Atgeirs: Complete Polearm Guide, Stats & Crafting Recipes for Every Tier

Why the Atgeir Is Valheim's Best Kept Secret

If you have ever been swarmed by Greydwarfs, chased by Fulings or cornered by Draugr in a crypt, the Atgeir is the weapon that would have saved you. Polearms are the most underappreciated weapon class in Valheim. New players reach for swords and maces, but veterans agree: once you learn the spin attack, you never go back.

A mysterious weapon

The Atgeir is a long pole with a thin, curved blade on the side. No archaeological find has confirmed the real atgeir; it appears only in a single 13th-century Icelandic saga. Its effectiveness in Valheim is no mystery, though.

The spin

The secondary attack is a 360-degree spin with 6x stagger and 10x knockback, and no multi-target damage penalty. Most AoE attacks lose damage as they hit more enemies; this one does not. Everything within 3 meters takes full damage and full stagger, and against groups nothing else comes close.

How the Atgeir's Attacks Work

Primary: three thrusts

A 3-hit combo of forward thrusts. The third hit deals double damage with 20% more knockback, so commit to the full chain when you can. It takes 2.98 seconds (0.84s, 0.86s and 1.28s), reaches 3.2 meters and has a narrow 20-degree arc: aim carefully, but you can often hit enemies before they reach you.

Secondary: the spin

Press the middle mouse button for a sweeping 360-degree spin with a 3.0-meter radius. It deals normal weapon damage but 6x stagger and 10x knockback. When an enemy's stagger bar fills, it is stunned and takes bonus damage from your next hit. Most regular creatures are stunned in a single spin.

The combat loop

1. Spin to stagger everything around you.
2. Follow up with three quick pokes; the double-damage third often re-staggers recovered enemies.
3. Spin again, but only after the stun wears off: spinning an already-stunned enemy cancels the stun instead of refreshing it.

Every Atgeir Tier: Crafting Recipes and Upgrade Costs

Valheim 1.0 has eight atgeirs. The four classic tiers run from the Black Forest to the Mistlands, and the Deep North adds a new top line:

• Bronze, Iron and Black Metal Atgeirs: pure Pierce, from the Forge.
• Himminafl: Pierce plus Lightning, from the Black Forge.
• Nord Atgeir, Thunderblood Atgeir and Frostfire Atgeir: the 1.0 Bloodgold tier.
• Wooden Atgeir: a 1-Pierce novelty found in Plains chests, not a real weapon.

There is no Silver atgeir; the line jumps from Iron to Black Metal. That matters less than it sounds, because a maxed Iron Atgeir stays viable through the Mountain and into the Plains.

Upgrade Costs: Is Maxing Out Your Atgeir Worth It?

Absolutely. Every classic tier gains 18 damage from quality 1 to 4 (40% on the Bronze Atgeir), and spin stagger scales directly with damage. A maxed Bronze Atgeir's spin has a stagger value of 378 against 270 at base, often the difference between stunning a Troll in one spin or two.

Full cost from craft to quality 4

Upgrade costs escalate with each level:

• Bronze Atgeir: 8 Bronze, then 4, 8 and 12: 32 Bronze total.
• Iron Atgeir: 30 Iron, then 15, 30 and 45: 120 Iron and 8 Leather Scraps.
• Black Metal Atgeir: 120 Black Metal and 35 Linen Thread.
• Himminafl: 10 Yggdrasil Wood, 105 Refined Eitr, 35 Silver and 14 Mandible.
• Nord Atgeir: 80 Bloodgold and 40 Timberwood.
• Thunderblood or Frostfire: a Nord Atgeir plus 80 Bloodgold and 7 essences.

The Himminafl: Valheim's Lightning Polearm

The Himminafl ("Heaven's Might" in Old Norse) is the Mistlands-tier atgeir, and it splits its damage between Pierce and Lightning. The Pierce stays fixed through every upgrade while the Lightning grows.

Partly bypasses Pierce resistance

Enemies that shrug off a Black Metal Atgeir still take the full Lightning portion. The spin also calls down random lightning bolts for a little extra coverage. The weapon sparkles and glows faint blue, which raises your visibility by about 10% while sneaking, but you are rarely sneaking with a polearm.

Costly to run

It is crafted at the Black Forge from Yggdrasil Wood, Refined Eitr, Silver and Mandible. At 20 stamina per poke and 40 per spin, good food and stamina management matter even more at this tier.

The Deep North Atgeirs (New in 1.0)

The Nord Atgeir is the new top of the pure-Pierce line, cast at a level 4 Black Forge from Bloodgold, Timberwood and the Mould: Nord Atgeir. It hits far harder than the Black Metal Atgeir and has much higher block armor and durability.

Thunderblood and Frostfire

Both start from a finished Nord Atgeir plus Bloodgold and an essence:

• Thunderblood Atgeir: the highest Pierce of any atgeir, plus Lightning.
• Frostfire Atgeir: trades some Pierce for heavy Frost plus a little Fire, ideal for enemies that resist Pierce.

All three cost 20 stamina per poke, the same as the Himminafl.

When to Use Each Atgeir (and When Not To)

Bronze Atgeir

One of your first crafts once you have Bronze. The "The Forest Is Moving" Greydwarf raid can hit early, and a Bronze Atgeir trivializes it: spin into the wave, stagger everything, clean up with pokes. It carries you comfortably through the Black Forest.

Iron Atgeir

Arguably the best value atgeir. Thirty Iron is a lot, but a maxed one serves through the Swamp, Mountain and well into the Plains. Many players jump from it straight to Black Metal without feeling underpowered.

Black Metal Atgeir

The classic peak for pure Pierce. Its spin can stagger Lox in a couple of hits, and with the Bonemass Forsaken Power you become nearly unstoppable against wolf packs, Fuling raids and Deathsquito swarms.

Himminafl and beyond

The Himminafl's Lightning answers the Pierce resistance of Mistlands creatures, and its maxed spin reaches a stagger value of 858. It also gives a little light in the fog. In the Deep North, the Nord Atgeir and its Thunderblood and Frostfire upgrades take over as the strongest crowd-control polearms.

The Atgeir's Weakness and How to Cover It

Pierce is resisted by more creatures than any other physical type. Enemies that shrug off your pokes include:

• Skeletons, Blobs and Oozers
• Growths
• Stone Golems (Pierce resistant, 0.5x)
• Seekers and Seeker Soldiers

Trolls, on the other hand, are weak to Pierce. Against bosses, the atgeir's single-target DPS is not competitive with swords or maces.

Carry a backup

Experienced atgeir users always keep a Blunt weapon. Early, an upgraded Club (Wood and Bone Fragments) works through the Swamp. From the Mountain, Frostner is the ideal partner: its Frost damage gets past the physical resistances of Mistlands bugs, though Seekers are immune to its Spirit. For bosses, switch to a mace or the Mistwalker.

The recommended setup for most of the game: an atgeir for mobs, a Club or mace for Pierce-resistant enemies, and a bow for range.

Blocking and Parrying with the Atgeir

The atgeir can block and parry despite being two-handed. Its 2x parry bonus doubles block armor on a well-timed block: the Bronze Atgeir goes from 16 to 32, and the Himminafl from 64 to 128 at zero skill, up to 192 at 100 Polearms. The Nord line has 88 base. A parry still staggers the attacker.

Parry aggressively

Tap block right before an attack lands instead of holding it. A clean parry plus the atgeir's reach lets you punish from a safe distance, which is ideal against single tough enemies like Fuling Berserkers or Growths, where the spin is less efficient.