Bronze

Bronze is the first alloy available in Valheim and the only alloy in the game. It is made by combining two metals, and it serves as the key material for the early Black Forest progression. Once the player has access to a forge, bronze becomes the foundation for a large set of tools, weapons, armor pieces, and building parts that define the transition out of the game’s starting biome.

Bronze is crafted at a forge from 2 Copper bars and 1 Tin bar. It can also be found as loot in some later areas, including the Mountains in ice caves, where bronze bars may be obtained by destroying standing braziers, and in the Ashlands in fuming holes. Like other metals, bronze cannot be transported through portals unless the Portal stone is being used.

A single bronze bar is used in many early recipes, including:

• Bronze Nails
• Bronzehead Arrow
• Bronze Atgeir
• Bronze Axe
• Bronze Sword
• Bronze Spear
• Bronze Mace
• Bronze Buckler
• Bronze Helmet
• Bronze plate cuirass
• Bronze plate greaves
• Cultivator

Bronze is also required for several forge and workshop-related items and structures such as the cartography table, adze, anvils, fermenter, and multiple decorative or functional furnishings. In the Black Forest tier, bronze is one of the most heavily used materials, and many progression items depend on it.

For crafting efficiency, bronze is a major resource sink. The amount needed to make one of each base Black Forest equipment item is 78 Bronze, and fully upgrading that set requires an additional 222 Bronze, for a total of 300 Bronze. If all biome-tier base equipment is counted, the total rises to 98 Bronze for crafting and 232 Bronze more for upgrades, for 330 Bronze overall.

Bronze’s importance is not just its breadth of use, but its role in unlocking a full equipment tier. It supports the first major step into more advanced combat, farming, and construction, and it remains relevant long enough that players usually want a steady copper and tin supply before investing in upgrades. The material’s wide recipe spread also means that spending bronze early on can delay access to later weapons or armor, so it is often worth planning which tools and gear to prioritize first.