Every Valheim Armour Set: Values, Speed Penalties and the Two With Bonuses
Most Valheim armour is a bigger number and nothing else — but two sets carry an actual bonus, and one of them stays useful for the whole game. Troll hide gives +15 Sneak on top of its armour, and Wolf armour halves frost damage, which matters enormously in the biome you wear it in. This guide lists every tier's real values, notes which ones cost you 5% movement speed, and explains why the choice between Troll and Bronze is not simply "the bigger number wins".
On sourcing. Iron Gate do not publish system documentation. The figures below come from the community wikis and can change with any patch.
Every Armour Tier
Values shown are per piece, across the four upgrade levels.
| Set | Biome | Armour per piece | Type | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rag | Meadows | 1 – 2 | Light | — |
| Leather | Meadows | 2 – 8 | Light | — |
| Troll | Black Forest | 6 – 12 | Light | — |
| Bronze | Black Forest | 8 – 14 | Heavy | −5% |
| Iron | Swamp | 14 – 20 | Heavy | −5% |
| Wolf | Mountain | 20 – 26 | Heavy | −5% |
The Late Tiers
| Set | Biome | Armour per piece | Type | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Padded | Plains | 26 – 32 | Heavy | −5% |
| Carapace | Mistlands | 32 – 38 | Heavy | −5% |
| Flametal | Ashlands | 38 – 44 | Heavy | — |
The progression is remarkably even — roughly six armour points per tier, per piece, all the way from Bronze to Flametal. There is no tier that leaps ahead, and no tier you can safely skip.
Every heavy set costs 5% movement speed, with the notable exception of Flametal, which lists no penalty. Light sets — Rag, Leather and Troll — carry none either.
Five percent sounds small until you stack it with encumbrance. You cannot dodge while overencumbered, and movement speed feeds into how much ground you cover before a wind-up lands. It is one of the reasons the Troll set stays in circulation long after its armour value is outclassed.
The Two Sets With Bonuses
| Set | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Troll | +15 Sneak skill |
| Wolf | 0.5× damage from Frost |
| Flametal | 0.5× damage from Frost |
The Troll set's +15 Sneak is the standout, because it is the only armour bonus in the game that changes how you play rather than how much you survive. Sneaking costs 5 stamina per second, and Sneak levels reduce that by 0.75% per level up to −75% — so +15 free levels is a meaningful head start on a skill that is otherwise slow to raise.
Combine that with no movement penalty and Troll hide becomes the set for players who dodge and sneak rather than block. It stays relevant well past the Black Forest.
Wolf armour halving frost damage is the other one that matters, and its timing is perfect: you craft it in the Mountain, which is the biome whose environmental damage is frost. It is effectively armour that also solves the biome — and it makes the Moder fight considerably more forgiving, since Moder's Cold Breath does 200 Frost and its airborne shotgun carries 200 Frost per icicle.
Flametal repeats the frost resistance in the Ashlands, where it is less obviously useful — though it pairs with the set having no movement penalty, which is unusual for the heaviest armour in the game.
Everything else is a flat armour increase. Bronze, Iron, Padded and Carapace do exactly one thing.
Choosing a Set
Troll or Bronze in the Black Forest is the one genuine choice in the progression. Bronze gives 8 – 14 against Troll's 6 – 12, so Bronze is ahead on paper — but Troll costs no movement speed and grants +15 Sneak.
- Take Troll if you dodge, sneak and use a bow.
- Take Bronze if you intend to stand and block.
From Iron onward the choice disappears — there is no light alternative, and heavy armour is simply the progression.
Two things armour does not do, and both catch people out:
- Armour does not raise your health. That is entirely food — you have 25 health with nothing eaten regardless of what you are wearing.
- Armour does not affect your stagger bar, which is 40% of maximum health — so again, food. A well-fed player in Iron guards better than a starving player in Carapace.
Upgrade by biome, not by boss. Arriving somewhere in the previous tier's armour is the most common cause of an unexpectedly hard biome.
How to Choose Armour
- Upgrade a full tier at a time. Mixed pieces average out badly.
- Choose Troll over Bronze if you sneak or dodge; Bronze if you block.
- Craft Wolf armour before fighting Moder — the frost halving is the point.
- Remember the −5% speed on every heavy set except Flametal.
- Fix your food before you fix your armour — health and stagger both come from food.
- Do not skip a tier. The progression is even at roughly six points per step.
Practical tips
- Roughly +6 armour per piece, per tier, from Bronze through Flametal. No tier leaps ahead.
- Every heavy set costs −5% movement speed — except Flametal, which lists none.
- Troll gives +15 Sneak and no speed penalty; it outlives its armour value.
- Wolf and Flametal halve Frost damage. Wolf's timing makes the Mountain far safer.
- Armour never raises health or the stagger bar — food does both.
- You cannot dodge while overencumbered, so weight is a defensive stat too.
Running your own Valheim server
Armour tiers are group logistics as much as personal progression — a full set per player means a lot of ore, and the smelting happens whether or not anyone is watching. A gamever Valheim server keeps that base and its smelters live for up to 10 players, so the metal is ready when the group is. One-click backups protect a stocked forge, and automatic updates keep client and server aligned.
Conclusion
Valheim's armour progresses evenly at roughly six points per piece per tier — Rag 1–2, Leather 2–8, Troll 6–12, Bronze 8–14, Iron 14–20, Wolf 20–26, Padded 26–32, Carapace 32–38 and Flametal 38–44 — with every heavy set costing −5% movement speed except Flametal. Only two bonuses exist beyond the numbers: Troll hide's +15 Sneak, which combined with no speed penalty keeps it viable long past the Black Forest, and 0.5× frost damage on Wolf and Flametal, which makes Wolf armour the right answer to both the Mountain and Moder. The real choice in the whole progression is Troll versus Bronze — speed and stealth against a slightly higher number and better blocking. And remember what armour never does: it does not raise your health or your stagger bar, both of which come entirely from food.
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