With all the weapons available in Valheim, one of the best classes of weapons you can get is the club, as its blunt damage profile makes it more versatile in terms of effectiveness compared to the likes of swords and other piercing weapons. As for figuring out the best, you’ll be pleased to know that the game, as of the current patch, has exactly 5 pure club-type weapons, and we’ll be running them down in each entry. Get ready for a crash course in bludgeoning, as we’ll be exploring what these clubs have to offer.
As with all Valheim lists, this was written at the time of the games’ latest version (version 0.156.2), and is based on the overall usability of the weapon and will also omit the two-handed clubs from this list, as the weapons there are in its separate list. It’s also worth pointing out that at the time of posting, the Hearth and Home update may have launched and may be subject to change when new info emerges.
On to the swing of things.
5. Club – Best Entry Club
As straightforward as the name itself, the Club is the most basic club you’ll be crafting in the game, and the easiest as well, given its tier in the game. From a playstyle perspective, I can see this as one of the first weapons, new players will master in the game.
What’s Good About the Club?
The simplest club to make is also very usable as its use is as straightforward as building it, which we’ll get to later. As for the full use case of it, expect it to excel at the following.
Club:
- Only consumes 5 stamina per swing
- Usable up until you get metal weapons
- Can be made literally in under a few minutes
It’s unapologetically simple in terms of what you need in a club, a good weapon to ward off enemies, good enough to hunt food, and ever accessible once you run into other areas and you need a quick weapon on a workbench. It’s a fair amount of use cases for something that only requires a bit of wood to make, and speaking of making it.
How to Get the Club?
A simple weapon only needs one source item, and that is wood, and specifically, you need the following:
Club:
- 6 Wood
A versatile item that can get you through Valheim’s first few days and frankly a low-risk item also, so you won’t feel bad if you ever drop this in an ocean or somewhere far away. The only thing you need to consider is that, as a basic weapon, it’s not the greatest weapon once you progress further in the game, namely when you start going beyond the Black Forest, as the weapon is far too weak for the type of enemies you meet after that. As is pretty much the case with all entry weapons, just craft it when you have no choice on weapons, or when all the current weapons you have are somehow broken at the same time, which is an unlikely scenario, but a scenario that can exist. On a final note about the Club, it’s again, the weapon you’d end up spending your early runs with, and a good start at that, for as long as you don’t swing at tough enemies. Not everything is a home run with this bat.
For a detailed look at the Club’s stats, you may look at the table or use the key points below.
- Damage Profile: Blunt
- Base Damage: 12
- Full Upgraded Damage: 30
- Knockback Amount: 25
4. Bronze Mace – Best Entry Metal Club
Now we start with the metal clubs you can craft, and we begin with the bronze mace. It’s a good step up from the regular Club you’ll make in this game.
What’s Good About the Bronze Mace?
It’s pretty much a given that the metal-made weapons are better than the standard, mostly wood-based weapons. Given the scaling of this weapon, it’s great for the following reasons.
Bronze Mace:
- Greater knockback power to dissuade some enemies
- Damage is greatly increased compared to the Club
- Other stats are nearly triple the Club
Not only is it miles better than the Club, but it also is more of a long-term weapon if you upgrade it more, and the materials are pretty modest once you start finding ore for the metals needed, which leads us to the next part.
How to Get the Bronze Mace?
Being better than the club has a tradeoff, and that’s the simplicity of materials. If you look at it as a whole, it’s still easy in a way, but not as simple to grab and make, as you’ll see below.
Bronze Mace:
- 8 Bronze
- 4 Wood
- 3 Leather Scraps
The leather scraps and wood are easy enough, it’s just the bronze that’s the issue. If you haven’t learned how to get bronze yet, you first need to gather tin and copper, both of which are in the Black Forest biome. After creating the smelter and the charcoal kiln, you should be able to process both into ingots from the forge, which, in turn, allows you to get bronze. The ratio of copper to tin is 2-1, so keep that in mind when gathering those materials. After that, you should be able to cave in those skeletons better.
For a detailed look at the Bronze Mace’s stats, you may look at the table or use the key points below.
- Damage Profile: Blunt
- Base Damage: 35
- Full Upgraded Damage: 53
- Knockback Amount: 80
3. Iron Mace – Best Entry Mid-Tier Club
The next metal upgrade tier is Iron, and coincidently, also gives access to the Iron Mace. It’s not as big of an upgrade compared to the jump seen from the Club to the Bronze Mace, but the damage increase is more than welcomed.
What’s Good About the Iron Mace?
It’s not that different from the Bronze Mace, but that’s not a reason to write it off, as it’s still plenty good and great for the following:
Iron Mace:
- Slight knockback increase from the Bronze Mace
- Damage increase can help with higher difficulty mobs
- A good weapon for doing Swamp runs or killing Bonemass
While not a huge difference compared to the previous mace, it’s still good as you’ll need every bit of damage towards foes, and definitely, the go-to weapon of choice if you want to go toe to toe with the games’ 3rd boss, Bonemass, as he is weak against blunt damage (a trait naturally associated with clubs).
