Trolls in Valheim: 600 Health, Weak to Pierce, and One in Three Carries a Log
The Troll is the wall most Valheim players hit first. It has 600 health at zero stars, hits for 60 to 70 Blunt, and does 100 Chop and 40 Pickaxe damage on every swing — which is why a troll does not just kill you, it deletes your house. It is also, once you know two numbers, one of the most exploitable enemies in the game.
On sourcing. Iron Gate do not publish system documentation. The figures below come from the community wikis and can change with any patch.
The Numbers
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Location | Black Forest |
| Faction | Forest |
| Health (0★ / 1★ / 2★) | 600 / 1,200 / 1,800 |
| Weak to | Pierce |
| Resistant to | Blunt |
| Immune to | Spirit |
| Stagger threshold | 30% |
| Weak point | Head — very weak to Pierce |
| Tameable | No |
Two entries there decide the whole fight. Weak to Pierce, resistant to Blunt means the mace you have been using on Greydwarves is the wrong tool and a bow is the right one. And the head is a separate weak point that is itself very weak to Pierce, so an arrow to the head is stacking two multipliers rather than one.
The 30% stagger threshold is the lowest of any early enemy — a troll staggers after taking damage equal to 30% of its health, meaning 180 damage at zero stars. That is a reachable number with a Finewood Bow and it buys you the window that makes melee survivable.
Two Variants, and Only One Matters
One in three trolls spawns holding a log. The rest are unarmed. The distinction changes the attack set:
Unarmed trolls have three attacks:
| Attack | Damage | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
| Punch | 60 Blunt, 100 Chop, 40 Pickaxe | 4s |
| Ground slam | 70 Blunt, 100 Chop, 40 Pickaxe | 20s |
| Throw | 50 Blunt, 60 Chop, 40 Pickaxe | 10s |
Log-wielding trolls swap those for two log swings — vertical at 70 Blunt and horizontal at 60 Blunt, both on a 6-second cooldown, both carrying the same 100 Chop and 40 Pickaxe.
The practical difference is reach and rhythm. An unarmed troll's punch has a 20-second gap between ground slams and a 10-second gap between throws, so it spends real time doing nothing. A log troll swings every 6 seconds with more range. The log troll is the harder fight, and it is worth identifying which one you are looking at before you commit.
Why Trolls Destroy Bases
Every single troll attack carries 100 Tier 2 Chop and 40 Tier 2 Pickaxe damage alongside its Blunt. Those two damage types are what Valheim uses against structures, not players — Chop against wood, Pickaxe against stone. A troll that wanders into a Black Forest base is applying 100 chop damage per swing to your walls.
Two consequences:
- Wooden walls do not stop a troll. They slow it down while it eats them. A troll fight near your base is a base repair bill regardless of whether you win.
- Stone helps, but only relatively. 40 Pickaxe against stone is less devastating than 100 Chop against wood, but it is not zero.
The real answer is distance. Fight trolls away from anything you built, and if one is heading for your base, pull it out rather than defending in place.
Where They Spawn
| Spawn condition | Detail |
|---|---|
| Anywhere in Black Forest | Limit 1, frequency 1 — stars only beyond 2,000 metres from the world centre |
| Outside Troll Caves | Fixed spawn point |
| Inside Troll Caves | Fixed spawn point |
| "The ground is shaking" event | Limit 2, frequency 6 — see below |
The 2,000-metre rule is the one worth knowing. Starred trolls — 1,200 and 1,800 health — do not spawn in the Black Forests near your starting position. The world centre is safe in that specific respect, and the trolls get harder as you sail outward. A player who has only ever fought 600-health trolls near spawn will find the first 1★ troll on a distant continent a genuinely different fight.
The "The ground is shaking" raid — internally foresttrolls, ending with "The shakes starts to fade." — brings two trolls at frequency 6. On world-based events it requires that both a Troll and The Elder have died on that world, not just The Elder; on player-based events it is enabled by holding The Elder trophy or a Swamp key. It can fire in the Meadows as well as the Black Forest, which is how trolls end up at bases nowhere near their biome.
What They Drop
| Drop | 0★ | 1★ | 2★ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coins | 20–29 | 40–58 | 80–100 |
| Troll hide | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| Troll trophy | 50% | 50% | 50% |
Troll hide is the point. Five per kill at zero stars, and it makes the Troll set — helmet, tunic, pants and cape — which carries a +15 Sneak set bonus on top of its armour. That is why players wear it far past its tier: no later light set replaces the stealth. Troll hide also builds the Barber station, the Ancient bark spear and the Horn of Celebration. The 50% trophy rate is generous by Valheim standards; most creatures sit at 5% or 10%.
The coins are a genuine early income source, and at 2★ a single troll pays 80 to 100 — enough to matter at Haldor's prices.
How to Kill One
- Bring a bow. Pierce is its weakness and the head is a weak point that is very weak to Pierce. A Finewood Bow with Flinthead arrows is enough.
- Aim high. The head weak point is not cosmetic; it is a separate hit zone with its own resistance table.
- Count to 180. At zero stars, 30% of 600 health staggers it. Stagger is your melee window.
- Use the trees. Trolls are large and their attacks are blocked by terrain and trunks. Kiting a troll through a dense Black Forest is close to free.
- Do not fight one at your base. Every swing carries 100 Chop.
- Watch for the log. One in three carries one, swings every 6 seconds, and reaches further.
Running your own Valheim server
A troll that finds an unattended base does its damage whether or not anyone is logged in, which is exactly why base placement and walls matter more on a persistent world. A gamever Valheim server keeps that world running for up to 10 players, with one-click backups.
Conclusion
Trolls sit at 600, 1,200 and 1,800 health across their three star tiers, are weak to Pierce and resistant to Blunt, and carry a head weak point that is very weak to Pierce — so a bow aimed high is doing two things at once. Their 30% stagger threshold is the lowest of any early enemy, which means 180 damage opens a melee window at zero stars. One in three carries a log, swapping the unarmed punch-slam-throw set for two 6-second log swings with more reach; the log variant is the harder fight. Every attack carries 100 Chop and 40 Pickaxe, which is why trolls level bases and why the correct response to one approaching your walls is to pull it away rather than defend. Starred trolls only spawn beyond 2,000 metres from the world centre, so the difficulty scales with how far you have sailed, and the "The ground is shaking" raid — enabled once both a Troll and The Elder have died on the world — can drop two of them on a Meadows base. The reward is 5 Troll hide at zero stars for the sneak-bonus armour set, 20–29 coins, and a 50% trophy rate that is unusually generous.
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