The littlest of things can create a big impact when you use them right. From birthday plans, adding extra spices to food, and even damage coming from Valheim's unassuming mob killer. Yes, that’s right, knives, while pretty niche in their playstyle, absolutely has a place with the likes of the sword, the mace and many other exotic weaponry of your choosing, and today we will cover all of the kinds of short, pokey blades in this list.
As with all Valheim lists, this was written at the time of the game’s latest version (version 0.156.2) and is based on the progression of the use of the knife through various points in the game.
4. Flint Knife
We kick things off with Valheim’s easiest knife to craft, the Flint Knife. As the entry point to the backstab goodness that the game has, this also represents the least damage.
What is Good About the Flint Knife?
For once, its aforementioned ease of crafting is a solid benefit. It’s one of the few items in the game wherein you can craft it within minutes (given you are lucky/skilled to kill the boar and have its material dropped). We’ll touch more on that later on the list, but as for other benefits, it’s mostly these.
Flint Knife:
- Cheap to craft
- Cheap to upgrade to max level
- Same parry and backstab bonus as the rest of the knives
To be fair, all of the bonuses are the same across all the knives listed, with some variance. At least it’s nice to know you’re not missing out on so much despite it being a really basic weapon to make. Just don't expect it to be the magic knife that does everything later on.
How to Get the Flint Knife?
As per the name, your core item is flint, and the rest that joins it are as follows:
Flint Knife:
- 4 Flint
- 2 Leather Scraps
- 2 Wood
If you ever just started playing, this is one of the simplest weapons you can craft in about 5-15 mins. How to get the materials is as straightforward too. First is the flint, which makes up the initial core item, as well as its upgrades. You should see it near waterways by the banks as white stones that you can just pick up. Wood is also simple as chopping a tree or picking up branches guarantees you that. Lastly, the leather scrap, which you get from killing boars, and if you’re hunting it for food, then this should easily be a bonus weapon to craft anytime.
For a detailed look at the knives’ stats, you may look at the table or use the key points below.
Flint Knife (Base):
- Damage Type: Pierce / Slash
- Damage Scaling (Pierce / Slash): 6 / 6
- Total Damage: 12
3. Copper Knife
A good upgrade with surprisingly easy to get materials as well. Given that the scaling of the damage goes tenfold, it’s a good upgrade to keep in mind.
What is Good About the Copper Knife?
It’s surprising to think that while generally, you use copper to make bronze, it’s the only weapon to be using only copper as the item by itself as it’s usually used to make miscellaneous items in the game. Getting back to the knife, the benefits include the following:
Copper Knife:
- Cheap to craft for a metal-based knife
- Better scaling given its upgrades
- Doesn’t need bronze to be made
A nice bump in usability and can get you through meadows level mobs better, and some black forest creatures, but again, it’s a nice cheap upgrade to the flint knife.
How to Get the Copper Knife?
With the Copper Knife, you’ll need the following:
Copper Knife:
- 8 Copper
- 2 Wood
A pretty modest upgrade and the only hard bit is excavating the copper in the Black Forest. Make sure you’ve built a smelter and have some coal ready and you should be good to go. As for upgrades, in addition to more copper, you’ll need greydwarf eye which you’ll already have a metric ton of because of how often you’ll kill them in the game.
For a detailed look at the knives’ stats, you may look at the table or use the key points below.
Copper Knife (Base):
- Damage Type: Pierce / Slash
- Damage Scaling (Pierce / Slash): 9 / 9
- Total Damage: 18
2. Abyssal Razor
Now we get to a huge jump in complexity in terms of the items and weapon tier, the Abyssal Razor. A complex one to craft as it requires luck and timing.
What is Good About the Abyssal Razor?
This sea shank has a better scaling option than its previous counterparts and it reflects on its given benefits listed below:
Abyssal Razor:
- Double the power of the Flint Knife
- Has larger scaling given the backstab bonus amplifier of 10
Double the damage for a much better knife tier, who would have thought right? But going back, you’d be more likely skipping this knife if you don’t have the patience to get the materials needed for it and given how at this point in the game you’ve gotten some pretty sweet gear now, it’s best to proceed with caution.
How to Get the Abyssal Razor?
As I said, it’s a hard knife to make and requires luck and timing as where you get one of the items needed is pretty much just based on being at the right place at the right time. The materials in question are as follows:
Abyssal Razor:
- 20 Chitin
- 4 Fine Wood
- 2 Leather Scraps
We switch from wood to fine wood, which is given for these higher-tier weapons. It’s easily attainable as you just need to cut the white birch tree in the meadows, pretty simple. What is not simple however is Chitin, and I hope you get your boat parking skills done up as that can mess you up if you carry valuable items in your inventory. Chitin is obtained by pickaxing Barnacles from a Leviathan, which is a large creature that pops up in the Ocean to breathe air. You only have a limited amount of time before it sinks, and when it sinks, your boat needs to be of some distance, otherwise, it will capsize and you’ll drown to death, likely to never see your weapons ever again. Again, this is a challenge to get, but who doesn’t love a good challenge in this game?
For a detailed look at the knives’ stats, you may look at the table or use the key points below.
Abyssal Razor (Base):
- Damage Type: Pierce / Slash
- Damage Scaling (Pierce / Slash): 12 / 12
- Total Damage: 24
1. Blackmetal Knife
As with many of the best weapons in the game, the honor for the best knife goes to the Blackmetal Knife. It’s got a much better scaling percentage and rivals the best weapons in the game when its backstab damage is utilized.
What is Good About the Blackmetal Knife?
To put it simply, its damage is 3x of that of the Flint Knife, and when you factor in the 10x backstab damage, you’ll be seeing numbers that would seem too high for a blade this small. Getting back to the knife, the best knife in the game has these to offer.
Blackmetal Knife:
- Potential to one-shot many kinds mobs
- The 10x scaling with its base damage can out-damage certain weapons
- Damage differences are larger when fully leveled
You don’t need much explanation to it as its naturally high base stats and core material tier makes it an absolute beast in its class.
How to Get the Blackmetal Knife?
Unlike the Abyssal Razor, this is way more manageable as it only requires the following:
Blackmetal Knife:
- 10 Black Metal
- 4 Fine Wood
- 5 Linen Thread
The process of these materials is the same as getting most, if not all the other Blackmetal weapons. Fine wood is already discussed prior, so we now turn to the other two items needed. To repeat the process of these tiers of weapons, Linen Thread is made by processing Flax through a spinning wheel. Getting Flax itself is done by getting it from the Plains, usually near the Fuling camps. Blackmetal scraps needed to make the weapon are also found in the Plains by killing the Fuling, and you’ll need strong armor and weapons to survive against them, otherwise, you’ll turn into mush pretty soon. Assuming you have everything needed and have made the weapon, enjoy the benefits of this knife and see the damage number grow bigger than the weapon itself.
For a detailed look at the knives’ stats, you may look at the table or use the key points below.
Blackmetal Knife (Base):
- Damage Type: Pierce / Slash
- Damage Scaling (Pierce / Slash): 12 / 12
- Total Damage: 24
