Quick answer
Current live-game guidanceWhat to do first
Defeat The Elder for the Swamp key, find Sunken Crypts in a Swamp, and mine their Muddy scrap piles with any pickaxe. Take the scrap iron to a Smelter with coal to make iron bars. Under normal portal settings, scrap and bars cannot enter a wood portal, so plan the return trip before filling your inventory.
Prepare the trip before entering a crypt
- 1
Bring the Swamp key from The Elder. It opens crypt entrances and is not consumed by each door.
- 2
Pack a repaired pickaxe, poison resistance, current food and a way to refresh the Rested effect. An antler pickaxe can mine the scrap piles; an iron pickaxe is not required to get your first iron.
- 3
Scout for crypts before committing your cargo route. A small patch of Swamp may have no useful crypts.
- 4
Leave a recovery portal in a safer position and arrange a boat, cart route or local smelting setup for the metal.
Work through the crypt in sections
Muddy scrap piles block passages between rooms. Mine a manageable opening and check the next room before removing the whole barrier. Draugr, blobs and enemy spawners can turn an unplanned opening into a fight in a narrow corridor.
Check crypt chests as well as piles. Pick up Withered bones for Bonemass and read any Vegvisir you find while you are there. Mark explored crypts so a later trip does not repeat the same search.
Not every mined section drops iron. An empty swing or a pile that yields other materials does not mean you used the wrong pickaxe. Deposits do not refill after you clear them.
Bring scrap home and smelt it
| Stage | What to do | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the crypt | Keep collected scrap somewhere you can retrieve safely between loads. | Mining more than you can carry without a plan to return. |
| Leaving the Swamp | Use your planned cargo route; a wood portal is for you and allowed supplies, not restricted metal. | Assuming smelting first makes the metal teleportable. |
| At the base | Feed scrap iron and coal into a Smelter and collect iron bars. | Looking for iron bars in the Forge before smelting. |
| Spending the first batch | Choose the next bottleneck: a Bonemass weapon, a tool or a construction unlock. | Using the entire shipment on upgrades you do not need yet. |
If you cannot find enough iron
Search another substantial Swamp rather than repeatedly clearing the same area. Crypt distribution varies by world. Buried outdoor scrap and Oozer drops can supplement a run, but they are not a guaranteed replacement for crypts.
Later, Ancient swords and armor in the Mistlands provide another salvage route. Keep that option separate from a new player's Swamp plan: reaching the later biome safely is a different requirement.
Version & sources
Sources & what may change
- Applies to
- Live 0.221.12 through Ashlands; check world settings and mods.
- Last verified
- September 4, 2026
- When to check again
- Recheck after the September 9 release, a relevant patch, or a change to the linked documentation. This page is not yet verified for 1.0.