Valheim 1.0 Weapon Tier List: The Best Weapons at Every Stage

Every Valheim weapon family is usable, but at each progression stage a few picks dominate by cost, role coverage, and matchup into the next boss. This list ranks by crafting efficiency at the stage where the weapon is relevant — not raw endgame numbers, because half the game happens before endgame gear exists. Full stat tables are being verified for a future update; nothing below depends on unverified numbers.

How is this tier list ranked?

Three criteria: cost-to-power at its tier, role coverage (single-target vs. crowd), and matchup into the boss it’s built for. Tiers are per-stage: an S-tier Meadows weapon is not “better” than a B-tier Deep North weapon — it means “most worth crafting when you’re in that stage.” For where you are on the ladder, see the boss order guide.

What are the S-tier weapons at each stage?

Stage	S-tier picks	Why
Meadows	Flint spear / bow	Cheap, and the bow carries you into deer hunting and Eikthyr
Black Forest (bronze)	Bronze atgeir, bronze mace	Atgeir’s spin handles Greydwarf packs; blunt damage into the Swamp
Swamp (iron)	Iron mace	Blunt is the answer to Bonemass and Swamp blobs
Mountain (silver)	Frostner, silver sword	Frostner’s frost slow is the famous overperformer of the mid-game
Plains (black metal)	Black metal axe / atgeir	Top-end melee tier before the magic era
Mistlands	Eitr staffs, carapace weapons	Magic redefines ranged damage entirely
Ashlands	Ashlands-tier weapons	Fire resist and the biome’s own metal line
Deep North (1.0)	Nord / Frostfire / Thunderblood lines	1.0’s three lines and new staves top the ladder

What are the A-tier and B-tier picks?

A-tier: weapons that excel in one role but leave a gap. Bows stay A-tier forever (ranged safety is irreplaceable), knives shine in dodge-heavy builds, and shields-plus-one-hander is the defensive meta — just not always the damage meta.

B-tier: situational or powercrept weapons. Early stone/flint weapons after bronze exists, tier-skipped craftables, and anything you’d only make for the crafting achievement. Nothing here is unusable; it’s just rarely the best metal spend.

How do the 1.0 weapon lines work?

The three Deep North lines are a single upgrade tree, not parallel choices: craft a Nord weapon, then convert it with an essence into a Frostfire or Thunderblood variant. The verified chain from the 1.0 patch notes and community data:

1. Find a Mould for the weapon you want (Winding Tunnels, Memorial Sites, abandoned Deep North villages, Mörkhalla).
2. Cast it at a level-4 Black Forge using Bloodgold — the Deep North metal, smelted from Petrified Tissue at a Blast Furnace, and not teleportable, so plan freight runs.
3. Harden the cast at a Frost Foundry into the finished Nord weapon.
4. Optional conversion: a Frostfire Essence or Thunderblood Essence — dropped by Fallen Warriors (summon them with three Memorial Coal at the Memorial Place altar) — turns a Nord weapon into its Frostfire or Thunderblood form.

Each line covers the same 12 weapon types (sword, greatsword, atgeir, mace, sledge, axe, greataxe, spear, dagger, the new knucklechains fist weapons, bow, crossbow); shields are Nord-only. Frostfire trims the main damage type but adds fire and frost for a higher total; Thunderblood adds chain lightning (a 25% chance per hit) plus a damage bonus that scales as your own HP drops. 1.0 also adds four new staves — Echo Spike, Spirit Caller, Northern Vengeance, and Lightning Strike — for magic builds. Full per-weapon stat tables are coming in a future update; the crafting system above is fully verified.

Which of the 1.0 weapon lines should you craft?

Match the conversion to your build: Thunderblood for melee chain-lightning aggression, Frostfire for split elemental damage, plain Nord for the cheapest entry. All of it sits strictly above the Ashlands tier — the Deep North assumes you’ve beaten Fader — so if you’re pre-Deep North, an Ashlands-tier weapon plus fire resistance remains the practical best. The lines and their stations are detailed in the Deep North guide, and the Bloodgold equipment plus the hidden Forge of Potential (16 idol upgrades) extend your picks further.

What weapon should you craft before each boss?

Match damage type to the boss where it matters: blunt into Bonemass, frost and silver into the Mountain, magic into the Queen. The per-boss gear checks are listed in the boss order guide, and the food half of your build is in the food tier list. For a first weapon in each stage, the S-tier table above is the short answer.