Every Valheim Arrow: Damage, Types and Which to Carry to a Boss

 

    A Frost Arrow does 26 Pierce and 52 Frost — two thirds of its damage is not Pierce at all. That is the fact that decides whether archery works against a given boss, because arrow damage is added to the bow before any resistance is applied, and each damage type is then resisted separately. Carry the wrong arrows to Bonemass and you do a quarter damage; carry frost and you do rather well. Here is every arrow, and which one belongs in which fight.

 

    On sourcing. Iron Gate do not publish system documentation. The figures below come from the community wikis and can change with any patch.

 

The Plain Arrows

 

Arrow	Pierce	Knockback
Wood	22	10
Flinthead	27	10
Bronzehead	32	10
Ironhead	42	10
Obsidian	52	10
Needle	62	15
Carapace	72	15
Charred	82	15

 

    These are pure Pierce, which means they take the full penalty from any enemy that resists it — and four of the seven bosses do.

 

    Note the knockback column. The top three — Needle, Carapace and Charred — deal 15 knockback against everything else's 10. That is a defensive property as much as an offensive one, since a knocked-back enemy is not hitting you.

 

The Elemental Arrows

 

 

Arrow	Split	Total
Fire	11 Pierce + 22 Fire	33
Frost	26 Pierce + 52 Frost	78
Poison	26 Pierce + 52 Poison	78
Silver	52 Pierce + 20 Spirit	72

 

    Look at how the damage is weighted. A Fire Arrow is two thirds Fire. A Frost Arrow is two thirds Frost. A Silver Arrow is the opposite — mostly Pierce with a small Spirit rider.

 

    That weighting is the whole mechanic. Against an enemy that resists Pierce, a Frost Arrow loses only its small half; against one weak to Frost, it gains on its large half. The arrow is doing the work, not the bow.

 

    Frost and Poison arrows are the highest-damage arrows in the game at 78 each — higher than Charred at 82 only in the sense that most of that 82 is Pierce and therefore exposed.

 

Why This Matters for Bosses

 

 

    The rule: arrow damage is added to bow damage before any other calculation, and then each type is resisted on its own. Work through the roster and the ammunition choices become obvious:

 

Boss	Resistances	Arrow to bring
Eikthyr	none at all	anything
The Elder	Fire ×2	Fire — the biggest weakness in the game
Bonemass	Pierce ×0.25, Frost ×1.5	Frost — never fire, which is also ×0.25
Moder	Fire ×1.5, immune to Frost	Fire — frost does literally nothing
Yagluth	Pierce ×0.25, Fire ×0.5	Frost — fire is halved here
The Queen	Pierce ×0.5	Frost or Poison — both unresisted
Fader	immune to Fire, Pierce ×0.5	Frost or Poison

 

    Two things jump out of that table.

 

    Fire and frost swap places twice. Fire is correct for The Elder and Moder, and actively the worst choice for Bonemass, Yagluth and Fader. Players carry the previous boss's ammunition forward and it is wrong as often as it is right.

 

    Frost is never a bad answer except against Moder, which is immune to it. On every other boss frost arrows are either neutral or boosted — which makes them the closest thing to a default.

 

    Plain arrows are the worst choice against four of the seven, because they are pure Pierce with nothing to carry them.

 

Practical Ammunition Rules

 

 

    Carry two stacks, always. One of the best plain arrow you can craft, for ordinary enemies where nothing is resisted and raw Pierce is efficient — and one elemental stack for anything that resists it.

 

    Make frost your second stack by default. It is unresisted or boosted against six of the seven bosses, and its 52 Frost is the largest elemental component available.

 

    Fire arrows have two jobs: The Elder and Moder, and burning down structures. Outside those, they are the weakest arrow in the game at 33 total damage.

 

    Poison arrows match frost on damage at 78 but not on coverage — poison is resisted or ignored by several enemies that frost is not, and Bonemass is outright immune to Poison.

 

    Silver arrows are a niche pick. Their 20 Spirit is small, and Spirit is immune on The Elder, Moder, The Queen, Yagluth (neutral) and Fader — so the rider rarely lands. They are effectively a 52-Pierce arrow.

 

    Take knockback seriously in a group fight. Needle and Carapace at 15 knockback create space, and space is what a bow user is always short of.

 

How to Choose Arrows

 

1. Craft the best plain arrow available as your default stack.
2. Add a frost stack — the safest elemental across the boss roster.
3. Bring fire only for The Elder and Moder. It is halved or immune elsewhere.
4. Never bring only one arrow type to a boss.
5. Check the boss's resistances before you leave, not when you arrive.
6. Use Needle or Carapace when you need space, for the 15 knockback.

 

Practical tips

• Arrow damage is added before resistances, so each half is resisted separately.
• Frost and Poison arrows are 78 total — the highest in the game.
• A Fire Arrow is only 33 total and is the wrong answer to three bosses.
• Frost is safe against six of seven bosses — Moder is immune and the only exception.
• Plain arrows are pure Pierce, which four of seven bosses resist.
• Needle, Carapace and Charred deal 15 knockback instead of 10.

 

Running your own Valheim server

 

    Ammunition is a supply problem more than a crafting one — two stacks per boss attempt, per player, and the materials come from biomes you have to travel to. A gamever Valheim server keeps that base and its workbenches available for up to 10 players, so a group can stockpile between sessions rather than crafting on the way out of the door. One-click backups and automatic updates protect the stock.

 

Conclusion

 

    Valheim's arrows split into plain Pierce arrows — Wood 22 up to Charred 82, with Needle, Carapace and Charred dealing 15 knockback instead of 10 — and elemental arrows whose damage is mostly not Pierce: Fire 11+22, Frost 26+52, Poison 26+52 and Silver 52+20. Because arrow damage is added to the bow before resistances are applied, each half is resisted separately, which is what keeps archery viable against bosses that punish Pierce. The practical map: fire for The Elder and Moder, frost for Bonemass, Yagluth, The Queen and Fader, and anything against Eikthyr. Frost is unresisted or boosted against six of the seven — Moder, which is immune, is the sole exception — which makes it the default second stack. Never take one arrow type to a boss.

 

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