Weapons

Weapons are items that can be used to fight and kill Creatures in Valheim.

Properties

Wielding (One-handed/Two-handed)

Only One-handed weapons can be simultaneously equipped with shields or a torch. All melee two-handed weapons have a greater movement speed reduction and cannot be used together with shields or a torch.

Offensive and defensive properties

Damage/ Damage type

All damages in Valheim have a damage type. Some creatures have weaknesses/resistances to certain damage types, which increases/decreases the effectiveness of these damages. For example, skeletons are weak to blunt damage and resists pierce damage.

When creatures are hit by damage with damage types they are weak/resist to, the damage numbers would be shown in yellow/grey color compared to the usual white color.

Similar types of weapons mostly deal same type of damage:

Blunt damage: One/two-handed Clubs
Slash damage: One/two-handed Axes, Swords
Pierce damage: Spears, Polearms, Pickaxes, Bows
Half slash, half pierce damage: Knives

Exceptions include weapons that deal elemental damages like Torch, Frostner and Draugr fang. Some clubs including Stagbreaker and Porcupine also deal pierce damage besides blunt damage. Keep in mind that not all damage types are upgraded when upgrading some weapons.

Block power

All weapons have a value of block power, indicating the amount of damage absorbed when blocked by the weapon.

Parry, Parry force and Parry bonus

All weapons including round shields (but not tower shields) can be used to parry attacks, with varying parry forces and parry bonuses.

Parry force shows the amount of knockback applied to enemies when parried. Spears, bows and the blackmetal axe have 0 parry force.

Parry bonus is a multiplier to block power (damage absorbed) when parrying. Damage dealt to the enemy in a period of time after a successful parry that absorbs all the damage is always 2x. Parry bonus is mostly determined by the weapon type:

Tower shields: Cannot parry
Tankard, Bows, Round shields except Bronze buckler: 1.5x
Polearms (atgeirs): 3x
Knives: 4x
All other weapons: 2x

Backstab

Backstab indicates the multiplier applied to enemies when backstabbing. The backstab bonus is applied when attacking unaware enemies, regardless of whether they are facing towards or away from the player. Backstabbing an enemy gives it a backstab immunity for 5 minutes. Backstabbing can occur even if enemy has partial HP. An enemy which has a red exclamation point over its name and HP bar cannot be backstabbed.

Abyssal harpoon: 1x
Two-handed clubs: 2x
Tankard (Cannot attack): 4x
Knives: 10x
All other weapons, including bows and one-handed clubs: 3x

Knockback

Knockback shows how far enemies are knocked back when attacked by the weapon.

Movement speed

Most weapons, when equipped, decreases the character's movement speed. The movement speed effect is mostly determined by the weapon type:

Knives: -0% (No movement speed reduction)
All other one-handed melee weapons, bows, round shields, pickaxes: -5%
Polearms: -10%
Serpent scale shield: -10%
Battleaxe and Iron Sledge, tower shields except the Serpent scale shield: -20%

Melee weapons

Melee weapons are items that can be equipped to increase attack damage. Different types of melee weapon can have different ranges, attack speeds, stamina costs per attack and secondary attacks. When equipping one-handed weapons, the character can also equip shields.

Most melee weapons' attack pattern involve a 3-hit combo. Generally, the first hit has the slowest delay (from the initial click), the second hit has less delay, and the third hit is slightly slower while dealing the most damage. Most melee weapons are quicker to recover and block from a miss than after a direct strike. Below are details regarding each type of melee weapon:

Weapon type properties

Weapon Type (strike)	Stamina drain (base)	Range	Attack speed	Damage modifier	Staggering modifier	Knockback modifier	Notes
Axes (primary)	10	2.2m	2.74 s (0.93 + 0.69 + 1.12)	1x + 1x + 2x			Player moves forward 0.25m on the 2nd and 3rd combo swing. 90 degree arc.
Clubs (primary)	15	2.4m	2.46 s (1.02 + 0.68 + 0.76)	1x + 1x + 2x			Player moves forward 0.66m with each swing. 90 degree arc.
Clubs (secondary)	30	2.4m	1.72 s	2.5x	2x	2x	Player moves forward 0.66m. 30 degree arc.
Swords (primary)	10	2.4m	2.46 s (1.02 + 0.68 + 0.76)	1x + 1x + 2x			Player moves forward 0.66m with each swing. 90 degree arc.
Swords (secondary)	30	2.4m	1.84 s	3x			Player moves forward 0.33m. 45 degree arc.
Spears (primary)	15	1.8m	0.68 s	1x			Player moves forward 0.33m. 40 degree arc. No 3-hit combo.
Spears (secondary)	15	Thrown	1.57 s (includes picking up)	1.5x		1.5x	Throws the spear. Can be picked up afterwards and can float on water.
Knives (primary)	5	1.8m	2.04 s (0.88 + 0.54 + 0.62)	1x + 1x + 2x			Attacking does not move the player. 80 degree arc.
Knives (secondary)	40	1.8m	1.72 s	3x		4x	Causes the player to lunge 5m forward. 45 degree arc.
Polearms (primary)	20	3.2m	2.98 s (0.84 + 0.86 + 1.28)	1x + 1x + 2x			Player moves forward 0.75m on 2nd and 3rd combo swing. 20 degree arc.
Polearms (secondary)	35	3m	1.74s	1x	6x	10x	Player moves forward 0.5m. 360 degree arc. No multi-target damage penalty.
Two-handed axes (primary)	25	2.5m	3.44 s (1.82 + 0.92 + 0.7)	1x + 1x + 2x			Player moves forward 0.5m with each swing. 90 degree arc.
Two-handed axes (secondary)	15	2.5m	0.94s	0.5x	4x	2x	Player does not move forward during strike. 30 degree arc.
Two-handed clubs	25	6m	2.23s	1x			Hammer lands 2m in front of player creating a shockwave area of effect with a radius of 4m. No damage falloff anywhere in the radius. No multi-target damage penalty. No 3-hit combo. No secondary attack.