How to Get the Iron Mace?
The Iron Mace is also pretty expensive to make in terms of the amount of core material needed, as seen in the list below.
Iron Mace:
- 20 Iron
- 4 Wood
- 3 Leather Scraps
While the metal has changed from Bronze to Iron, so does the quantity needed to make it. We jump from 8 to 20 in terms of needed core metal, and given Iron’s importance, is a lot. Also different is the location of the ore needed, as we will be finding Iron in the Swamps through pickaxing muddy scrap piles in the crypts. The same process as the bronze when turning the ore into ingots, so when you do arrive home, make sure to grab this Iron swing stick to enjoy its blunt damage goodness.
For a detailed look at the Iron Mace’s stats, you may look at the table or use the key points below.
- Damage Profile: Blunt
- Base Damage: 35
- Full Upgraded Damage: 53
- Knockback Amount: 90
2. Frostner – Best Utility Club
Upping the complexity and use case, we get the best utility club in the game, the Frostner. By using this weapon you’ll be taking on three damage types, which we’ll get to in a bit.
What’s Good About the Frostner?
The aforementioned damage profile is split between three types, which in itself makes it super good, and a great step-up as an upgrade. However, keep in mind that one of the effects is on a very specific circumstance specifically, it’s good for the following.
Frostner:
- Triple damage profile with both blunt, frost, and spirit damage
- A varied effective rate against many types of enemies
- Highest knockback amount of any one-handed club in the game
While on paper, the 3 effects make it a force to be reckoned with against all enemies, but in reality, the spirit damage really only applies to undead mobs, and as for the majority of enemies, you’ll only get the benefit of 2 effects, frost, and blunt damage. It’s still a good combo, don’t get me wrong, but it would be nice to have all 3 any day, but that would make it too overpowered.
How to Get the Frostner?
A lot of benefits, but also a lot of materials needed to make it. Prepare the grocery list of items you’ll need to make this one as it includes the following:
Frostner:
- 10 Ancient Bark
- 30 Silver
- 5 Ymir’s Flesh
- 5 Freeze Glands
Now we get to the hard part of this super useful hammer and that is the addition of Silver. Silver is found in the mountains, and to find it easily, you’ll need the wishbone, that you get from killing the previously mentioned boss, Bonemass. Not only that, but it also needs ancient bark, a type of wood that grows in the Swamps, which is pretty heavy to carry (although portal friendly). Ymir’s flesh, a trader-only item, is only obtained by buying it from Haldor the merchant. Finally, freeze glands, that can be obtained by killing drakes in the mountains. A lengthy list for such a multipurpose weapon. Just remember to keep your head as chill as this hammer when you’re getting it, or take out your anger on those enemies once you craft them.
For a detailed look at the Frostner’s stats, you may look at the table or use the key points below.
- Damage Profile: Blunt / Frost / *Spirit
- Base Damage: 35 / 40 / *20
- Full Upgraded Damage: 35 / 58 / *20
- Knockback Amount: 120
*only applies to certain enemies
1. Porcupine – Best General-Purpose Club
Now we come to the best blunt weapon to be made in Valheim that also happens to be the best overall weapon in-game, the Porcupine.
What’s Good About the Porcupine?
It’s got hybrid damage profiles similar to the Frostner, though limited to 2 of them, unlike the Frostner, it gets its secondary stats from the piercing attribute. To put that into context, we must look at what it’s good at, which is listed below:
Porcupine:
- Highest overall damage profile from all the clubs
- A suitable weapon to many enemies, even the highest-level ones
- Its combination of blunt and piercing make many enemies with no resistances easy to burst
It’s a weapon wherein if the strong piercing stat doesn’t kill the enemies, the blunt damage will, and vice-versa. Having this flexibility and the game having enemies that are not resistant to one damage stat to another, combined with the general nature of these high tier weapons makes this spiky club of pain an absolute beast at killing, well, beasts. Line them up, and batter up, that’s what this weapon does, and does it so well.
How to Get the Porcupine?
For a high-grade weapon, the Porcupine has a pretty modest construction to it, in terms of its materials, namely the following items:
Porcupine:
- 5 Fine Wood
- 20 Iron
- 5 Needle
- 10 Linen Thread
It’s not only powerful but also reasonable for the items it needs. You don’t need to risk death by Fulings for getting the black metal scrap, rather, the weapon settles for cheaper, more attainable Iron ore. The needle and the linen thread are easy to get, though tedious. For the Needles, you need to kill Deathsquitos, which may or may not drop their stinging tails for you, and the Linen Thread comes from Flax that you get from the Plains biome, in which you’ll need a spinning wheel at your base to process. Fine wood is already known and at this point in the game, you’ll have a plentiful amount hanging in your chest or pile somewhere. Once everything is there, make them through an upgraded Forge, and lo and behold, Valheim’s greatest club is yours to wield, ready to swing you to victory.
For a detailed look at the Porcupine’s stats, you may look at the table or use the key points below.
- Damage Profile: Blunt / Piercing
- Base Damage: 50 / 45
- Full Upgraded Damage: 50 / 63
- Knockback Amount: 90
