Updated November 8, 2026. Applies to Valheim 1.0, patch 1.0.21. Pickaxe stats, recipes and ore-node health come from the community Valheim Wiki. We checked every Iron Gate patch post on Steam from 1.0 up to patch 1.0.21 (October 28, 2026). None of them change pickaxe damage, durability or which ores each pickaxe can mine.
Valheim has four pickaxes, and each one opens the next tier of ore. That part is simple. The question that keeps coming back on r/valheim is the middle step. A thread titled "Bronze pickaxe isn't worth crafting" had 184 comments by November 8, because the Antler Pickaxe already mines the Muddy Scrap Piles that give you iron.
This guide answers that with numbers. You get every pickaxe's damage, cost and unlock, what each one can mine, how many swings an ore node really takes at your skill level, and the order to craft them in.
Quick answer: There are 4 pickaxes: Antler (18 mining, from Eikthyr's Hard Antler), Bronze (25 to 37), Iron (33 to 48) and Black Metal (49 to 64). Antler and Bronze mine the same things: Stone, Copper, Tin, Muddy Scrap Piles and Abyssal Barnacles. Iron adds Silver and Obsidian. Black Metal adds Black Marble, Soft Tissue, Ancient Armor and Swords, and Flametal. The Deep North adds no new pickaxe on 1.0.21; its Bloodgold comes from Petrified Gammeltrolls, which only Ember Charges can break. The Bronze Pickaxe is worth it only if you upgrade it: a quality-4 Bronze Pickaxe needs about half the swings of the Antler on copper, but for iron it barely matters, because every scrap-pile segment has just 5 health.
What are all the pickaxes in Valheim?
| Pickaxe | Mining damage (Q1 to Q4) | Durability (Q1 to Q4) | Base stamina | Crafted at | Recipe (Q1) | Total cost to Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antler Pickaxe | 18 (no upgrades) | 100 | 6 | Workbench lvl 1 | 10 Wood, 1 Hard Antler | — |
| Bronze Pickaxe | 25 / 29 / 33 / 37 | 120 / 170 / 220 / 270 | 8 | Forge lvl 1 | 3 Corewood, 10 Bronze | 10 Corewood, 45 Bronze |
| Iron Pickaxe | 33 / 38 / 43 / 48 | 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 | 10 | Forge lvl 2 | 3 Corewood, 20 Iron | 10 Corewood, 90 Iron |
| Black Metal Pickaxe | 49 / 54 / 59 / 64 | 210 / 260 / 310 / 360 | 14 | Forge lvl 2 | 3 Yggdrasil Wood, 25 Black Metal | 10 Yggdrasil Wood, 130 Black Metal |
Each quality level needs one more station level than the last. So a quality-4 Bronze Pickaxe needs a level-4 Forge, while quality-4 Iron and Black Metal need a level-5 Forge. Our Valheim workbench and forge upgrades guide lists the pieces that get you there.
Damage is listed as "Pickaxe" damage, which is the only damage type ore nodes take. The wiki's Pickaxes page gives every pickaxe the same swing: 1.8 m range, 1.4 s per swing and a 20-degree arc, with no secondary attack.
What can each pickaxe mine?
What a pickaxe can mine depends on its tool tier, not its damage. A node with a higher tier takes no damage at all from a lower pickaxe, however many times you hit it.
