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In Valheim, your access to materials effectively marks your progression through the game. Moving from one material to another is essentially arriving in a new era, with a host of new weapons, armors, and other crafts to look forward to.
Black metal is the final and most advanced material in Valheim as of its current state of development. It’s easily one of the most important materials in the game, being used to craft some of the strongest weapons in the game. If you’re going up against the final boss, Yagluth, you’ll probably want to get your hands on some Blackmetal first.
Also Read: Valheim Bosses Guide
Although it’s a valuable material, Black metal is tough to obtain, even more so than the Silver you need to excavate out of the mountains. To get some Black metal, you’ll need to travel to the Plains, the most deadly and inhospitable biome currently in Valheim. Until the Mistlands is released, that is. To make your task of gathering Black metal a little easier, I’ll guide you through the easiest ways to get your hands on it.
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How to get Black metal
As with most other materials in Valheim, Black metal requires you to smelt the raw material into an ingot. This raw material, called Black metal Scrap, can be found in the Plains, jealously guarded by Fulings. Fulings have a chance to drop Black metal Scraps, with the smaller footsoldier Fulings potentially dropping a couple, while the larger Fuling Berserkers can drop much more. As with any other creature in Valheim, the more stars the Fuling has, the more Blackmetal Scraps you stand to gain.
These little goblins can be incredibly tough to deal with, even for a well-equipped Viking. They hit hard, take a lot of punishment, and are pretty nimble. They’ll also happily pursue you far from where you encountered them, with their speed making Fulings difficult to disengage. To make matters worse, you’ll often have Deathsquitoes and Loxes dropping in on your fights, both of which can easily kill you. All of this is to say that obtaining Black metal is a challenge, even for the prepared.
Fighting the Fuling warbands as you explore the Plains is one way to get Black metal, but there is another, more reliable, method. Each Plains biome will have Fuling camps and villages dotted about. These villages are well-guarded, but also well-stocked with resources – Black metal included. Raiding these settlements is a great way to gather Black metal Scrap, and keeps the Viking tradition of pillaging Lowlanders alive and well. Bonus points if you sail up rivers.
Mounting a sea raid
To mount an effective raid, I’d suggest sailing a Longboat around the coastline of the nearest large Plains biome. Hugging the coast, you should have a good view of any villages set up both near the water and further inland. It helps that many have tall watchtowers, which serve you better as a landmark than it does the Fulings as a lookout. Once you’ve spotted a village, simply beach the bow of your ship and head on over.
How you handle the village is your call, being largely dependent on your skills and equipment. You could go in like a true Viking, taking ethical plunder earned through force of arms, or you could sneak in and pilfer the chests while nobody is watching. Killing the Fulings will get you more Black metal overall because of their drops, but either method will earn you a good haul. Once you’ve got your fill, run back to your boat and sail away. The Fulings won’t be able to pursue you like they can on land.
Valheim Core Wood | Ymir Flesh | Abomination Guide | Valheim Fishing Guide | Valheim Progression Guide | Valheim Fine Wood
Forging Black metal from scrap
As with Valheim’s other materials, you’ll need to forge Ingots from the raw material. While you can get some Black metal Ingots from chests in Fuling settlements, your main source will be what you smelt yourself. To smelt Black metal Ingots, you won’t be able to rely on the same furnace you have for other materials.
Instead, you’ll need to build a Blast Furnace, a direct upgrade to the old smelter you’ve used for so long. This new furnace is currently only useful for smelting Black metal, but this is bound to change in the future as more materials of higher quality are added. Flametal, a material found in the as yet incomplete Ashlands, is already in the game in placeholder form.
To build a Blast Furnace, you’ll need an Artisan Table, which requires you to have defeated Moder first. Once placed, it acts like the Forge or Workbench, allowing you to build relevant structures within the radius of the station. You’ll also need 20 Stone, 20 Fine Wood, 10 Iron, and 5 Surtling Cores.
Also Read: Valheim Obliterator
What can be crafted with Black metal?
Black metal has the fewest uses of any material in the game, being used only for a small number of weapons. Additional crafts, like armor, may come at a later stage in Valheim’s development, but the strength of these weapons more than makes up for this limited supply of crafts. If you intend to make Black metal weaponry, you’ll need large quantities of the material, so be warned. Here’s what you can make with Black metal so far:
- Black metal Sword – This sword has the highest base damage of any sword, though it lacks the spirit damage of the Silver Sword. Requires a total of 80 Black metal Ingots to fully upgrade.
- Black metal Axe – This axe has the highest base damage of any axe, though again lacks the spirit damage of its silver counterpart. Even so, it’s still worth crafting because of its high chop damage. Requires a total of 80 Black metal Ingots to fully upgrade.
- Black metal Atgeir – This atgeir is more worthwhile to craft, as the silver variant doesn’t have additional spirit damage. With this, you’ll deal a hefty 40 points of damage more than with the silver one. Requires 120 Black metal Ingots to fully upgrade.
- Black metal Knife – This knife is the best of its class, but who bothers with them? If you want it for some reason, you’ll need 34 Black metal Ingots to fully upgrade it.
- Black metal Shield – This shield blocks the most damage of any small shield by far, and is pretty durable too. You’ll need a total of 20 Black metal Ingots to fully upgrade it.
- Black metal Tower Shield – As is the theme, this tower shield is the best of its class, blocking the most damage of any tower shield. It requires 24 Black metal Ingots to fully upgrade.
- Lox Saddle – The Lox Saddle was added fairly recently, being the only non-weapon piece of equipment Black metal can craft. Unsurprisingly, it allows you to ride a Lox, and will need 15 Black metal to produce.
- Black metal Chest – One of two building pieces currently available, the Black metal Chest is brilliant for storage, having 32 slots. It will cost you only 6 Black metal to make.
- Pots and Pans – The second building piece is Pots and Pans, being an upgrade to the Cauldron and allowing you to make better meals. It will cost you 5 Black metal to make.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, you’ll need quite a lot of Black metal if you intend to make everything currently available. A whole lot of raiding will be required, plus a bunch of other materials to go along with your Black metal. Keep in mind that although it’s the endgame material, it isn’t necessarily a must-have for your armory. Frostner, for example, is often more useful than a Black metal weapon thanks to its spirit damage and slowing effect, despite its lower base damage. Whether you want to put in the effort to obtain Black metal is up to you.
