Battleaxes: Complete Two-Handed Axe Guide, Stats & Crafting Recipes for Every Tier

Battleaxes are the most misunderstood weapon class in Valheim. Most players swing one once, watch the slow windup and go back to sword and shield. That is a mistake: once you learn the fast secondary poke and the stagger combo it sets up, a battleaxe can carry you from the Swamp to the end of the game.

Valheim 1.0 has seven real Battleaxes. This guide covers the four classic tiers in depth (Battleaxe, Crystal Battleaxe, Black Metal Battleaxe, Skull Splittur) plus the three greataxes added in the Deep North update: the Nord Greataxe, Thunderblood Greataxe and Frostfire Greataxe. All share the same moveset; the numbers are what change.

Why Battleaxes Are Secretly Overpowered

No multitarget penalty

Most melee weapons lose damage when a swing connects with several enemies. Battleaxes do not. The wide 90-degree primary swing hits everything in its arc for full damage. When a pack of Greydwarves rushes you, two swings clear the lot.

The fast secondary poke

The secondary attack takes only 0.84 seconds, faster than the 1.14-second secondary attacks on maces and swords. It deals half damage but applies a 4x stagger multiplier, so one or two pokes stagger nearly anything. A staggered enemy takes 2x damage from your next hit.

Built-in woodcutting

Every battleaxe has Chop damage that scales with tier, so it replaces a dedicated woodcutting axe and frees an inventory slot. A quality 4 Skull Splittur chops for 77.5 per swing.

Understanding the Battleaxe Moveset

Every battleaxe shares the same moveset, so you learn it once.

Primary: three-hit combo

1. Wide swing with a slow 1.58-second windup.
2. Second wide swing, faster at 0.92 seconds.
3. Vertical overhead slam at 0.7 seconds, dealing double damage with 20% more knockback.

A full combo deals roughly four times the listed damage across three swings (1x + 1x + 2x). Primary attacks carry a 1.5x stagger multiplier, so enemies get staggered throughout.

Secondary: the poke

A quick forward thrust with a narrow 30-degree arc. It deals half the listed Slash and Chop damage, but has a 4x stagger multiplier and 140 knockback (double the primary's 70). It is your fastest way to interrupt an enemy's windup.

Blocking and parrying

Block armor rises by 50% from 0 to 100 Axes skill, and the 2x parry bonus doubles it on a well-timed block. The -15% movement penalty makes repositioning hard, though, so most players control space with the poke rather than blocking.

All Battleaxe Crafting Recipes

Each tier needs a better station and rarer materials. The iron Battleaxe is your entry point after the Swamp; the 1.0 greataxes need a level 4 Black Forge and Bloodgold. Maxing any of them is a big investment, so plan your farming.

Tier-by-Tier Breakdown

Battleaxe (Iron tier)

Your first two-handed axe, available once you smelt Iron from the Swamp. It shines against the Draugr and Skeleton packs in Sunken Crypts. Its Slash is close to the Iron Sword's, but the wide arc with no multitarget penalty means far more total damage when several enemies are in range.

Quality 4 brings it to 88 Slash and 47.5 Chop, for 125 Iron, 60 Ancient Bark and 4 Leather Scraps in total. It is also excellent against slow Abominations, where the windup does not matter, and for clearing Greydwarves on wood runs.

Crystal Battleaxe (Mountain tier)

The Crystal Battleaxe adds a flat 30 Spirit damage on top of 90 Slash, for 120 total at quality 1. Spirit does not grow with upgrades. It glows bluish-white, which helps in dark caves but makes sneaking harder.

You need Silver, so bring the Wishbone from Bonemass to find veins. The 10 Crystal comes from Stone Golems (8 to 11 per kill) or crystal deposits in Frost Caves. Maxing it costs 120 Silver, 70 Ancient Bark and 10 Crystal.

Check the target before relying on Spirit: Seekers and Trolls are both immune to it, so against them only the 90 Slash counts.

Black Metal Battleaxe (Plains tier)

The pure physical option, with no Spirit or elemental damage. Quality 4 reaches 128 Slash and 67.5 Chop. The recipe drops Ancient Bark and Iron for Linen Thread, Black Metal and Finewood, and upgrades only need Linen Thread and Black Metal, so it is easy to max with a Plains Flax farm.

In the Mistlands, Seekers resist Slash, Blunt and Pierce (0.5x), so expect roughly half damage against them. That applies to every physical weapon, and the Crystal Battleaxe does no better there.

Skull Splittur (Mistlands tier)

Crafted at the Black Forge from Yggdrasil Wood, Iron and Refined Eitr. Quality 4 reaches 148 Slash, 77.5 Chop and 222 primary stagger. Its cyan glow lights up the Mistlands fog.

Refined Eitr is only needed for the base craft (10); upgrades use Iron and Yggdrasil Wood. Its 64 block armor means 128 on a parry at 0 skill and 192 at 100 Axes skill, real defense for a two-hander.

The 1.0 greataxes (Deep North update)

The battleaxe line no longer stops at the Mistlands. All three greataxes are crafted at a level 4 Black Forge, weigh 2.5, have 76 block armor and cost 22 stamina per swing. Their movement penalty rises to -20%.

• Nord Greataxe: 188 Slash, 40 Chop. Needs Bloodgold, Timberwood and a Mould: Nord Greataxe.
• Thunderblood Greataxe: upgrades a Nord Greataxe with Thunderblood Essence. 198 Slash plus 45 Lightning.
• Frostfire Greataxe: upgrades a Nord Greataxe with Frostfire Essence. 154 Slash, 88 Frost and 12 Fire.

Note their Chop is lower than the Skull Splittur's, so keep an older axe if tree felling matters.

Combat Techniques and Solo Strategy

The core loop

1. Open with the secondary poke. It costs half the stamina of a primary swing (8 versus 16 on the base Battleaxe) and lands in 0.84 seconds.
2. Watch for the stagger animation, usually after one or two pokes.
3. Chain the full three-hit primary combo. If the final double-damage slam lands while the enemy is still staggered, the 2x stagger bonus stacks on top: about 4x damage on that swing.

Group fights

Lead with wide primary swings. The 90-degree arc and 2.5 range catch several enemies, and the 1.5x stagger multiplier staggers weaker ones while everything takes full damage. Mix in pokes to keep the biggest threat staggered and pushed back.

Stamina

A full primary combo costs 48 stamina on the base Battleaxe (16 per swing), and the movement penalty makes it hard to disengage when you run dry. Always keep enough for one dodge roll. Serpent Stew and Lox Meat Pie are health foods, so pair them with a stamina-focused food.

Solo and co-op

Solo players should lean on the poke: its narrow hitbox works in tight spaces and the 140 knockback buys time. In co-op, the battleaxe is a stagger support weapon that sets up the 2x bonus for a teammate with a fast weapon.

Sidegrades in the Ashlands

With the Nord Greataxe line, battleaxe mains no longer have to abandon the class. In the Ashlands, before you can craft the greataxes, many players switch to the dual-wielded Berserkir Axes (same Axes skill, different moveset) or the Slayer two-handed sword for a similar heavy-hitting feel.

Against Seekers, rely on raw physical damage: they resist it, but they are immune to Spirit, so the Crystal Battleaxe is no help there.