| Resource node | Biome | Tool tier | Minimum pickaxe | Node health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper Deposit | Black Forest | 0 | Antler | 50 per node, 138 nodes |
| Tin Deposit | Black Forest (shores) | 0 | Antler | 30 |
| Muddy Scrap Pile | Swamp (Sunken Crypts) | 0 | Antler | 5 per segment |
| Abyssal Barnacle | Ocean (Leviathan) | 0 | Antler | 40 |
| Silver Vein | Mountain | 2 | Iron | 40 per node, 100 nodes |
| Obsidian Deposit | Mountain | 2 | Iron | 30 |
| Soft Tissue (Giant Remains skull) | Mistlands | 3 | Black Metal | 5 per node, 118 nodes |
| Black Marble (Giant Remains) | Mistlands | 3 | Black Metal | 100 per fragment |
| Ancient Armor / Ancient Sword | Mistlands | 3 | Black Metal | — |
| Flametal Ore Vein | Ashlands | 3 | Black Metal | 100 per node, 27 nodes |
| Petrified Gammeltroll | Deep North | 6 | none (Ember Charge only) | 50 per segment, 52 segments |
A few yields help you plan trips. A fully mined Copper Deposit gives about 117 Copper Ore, though roughly 10% of its nodes sit below the 8-meter dig limit. A Giant Remains skull gives about 59 Soft Tissue. A Flametal vein gives about 82 Flametal Ore before its Lavaiathan sinks. Our Valheim ores guide shows where each node spawns.
Is the Bronze Pickaxe worth crafting in Valheim?
Yes for copper, no for iron. It's always faster than the Antler, but the savings only get big once you upgrade it. Here is why the skeptics have a point.
Iron comes from Muddy Scrap Piles in Sunken Crypts. Every segment of a scrap pile has 5 health, so every pickaxe breaks a segment it hits on its own in one swing. The one exception is a brand-new character: at Pickaxes skill 0 the Antler's lowest roll is 4.5 damage, so about 1 swing in 11 needs a second hit. That stops at Pickaxes skill 5. After that, the Antler clears a crypt about as fast as a Black Metal Pickaxe would. The catch is cleave: if one swing clips two segments, each takes two-thirds of the damage, and the Antler's 18 can drop below 5 where a bigger pickaxe still breaks both. Aim at one segment at a time and the gap disappears.
Copper and tin are where Bronze earns its keep. At Pickaxes skill 0, a Copper Deposit (about 124 mineable nodes of 50 health) takes roughly:
- Antler: about 930 swings
- Bronze quality 1: about 680 swings, 27% fewer
- Bronze quality 4: about 480 swings, close to half
Stamina tells a different story. Bronze costs 8 stamina a swing against the Antler's 6, so a quality-1 Bronze Pickaxe spends about the same stamina on a deposit (around 5,450) as the Antler does (around 5,580). It just finishes sooner. At quality 4 it drops to about 3,870 stamina, which is a real saving.
The other gains are durability and repairs. The Antler has 100 durability and can't be upgraded. Bronze goes from 120 to 270. But Bronze must be repaired at a Forge, while the Antler repairs at any Workbench, and a Workbench is the cheap thing you drop next to a mining site.
Verdict: If you will mine more than one or two Copper Deposits, craft the Bronze Pickaxe and take it to at least quality 2. It costs 15 Bronze and 4 Corewood for that, which is about 30 Copper Ore and 15 Tin Ore. If you are already heading into the Swamp for iron, skip it. Keep the Antler for crypts and go straight to the Iron Pickaxe.
How many swings does an ore node take?
Pickaxe damage is not fixed. Like every weapon, it rolls between a minimum and maximum set by your Pickaxes skill. Per the wiki's damage mechanics page, the low end rises from 25% of listed damage at skill 0 to 85% at skill 100. The high end rises from 55% at skill 0 to 100% at skill 75. Average damage goes from 40% at skill 0 to 85% at skill 75.
