Forge: Complete Crafting Guide, All Upgrades & How to Unlock Valheim's Metal Workshop

Why the Forge Matters

The Forge is the most important crafting station for most of your journey. The Workbench gets you started and the Black Forge handles Mistlands gear and beyond, but the regular Forge crafts, upgrades and repairs your metal equipment from your first Copper bar in the Black Forest to Black Metal weapons in the Plains.

Its upgrade system is what makes it special. A level 1 Forge crafts a handful of Bronze items; a level 7 Forge unlocks dozens of recipes and lets you push weapons and armor to maximum quality. Plan upgrades early so you never hold Silver with no way to forge it.

How to Unlock the Forge

Valheim uses discovery-based crafting: you learn a recipe once you pick up its materials. Defeating Eikthyr gives you Hard Antler for a pickaxe, but the Forge itself appears only when you pick up your first Copper bar. This is intended: metalworking is gated behind exploring the Black Forest.

The full chain:

1. Craft an Antler Pickaxe from Hard Antler.
2. Find Surtling Cores in Burial Chambers.
3. Build a Charcoal Kiln and a Smelter with them, and burn Wood into Coal.
4. Mine Copper Ore in the Black Forest and smelt it into Copper.
5. Pick up the bar: the Forge recipe unlocks.

All Six Forge Upgrades Explained

The Forge starts at level 1. Each of six upgrade stations placed nearby adds one level, unlocks more recipes, raises the item quality you can reach and adds 3 meters of build radius (up to 38 meters). Order does not matter: each one always adds exactly +1.

Placement rules

• Most upgrades only need to be in range. A dotted line confirms the connection while placing; if it breaks, you are too far.
• There is no line-of-sight requirement, so upgrades can hide behind walls, under floors or in side rooms.
• The Forge Bellows must touch the Forge.
• The Forge Toolrack must go on a wall or roof piece.

Upgrade Order and Material Sourcing

Most players build the upgrades in the order their materials become available.

Black Forest: Forge Cooler and Anvils

These two need only Black Forest materials (Finewood, Copper, Wood and Bronze). The Forge Cooler is a 1x1 bucket; the Anvils are a small floor piece. Together they bring the Forge to level 3, enough to craft and upgrade Bronze gear.

Swamp: Smith's Anvil and Forge Toolrack

Once you smelt Iron, these two cost 35 Iron between them, a big early Swamp investment. Build the Smith's Anvil first: it reaches level 4, enough to fully upgrade Bronze and start on Iron. Plan a wall or roof spot for the Toolrack.

Forge Bellows: the Chain problem

The Bellows needs 4 Chain. Sources:

• Wraiths, which roam the Swamp at night and always drop one.
• Sunken Crypt chests and Swamp chests.

The Bellows is the largest upgrade (2x2) and must sit against the Forge, so leave room. Stockpile Chain: the Wolf Hide Chestpiece and Black Metal Shield need it later.

Grinding Wheel

The Grinding Wheel needs a Sharpening Stone (5 Stone at the Stonecutter, which itself needs Iron). Sharpening Stones also turn up in Plains chests. Neither the Grinding Wheel nor the Bellows uses metal, so their materials can go through Portals.

Forge Level Requirements by Gear Tier

Each item has a base Forge level, and every quality upgrade needs one level more. An item that starts at level 2 needs level 5 to reach quality 4.

The general pattern

• Bronze gear starts at level 1, so quality 4 needs level 4.
• Iron weapons and most Iron armor start at level 2 (quality 4 at level 5).
• Silver weapons start at level 3 (quality 4 at level 6).
• Black Metal weapons start at level 4, so maxing them needs level 7.

Some armor pieces and all trinkets start lower (the Iron Helmet and Drake Helmet are level 1 items), but weapons follow this ladder closely. That last row is why the seventh level matters.

Black Metal goes to the regular Forge

The Black Metal Sword, Atgeir, Knife and Axe are all crafted at the regular Forge, not the Black Forge. If you are in the Plains wondering where to make Black Metal gear, the answer is your regular Forge at a high enough level.

Workshop Layout and Placement Tips

The Forge is a compact 1x2 piece, but with six upgrades you need room. The 2x2 Bellows sits against the Forge and the Toolrack needs a wall or roof. For a single-floor smithy, plan at least a 5x5 interior.

Cover

The Forge needs a roof and 70% cover to work. Rain does not damage it (200 durability), but without cover it simply refuses to craft. If you see the "too exposed" message, add wall segments or extend the roof overhang.

Show it off or hide it

Visible bellows, toolracks and grinding wheels make a satisfying Nordic smithy. For a minimalist look, tuck the upgrades under the floor. The Forge works identically either way.

Everything the Forge Crafts

The Forge covers Bronze, Iron, Silver and Black Metal tiers, plus utility items such as Bronze Nails for the Karve and Iron Nails.

Armor

• Bronze Helmet, Bronze Plate Tunic, Bronze Plate Leggings
• Iron Helmet, Iron Scale Mail, Iron Greaves
• Wolf Hide Chestpiece, Wolf Hide Trousers, Drake Helmet
• Padded Helmet, Padded Cuirass, Padded Greaves (Plains tier)

Weapons

• Bronze tier: Copper Knife, Bronze Atgeir, Bronze Mace, Bronze Spear, Bronze Sword
• Iron tier: Ancient Bark Spear, Battleaxe, Huntsman Bow, Iron Atgeir, Iron Mace, Iron Sledge, Iron Sword
• Silver tier: Crystal Battleaxe, Draugr Fang, Fang Spear, Flesh Rippers, Frostner, Silver Knife, Silver Sword
• Black Metal tier: Black Metal Atgeir, Black Metal Knife, Black Metal Sword, Porcupine

Shields

• Bronze Buckler, Banded Shield, Iron Buckler, Iron Tower Shield
• Silver Shield, Serpent Scale Shield, Black Metal Shield, Black Metal Tower Shield

Tools and arrows

• Bronze Axe, Bronze Pickaxe, Butcher Knife, Cultivator
• Iron Axe, Iron Pickaxe, Scythe, Black Metal Axe, Black Metal Pickaxe
• Bronzehead Arrow, Ironhead Arrow, Silver Arrow

Trinkets

• Heart of the Forest, Bronze Pendant, Iron Brooch, Nimble Anklet, Fins of Destiny
• Wolf Sight, Crystal Heart, Bracelets of the Brave, Evasion Mantle

Materials

• Bronze (2 Copper and 1 Tin per bar), Bronze Nails, Iron Nails

Forge vs Black Forge: What Goes Where

From the Mistlands on, a second station appears: the Black Forge, built from Black Marble, Yggdrasil Wood and Black Cores. It handles Carapace gear, Ashlands Flametal equipment and weapons such as Himminafl, Krom and Nidhögg. It has its own four upgrades (Black Forge Cooler, Vice, Metal Cutter and Gem Cutter) and a maximum level of 5.

You never stop needing the regular Forge. It is still where you repair and upgrade Bronze, Iron, Silver and Black Metal gear, so most players keep both in their main base.

Outpost Forges and Portal Strategies

Metals cannot go through Portals, so veterans build satellite Forges near mining sites. A basic level 1 Forge at a Swamp outpost lets you repair gear and craft on site without hauling everything home.

Upgrading an outpost Forge

Two upgrades use no metal and can be portaled in:

• Grinding Wheel: Wood and a Sharpening Stone.
• Forge Bellows: Wood, Deer Hide and Chain.

The other four need metal, which must travel by cart or boat.