In Valheim, survival is all about good materials and tools. While the basic tools, like Valheim's basic pickaxe, axe, or wooden sword, will get players going, they will need metal tools in order to succeed. Copper tools are a step up from the wooden and stone tools that players will be able to make in the beginning.
Similar to finding and smelting iron bars in Valheim, players can also use copper ore to make pure copper bars, which can then be used to make weapons and tools. They will first need a smelter, but they are fairly simple to make. Using a workbench, players need to combine 20 Stone and 5 Surtling cores. The smelter will need to be placed close by to the workbench.
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Once the smelter is done, Valheim players will need to fuel it with coal in order to get it heated up and ready for smelting bars. Coal is dropped by Surtlings, found in random chests and on Altars, and can also be created. Players can put wood in a charcoal kiln or overcook raw meat at a Cooking Station to make coal.
Once players are ready with their smelter, they can then drop in copper ore into it to get pure copper. Copper ore can be mined out in the wild; it is usually found in the Black Forest biome, and it looks like a large boulder made of something green and kind of reflective, as pictured below. With the adjustments to damage scaling in the first Valheim patch, the Black Forest should be safe enough to explore once players have a good grip on the game.
Copper has several uses in Valheim. First, players can make a copper knife, which is a great weapon for speed. While it doesn't have the range of the iron longsword or the bronze sword, it cut quick and deep when in very close melee range. The knife is made from 2 Wood and 8 Copper bars.
Other uses for copper in Valheim's Viking-themed survival setting are:
- Creating a Forge, which is needed to make most metal weapons, including the copper knife. In order to make a Forge, players need 4 Stone, 4 Coal, 10 Wood, and 6 Copperbars smelted in the smelter.
- 2 Copper and 1 Tin can be combined to make bronze. Bronze is a very strong material in Valheim, and can be used to create the Bronze Sword, Helmet, Knife, and the Horned Bronze Helmet.
Valheim is currently available in Early Access on PC.