We ran those rules through 20,000 simulated nodes per cell, rolling each hit uniformly between the minimum and maximum. These are modeled averages, not timed gameplay. Numbers are average swings to break one node with no Elder power and no ground hits:
| Pickaxe | Tin (30 HP) skill 0 / 50 | Copper (50 HP) skill 0 / 50 | Silver (40 HP) skill 0 / 50 | Flametal (100 HP) skill 0 / 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antler | 4.7 / 3.0 | 7.5 / 4.4 | can't mine | can't mine |
| Bronze Q1 | 3.5 / 2.1 | 5.5 / 3.3 | can't mine | can't mine |
| Bronze Q4 | 2.5 / 1.9 | 3.9 / 2.3 | can't mine | can't mine |
| Iron Q1 | 2.8 / 2.0 | 4.3 / 2.8 | 3.5 / 2.1 | can't mine |
| Iron Q4 | 2.1 / 1.2 | 3.1 / 2.0 | 2.6 / 1.9 | can't mine |
| Black Metal Q1 | 2.1 / 1.2 | 3.1 / 2.0 | 2.5 / 1.9 | 5.6 / 3.4 |
| Black Metal Q4 | 1.7 / 1.0 | 2.4 / 1.8 | 2.1 / 1.2 | 4.4 / 2.9 |
Two takeaways. First, your skill matters as much as your pickaxe: a skill-50 Antler beats a skill-0 quality-1 Bronze on copper. Second, the jumps happen at breakpoints. An Iron Q4 at skill 50 two-shots every copper node, so a Black Metal Pickaxe barely helps on copper.
These are single-target numbers, so treat them as the upper end. Pickaxes cleave, and the wiki's multi-target rule splits the hit across everything you strike: 66.7% damage each on two targets, 33% more damage in total. Hitting a cluster of nodes is faster than these numbers. Hitting the ground is slower: the wiki notes that every pickaxe's hitbox reaches below your feet, and a ground hit costs 33% of the damage. Stand on or above the node, not beside it.
How do you level the Pickaxes skill fast?
You gain 1.5 skill XP per hit on stone or an ore deposit, per the wiki's Pickaxes skill page.
Higher skill does two things:
- Damage: the swing table above. Average damage rises 1.5% per level up to 75.
- Stamina: pickaxe swings cost up to 33% less stamina at skill 100.
One catch from the Silver Vein page: you can dig away the ground under a vein and break one node to drop the whole thing at once. It's fast, but it gives no extra Pickaxes XP, so you trade skill gain for speed.
Does The Elder's power boost pickaxe damage?
Yes. The Call to Arms update (patch 0.221.4, September 9, 2025) rebalanced every Forsaken Power, and Iron Gate's patch notes read: "The Elder: 60% Chopping and Mining damage increase, 30% health regeneration increase." That is still the live version on 1.0.21.
With the power on, the numbers shift a lot:
- An Antler at skill 50 goes from about 4.4 swings per copper node to about 3.0.
- An Iron Q4 at skill 50 goes from about 2.0 to about 1.3.
- A Black Metal Q4 at skill 50 breaks every copper node in one swing.
On Flametal, the wiki says a quality-4 Black Metal Pickaxe with the power deals 102 per hit and one-shots a 100-health node. That is true only on its top rolls, about 1 swing in 6 even at skill 100. Even at skill 100 your damage factor is 85% to 100%, so in our simulation it averaged 1.8 swings per node. It's still the fastest way to clear a vein before the Lavaiathan sinks.
If you haven't beaten The Elder yet, our Elder boss guide covers the fight. Its power is the cheapest mining upgrade in the game.
Which pickaxe do you need for each biome?
| Biome | Pickaxe you need | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Meadows | Antler (after Eikthyr) | Stone for your first Smelter and Kiln |
| Black Forest | Antler, Bronze if you'll upgrade | Copper and Tin |
| Swamp | Antler is enough | Iron from Muddy Scrap Piles, 5 HP each |
| Mountain | Iron | Silver and Obsidian need tool tier 2 |
| Plains | Iron | Nothing new to mine; Black Metal Scrap drops from Fulings |
| Mistlands | Black Metal | Black Marble, Soft Tissue, Ancient Armor and Swords |
| Ashlands | Black Metal | Flametal Ore Veins on Lavaiathans |
| Deep North | Iron for Ice, plus Ember Charges | Ice Sheets need tool tier 2; Bloodgold comes from Petrified Gammeltrolls, not ore veins |
The Black Metal Pickaxe has a built-in catch. Its recipe needs Yggdrasil Wood, which only grows in the Mistlands, and the Mistlands is also where you first need the pickaxe. Plan one short Mistlands trip with a Black Metal Axe for Yggdrasil Wood before you try to mine Giant Remains.
