Valheim for PC: The best weapons and how to make them

In the Viking-themed survival game Valheim, having effective weapons is one of the best ways that you can prepare yourself for the game's biggest threats. Across Valheim's different weapon classes, there are multiple excellent tools of destruction that you can use to slash, smash, and stab your enemies to pieces. Here's a list of all the best weapons in the game, as well as details on how you can obtain them.

Best Valheim early weapon: Stagbreaker

In Valheim's early game, you're not going to find a better weapon than the Stagbreaker. It's a giant wooden sledgehammer with several deer antlers attached to it. When you attack with it, your character will smash it into the ground, creating a damaging area-of-effect (AOE) shockwave that boops enemies away from you.

This weapon is so good in the early game because it's straightforward to make. All you need is some core wood, a few leather scraps, and a handful of deer trophies — all of which are relatively easy to obtain in your first days in Valheim's world (check out my Valheim hunting guide for tips on hunting deer).

Crafting recipe:

• 20x Core Wood
• 5x Deer Trophy
• 2x Leather Scraps

Best Valheim sword: Silver Sword

While it's true that the Blackmetal Sword has the highest base damage of any sword in Valheim, we ultimately think that the Silver Sword is the best sword overall. This is because the Silver Sword only does slightly less base damage than the Blackmetal Sword while also doing significant bonus damage to undead enemies like skeletons and draugr, both of which you'll be encountering frequently.

Crafting recipe:

• 2x Wood
• 40x Silver
• 3x Leather Scraps
• 5x Iron

Best Valheim knife: Blackmetal Knife

If you like to play stealthily, make sure you get your hands on a Blackmetal Knife as soon as you can. Knives do huge critical hit damage if you lunge at an enemy from stealth using the special attack button (by default, this is the middle mouse button), and since the Blackmetal Knife has superb base damage, landing a crit with it allows you to one-hit-kill a surprising number of enemies.

Crafting recipe:

• 4x Fine Wood
• 10x Black Metal
• 5x Linen Thread

Best Valheim mace: Porcupine

There are many different maces and clubs available in Valheim, but overall, the Porcupine morningstar is our favorite. It's split pierce and blunt damage type makes it suitable for combat against many different enemies, and its high overall damage means that it will serve you well all the way through the endgame. Interestingly, it also emits a little bit of light, making it a somewhat effective torch in dark locations.

Crafting recipe:

• 5x Fine Wood
• 20x Iron
• 5x Needle
• 10x Linen Thread

Best Valheim spear: Fang Spear

The best spear you can make in Valheim is the Fang Spear, which prominently features the deadly fang of a wolf on the tip. It doesn't do as much damage as some other weapons, but it's still excellent. The Fang Spear is also much less resource-intensive to craft and upgrade, which helps you put together a strong, reliable weapon quickly. You can also use the special attack input to throw the spear, which is a great way to kill enemies stealthily from range if you don't have a good bow or don't want to use your arrows.

Crafting recipe:

• 10x Ancient Bark
• 4x Wolf Fang
• 2x Leather Scraps
• 2x Silver

Best Valheim axe: Battleaxe

While Valheim has many great one-handed ax options, we think that the mighty two-handed Battleaxe is the best choice if your heart is set on using axes. It has great damage and a combo that will hit multiple enemies in front of you, and it also has good block power and parry force as well. This means that you can use it to parry attacks like you would use a shield for, although it should be noted that you won't be able to parry larger enemies like trolls or stone golems.

Crafting recipe:

• 30x Ancient Bark
• 35x Iron
• 4x Leather Scraps

Best Valheim polearm: Blackmetal Atgeir

Polearms are the best weapons in Valheim if you're looking for a range advantage, and the best one is the Blackmetal Atgeir. With excellent damage, range, parry force, and a sweeping AOE special attack that can be used to clear out enemies surrounding you, the Blackmetal Atgeir is easily one of the most versatile weapons in the game.

Crafting recipe:

• 10x Fine Wood
• 30x Black Metal
• 5x Linen Thread

Best Valheim sledgehammer: Iron Sledge

If you enjoy using the Stagbreaker, you'll also love the Iron Sledge, as it's essentially the endgame version of the Stagbreaker. It does the same wide AOE damage every time you smash with it, with the difference being that the Iron Sledge's damage is significantly better. Something important to note is that you'll need some Ymir Flesh to craft this weapon, which can be bought from Haldor the Merchant (check out our guide on how to find Haldor the Merchant for assistance on that front).

Crafting recipe:

• 10x Ancient Bark
• 30x Iron
• 4x Ymir Flesh
• 1x Draugr Elite Trophy

Best Valheim bow: Draugr Fang

Fans of archery will want to craft the Draugr Fang as soon as possible, as it's an extremely effective weapon. On top of having great damage, the Draugr Fang also applies poison to every non-elemental arrow (bronze, iron, silver, obsidian) it shoots.

Crafting recipe:

• 10x Ancient Bark
• 20x Silver
• 2x Deer Hide
• 10x Guck

Best Valheim utility weapon: Abyssal Harpoon

The Abyssal Harpoon is less of a weapon and more of a tool, as it only does minimal damage, but creatures you impale with it can be pulled to follow you. This makes it particularly useful if you want to lead a specific mob somewhere, and it's also fantastic against sea serpents as you can harpoon them and force them to follow your ship. Then, the person controlling your ship can sail to an island, and you can drag the sea serpent onto the beach to kill it and harvest its scales.

Crafting recipe:

• 8x Fine Wood
• 30x Chitin
• 3x Leather Scraps

Your thoughts

What do you think some of the best weapons in Valheim are? Let us know what you think in the comments. Also, considering several of the weapons on this list require working with metal, I recommend checking out our guide on how to find, smelt, and craft all metals in Valheim.

Valheim is available for $20 on Steam through Early Access. If you haven't yet, I highly recommend getting it as it's one of the best survival games for PC right now. If you do pick up the game, don't miss our beginner's guide to your first days and beyond in Valheim.