One of the first items survivors will need in Valheim is an axe. The primary utility of the axe is to harvest wood in each biome, but the best axes are viable weapons as well. Throughout a player's progression in this survival game, having an axe will always be essential.
Axes do suffer from one huge downside: they only have one melee attack. For that reason, axes are often overlooked and many players will opt to use polearms, clubs, or swords instead. Despite the downsides of using an axe, players will save time by always having one in hand, and while axes are not in the top tier, they are certainly viable in PVE.
Updated on March 19, 2023, by Joe Grantham: The Mistlands update to Valheim was the biggest in the game's history, adding an entirely new Mistlands biome filled with a myriad of new enemies, resources, and things to do. On top of these additions, many new weapons and armor sets were added to the game, most of which can only be crafted from the materials found in the eerie Mistlands.
Among the list of new weapons is the new premiere woodcutting axe Jotun Bane. Balance changes have also been made to many of the axes in Valheim with small increases in damage, and significant buffs to the knockback potential of these fearsome weapons.
8 The Stone Axe Is Flimsy & Weak
The easiest axe to craft is the Stone Axe, which most players will use more as a tool than a weapon. A basic Stone Axe is crafted with 4 Stone and 5 Wood, items that are readily available in the Meadows. It is an underwhelming weapon, with just 15 Slash Damage.
Even an upgraded Stone Axe will only inflict 30 damage on enemies. Still, with 20 Chop, gamers can use the axe to chop down trees in both the Meadows and Black Forest. The axe will take down Pine, Fir, and Beech trees fast enough. However, the weapon will not be able to knock down Oak trees. Until gamers have the materials for an upgraded axe, the Stone Axe will serve its purpose.
7 The Flint Axe Is Only Useful Early On
The Flint Axe is a slight upgrade from the Stone Axe, with +5 Slash Damage and +10 Chop. Survivors that have not progressed into the Black Forest will find the tool useful for a few hours of gameplay. To craft the weapon, players will need to find Flint. This resource lines the shores of all bodies of water in the Meadows biome.
It should be noted that players will need to craft a Workbench before the Flint Axe can be crafted. Though it's a step above the Stone Axe, there are still plenty of better options, especially if the player wants to use their axe in combat.
6 The Bronze Axe Is A Decent Melee Option
Gamers will need to find Copper and Tin Ore in the Black Forest to forge the Bronze Axe. Additionally, players will need to kill Boar in the Meadows to get Leather Scraps. The weapon is certainly much better than the Stone or Flint Axes.
This weapon's base stats are 40 Slash and 40 Chop. The Bronze Axe has a knockback rating of 75 as well, making it the first truly viable melee axe. With upgrades, the axe will deal up to 55 damage and 49 Chop Damage. Though it can be fairly useful, gamers that have already defeated Elder and have the Swamp Key should forge the Iron Axe instead.
5 The Iron Axe Is Efficient At Combat And Chopping
The Iron Axe is forged with the Metal Scraps that players will discover in the Swamp's Sunken Crypts. These Scraps can be refined into Iron Metal, allowing survivors to craft the weapon. This axe boasts 60 Slash Damage and 50 Chop, as well as a 75 Knockback rating, making it handy in combat.
The axe is competitive with the other Iron weapons in the game, and will chop down trees at more than two times the speed of a basic Stone Axe. With a level 4 Forge, the axe will deal 75 Slash Damage and 59 Chop Damage. Players can get away with using the weapon as their primary until they have progressed to the Plains biome.
4 The Battleaxe Is A True Weapon
Players will need to find a lot of Iron to craft the Battleaxe, the first two-handed axe to be unlocked in the game. The weapon has very good Slash damage, which ranges from 75-88. It is not an effective woodcutting tool, however, with just 40 Chop. The only other relevant stat is the axe's 140 Knockback, which is almost double that of even the best one-handed axes.
To forge the axe, survivors will need to find enough ore to smelt 35 Iron. While players are searching for Iron in the Swamp's Sunken Crypts, they will need to collect 30 Ancient Bark from the Ancient Trees in the biome. The Battleaxe is a solid weapon for the early to mid-stages of the game, especially after the changes to increase its windup speed and stagger damage.
3 Crystal Battleaxe Keeps Multiple Enemies At Bay
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The Crystal Battleaxe is one of the weapons that was added in the Hearth and Home update to Valheim. In terms of stats, the Crystal Battleaxe is superior in every category when compared to the Iron Battleaxe. The weapon's swooping attacks are great against mobs of enemies, but players will need to time their hits appropriately. It looks amazing and will be a solid addition to the armory.
With an extra 30 spirit damage, the Crystal Battleaxe is also one of the best weapons to use against undead enemies. The Crystal Battleaxe does slightly more damage than the Blackmetal Axe, but as with all two-handed weapons in Valheim, it is more cumbersome. For example, players will be able to use a shield while wielding the Blackmetal Axe, which has a comparable DPS when attack speed is factored in. To craft the Crystal Battleaxe, players will need to get Crystal from the Golems in the Mountain biome.
2 The Blackmetal Axe Deals Huge Damage To Trees & Foes
The Blackmetal Axe has the highest damage of all the one-handed slash weapons in Valheim and the second-highest Chop stat of any axe. Players that don't plan to use it as a weapon should still gather the materials to forge it, as it makes woodcutting exponentially more efficient until they can unlock Jotun Bane. It does have less Knockback than the two-handed axes, but it doesn't carry the massive -20% movement penalty that these weapons incur. Survivors that have made their way into the Plains biome should be working toward unlocking the Blackmetal weapons.
Blackmetal weapons are forged with Blackmetal, which is refined Blackmetal Scraps. Many of the enemies in the biome will commonly drop the scraps. Players will need quite a few of the scraps to forge top-tier armor and weapons, and might want to spend an hour or so farming these materials, as the end results are worth it.
1 Jotun Bane Is The Best Axe For Woodcutting In The Game
For players that are brave enough to venture into the Mistlands, there is the potential to find the materials needed to craft the legendary Jotun Bane axe. On top of 15 Iron, players will need 5 Yggdrasil wood which can only be chopped with the Blackmetal Axe or ironically Jotun Bane itself. 3 Bilebags and 10 Refined Eitr are also needed, making it one of the harder items to forge.
Thankfully, players that go to the length of forging the Jotun Bane will be well rewarded as it is the best woodcutting axe in Valheim. With 80 Slash damage and 40 Poison damage on top of that, it is also one of the best offensive axes. The only downside to the Jotun Bane axe is that while the glow it emits looks cool, it actually makes players less sneaky and more likely to be detected by enemies.