Every Axe in Valheim: The Only Weapon That Cuts Trees, and One That Hits Through Walls
Axes are Valheim's dual-purpose class: the only player weapon that can cut trees, and a slightly worse sword the rest of the time. Thirteen of them exist across one-handed, dual-wielded and two-handed battleaxe forms — and the battleaxes carry a property that is close to an exploit. They have enough reach to attack through some walls, including the wall The Queen stands behind.
On sourcing. Iron Gate do not publish system documentation. The figures below come from the community wikis and can change with any patch.
Every Axe
One-handed:
| Axe | Damage | Stamina | Can chop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stone axe | Slash 15/30, Chop 20/29 | 5 / 10 | Up to Pine |
| Flint axe | Slash 20/35, Chop 30/39 | 6 / 12 | Up to Pine |
| Bronze axe | Slash 40/55, Chop 40/49 | 8 / 16 | Up to Birch and Oak |
| Iron axe | Slash 60/75, Chop 50/59 | 10 / 20 | Up to Birch and Oak |
| Black metal axe | Slash 100/115, Chop 60/69 | 14 / 28 | Up to Yggdrasil shoots |
| Jotun Bane | Slash 80/95, Poison 40/40, Chop 70/79 | 16 / 32 | Up to Yggdrasil shoots |
Dual-wielded:
| Axe | Damage | Stamina | Can chop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early axes | Slash 30/45, Chop 35/44 | 6 / 16 | Up to Birch and Oak |
| Berserkir axes | Slash 140/155, Chop 80/89 | 16 / 32 | Up to Yggdrasil shoots |
The chop column is the real ladder. Stone and Flint stop at Pine; Bronze and Iron reach Birch and Oak; Black metal, Jotun Bane and Berserkir reach Yggdrasil shoots. That is a hard gate on which forests you can harvest at all, independent of how much slash damage the axe does.
Jotun Bane trades slash for chop and poison. At 80 slash it is weaker in combat than the Black metal axe's 100, but its chop 70/79 is the best of the one-handers and it adds 40 flat Poison. It is a woodcutting tool that happens to fight.
The Battleaxes Reach Through Walls
| Battleaxe | Damage | Stamina | Can chop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battleaxe | Slash 70/88, Chop 40/47.5 | 16 / 8 | Up to Birch and Oak |
| Crystal battleaxe | Slash 90/108, Spirit 30/30, Chop 50/57.5 | 18 / 9 | Up to Birch and Oak |
| Black metal battleaxe | Slash 110/128, Chop 60/67.5 | 20 / 10 | Up to Yggdrasil shoots |
| Skull Splittur | Slash 130/148, Chop 70/77.5 | 22 / 11 | Up to Yggdrasil shoots |
Look at the stamina column. Every battleaxe's secondary attack costs half its primary — 16/8, 18/9, 20/10, 22/11 — which is the exact inverse of every other weapon class, where secondaries cost double. The battleaxe secondary is the cheapest special attack in the game relative to its primary.
And the class note that matters:
Battleaxes have enough reach to attack through some walls, enabling the player to hit enemies on the other side of barriers. They can even hit The Queen through the wall in the vestibule inside the Infested Citadel, making for a more efficient cheese victory than even the Demolisher.
That is the wiki stating outright that a battleaxe is the most efficient way to cheese a boss fight. Whether you use it is a taste question; knowing it exists is not.
Where Axes Sit Against Swords
The class description is blunt about the trade: axes "can also be used against creatures, which makes for a slightly worse sword."
Compare the top of each class:
| Best one-handed | Best two-handed | |
|---|---|---|
| Swords | Dyrnwyn — 145 slash | Slayer — 170 slash |
| Axes | Black metal axe — 100 slash | Skull Splittur — 130 slash |
| Axes (dual) | Berserkir axes — 140 slash | — |
Swords win on raw slash at every form factor, and swords additionally do not lose damage when cleaving. What axes have is the chop column — the ability to fell trees, which no sword can do — and the battleaxe's wall reach.
Berserkir axes at 140/155 are the exception worth noting: dual-wielded, they beat every one-handed sword except Dyrnwyn, and they chop to Yggdrasil shoots. If you want one weapon for both jobs at the top of the game, that is it.
Which Axe to Carry
- Match the chop tier to the forest, not the fight. An axe that cannot fell the tree in front of you is useless regardless of its slash number.
- Jotun Bane is the woodcutter's axe, at chop 70/79 and 40 Poison, giving up 20 slash to the Black metal axe.
- Berserkir axes are the combat pick at 140/155 dual-wielded, chopping to Yggdrasil shoots.
- Battleaxe secondaries are half-price. Unique in the game — use them freely rather than saving them.
- Remember the wall reach if you are stuck on a fight with a barrier in it.
- Carry a sword if you are not chopping. Axes are explicitly the worse combat option at equal tier.
Running your own Valheim server
Felling Yggdrasil shoots and clearing Black Forests is the slow background work a group splits between them, and splitting needs one shared world. A gamever Valheim server keeps it persistent for up to 10 players, with one-click backups.
Conclusion
Valheim's thirteen axes are the only player weapon that can cut trees, and the chop column is the real progression ladder — Stone and Flint stop at Pine, Bronze and Iron reach Birch and Oak, and Black metal, Jotun Bane and the Berserkir axes reach Yggdrasil shoots. Jotun Bane trades combat for utility with the best one-handed chop at 70/79 plus 40 flat Poison against the Black metal axe's superior 100 slash. The four battleaxes carry two unusual properties: their secondary attacks cost half their primary — 16/8, 18/9, 20/10, 22/11, the inverse of every other class — and they have enough reach to hit through some walls, including, per the wiki, The Queen through the Infested Citadel vestibule. Against swords the class loses on raw damage at every form factor, with the exception of the Berserkir axes at 140/155, which beat every one-handed sword but Dyrnwyn while still chopping to the top tier.
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