The Obliterator in Valheim: One Trophy Is One Coal, and Five Wood Is a Mistake
The Obliterator turns any item into Coal, and its conversion table is wildly uneven. One trophy gives one coal. Ten of most items give one coal. Five wood gives one coal — and the wiki flags that last rate as a mistake, because a Charcoal kiln converts wood at 1:1.
Used correctly it is a trophy sink. Used carelessly it destroys five times more wood than it needs to.
On sourcing. Iron Gate do not publish system documentation. The figures below come from the community wikis and can change with any patch.
Building One
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Built at | Forge |
| Materials | Iron x8, Copper x4, Thunder stone x1 |
| Durability | 1,000 |
| Size | ~4x4 |
| Rain damage | No |
| Immune to | Lightning, Poison, Spirit |
| Resistant to | Blunt, Chop, Fire, Frost, Pickaxe, Pierce, Slash |
The Thunder stone is the gate, not the metal. It is bought from Haldor for 50 Coins, and only after defeating The Elder — so the Obliterator is locked behind finding the trader and having gold, not behind iron.
Thunder stones weigh 10.0 each and stack to 20, which makes them one of the heaviest single items in the game to carry home.
It hurts. Activating the Obliterator calls lightning that deals 400 Lightning damage to the structure, plus 10 Lightning damage within 2.42 metres — so stand back before pulling the lever.
It does not need a storm. The wiki notes it generates its own lightning bolt and works in any weather, and it does not degrade in rain.
At 1,000 durability and resistance to almost everything, it is one of the most robust structures you can build.
The Conversion Table
To get 1 Coal, insert:
| Input | Amount |
|---|---|
| Trophy — including boss trophies | 1 |
| Wood, Corewood, Finewood, Ancient bark, Yggdrasil wood | 5 |
| Arrows | 20 |
| Bolts | 20 |
| Anything else, including coal | 10 |
Trophies at 1:1 are the entire reason to own one. Every other rate is a loss; trophies have almost no other sink once your walls are decorated.
The trophy rate has exclusions. It does not apply to trophies from Ashlands creatures, Hildir's minibosses, Bear, Vile or Ghost — those fall to the 10:1 rate like ordinary items. The wiki adds that many post-Mistlands trophies do not share the 1:1 rate.
Arrows and bolts have exclusions too. Charred arrows are excluded, as are Iron bolts and Charred bolts — all three fall to 10:1.
Never put wood in it. At 5:1 against the Charcoal kiln's 1:1, obliterating wood destroys 80% of the coal you could have had. The same applies to meat, which cooking stations convert at 1:1.
What It Is Actually For
The Obliterator solves one specific problem: items with no other disposal route.
- Trophies. The stated 1:1 rate makes this the primary use, once your item stands are full.
- Surplus arrows. Twenty for one coal is poor, but a chest of 400 flinthead arrows you will never fire is otherwise dead weight.
- Genuine junk at 10:1 — duplicate armour, stray materials, and anything a chest is holding for no reason.
- Not wood, not meat. Both have a 1:1 route elsewhere.
- Not coal. Coal is on the 10:1 "other items" line, which means feeding coal in returns one tenth of it.
Three failure messages tell you what happened: a frown if it is empty and it will not activate, "obliterated" if it produced no coal, and "gift" if it did.
Placement and Safety
- Place it on a flat surface, anywhere — it does not degrade due to rain and needs no roof.
- Keep 2.42 metres clear when you pull the lever. The 10 Lightning splash is small but real.
- Do not build it against something flammable. The structure takes 400 Lightning every activation and is only immune to lightning itself — nearby structures are not.
- Pair it with a Charcoal kiln, not instead of one. The kiln handles wood and meat at 1:1; the Obliterator handles everything else.
- Sort trophies first. Ashlands, Hildir, Bear, Vile and Ghost trophies are not worth feeding it at 1:1 rates they do not get.
For the operating steps, see How to Use Obliterator in Valheim; for the 1:1 alternative, see Valheim's Metal Chain: Charcoal Kiln, Smelter and Blast Furnace.
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Conclusion
The Obliterator costs Iron x8, Copper x4 and one Thunder stone, and the Thunder stone is the real gate — 50 Coins from Haldor, after The Elder, at 10.0 weight each. The structure has 1,000 durability, takes no rain damage, is immune to Lightning, Poison and Spirit, and generates its own lightning bolt in any weather, dealing 400 Lightning to itself and 10 within 2.42 metres. Its conversion table is what matters: 1 trophy = 1 coal, 5 wood = 1 coal, 20 arrows or bolts = 1 coal, and 10 of anything else = 1 coal — with Ashlands, Hildir, Bear, Vile and Ghost trophies excluded from the 1:1 rate, along with Charred arrows, Iron bolts and Charred bolts. The one rule to take away: never obliterate wood or meat, because a Charcoal kiln or cooking station converts both at 1:1 and the Obliterator throws away four fifths of it.
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