A little update on the situation: First, thanks for the confirmation that it's just unlucky RNG. I'm up to 7 of them now, completely excavated at least 8 hits deep, and I have managed to find 1 chest and a couple jemstones along with more skeletal remains. I just got my first pickax after defeating the elkthyr boss- I dont even know what these wishbones and stagbreakers that are being talked about are. I'll look 'em up though. Thanks everyone.

Originally posted by Bloodshot:

Originally posted by Pappy:

Use a Stag breaker or an Iron sledge. No need to tear up the terrain, no need for a wishbone. Either will destroy the chests that *may* be buried below and their contents will rise to the surface once the chests break.

I already thought Stagbreaker was a fantastic early game weapon for clearing out Burial Chambers. The AoE damage can destroy anything lurking behind the next door without even opening it, but it never once occurred to me to break Viking Graveyard chests because the contents simply float to the surface - without making a mess of the local terrain either - bonus!
Thanks, Pappy - best Valheim tip to date!

I honestly thought this was common knowledge? :)

Either of these two handed hammers are also useful for finding silver veins and muddy scrap piles pre-bonemass wishbone (somewhat less reliable for scrap due to ancient trees giving off false flags (too hard).

Originally posted by Pappy:

Either of these two handed hammers are also useful for finding silver veins and muddy scrap piles pre-bonemass wishbone (somewhat less reliable for scrap due to ancient trees giving off false flags (too hard).

I've been lucky enough to find silver veins protruding from some mountainsides even before having a strong enough pick-axe to mine them and normally go straight for the swamp crypts for scrap iron!
Can't say I'm too keen on the idea of lingering in those creepy swamps doing "medieval sonar pings". It's bad enough spending time in there searching for those ever elusive turnip seeds, (which I always seem to find when I'm not actually looking for them), but thanks for the heads up!

Use a Stag breaker or an Iron sledge. No need to tear up the terrain, no need for a wishbone. Either will destroy the chests that *may* be buried below and their contents will rise to the surface once the chests break.

Originally posted by Pappy:

Use a Stag breaker or an Iron sledge. No need to tear up the terrain, no need for a wishbone. Either will destroy the chests that *may* be buried below and their contents will rise to the surface once the chests break.

I already thought Stagbreaker was a fantastic early game weapon for clearing out Burial Chambers. The AoE damage can destroy anything lurking behind the next door without even opening it, but it never once occurred to me to break Viking Graveyard chests because the contents simply float to the surface.
Thanks, Pappy - best Valheim tip to date!

Shipwrecks do not always have chests and the treasure is not in the chests IMO.
The treasure is in the wreck itselfs with all the finewood if you shop it down.

Edit: ok missunderstood a bit. Just wait until you get the wishbone.

I dont pay attention to them most of the time but those ive dug, near one of the ends, always has a chest a little down from the top/bottom. Same with the big grave markers, cant think of their names but those apparently have loot in them too.

Sacrilege! I only remove wild vegetation over them, and they act as glades in the woods.

Wouldn't any chest be at the same place as in a normal longboat, by chance?

N

Originally posted by pipo.p:

Sacrilege! I only remove wild vegetation over them, and they act as glades in the woods.

Wouldn't any chest be at the same place as in a normal longboat, by chance?

Not really, still RNG. They do occasionally set off the wishbone even after you find the chest.

OP Skeletal remains might be all you get, and yes loot variety can change between updates.