Draugr Fang

0:19 The Draugr Fang is a bow in Valheim, crafted from Swamp wood and Mountain silver, that adds poison damage to every arrow it fires. It is the fourth of the game's bows, following the Crude, Finewood and Huntsman bows and preceding the Mistlands' Spinesnap, and because the Plains has no bow of its own it is the standard bow of two biomes. The game describes it as "Dark wood strung with glistening sinew. A vicious thing." The poison comes on top of whatever arrow is nocked, including elemental ones, which is why ESO's guide of February 2021 called it the best bow in the game at the time (Draugr Fang, Valheim Wiki).

Quick facts

Source: Draugr Fang, Valheim Wiki.

How to craft the Draugr Fang

1:16 The recipe draws on three biomes. Ancient Bark comes from the ancient trees of the Swamp, felled with a Bronze Axe or the Early Axes; Deer Hide from the deer of the Meadows; Silver from veins buried in the Mountain, found with Bonemass's Wishbone, mined with an Iron Pickaxe and smelted in an ordinary Smelter (Ancient Bark, Valheim Wiki; Metals and Smelting). Silver cannot pass through a portal, so the bow is usually made at a forge near the mountain or after a boat trip home.

2:12 Guck is the awkward ingredient. It grows in glowing sacks high on Swamp trees; arrows do not damage them, so players build a workbench and a ladder or platform up the trunk and cut each sack with an axe or pickaxe. Abominations, the Swamp's walking root heaps, also drop three or four Guck each (Guck, Valheim Wiki). The wiki lists just three other uses for Guck, a green banner, a green-burning torch and a green firework, so most of it goes into this bow.

6:15 The bow needs a Forge at level 2, one extension such as the Forge Cooler, and every upgrade needs one more level, so quality 4 needs a level 5 Forge (Crafting Stations and Upgrades).

Draugr Fang stats and upgrades

A fully upgraded bow costs 40 Ancient Bark, 80 Silver, 14 Deer Hide and 22 Guck in all. Its arrows leave at up to 60 meters a second, faster than the 50 of the Finewood and Huntsman bows, with a knockback of 20 and the triple damage of a sneak-attack backstab (Bows, Valheim Wiki). Two drawbacks come with it. It makes 15 meters of noise when fired and 8 where the arrow lands, against the Huntsman Bow's 4 at each end, and its faint green glow makes a sneaking archer slightly easier to spot (Bows, Crossbows and Arrows).

Poison damage and the best arrows for the Draugr Fang

8:53 The bow's poison is damage over time and is added on top of whatever the arrow carries. Its poison stacks with that of Poison Arrows, and ESO recommends Frost Arrows instead, so that a single shot delivers pierce, poison and a slowing frost effect (Poison Arrow, Valheim Wiki). Obsidian Arrows (52 pierce) give the most raw damage until the Plains' Needle Arrows (62); Obsidian, Poison and Frost Arrows are all made with Obsidian (Status Effects; Damage Types).

Poison is useless against a long list of targets. Skeletons, Growths, Abominations, Bonemass and, despite the bow's name, the Draugr themselves are all immune to it, so against them the Draugr Fang is simply a bow with 47 to 56 pierce (Draugr and Bonemass, Valheim Wiki). Its best targets are the Frost Caves' Ulvs and Cultists, both weak to poison (Frost Caves).

Where the Draugr Fang sits in progression

31:40 In the Mountain it is SnazzyGames' preferred weapon of all: the biome has the first airborne enemy in the Drake, a flying boss, and wolf packs that are safest killed from stealth, often with a single arrow before they know the player is there. Inside the caves, he adds, the poison melts Cultists and Ulvs (Mountain Creatures; Wolf).

3:23 Against Moder, who spends part of the fight in the air, GlensGames uses the Draugr Fang with Obsidian Arrows rather than fire arrows. Moder is weak to fire and immune to frost, spirit and stagger, but not to poison (Moder, Valheim Wiki).

2:20 The Plains adds no new bow, so the Draugr Fang stays in use against Fulings and Deathsquitos; SnazzyGames' Plains guide says nothing tops it for a ranged player and pairs it with Poison Arrows (Plains Creatures).

9:54 Even the Mistlands' Spinesnap, with 72 to 84 pierce, does not always replace it. SnazzyGames' weapon guide still recommends the Draugr Fang for its lower draw cost, 10 stamina a second against the Spinesnap's 14, and for poison, which he rates above the Spinesnap's spirit damage (Skills).

1:49 His Mistlands guide likewise lists the Draugr Fang or the Huntsman Bow as enough for the biome's flying enemies. The successors are the Spinesnap and the Arbalest of the Mistlands, the Ash Fang of the Ashlands and, since the Valheim 1.0 Release of Sep 9, 2026, the Nord Bow and its Frostfire and Thunderblood versions (Weapons and Shields).

History and 1.0

The Draugr Fang has been in the game since the early-access launch of February 2021, when it was the strongest bow available; ESO's guide that month predicted that future biomes would bring stronger bows, which the Mistlands did in December 2022. A patch of September 2021 lowered the stamina cost of bows in general (Patch 0.202.19, Iron Gate). The 1.0 patch notes did not change the bow itself, but a quality 4 Draugr Fang can now be refined further at the Forge of Potential with Battle Idols, at the risk of destroying it (Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate).

Frequently asked questions

How do you unlock the Draugr Fang in Valheim? Pick up its materials, Ancient Bark, Silver, Deer Hide and Guck, and build a Forge with at least one upgrade so that it reaches level 2; the recipe then appears at the Forge.

Is the Draugr Fang worth upgrading? Usually, yes. Each level adds 3 pierce and 5 poison, so quality 4 quadruples the poison from 5 to 20, at a total cost of 80 Silver.

Does the Draugr Fang's poison stack with Poison Arrows? Yes. The bow's poison is added to the arrow's, although many guides prefer Frost or Obsidian Arrows to get a second damage type or more pierce.

Does poison work on draugr? No. Draugr, skeletons, Abominations, Growths and Bonemass are immune to poison, so only the pierce damage counts against them.

Is the Draugr Fang better than the Spinesnap? The Spinesnap hits harder, but the Draugr Fang is cheaper to draw at 10 stamina a second against 14, and some guides prefer its poison to the Spinesnap's spirit damage.

Sources

• Draugr Fang, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Bows, Valheim Wiki
• Ancient Bark and Guck, Valheim Wiki
• Poison Arrow, Valheim Wiki
• Draugr, Bonemass and Moder, Valheim Wiki
• Patch 0.202.19, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Sep 17, 2021
• Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate Studio (Steam news), Sep 9, 2026
• Valheim Tips: Best Bow & Arrows Guide, ESO (video)
• BEST Weapons in Valheim - Ultimate Weapon Guide, SnazzyGames (video)
• Everything You NEED To Know About The Plains, SnazzyGames (video)
• Everything YOU Need to Know About Valheims Mistlands, SnazzyGames (video)
• Valheim: 5 Ways to Kill Moder, GlensGames (video)