Melee weapons are of extreme importance in Valheim, being reliable tools for dealing with mobs.
Many variants exist, from swords to axes and daggers.
For the stages you unlock them, every weapon is actually decent, with specific uses to get the most out of them.
Sticking with 1 melee weapon type throughout the game is a bad move, you’re making things harder for yourself.
Instead, you should look to craft a few different types to combat different situations.
This list will provide the 10 best weapons, and you should really have all of them crafted at some point.
Details will be provided for the best situations to use them in.
Note: upgrade material sections detail the resources required to reach max upgrades.
10. Iron Sledge
Damage: 73
Backstab: x2
Knockback: 200
Crafting Materials:
- 10 x Ancient Bark
- 30 x Iron
- 4 x Ymir Flesh
- 1 x Draugr Elite Trophy
Upgrade Materials:
- 12 x Ancient Bark
- 90 x Iron
- 12 x Ymir Flesh
Hefty crafting requirements, no doubt it’ll take you a while to obtain an Iron Sledge.
Such a massive knock-back bonus is perfect against hordes of annoying mobs, such as Draugr and Fulings.
Before fighting Bonemass, I highly recommend you invest in this weapon.
The boss is weak to blunt damage, and he also summons Blobs to fight alongside him.
An Iron Sledge will make short work of the Blobs and deal some nice damage to Bonemass simultenously.
9. Fang Spear
Damage: 88
Backstab: x3
Knockback: 20
Crafting Materials:
- 10 x Ancient Bark
- 3 x Wolf Fang
- 2 x Leather Scraps
- 2 x Silver
Upgrade Materials:
- 30 x Ancient Bark
- 12 x Wolf Fang
- 6 x Leather Scraps
- 6 x Silver
Currently the best spear in the game, and it’s also very cheap to craft and upgrade.
This weapon also has good reach, low stamina attack costs, and can be thrown.
It’s a versatile weapon that comes in handy when finishing off fleeing targets, or as your main weapon for a period of time.
8. Battleaxe
Damage: 93
Backstab: x3
Knockback: 70
Crafting Materials:
- 30 x Ancient Bark
- 35 x Iron
- 4 x Leather Scraps
Upgrade Materials:
- 30 x Ancient Bark
- 90 x Iron
One of the most unique weapons, currently the only two-handed axe weapon.
Also the highest skill-cap weapon in the game, as it has 4 different attacks!
- 1 left click: AoE sweeping attack
- 2 left clicks: Backwards sweep
- 3 left clicks: Smashes the ground underneath
- Middle click: Forward stab
Wielding it will remove the ability to equip a shield, so you do sacrifice a lot of defensive power.
Definitely invest in a Battleaxe, it may not be amazing right now but future updates will surely include more mob types and AI improvements, so the Battleaxe might prove invaluable.
7. Blackmetal Knife
Damage: 42
Backstab: x10
Knockback: 10
Crafting Materials:
- 4 x Fine Wood
- 10 x Black Metal
- 5 x Linen Thread
Upgrade Materials:
- 24 x Black Metal
- 30 x Linen Thread
Perfect for stealth users, daggers in Valheim have a small stamina cost per attack, huge backstab bonus and fast attack speed.
With this Knife, you’ll have a base back-stab damage of 420, just for the first attack!
A full combo takes about 1.5 seconds and will deal up-to 546 damage if the opening attack was a back-stab.
Of course, if you’re not into being a sneaky boi, or hate the innately low reach of daggers, other weapons will be for you.
6. Silver Sword
Damage: 93
Backstab: x3
Knockback: 40
Crafting Materials:
- 2 x Wood
- 40 x Silver
- 3 x Leather Scraps
- 5 x Iron
Upgrade Materials:
- 6 x Wood
- 120 x Silver
- 6 x Leather Scraps
- 18 x Iron
Great for combating undead mobs, as the Spirit Sword deals additional Spirit damage, but it only affects undead mobs.
Aginst non-undead mobs, other weapons should be your go-to. Otherwise, the Spirit Sword is the best weapon in the game for fighting undead monsters and mobs.
160 total Silver for a fully upgraded sword is quite the asking price, too.
But who knows what undead mobs will be added in the future? It’s well worth fully investing the silver to get the Silver Sword ready to fight.
5. Frostner
Damage: 93
Backstab: x3
Knockback: 120
Crafting Materials:
- 10 x Ancient Bark
- 30 x Silver
- 5 x Ymir Flesh
- 5 x Freeze Gland
Upgrade Materials:
- 90 x Silver
Frostner’s damage is split between blunt, frost and spirit damage, with the majority being in frost.
Frost attacks apply a freezing debuff, reducing enemy movement speed to 10% before gradually increasing back up to full.
With such huge knock-back, you can cheese almost every mob in the game by constantly weaving in and out of attack range, CC’ing them to make sure they don’t get too close.
Frostner is a one-handed weapon, so you can wield a shield too!
4. Blackmetal Axe
Damage: 110
Backstab: x3
Knockback: 60
Crafting Materials:
- 6 x Fine Wood
- 20 x Black Metal
- 5 x Linen Thread
Upgrade Materials:
- 60 x Black Metal
- 30 x Linen Thread
Used mostly for woodcutting, the Blackmetal Axe is a capable slashing weapon with good knock-back.
Regardless of your preferred weapon type, every player needs an axe to go out and deforest entire areas.
If needed, this tool can act as a back-up weapon, and I’d even recommend having it as your first blackmetal item, as it doubles as a tool and weapon!
3. Blackmetal Sword
Damage: 113
Backstab: x3
Knockback: 40
Crafting Materials:
- 2 x Fine Wood
- 20 x Black Metal
- 5 x Linen Thread
Upgrade Materials:
- 60 x Black Metal
- 30 x Linen Thread
Right now, the Blackmetal Sword has the highest base slash damage of any weapon in Valheim.
It’s a good weapon for sure, capable of out-putting decent damage against all enemies.
The thing is, no mobs are currently weak to slash damage.
While you can get by just fine with the Blackmetal Sword, you need the next 2 options to maximize efficiency.
The fact the sword has a thrusting attack for a middle ability makes it preferential compared to the Blackmetal Axe.
2. Blackmetal Atgeir
Damage: 123
Backstab: x3
Knockback: 30
Crafting Materials:
- 10 x Fine Wood
- 30 x Black Metal
- 5 x Linen Thread
Upgrade Materials:
- 90 x Black Metal
- 30 x Linen Thread
Great for aggressive players who don’t want to spend time parrying to save HP.
The Blackmetal Atgeir features the highest base damage of any weapon in the game and is amazing at clearing out groups of enemies.
Its middle-click ability will produce a large swipe in your immediate area, dealing heavy damage to all enemies.
A 10% movement speed bonus, as well as being two-handed, make it a less common weapon choice for most players.
1. Porcupine
Damage: 113
Backstab: x3
Knockback: 90
Crafting Materials:
- 5 x Fine Wood
- 20 x Iron
- 5 x Needle
- 10 x Linen Thread
Upgrade Materials:
- 12 x Iron
- 12 x Needle
Incredibly cheap, boasting the joint highest damage in the game.
By the time you’ve acquired a Porcupine, you’ll be eyeing up the 5th boss.
To get to that point, you’ll be facing a lot of Fuling mobs.
Porcupine is perfect against them, with high damage and good knock-back to give you breathing space.
Very forgiving against moving targets, as the Porcupine is a mace and can hit enemies that are seemingly outside of its animation.
For all these reasons, the Porcupine is currently the best melee weapon in the game.
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