How to Get Valheim’s Early Axes

If you’re just jumping into Valheim for the first time, or you’re starting a brand-new playthrough for the 1.0 update, there’s an early-game weapon you might not even know exists. If you can get your hands on it, the weapon can make the early game an absolute breeze.

The Early Axes

During the Valheim 5th Anniversary patch, the developers added a brand-new early-game weapon that you can find relatively easily throughout the Meadows biome. The Early Axes are the first dual-wielding weapon players can get their hands on, featuring a four-hit combo with alternating swings before finishing with two double-hit attacks.

However, there is a catch. You can’t simply craft these axes yourself. Instead, you’ll need to scavenge two separate axe heads before you can actually make the weapon.

The Curious Axe Head can be found inside a chest in Variant 6 of the Abandoned House, which resembles an abandoned tower.

The Mysterious Axe Head can be found inside a chest in Variant 2 of the Abandoned House, which looks more like a small longhouse.

Unfortunately, finding the correct house variant isn’t the only hurdle. You also need to get lucky enough for that house to actually contain a chest. Even then, there’s still a 50/50 chance that the chest will contain the axe head you’re looking for.

So, getting both pieces can take a little bit of luck.

Become a Berserker

But once you’ve managed to find both axe heads, you can combine them at a Crafting Bench to create the Early Axes. The weapon deals both Slash and Chopping damage and has an incredibly fast attack speed. Even at its base level, the axes can easily stun-lock enemies like Greylings and Greydwarfs.

They’re also surprisingly useful once you enter the Black Forest. Slash is the only damage type that Bears aren’t resistant to, making the Early Axes a fantastic option for hunting them down.

And that’s not even the best part.

The Early Axes are arguably one of the best early-game weapons in Valheim because upgrading them is incredibly cheap. You’ll only need Wood and Leather Scraps to improve them, meaning you don’t have to burn through valuable metals just to keep the weapon competitive.

If you fully upgrade the Early Axes, they can deal roughly the same amount of damage as a base-level Bronze weapon. That means a lucky find can potentially carry you all the way from the Meadows and deep into the Black Forest without needing to immediately invest in a new weapon.

The only real downside is, of course, actually finding the axe heads. If you’re playing with friends and want everyone to have a pair, you’re going to need to get very lucky or prepare to explore several different Meadows biomes in search of the right Abandoned Houses.

Still, if you’re starting a fresh Valheim world, these axes are absolutely worth keeping an eye out for.