Looking for a guide to combat and weapons in Valheim? You’ve been carried to Valheim by winged Valkyries, and now you’re tasked with surviving in the Norse wilderness – facing down greydwarfs, huge trolls, and dangerous rolling logs.
After you craft your first tools at a Valheim workbench and venture out into the wider world, you’ll find an abundance of resources – and all kinds of dangerous enemies guarding them. There are several types of weapons you can craft – daggers, swords, axes, maces, and more – and each of them are effective against different types of enemies. Blunt weapons, such as clubs, are great against skeletons; slashing them with swords won’t do much. You can tell how effective your weapons are by the colour of the damage you deal; grey means they are resistant, and yellow signifies the attack was super effective.
The part of the body in which you hit your foe also matters – so watch your aim. For most weapons, a series of left clicks executes a standard attack combo, your middle mouse button performs your secondary attack, and right click blocks – this is crucial. If you block at the perfect moment, you perform a parry; staggering the enemy for you to perform a critical hit.
Swords are one-handed and deal slashing damage. Your secondary attack with a sword will stun enemies.
Knives, or daggers, are the lightest weapons available, with the lowest stamina cost per swing. They don’t slow you down when you run, either, so they’re great for a highly mobile combat style. However, they don’t hold up so well when parrying, as they have a low block power and parry force.
- The Blackmetal Knife is unlocked by mining black metal, the highest tier of metal in Valheim so far. To craft it, you need a level 4 workbench, Fine Wood x4, Blackmetal 10x, and Linen thread.
These blunt weapons do extra stagger damage upon successfully parrying an enemy hit. They also deal bonus damage to skeletons.
The Stagbreaker is a huge two-handed hammer that deals AoE damage – it’s widely considered the best Valheim weapon in the early game. You can get it after upgrading to a level 2 workbench, and is crafted from Core Wood x20, Deer Trophy x5, and Leather Scraps x2.
Frostner is an even more powerful one-handed silver hammer that deals blunt, frost, and spirit damage. It requires workbench level 3, and Ancient Bark x10, Silver x30, Ymir Flesh x5, and Freeze Gland x5. Freeze Glands are acquired from Drakes up in the mountains.
Porcupine – this deadly one-handed mace deals blunt and piercing damage. It is unlocked when you acquire Linen Thread and can be crafted in the level 4 Forge.
Axes deal slashing damage, and are strong against greydwarves… and, uh, trees. Their swing speed and windup take longer than swords do. Once you discover iron, you can craft a two-handed battleaxe, which has a sweeping combo to take down groups of foes.
Spears deal piercing damage, which is good against trolls. You can throw it using the middle mouse button; the standard attack is a simple jab, with az shorter attack range than the axe.
- Abyssal Harpoon. It can be unlocked by mining Chitin from the Abyssal Barnacle from the Kraken in the Ocean biomes. It can then be crafted at any level 4 workbench, from Fine Wood x8, Chitin x30, and Leather Scraps x3.
Valheim Polearm/Atgeir
The Atgeir is essentially an axe on a stick – cool. Similar to spears, it deals piercing damage, though has better range than spears. Its special attack deals AoE knockdown damage in a sweeping arc around the player, but it consumes a significant amount of stamina. The most powerful version of this weapon is the Blackmetal Atgeir, requiring Fine Wood x10, Linen Thread 5x, and Blackmetal 3x to craft at a workbench.
Bows are great for kiting enemies around, and arrows also deal piercing damage – with additional damage types depending on the arrows you equip. To craft a bow in Valheim, you need 10 wood and 8 leather scraps; this will make a Crude Bow, which you can upgrade to a Finewood Bow once you find Fine Wood – a significant upgrade. Once you obtain Iron, you can craft the Huntsman Bow, and the best Valheim Bow, the Draugr Fang, applies poison, and requires silver – and something called ‘guck’, which you can find in a swamp. Lovely.
That’s everything we know about Valheim weapons so far – though if your swords and axes don’t quite cut it, you could also experiment with ooze bombs to knockback your foes, made from ooze found in the swamp; you’ll need 10 Ooze, 5 Leather Scraps, and 3 Resin. As you venture deeper into Valheim, and slay Valheim bosses to honour Odin in combat, build a Valheim base worthy of storing all those treasures with our Valheim building guide. If you’re looking for some furry friends to roam around and adventure with, our Valheim taming guide will guide you through befriending various Valheim wildlife.
