Valheim doesn't lock gear behind a skill tree. It locks it behind furniture. Every weapon and armor set waits on a station at a certain level, and some stations can't be built until a boss drops a part for them. Get the order wrong and you're hauling Black Metal around with nowhere to work it.
Station type
Crafting and building
Workbench
Where everything starts. Its upgrades set how far you can push your early gear.
- Build cost
- 10 Wood
- Build it near
- No station needed
- Max level
- 5
- Upgrades
- Chopping Block: 10 Wood, 10 Flint; Tanning Rack: 10 Wood, 15 Flint, 20 Leather Scraps, 5 Deer Hide; Adze: 10 Finewood, 3 Bronze; Tool Shelf: 4 Iron, 10 Finewood, 4 Obsidian
- What it makes
- Level 1: Flint Axe, Flint Knife, Flint Spear, Wooden Sword, Crude Bow, Finewood Bow, Wood Shield, Wood Tower Shield, Rag Tunic, Rag Trousers, Antler Pickaxe, Hoe and Wood Arrows.; Level 2: Leather, Troll Leather, Bear, Root, Fenris and Lox Fur armor, the early capes, Stagbreaker, Paws of the Bear, Shield of Roots, Flinthead Arrows and Fire Arrows.; Level 3: Bone Tower Shield, Obsidian Arrows and Poison Arrows.; Level 4: Frost Arrows and Needle Arrows.; Level 5: no new recipes. It raises how far you can upgrade gear.
Forge
The first real jump in gear: Bronze at level 1, then Iron, Silver and Black Metal as you upgrade it.
- Build cost
- 4 Stone, 4 Coal, 10 Wood, 6 Copper
- Build it near
- Workbench
- Max level
- 7
- Upgrades
- Forge Cooler: 25 Finewood, 10 Copper; Anvils: 5 Wood, 2 Bronze; Smith's Anvil: 20 Iron, 5 Wood; Forge Tool Rack: 15 Iron, 10 Wood; Forge Bellows: 5 Wood, 5 Deer Hide, 4 Chain; Grinding Wheel: 25 Wood, 1 Sharpening Stone
- What it makes
- Level 1: Bronze (alloyed from Copper and Tin), Bronze Nails, Iron Nails, the Bronze weapons, Bronze Buckler and Bronze armor, Iron Helmet, Drake Helmet, Padded Helmet, Bronze Pickaxe, Copper Knife, Butcher Knife, Huntsman Bow, Cultivator and the first trinkets.; Level 2: the Iron weapons, Iron Buckler, Iron Tower Shield, Banded Shield, Iron Scale Mail, Iron Greaves, Iron Pickaxe, Black Metal Pickaxe, Battleaxe, Scythe, Draugr Fang, the Wolf Hide armor, Padded Cuirass, Padded Greaves, the Vilebone armor and Ironhead Arrows.; Level 3: Silver Sword, Silver Knife and Silver Shield, Crystal Battleaxe, Frostner, Fang Spear, Ancient Bark Spear, Flesh Rippers, Serpent Scale Shield, the Black Metal shields and Silver Arrows.; Level 4: the Black Metal Sword, Axe, Battleaxe, Knife and Atgeir, Porcupine and Vilebone Maulclaws.; Levels 5 to 7: no new recipes. They raise how far you can upgrade gear.
Stonecutter
Unlocks the stone building pieces, plus the Sharpening Stone the Forge's Grinding Wheel needs.
- Build cost
- 10 Wood, 2 Iron, 4 Stone
- Build it near
- Workbench
- Max level
- 1
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Level 1: Sharpening Stone, and every Stone, Black Marble and Grausten building piece.
Artisan Table
The boss-gated table. Build the refining stations beside it, and add the Artisan Press for Ceramic Plates.
- Build cost
- 10 Wood, 2 Dragon Tear
- Build it near
- No station needed
- Max level
- 2
- Upgrades
- Artisan Press: 5 Black Marble, 5 Bronze, 1 Majestic Carapace
- What it makes
- Level 1: Mechanical Spring and the Wooden, Black Metal, Flametal and Bloodgold Missiles.; Level 2 (with the Artisan Press): Ceramic Plate and Shield Core.; Also lets you build the Stone Oven, Blast Furnace, Spinning Wheel and Windmill near it.
Black Forge
The Mistlands and Ashlands smithy. Its level 4 also starts the casts for Deep North gear.