Your first pickaxe comes from Eikthyr's Hard Antler. Our Eikthyr guide covers that fight.
Is there a Deep North pickaxe in Valheim 1.0?
No. The wiki's pickaxe list on 1.0.21 still has four pickaxes, ending with Black Metal. The Deep North's top metal, Bloodgold, doesn't come from an ore vein. You kill a Gammeltroll, it turns to stone, and you blow up the Petrified Gammeltroll with Ember Charges to get Petrified Tissue. Petrified Gammeltrolls have tool tier 6. Ember Charges match it and deal 50 pickaxe damage in a 3-meter radius. No pickaxe reaches tier 6, so swinging at a Petrified Gammeltroll does nothing.
You smelt Petrified Tissue into Bloodgold in a Blast Furnace. Our smelter and blast furnace guide covers the coal math.
Can you mine without a pickaxe?
Yes, and two late-game siege tools out-mine any pickaxe.
- Battering Ram: built at a Workbench from 10 Flametal, 2 Surtling Cores and 20 Ashwood. It runs on wood (25 fits in the fuel slot), and each punch deals 600 pickaxe damage to an area. The wiki says battering rams "are extremely efficient mining engines" for Copper Deposits, Silver Veins and Giant Remains. It's slow to steer and it's flammable, so keep it off Flametal veins over lava.
- Catapult with Explosive Payloads: each payload deals 400 pickaxe damage in a 3-meter radius.
- Trolls: in the Black Forest, a Troll swinging at you can hit a Copper Deposit and break it. It's a risky way to get ore before you have a pickaxe.
How do you get a pickaxe past quality 4?
The Forge of Potential in the Mountain can push a pickaxe beyond quality 4 with the matching Battle Idol: Bronze, Iron or Black Metal. Each attempt has a 65% chance of +1 quality and a 35% chance of destroying the item, and 35% of the materials (rounded up) refunded. For pickaxes the wiki lists this as a durability upgrade, so don't count on extra mining damage. Our Forge of Potential guide has the full odds. Don't gamble the only Black Metal Pickaxe you have before a Mistlands trip.
What's the best pickaxe order in Valheim?
- Antler Pickaxe right after Eikthyr. Use it on copper, tin and all Swamp crypts.
- Bronze Pickaxe only if you plan to upgrade it to quality 2 or more for a big copper run. Otherwise skip it.
- Iron Pickaxe before the Mountain. Silver needs it, and quality 3 or 4 also speeds up copper.
- Black Metal Pickaxe at the start of the Mistlands, once you have Yggdrasil Wood. It's the last pickaxe you will ever craft.
FAQ
What is the best pickaxe in Valheim? The Black Metal Pickaxe. It has the highest damage (49 to 64) and is the only one that mines Black Marble, Soft Tissue and Flametal. There is no stronger pickaxe on patch 1.0.21.
Can the Antler Pickaxe mine iron? Yes. Iron comes from Muddy Scrap Piles, which have tool tier 0 and 5 health per segment, so once your Pickaxes skill is 5 or higher the Antler breaks any single segment in one swing, like every other pickaxe.
What pickaxe do you need for silver in Valheim? The Iron Pickaxe or better. Silver Veins have tool tier 2, so the Antler and Bronze Pickaxes do no damage to them.
Why can't I mine Black Marble? You need a Black Metal Pickaxe. Black Marble, Soft Tissue and Ancient Armor all have tool tier 3.
Can you mine Bloodgold with a pickaxe? No. Bloodgold comes from Petrified Tissue, which you get by blowing up Petrified Gammeltrolls with Ember Charges. No pickaxe has the tool tier to damage them.
Does the Pickaxes skill matter? A lot. At skill 0 your average hit is 40% of the listed damage. At skill 75 it's 85%. A skill-50 Antler Pickaxe mines copper faster than a skill-0 quality-1 Bronze Pickaxe.
More Valheim guides
Planning your next mining trip? These guides cover where the ore is and what to do with it.
