Maces: Complete Club Guide, Stats & Crafting Recipes for Every Tier

Maces are arguably the most consistently strong weapon class in Valheim. Swords get the glory and axes double as tools, but the Club family quietly carries players from the Meadows to the Deep North. Blunt is the most broadly useful physical damage type: more enemies are weak or neutral to it than to Slash or Pierce,

None of the seven bosses from Eikthyr to Fader resists Blunt.

One Clubs skill covers one-handed maces and two-handed sledges alike, so every swing of a Club in the Meadows builds toward Flametal Mace combos hundreds of hours later. Veterans call early Clubs investment one of the smartest choices you can make, because the class never falls off.

How Maces Work: Combat Mechanics

One-handed maces

• Primary: a 3-hit combo over 2.46 seconds (0.86 + 0.80 + 0.90). The third hit deals double damage with 20% more knockback, so finish the combo.
• Secondary: every mace except the Club has an overhead blow for 2.5x damage and 2x stagger, at double stamina, in a narrow 30-degree vertical arc. Use it on staggered enemies or single targets.
• Reach: 2.4m and a 90-degree arc, identical to swords, with a 5% movement penalty. Pair with any shield for a safe sword-and-board style.

Two-handed sledges

Sledges slam the ground and damage everything in a 4-meter sphere with no multi-target penalty. The cost: a 15% movement penalty and no shield.

Knockback: blessing and curse

Every mace has much more knockback than swords or axes. Against groups it keeps threats away. Against single targets it can push enemies out of reach and waste stamina. That is why some players switch to swords late, but veterans learn to use knockback deliberately.

Every One-Handed Mace: Stats and Crafting

The one-handed lineup covers every biome, and several maces stay useful well past the biome where you craft them.

Club

Your first blunt weapon, crafted by hand from 6 Wood with no workbench needed. At quality 1 it only deals 12 Blunt, less than a Flint Axe.

Upgraded to quality 4 with Bone Fragments it reaches 30 Blunt and handles Skeletons in Burial Chambers, which take 1.5x Blunt damage. It has no secondary attack. Its real job is starting your Clubs skill.

Bronze Mace

Your first proper mace, and a big upgrade: 35 Blunt and 80 knockback at quality 1, and the first secondary attack in the line. It demolishes Skeletons in Burial Chambers, and the knockback keeps Greydwarfs from swarming you. It peaks at 53 Blunt, fine into early Swamp exploration.

Iron Mace

The king of the Swamp and arguably the most important mace because of Bonemass. It hits far harder than the Bronze Mace and is the last pure Blunt one-handed mace until the Flametal Mace.

The Swamp is practically built around it: Blobs, Oozers, Skeletons and Bonemass all take bonus Blunt damage. It needs Forge level 2 and 20 Iron, worth every scrap.

Frostner

Frostner has its own article, but it is too important to skip. It deals Blunt, Frost and Spirit at once, and only the Frost grows with upgrades.

The Frost slow makes kiting trivial, and its 100 knockback is the highest of any one-handed mace of its tier. Spirit adds a bonus against Spirit-weak undead such as Wraiths. It stays competitive into the Mistlands.

One quirk: Frost does not add to stagger, so enemies stagger less often than with a pure Blunt mace of similar total damage.

Porcupine

The wildcard: 50 Blunt plus 45 Pierce at quality 1, with only the Pierce growing.

Few creatures resist both, so its damage is very consistent, but it rarely exploits a weakness either. It is the only Plains-tier weapon that needs no Black Metal, using Needles from Deathsquitos and Linen Thread instead. It also has a subtle glow that gives light even when holstered.

Flametal Mace

The Ashlands mace: 135 Blunt at quality 1 and 153 at quality 4, a return to pure Blunt. It is made at a level 3 Black Forge from Ashlands materials and can be turned into three gemstone variants at a level 4 Black Forge:

• Bloodgeon (Bloodstone)
• Storm Star (Iolite): adds 10 Lightning
• Klossen (Jade): adds 10 Poison

Converting resets the quality level, so convert before upgrading.

Nord Mace (Deep North, new in 1.0)

The Nord Mace is cast at a level 4 Black Forge from Bloodgold, Timberwood and the Mould: Nord Mace, and it gains 10 Blunt per level instead of 6. It upgrades into the Thunderblood Mace (Lightning) or Frostfire Mace (Frost and Fire), the strongest one-handed maces in the game.