- Build cost
- 10 Black Marble, 10 Yggdrasil Wood, 5 Black Core
- Build it near
- Workbench
- Max level
- 6
- Upgrades
- Black Forge Cooler: 5 Iron, 5 Copper, 4 Black Marble; Vice: 5 Iron, 8 Copper, 2 Mechanical Spring; Metal Cutter: 5 Black Marble, 5 Flametal, 5 Ashwood, 4 Charred Bone; Gem Cutter: 5 Flametal, 8 Ashwood, 2 Morgen Sinew, 1 Bloodstone; Smith's Aprons: 5 Bloodgold, 8 Timberwood, 2 Moose Hide
- What it makes
- Level 1: Mistlands gear, with the Carapace armor, Carapace Spear, Carapace Buckler and Carapace Shield, Mistwalker, Krom, Jotun Bane, Skull Splittur, Demolisher, Himminafl, Skoll and Hati, Spinesnap, Arbalest, Dvergr Lantern, Grappling Hook and the Mistlands trinkets.; Level 2: Asksvin Saddle, Moose Saddle and Black Metal Bolts.; Level 3: Ashlands gear, with the Flametal armor, Flametal Mace and shields, Ask armor, Ash Fang, Ripper, Slayer, Nidhögg, Splitnir, Berserkir Axes and Ashen Cape.; Level 4: casts for the Nord weapons, armor and shields that the Frost Foundry finishes, the infused Frostfire and Thunderblood weapons, the infused variants of Ashlands gear and the Moose Hide Cape.; Levels 5 and 6: no new recipes. They raise how far you can upgrade gear.
Galdr Table
Staffs and Eitr-weave gear live here, along with the casts for the Deep North staffs.
- Build cost
- 20 Yggdrasil Wood, 10 Black Metal, 5 Black Core, 5 Refined Eitr
- Build it near
- Workbench
- Max level
- 5
- Upgrades
- Rune Table: 10 Black Marble, 5 Yggdrasil Wood, 10 Refined Eitr; Unfading Candles: 10 Black Marble, 3 Skeleton Trophy, 10 Refined Eitr, 15 Resin; Feathery Wreath: 8 Celestial Feather, 1 Asksvin Trophy, 10 Refined Eitr, 3 Ashwood; Standing Loom: 5 Timberwood, 10 Nornathread
- What it makes
- Level 1: Eitr-weave armor, Feather Cape, Staff of Embers, Staff of Frost, Staff of Protection, Dead Raiser and Sealbreaker.; Level 2: Embla armor, Asksvin Cloak, Staff of the Wild, Staff of Fracturing, Dundr and Trollstav.; Level 3: casts for the Caller armor and for the Echo Spike, Lightning Strike, Northern Vengeance and Spirit Caller staffs, all finished at the Frost Foundry.; Level 4: Cape of the Caller.; Level 5: no new recipes. It raises how far you can upgrade gear.
Frost Foundry
No recipes of its own. It finishes the casts you made at the Black Forge and Galdr Table.
- Build cost
- 15 Iron, 20 Stone, 10 Frostcore
- Build it near
- Workbench
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Hardens casts into finished Nord weapons and shields, Vanguard, Protector and Caller armor, and the Deep North staffs.; Casts come from the Black Forge (level 4) or the Galdr Table (level 3).
Station type
Cooking and brewing
Cooking Station
Your first kitchen: raw meat over a lit fire.
- Build cost
- 2 Wood
- Build it near
- No station needed
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Grills Neck Tail, Boar Meat, Deer Meat, Bear Meat, Wolf Meat, Chicken Meat, Hare Meat and Raw Fish.; Anything left on too long burns into Coal.
Cauldron
The main kitchen. Every upgrade opens a new tier of dishes.
- Build cost
- 10 Tin
- Build it near
- Forge
- Max level
- 7
- Upgrades
- Spice Rack: 3 Dandelion, 2 Carrot, 5 Mushroom, 3 Thistle, 3 Turnip; Butcher's Table: 2 Ancient Bark, 4 Corewood, 4 Finewood, 2 Silver; Pots and Pans: 5 Iron, 5 Copper, 5 Black Metal, 10 Finewood; Mortar and Pestle: 8 Black Marble, 6 Finewood, 4 Corewood; Rolling Pins and Cutting Boards: 8 Ashwood, 6 Finewood, 4 Flametal; Smoker: 5 Bloodgold, 6 Timberwood
- What it makes
- Level 1: Boar Jerky, Carrot Soup, Cooked Egg, Deer Stew, Minced Meat Sauce, Pulled Bear and Queen's Jam.; Level 2: Black Soup, Muckshake, Onion Soup, Sausages, Serpent Stew and Turnip Stew.; Level 3: Eyescream, Wolf Jerky and Wolf Skewer.; Level 4: Blood Pudding and Fish Wraps.; Level 5: Fiery Svinstew, Mushroom Omelette, Salad, Seeker Aspic, Sizzling Berry Broth, Spicy Marmalade and Yggdrasil Porridge.; Level 6: Lingonberry Juice, Marinated Greens, Mashed Meat, Oatmeal, Pancakes, Raw Kale Chips, Scorching Medley and Sparkling Shroomshake.; Level 7: Fish Soup, Meat In Bread, Meatballs and Poteitr, Seal Meat Soup, Smoked Fish, Smoked Moose Meat and Unbaked Poteitr.
