I'll grant you that the sparseness of crypts on many maps is REALLY irritating but you can't drown in Valheim and they're called "sunken" crypts so yes, you can reasonably expect some water in there. lots of good tips here but i'll add one that oft goes forgotten and is especially true in the swamp:

Walk, Don't Run.
or at least, don't run until you HAVE to. This goes for jumping as well. the wet debuff combined with the nature of the terrain in the swamp requires the player to fully manage their stamina effectively or die. it's the first time the game throws this at you, so it's tough. most people run full time in all games (hell, I do) but Valheim punishes you for it in a number of places and ways. best lesson the swamp taught me.

Originally posted by UncleAcidic:

... you can't drown in Valheim ...

What? Are you sure you're playing the same game?

Now, it would be difficult to drown in a sunken crypt if that's what you meant. Maybe if over encumbered and you tried to swim but even then it takes a while to drown. You could drop things.

Don't come close to swamp by water. Take a wide berth and touchdown in a safer biome. Ideally you could find a meadow only a stones throw away.

Once you do arrive on land, use a hoe to shallow out those puddles. You might even be able to remove the puddle entirely and eliminate the threat of a sneaky leech. It isn't just good for taking repeat trips, but also to assure that you always have the clearest escape route behind you.

Farm Abominations and use a axe or sword to kill them. Get Root Armour and upgrade it. Root Armour makes the swamps easy.

I've never seen a puddle like that in a crypt. Very strange, maybe a bug.

Usually what I do is sail next to a swamp and look for the crypts as I go by, not so close that things attack me. You used to be able to see the green torches, but now I only see the short rectangular buildings. If I see those, I keep sailing and look for a meadow or black forest next to it. If I don't see both of those when sailing, I look somewhere else.

But your first swamp should just be any swamp that you can walk into, of any size whether it has crypts or not. Get familiar with the place, grab some loot, including bark and guck, and look for the turnips. It will take many in game days to get your turnip crop going and it's required to upgrade your cauldron.

Most of the people who talk about swamps being awful tried landing there with a boat and got the boat destroyed. Avoid doing that if at all possible. Consider the ocean biome it's own thing after the Elder. You may spend a lot of time sailing while looking for a good swamp and maybe looking for the trader. Just keep yourself out of aggro range when you're following the shore, and be wary of night, fog and storms. You are a sitting duck out there.

Frogman ! Wait until you get to the Mistlands. LOL

Originally posted by Frogman:

I have learned the best way to explore swamps is naked.]

Life skills, right there.
Who says games are useless?

Never drowned in a crypt, so sorry can't help you there, had to swim under a few humps, but never anything that last any distance.
Some crypts are harder than others, if you have a spawn heap, they are much tougher. Mark it on map and come back later.
The Stagbreaker tip is gold, half clear a blockage, then bang it on the ground. Do not entirely clear a blockage unless you can kill the spawn. If you have elites, walk away until you are geared up.
Dont forget to make a campfire inside at the entrance. That spot is also really useful as a fall back, again ground banging here can kill stuff that can not reach you up the step. Archers not included ofc.

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

I've never seen a "puddle" in a crypt. There are flooded corridors that you have to swim through but crypts are all on the same level which is different from burial chambers. There should be a way out of your puddle unless you ran into a game bug.

It might have been one of the double decker corridors (one stacked on top of another), with water in the lower level, and a hole in floor on the upper level. I seen that a few times. I never fell into the hole, but assume it would have been pretty bad.

Another trick to conquer the swamp is bring a hoe. Use the terrain raising function to make nice flat water free paths through the swamp. I saw a guy doing that in a video, and felt like an idiot after watching it. I had built raised pathways made out of wood through the swamp. Chopped a lot of trees to do that. Heavy sigh.

If you find fire vents in the swamp, that spawn surtlings... do the opposite. lower the terrain around the fire vent, until water leaks in. Just dig a moat around the vent. Don't get too close to the vent (i'm not sure if you can destroy the vent with a hoe, didn't want to find out). When you get the water in a ring around the vent, the surtlings spawn in and die instantly on contact with the water. Free coal and cores forever.

If you have not already then craft a stagbreaker. Make it as high a level as your workbench can support and use this AoE weapon through half-mined scrap piles to take out spawners on the other side (and draugr too if you can). But other suggestions are spot-on. Always make your first effort in a swamp the elusive turnip flower.

Originally posted by OctoberSky:

If you have not already then craft a stagbreaker. Make it as high a level as your workbench can support and use this AoE weapon through half-mined scrap piles to take out spawners on the other side (and draugr too if you can). But other suggestions are spot-on. Always make your first effort in a swamp the elusive turnip flower.

Aetgir works for this too.

I have not found Turnip. Carrots I have been farming. I have upgraded bronze gear. I dont have an issue killing the enemies 2-3 at at a time but eventually I end up with 6 drauger with ranged support and there is nothing you can do. my boats kept getting destroyed by leeches picking away at them. I have built a few bases in forests on the edge of swamps but now i think it is a waste of time because after exploring the swamp I found there was no crypt. so obviously i'd have to reason to ever go back unless to punish myself. i do feel better after talking about it. i was pissed after that puddle.

Scout around the edges of the swamps for slightly glowing yellow flowers. That will give you turnip seeds, plant them, expand them and use a few to upgrade your cauldron. When you get a decent supply move to the next tier food.

After that farm some leeches for the next tier healing meads and farm some draugr for entrails for the next upgraded food. Then you'll be ready to handle the crypts. Get enough iron for a better buckler and your weapon of choice then you can farm abominations for the swamp themed armor or you can run more crypts for iron armor.

If you are getting more than a couple draugr at a time during the day there is a body pile nearby. Back away, kill the dragur swarm and then sneak around until you find the body pile and use your bow from outside draugr perception range to take out the body pile.

Make sure you drink poison resist meads before you go into the swamps. That makes the damage from leeches trivial and pretty much makes you immune to blobs and oozers.

I've never seen a "puddle" in a crypt. There are flooded corridors that you have to swim through but crypts are all on the same level which is different from burial chambers. There should be a way out of your puddle unless you ran into a game bug.

Did you find turnip seeds, plant and expand them, and then upgrade your cauldron for better foods? People that don't prepare are the ones that tend to die when they enter a new biome.

6 boats destroyed? Find a swamp with a dark forest next to it, and put a TP in an abandoned tower. Stash your iron there. You only need to bring the boat back once you're ready to the ore home. No need to beach at the actual swamp.