The Forge is the second crafting station in Valheim. You craft all metal items at the forge including most of your weapons and armor.
You will need to collect copper to build your forge and then you can use the forge to turn copper and tin into bronze. This marks your entrance into the Bronze Age, where you gain access to every weapon-type in Valheim.
Icon | ![]() |
Crafting Recipe | 4 Coal, 6 Copper, 4 Stone, 10 Wood |
Crafted With | Hammer |
Station Upgrades | Anvils, Forge Bellows, Forge Cooler, Forge Toolrack, Grinding Wheel (needs Stonecutter), Smith’s Anvil |
Upgrading the Forge
You will need to continuously upgrade the forge to keep up with your equipment. Your equipment cannot be upgraded unless you improve your forge. You also cannot craft the next metal-tier of equipment until you upgrade your forge.
Duplicate station upgrades will not increase the level. You’ll also find that it can be difficult to pack everything close enough to your forge.
Something that’s a little odd about the forge upgrades is that you need to craft most of them within the range of a workbench. After placing an upgrade you can remove the workbench.
You will need a minimum forge level of 4 to craft end-game items. Forges can be upgraded to a maximum level of 7.
Anvils
Anvils are one of the first station upgrades for the forge. A set of anvils will only require a bit of bronze and building them is the easiest way to get a level 2 forge.
Forge Bellows
Forge Bellows is a very easy upgrade to acquire after you reach the Swamp biome. You just need to kill a few Wraiths or conquer a few Sunken Crypts to get the required Chain.
Forge Cooler
The Forge Cooler is an early forge upgrade that competes with the anvils for first forge upgrade, depending on whether you have an excess of metals or rare woods. Once you have a bronze axe, you can begin cutting down Birch Trees to get Fine Wood.
Forge Toolrack
The Forge Toolrack is a mid-game forge upgrade that you can access in the Iron Age. Like everything else made with iron, this is a pricey upgrade. The forge toolrack is also one of the few upgrades that don’t need a workbench, which might be convenient for some people.
Grinding Wheel
The Grinding Wheel is an advanced forge upgrade that requires a Stonecutter to craft. Aside from that requirement, it is the cheapest upgrade by far, only requiring stone and wood.
Icon | ![]() |
Crafting Recipe | 1 Sharpening Stone, 25 Wood |
Crafting Station | Hammer |
Smith’s Anvil
The Smith’s Anvil is the second Iron Age upgrade for the forge. It requires more iron than the forge toolrack but less wood but, overall, the smith’s anvil is the most expensive forge upgrade in the game. It will cost you a whopping 35 iron to craft both the forge toolrack and the smith’s anvil.