Iron Cooking Station
The same job as the wooden station, for meat too big to fit on it.
- Build cost
- 3 Iron, 3 Chain
- Build it near
- Forge
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Cooks everything a Cooking Station does, plus the large meats: Lox, Serpent, Seeker, Bonemaw, Asksvin Tail, Moose and Volture.
Food Preparation Table
Where feasts and prepped pies start.
- Build cost
- 5 Iron, 20 Finewood, 15 Leather Scraps
- Build it near
- Workbench
- Max level
- 1
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Feasts for the whole crew.; Prepped dishes for the Stone Oven, from Bread Dough to the uncooked pies.; Raw Fish from any catch, and every fishing bait.
Stone Oven
Finishes whatever you prepped at the Food Preparation Table or Cauldron.
- Build cost
- 15 Iron, 20 Stone, 4 Surtling Core
- Build it near
- Artisan Table
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Bakes the prepped dishes: Bread, Lox Meat Pie, Honey Glazed Chicken, Fish 'n' Bread, Stuffed Mushroom, Meat Platter, Misthare Supreme, Roasted Crust Pie, Piquant Pie, Frosted Sweetbread, Kale Chips, Baked Poteitr, Oven Pancake and Cooked Seal Blubber.; Anything left in too long burns into Coal.
Mead Ketill
Brews the bases that a Fermenter turns into mead.
- Build cost
- 4 Tin, 6 Copper, 2 Leather Scraps
- Build it near
- Forge
- Max level
- 1
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Brews the Mead Base for every healing, stamina, eitr and resistance mead, plus Lightfoot, Berserkir, Tasty and the rest.; Also makes Oat Milk.
Fermenter
The last step for every mead. Add the base, then leave it.
- Build cost
- 30 Finewood, 5 Bronze, 10 Resin
- Build it near
- Forge
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Ferments the bases from the Mead Ketill into drinkable meads and Barley Wine.
Station type
Refining and processing
Charcoal Kiln
Wood in, Coal out. It keeps the Smelter fed.
- Build cost
- 20 Stone, 5 Surtling Core
- Build it near
- Workbench
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Turns Wood, Finewood or Corewood into Coal.
Smelter
Ore to bars. It handles every metal until Black Metal.
- Build cost
- 20 Stone, 5 Surtling Core
- Build it near
- Workbench
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Smelts Copper Ore, Tin Ore, Scrap Iron and Silver Ore into bars.
Blast Furnace
Handles the metals the Smelter can't.
- Build cost
- 20 Stone, 5 Surtling Core, 10 Iron, 20 Finewood
- Build it near
- Artisan Table
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Smelts Black Metal Scrap into Black Metal, Flametal Ore into Flametal and Petrified Tissue into Bloodgold.; The Smelter can't take any of these.
Spinning Wheel
Linen Thread for padded armor and several Black Metal weapons.
- Build cost
- 20 Finewood, 10 Iron Nails, 5 Leather Scraps
- Build it near
- Artisan Table
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Spins Flax into Linen Thread.
Windmill
Flour and oats, as long as the wind cooperates.
- Build cost
- 20 Stone, 30 Wood, 30 Iron Nails
- Build it near
- Artisan Table
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Mills Barley into Barley Flour, Oat Seeds into Oats and Oats into Oat Flour.
Eitr Refinery
Turns Sap and Soft Tissue into the Refined Eitr that Mistlands gear needs.
- Build cost
- 20 Black Marble, 5 Black Metal, 10 Yggdrasil Wood, 5 Black Core, 3 Sap
- Build it near
- Workbench
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Refines Sap and Soft Tissue into Refined Eitr.
Frigid Kiln
Melts Ice into the fuel the Frost Foundry runs on.
