearts appear around them. This means they have successfully mated. Shortly after, a tiny, already-tamed piglet will appear. This baby boar will take about 50 minutes to grow into a full-sized adult that can then breed itself.
Be mindful of your space. Boars need a little room to move, and if your pen becomes too crowded, they will stop breeding. A good rule is to keep the population under control and ensure there are never more than five adult boars in a small area.