List of Melee weapons

Name	Type	Damage	Max Total Upgraded Damage	Damage Type Min/Max	Backstab	Knockback
Club	Clubs	12	30	Blunt	3x	25
Stone axe	Axes	15	30	Slash	3x	50
Torch	Clubs	19	-	Blunt: 4 Fire: 15	3x	30
Flint axe	Axes	20	35	Slash	3x	50
Flint knife	Knives	12	18	Slash: 6/9 Pierce: 6/9	10x	10
Flint spear	Spears	20	38	Pierce	3x	20
Antler Pickaxe	Pickaxes	18	-	Pierce	3x	50
Stagbreaker	Two-handed Clubs	25	43	Blunt: 20/38 Pierce: 5/5	2x	150
Copper knife	Knives	18	24	Slash: 9/12 Pierce: 9/12	10x	10
Bronze atgeir	Polearms	45	63	Pierce	3x	30
Bronze Axe	Axes	35	50	Slash	3x	50
Bronze Mace	Clubs	35	53	Blunt	3x	80
Bronze Spear	Spears	35	53	Pierce	3x	20
Bronze sword	Swords	35	53	Slash	3x	40
Bronze Pickaxe	Pickaxes	25	40	Pierce	3x	50
Ancient bark spear	Spears	55	73	Pierce	3x	20
Tankard	-	-	-	(Only used to drink mead)	4x	30
Battleaxe	Two-handed Axes	75	93	Slash	3x	70
Iron sword	Swords	55	73	Slash	3x	50
Iron axe	Axes	55	70	Slash	3x	50
Iron sledge	Two-handed Clubs	55	73	Blunt	2x	200
Iron mace	Clubs	55	73	Blunt	3x	90
Iron pickaxe	Pickaxes	33	48	Pierce	3x	50
Iron atgeir	Polearms	65	83	Pierce	3x	30
Silver sword	Swords	75^[1]	93^[1]	Slash: 75/93 Spirit: 30/45	3x	40
Fang spear	Spears	70	88	Pierce	3x	20
Frostner	Clubs	75^[1]	93^[1]	Frost: 40/58 Blunt: 35/35 Spirit: 20/20	3x	120
Abyssal Harpoon	Spears	10	-	Pierce	1x	20
Abyssal Razor	Knives	24	30	Slash: 12/15 Pierce: 12/15	10x	10
Blackmetal atgeir	Polearms	105	123	Pierce	3x	30
Blackmetal axe	Axes	95	110	Slash	3x	60
Blackmetal knife	Knives	36	42	Slash: 18/21 Pierce: 18/21	10x	10
Blackmetal sword	Swords	95	113	Slash	3x	40
Porcupine	Clubs	95	113	Blunt: 50/50 Pierce: 45/63	3x	90

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Spirit damage excluded. Only affects undead and is not instant damage. See Spirit.

Bows

Bows are weapons that shoot equipped arrows. Unlike melee weapons, attacks consume equipped arrows and can be charged while spending stamina to increase range and damage. Bows cannot be used when there are no arrows left in the inventory.

List of Bows

Name	Damage	Max Total Upgraded Damage	Damage Type Min/Max	Backstab	Knockback
Crude bow	22	31	Pierce	3x	0
Finewood bow	32	41	Pierce	3x	5
Huntsman bow	42	51	Pierce	3x	10
Draugr Fang	52	76	Pierce: 47 / 56 Poison: 5 / 20	3x	20

Arrows

Arrows are items that can be shot by bows. Bows cannot be used without arrows.

List of Arrows

Name	Total Damage	Damage Type	Knockback
Wood arrow	22	Pierce	10
Fire arrow	33	Pierce: 11 Fire: 22	10
Flinthead arrow	27	Pierce	10
Bronzehead arrow	32	Pierce	10
Ironhead arrow	42	Pierce	10
Silver arrow	72	Pierce: 52 Spirit: 20	10
Obsidian arrow	52	Pierce	10
Poison Arrow	78	Pierce: 26 Poison: 52	10
Frost arrow	78	Pierce: 26 Frost: 52	10
Needle arrow	62	Pierce	15

Shields

Shields are weapons that can be used with other one-handed weapons. The block power, parry force and parry bonus of the weapons used with shields would be replaced by that of the shield used. Round shields have lower block power than tower shields. However, tower shields cannot parry and reduce 20% of the movement speed when equipped (except Serpent scale shield, which reduces 10% of the movement speed only), while round shields can and only reduce 5% of the movement speed when equipped.

List of Shields

Name	Round/Tower Shield	Block Power / Upgraded Max	Parry Force / Upgraded Max	Parry Bonus
Wood shield	Round	20 / 30	20 / 20	1.5x
Wood tower shield	Tower	35 / 45	-	-
Bronze buckler	Round	45 / 55	30 / 30	2x
Banded shield	Round	60 / 70	40 / 50	1.5x
Iron tower shield	Tower	75 / 85	-	-
Silver Shield	Round	75 / 85	40 / 50	1.5x
Serpent scale shield	Tower	90 / 100	-	-
Black metal shield	Round	90 / 100	50 / 60	1.5x
Black metal tower shield	Tower	105 / 120	-	-