Tools

2:56 Tools are the equipment a Viking uses to work the world of Valheim rather than to fight in it. Axes fell trees, pickaxes break rock and ore, the Hammer builds, the Hoe and Cultivator shape and plant the ground, and a few special tools catch fish, clear mist or snow and climb cliffs. The Hammer and Stone Axe are crafted straight from the inventory; everything else needs a crafting station. Each new tier opens the next biome's resources, from the Antler Pickaxe that Eikthyr makes possible to the Snow Shovel and Grappling Hook of the Valheim 1.0 Release of Sep 9, 2026. Weapons are covered under Weapons and Shields.

Quick facts

Durability, repair and upgrades

A broken tool is not destroyed, only unusable until a station of the right kind repairs it for free (Crafting Stations and Upgrades). Upgrades at the station add durability and damage, up to quality 4 for axes and pickaxes (3 for the Hammer, Hoe and Cultivator); the Iron Pickaxe climbs from 150 to 300 durability. Since 1.0, Battle Idols can push a tool past that ceiling at the Forge of Potential, at the risk of losing it. A tree or rock beyond a tool's tier shows a "too hard" message and takes no damage. Chopping and mining train the Woodcutting and Pickaxes skills (Skills).

Axes

Axes chop trees, logs and stumps and double as slashing weapons. Which trees they fell depends on tier (Valheim Wiki: Tools):

A falling trunk damages whatever it lands on, including the player who cut it, and the secondary attack's overhead swing is for low stumps. The Early Axes, a dual-wielded pair added in the fifth-anniversary patch of February 2026, are assembled from two axe heads found in the Meadows' abandoned houses and let a new player cut birch and oak before the first bronze.

Pickaxes

12:50 Pickaxes mine stone and ore and dig the ground down to about eight meters below its original height, each new one adding harder materials. In Samo's Mountain guide the earth around a silver vein is cleared with the Antler Pickaxe and the vein broken with an Iron Pickaxe, the first that can touch it (Metals and Smelting).

7:33 The Black Metal Pickaxe, whose Yggdrasil Wood ties it to the Mistlands, is the last pickaxe in the game. The Ashlands brought no new gathering tools in 2024: the Black Metal Pickaxe mines Flametal and Grausten there, and the Black Metal Axe fells the scorched trees. 1.0 added no pickaxe either, because the Deep North's metal is blasted out of petrified Gammeltrolls with Ember Charges (below).

Hammer, Hoe and Cultivator

The Hammer (3 Wood, 2 Stone) places, repairs and deconstructs build pieces, returning their materials. Its secondary button opens the build menu, so a player holding it cannot block. 1.0 rebuilt that menu, grouping pieces by category and material and adding recent-builds and favorites lists and a search filter (Building and Structural Integrity).

3:32 The Hoe (5 Wood, 2 Stone, Workbench) levels the ground to the height the player stands at, raises it by spending Stone, and lays paths and paved roads; digging down is the pickaxe's job (Valheim Wiki: Hoe). Beginners' guides recommend flattening a base site with it before building, so that uneven terrain does not poke through the floors.

1:00 The Cultivator (5 Core Wood, 5 Bronze, Forge) tills soil and plants seeds, crops and saplings; all eight crops grow only in cultivated ground. A grass mode restores grass, lily pads and shoreline sand (Valheim Wiki: Cultivator). Since The Bog Witch Update of Oct 29, 2024, using it trains the Farming skill, which lowers its stamina cost and its wear (Farming and Taming).

Scythe and Serving Tray

7:44 The Scythe, also from The Bog Witch Update, harvests crops in a sweep rather than one plant at a time. It is made at a level-two Forge from 6 Silver and a Scythe Handle, which The Bog Witch sells for 200 coins once Moder is dead. Its reach grows with the Farming skill: Embr's farming guide reports more than 30 crops in a single swing at maximum skill with the Harvester outfit's bonus. It does not work on Jotun Puffs or Magecaps.

The same trader sells the Serving Tray for 140 coins, a tool that places food, mead and feasts on tables or the ground for anyone to eat (Valheim Wiki: Serving tray). Its menu was overhauled in 1.0 together with the Hammer's (Food and Cooking).

Fishing Rod

0:28 The Fishing Rod cannot be crafted. Haldor sells it for 350 coins, and very rarely one lies beside a frozen lake in a Frost Cave. Holding the attack button casts farther, some 25 to 30 meters at most; only visible fish can be caught, and a hooked fish drains stamina until it is landed or escapes. Perch and Pike take Haldor's basic Fishing Bait; the other ten species each need a bait made with a creature trophy (Valheim Wiki: Fishing rod; Fishing).

Wisplight

The Wisplight is the Mistlands' exploration tool, a glowing wisp that floats beside the player and pushes back the mist, originally in a 10-meter radius. It is made from one Silver and one Wisp from the Wisp Fountain and occupies the utility slot, so it cannot be worn with the Megingjord or the Wishbone (Valheim Wiki: Wisplight). 1.0 increased the mist-clearing range of the Wisplight, the Wisp Torch and the Mistwalker sword and made every Mistlands weapon clear mist as well (KeenGamer).