Two-Handed Sledges: Area Powerhouses

Sledges are the two-handed branch of the Clubs skill. Instead of a combo, you get one ground slam that hits everything in a 4-meter sphere at full damage. The price: 15% slower movement, no shield, and a long wind-up that leaves you exposed.

Stagbreaker

The earliest sledge, made at a level 2 Workbench from 20 Corewood, 5 Deer Trophies and 2 Leather Scraps. It deals 20 Blunt and 5 Pierce, rising to 38 Blunt at quality 4. The damage is modest; the area is the draw. Slam near Burial Chamber doorways to hit Skeletons through walls.

Hidden trick: its splash can reveal buried Silver and Obsidian in the Mountains by triggering a "too hard" message, no Wishbone needed.

Iron Sledge

The Swamp's crowd-control weapon: 55 Blunt with 2x stagger and 200 knockback, the Iron Mace's damage spread over a 4-meter radius. It devastates packs of Blobs and Draugr in Sunken Crypts.

It is costly, though: 10 Ancient Bark, 30 Iron, 4 Ymir Flesh and a Draugr Elite Trophy (a 10% drop from Draugr Elites). Quality 4 takes 120 Iron in total.

Demolisher

The Mistlands sledge, made at the Black Forge from 10 Yggdrasil Wood, 20 Iron and 10 Refined Eitr. With 145 Blunt (163 at quality 4), 210 knockback and 2x stagger, it was the hardest-hitting area weapon before the Deep North.

It clears dense Mistlands and Ashlands packs in a few slams. The 28 stamina per swing is punishing, so manage food and stamina.

Nord Sledge (Deep North, new in 1.0)

The Nord Sledge (Bloodgold, Timberwood and the Mould: Nord Sledge) hits far harder than the Demolisher and upgrades into the Thunderblood Sledge or Frostfire Sledge.

Best Mace for Each Biome

• Meadows: the Club does the job; upgrade it with Bone Fragments early. The Stagbreaker is craftable once you have enough Deer Trophies, overkill for Greylings but fun.
• Black Forest: the Bronze Mace shines against Skeletons in Burial Chambers, and its knockback keeps Greydwarf hordes manageable. Pair it with a Bronze Buckler for easy parries.
• Swamp: mace territory. The Iron Mace is the best weapon for Bonemass, and Blobs, Oozers and Skeletons all take bonus Blunt damage. The Iron Sledge clears Sunken Crypt rooms; if you can afford only one, take the cheaper, more flexible Iron Mace.
• Mountains: Frostner takes over. Its slow is invaluable against fast Wolves (which are immune to Spirit, so the slow is what counts). Against Stone Golems only Frostner's Blunt part works: they are immune to Frost and Spirit, so an Iron Mace or a Pickaxe (Golems are very weak to Pickaxe damage) is just as good.
• Plains: the Porcupine gives consistent damage against Fulings, though Lox resist its Blunt. Many veterans keep Frostner for the slow; it is a playstyle choice, not a clear upgrade.
• Mistlands and Ashlands: the Demolisher devastates dense packs of Seekers and Charred, and the Flametal Mace with its gemstone variants is the strongest one-handed mace of the Ashlands.
• Deep North: the Nord Mace and Nord Sledge lines take over.

Combat Tips for Mace Users

Mastering the mace means mastering timing.

Always finish the combo

The third swing deals double damage and extra knockback. If an enemy is about to attack, block or dodge after the second swing and restart, rather than eating a hit to land the third.

Parry into the heavy blow

Maces have a 2x parry bonus, like swords. A parry with mace and shield staggers most enemies long enough for a full combo. Against bosses, a parry into the secondary (2.5x damage) is the biggest single hit a one-handed weapon can deliver.

The tank build

A mace with a Tower Shield makes you nearly unkillable at the cost of speed. It shines in multiplayer: hold aggro and stagger enemies while teammates hit from behind.

Sledge positioning

• Start the wind-up early and walk toward the group; the slam lands 2 meters in front of you.
• In Sunken Crypts, slam near walls and doorways to hit enemies on the other side.
• The Stagbreaker can even break spawners through walls, clearing rooms without opening doors.