If you want to mine stones in Valheim , you need a pickaxe (Eng. “Pickaxe”). However, it’s not that easy to find. MeinMMO explains how to find a pickaxe and thus make it easier to get stones for your buildings.
If you’re new to Valheim, you’ll quickly discover the large rocks scattered throughout the world. Unlike in most survival games, pickaxes are not part of your standard toolset for mining.
If you need stones early on, you’ll have to search for them and pick them up from the ground. At least until you get your first pickaxe. This can take a while, as you first need to defeat a powerful enemy.
Crafting a Pickaxe and Mining Stones
Here’s how to get the pickaxe: The pickaxe is a recipe from the first boss, the stag Eikthyr. He drops his antlers, from which you can craft your first antler pickaxe. You’ll need:
- 10 x Wood
- 1 x Hard Antler
To defeat the boss, you should have played a bit already. Craft a shield from wood and leather scraps, as well as a flint spear. You can find flint along the shores of lakes, seas, and rivers in the meadows. Preparation may take some time, but it’s worth it. In our extensive boss guide for all bosses in Valheim, you’ll learn where to find Eikthyr and how to defeat him.
Throughout the game, you’ll receive additional pickaxes, which mainly have more durability and can mine resources faster. A pickaxe made of bronze or iron should be your goal as soon as possible.
Here’s how to mine stones: Once you’ve crafted a pickaxe, you just need to equip it and you can use it like any other tool. You can find stones everywhere in the world. Look out for large rocks and smaller stones on the ground.
In some biomes, like the Dark Forest, there are even huge rock formations that look similar to copper deposits. These can also be mined for even more stones. However, it’s advisable to build a camp nearby.
With the stones themselves, you can then build campfires, smelters, and charcoal kilns. Larger campfires and even whole stone buildings become possible later on.
Tips for Mining: If you want to mine stones or other resources with the pickaxe, there are some tricks to make it easier or faster.
- If you need stones, it’s best to mine copper. It’s difficult to obtain anyway and provides a lot of stones as “waste,” so you’re preparing for later.
- Always mine until your pickaxe breaks and leave behind what you can no longer carry. This saves you one or two trips at the end when you only have to pick up what’s left. This is especially useful in the Swamp and the sunken crypts.
- Set up a camp nearby. With a workbench, you can repair the antler pickaxe. If you have metal pickaxes, you’ll need a forge.
- Stones and copper deposits often continue into the ground – chop around on the ground to search for them.
If you’re not quite sure yet what to do with the new possibilities, you can find 3 cool bases in Valheim that you can use as inspiration for your own.
