Spend your first bronze on a useful upgrade

The order below is our recommendation, not a requirement imposed by the game. Choose the item that removes a problem you already have. Making every bronze item before using one creates extra hauling with little immediate benefit.

Costs below use the same base-quality records as the planners. The first-bronze station, conversion and four equipment rows were checked against 1.0.15 server files and selected runtime rules; other equipment retains older reference limits. Station construction, upgrades and losses are extra. Check that you have discovered every ingredient and can use the required station before committing the materials.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Bronze axeValheim Wiki: CultivatorValheim Wiki: Bronze bucklerValheim Wiki: CartValheim Wiki: KarveValheim Wiki: Bronze pickaxe

Plan materials for your first bronze equipment

Heading for the Elder next? Make a bronze axe, or arrange access to one, even if your first purchase was different. The recommended Finewood bow and expedition kit needs direct harvesting of fine wood; do not spend every bar before reserving the axe materials.

For the axe, gather the wood and leather scraps as well as the bronze, craft it at the forge, and take it to a birch or oak tree. Clear your escape path before felling. Bring the fine wood home before choosing another expedition.

For the cultivator, collect core wood from Black Forest pines; the stone axe can cut those trees. Craft the cultivator at the forge. Collect carrot seeds from the white-flowering wild plants in the Black Forest, then bring them to a protected Meadows plot.

Equip the cultivator, open its menu, and select Cultivate to prepare the ground. Select Carrot with a seed in your inventory and plant with clear space around it. Check the plant status for room to grow. Harvest when mature; save a carrot to replant with the Seed-carrot option, which grows into three replacement seeds. The tool does not provide seeds, and the crops need time to grow.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Bronze axeValheim Wiki: CorewoodValheim Wiki: CultivatorEIP Gaming: Carrot acquisition and farming

Choose the buckler when you are comfortable timing blocks and need that style of defense. Equip it with your chosen one-handed weapon and practise on a familiar enemy before relying on it deep in the forest. Your food and stamina reserve remain part of the defense.

The bronze pickaxe has better mining damage and durability than the antler pickaxe, but it does not open a new set of ore at this stage. It needs the forge for repairs. Keep your antler pickaxe available for a workbench-only outpost or recovery trip.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Bronze bucklerValheim Wiki: Bronze pickaxe

One bronze makes twenty bronze nails. A cart uses ten nails; a karve uses eighty. The karve therefore needs four bronze converted into nails, plus its fine wood, deer hide and resin. Nails are a crafted part, not a substitute name for bronze bars.

For a complete sailing, landing, and return plan, follow the Elder expedition guide. It covers the controls, portal pair, camp placement, and what to do if the boat or portal is lost.

For a cart, walk and clear the route before loading the full haul; heavy loads make steep or rough ground a problem. For a karve, build in usable water by the workbench and learn its movement with a small cargo first. Its four storage slots help carry ore, but you still need a safe departure and landing.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: CraftingValheim Wiki: CartValheim Wiki: Karve

Combine crafting projects and deduct your existing stock