Snow Shovel

3:13 Snow in the Deep North lies too deep to build on, and 1.0 added the Snow Shovel to clear it. The recipe unlocks when a player first picks up Embers, the sparks that gather at the Eternal Pyre built from Fader's relic, and the shovel is made at a level-three Black Forge from 5 Fine Wood, 4 Flametal and 2 Embers (AllThings.How). Game8 lists 200 durability.

10:38 Each swing scrapes a patch of ground clear, after which pieces can be placed there, and the shovel also clears the frost that blizzards pile onto buildings. At launch snow could be moved more slowly by kicking, punching or swinging a weapon, as Kysen demonstrates, but Hotfix 1.0.10 of Sep 11, 2026 stopped punching from removing snow, while landing on snow now clears it (Iron Gate, Hotfix 1.0.10 & 1.0.12). Full page: Snow Shovel.

Grappling Hook

0:26 The Grappling Hook is the other 1.0 tool, which KeenGamer's patch summary calls "a completely new traversal option". The primary attack fires the hook at a surface and reels the player to it at speed; the secondary attack reloads. Its range is enough to escape a fight by pulling towards a distant tree, but a short delay before it fires means it works best planned rather than mid-fall (KeenGamer).

1:04 It is made at the Black Forge from 10 Yggdrasil Wood, 10 Refined Eitr, 4 Mandibles and a Hook. The Hook cannot be bought or crafted: it lies in Dvergr treasure chests in the hidden rooms of Mistlands Infested Mines, and picking one up unlocks the recipe. Game8 lists 300 durability and a weight of 1.5.

13:59 In the Deep North the hook is the quickest way onto the ruined towers above the Gates of Mörkhalla, and guides pair it with the Feather Cape inside the dungeon.

Ember Charges

15:28 Ember Charges are 1.0's mining explosive and the only thing that breaks a petrified Gammeltroll, the source of the Deep North's metal. One Embers and two Seal Pelts make ten at a Workbench. A charge is thrown a short way and explodes after a delay; two at a statue's feet bring it down in a shower of Petrified Tissue. The same charges blow holes in the ice sheets along the Deep North's coast, which a Longship cannot break. See Deep North Creatures and Deep North Update (1.0 Patch Notes).

Frequently asked questions

What is the best pickaxe in Valheim? The Black Metal Pickaxe, made from 3 Yggdrasil Wood and 25 Black Metal at a level-two Forge. It is the last pickaxe in the game: it adds black marble, Soft Tissue and Flametal ore, and neither the Ashlands nor 1.0 added a successor, because the Deep North's metal is blasted out of petrified Gammeltrolls instead.

Does a broken tool disappear? No. A broken tool is only unusable until a station of the right kind repairs it, which is free. A tree or rock above a tool's tier simply shows a "too hard" message and takes no damage.

How do you get the fishing rod? Buy it from Haldor for 350 coins. It cannot be crafted; the only alternative is a rod that lies beside the frozen lake in a rare Frost Cave room.

How do you get the Snow Shovel? The recipe unlocks when a player first picks up Embers at an Eternal Pyre, built from Fader's relic, and the shovel is made at a level-three Black Forge from 5 Fine Wood, 4 Flametal and 2 Embers. Since Hotfix 1.0.10 punching no longer clears snow, though landing on it does.

Where do you find the Hook for the Grappling Hook? In Dvergr treasure chests in the hidden rooms of Mistlands Infested Mines. It cannot be bought or crafted, and picking one up unlocks the Black Forge recipe of 10 Yggdrasil Wood, 10 Refined Eitr, 4 Mandibles and the Hook.

Sources

• Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop): Tools, Stone axe, Flint axe, Early axes, Bronze axe, Iron axe, Black metal axe, Jotun bane, Antler pickaxe, Bronze pickaxe, Iron pickaxe, Black metal pickaxe, Hammer, Hoe, Cultivator, Serving tray, Fishing rod, Wisplight
• Valheim 1.0 patch notes, Iron Gate Studio (Steam), Sep 9, 2026
• Hotfix 1.0.10 & 1.0.12, Iron Gate Studio (Steam), Sep 11, 2026
• Word From the Devs: Winter Adventures, Iron Gate Studio, Mar 25, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 Patch Notes: Deep North, Weapons, Armor and More, KeenGamer, Sep 10, 2026
• Valheim 1.0: How to Get the Grappling Hook, KeenGamer, Sep 11, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 patch notes, BisectHosting
• How to Get and Use the Snow Shovel in the Deep North, AllThings.How
• Valheim 1.0 New Content: Deep North Biome and Kall Fimbulbringer, AllThings.How
• Snow Shovel, Grappling Hook and Ember Charge recipe pages, Game8
• Valheim 1.0 COMPLETE BEGINNERS GUIDE in under 10 minutes!, Annarf, YouTube
• 30+ Need to Know Valheim Tips for the Mountains!, Samo, YouTube
• Valheim Ashlands! Ultimate Biome Guide, SnazzyGames, YouTube
• The ULTIMATE Guide to Farming in Valheim!, Embr, YouTube
• Everything You Need to Know About Fishing in Valheim, SnazzyGames, YouTube
• Valheim 1.0 Deep North Full Guide!, Kysen, YouTube