- Build cost
- 20 Stone, 10 Frostcore, 5 Ice
- Build it near
- Workbench
- Max level
- -
- Upgrades
- -
- What it makes
- Turns Ice into Liquid Frost, the Frost Foundry's fuel.
How Valheim Crafting Station Levels Work
Stations that can be upgraded start at level 1. To raise one, build upgrade pieces close by, and each new piece adds one level. Each upgrade needs its own clear connection path to the station, and pieces lined up on one side block each other, so spread them out. Duplicate upgrades don't stack, so a second Chopping Block next to your Workbench adds nothing.
Level does two jobs. It decides which recipes show up, and it caps how far you can upgrade weapons and armor you've already made, since each quality step needs the station one level higher than the step before. That's why a station that has run out of new recipes is still worth raising.
Which Valheim Crafting Stations to Build First
Start with a Workbench, then put a Forge beside it once you have Copper. The Forge is where Bronze comes from, so it's your first real jump in gear. A Cauldron costs 10 Tin and goes near the Forge, and a Stonecutter unlocks the stone building pieces.
The Artisan Table is the next big gate. It needs two Dragon Tears from Moder, and the Stone Oven, Blast Furnace, Spinning Wheel and Windmill all build next to it. After that comes the Black Forge for Mistlands gear, then the Galdr Table for staffs and Eitr-weave armor. The Frost Foundry closes the chain, and it has no recipes of its own. It hardens the casts you made at the Black Forge and the Galdr Table.
Cooking, Brewing and Baking Stations in Valheim
The kitchen is a chain, and each link feeds the next. A Cooking Station grills raw meat over a lit fire. The Iron Cooking Station, built near a Forge, handles the bigger cuts. The Cauldron is the main kitchen, and every upgrade opens a new tier of dishes.
Pies and bread take two steps: you prep them at the Food Preparation Table, then bake them in a Stone Oven. Meads take two as well. The Mead Ketill brews the base, and a Fermenter turns it into the finished drink.
Don't wander off while meat grills or a dish bakes. Anything left on too long burns into Coal, and you lose the ingredients. For what each dish gives you, see every Valheim food.
Smelters, Kilns and Other Refining Stations in Valheim
The Smelter and Blast Furnace look like cousins, but they take different ore. The early metals go in the Smelter, and the later ones need the Blast Furnace, so neither can stand in for the other. Both burn Coal, and the Smelter needs venting above it or it stops smelting.
Flour comes from the Windmill, which runs on wind instead of Coal. The Mistlands bring the Eitr Refinery, which burns Sap. The Deep North adds a two-step chain of its own: the Frigid Kiln turns Ice into Liquid Frost, and the Frost Foundry burns it.
Crafting Station Mistakes That Slow Down a Valheim Run
- Crafting without a roof. The Workbench, Forge and the other crafting tables need a roof and at least 70% cover before you can craft or repair there, so an open shelter won't work.
- Hauling materials before checking the level. Look up the level a recipe needs before you farm its materials. Each upgrade piece adds one level, so if you're one short, you need one more piece, not a new station.
- Building away from the parent station. Most stations have to sit beside another one. The Forge needs a Workbench, and the Cauldron, Iron Cooking Station, Mead Ketill and Fermenter all need a Forge. Plan the base around the Workbench, the Forge and the Artisan Table, since almost every other station builds next to one of them.
FAQ
How do you upgrade a Workbench in Valheim?
Build a Chopping Block, Tanning Rack, Adze and Tool Shelf close to it, and each one adds a level. The Workbench tops out at level 5. The Chopping Block needs only Wood and Flint, so you can build it early. The Adze and Tool Shelf each need a Forge nearby to be built.
What do you need to craft Ceramic Plates in Valheim?
A level 2 Artisan Table, which means building the Artisan Press beside it. The Press costs a Majestic Carapace, a drop from The Queen in the Mistlands. Ceramic Plates go into the Drakkar, the ship that survives the boiling Ashlands seas.
How do you get Coal in Valheim?
Put Wood, Finewood or Corewood in a Charcoal Kiln and it turns them into Coal. Surtlings also drop it. Coal fuels the Smelter and Blast Furnace, and a Forge needs some to build.
Which station cooks Lox meat in Valheim?
The Iron Cooking Station. The wooden Cooking Station can't take Lox, Serpent, Seeker, Bonemaw, Asksvin Tail, Moose or Volture. The Iron one cooks everything the wooden one does, plus those large meats.