When it comes to making a success of your Valheim game, it’s imperative that you know about the different options for crafting - and knowing how to craft the iron buckler is just one such example that’s crucial to know about. Fortunately, in line with this thought, today, we’re looking at how to craft the iron buckler in Valheim to help ensure you know what this excellent addition is and how to make it.

What is the Iron Buckler in Valheim?

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First things first, it’s important that we quickly clarify what the iron buckler is. As an addition during the Hearth and Home update, the iron buckler is a type of craftable shield in Valheim - more specifically, the second type of buckler shield introduced into the game.

The iron buckler has a block armor score of 28 (increasing to 40 at quality 3) and impressive durability of between 200 and 300, depending on the level of the shield. It is forged initially at level 2. This makes is a big step up from the basic wooden shield that you may have already crafted in your early game. However, there are plenty of other shield types that are better overall.

How to Craft an Iron Buckler in Valheim

Given its impressive stats, it’s easy to see why people might want to craft an iron buckler in Valheim - however, before you can start planning to make this handy shield, it’s important to know what it needs. First of all, at the basic first quality, crafting an iron buckler requires ten pieces of iron and four pieces of ancient bark. Iron needs to be smelted from either scrap iron or iron order, which fortunately is a relatively early-game material that’s not too difficult to stumble across. Scrap iron can commonly be found in muddy scrap piles and sunken crypt chests, among other sources, and iron ore can be found while fishing. Given this, once you have unlocked the swamps biome, crafting the iron buckler becomes much more feasible.

Each scrap iron can be smelted into a single iron ore. This means that you’ll need a total of ten scrap irons in order to have enough to make an iron buckler. Fortunately, this isn’t too difficult once you’ve found swamp crypts, although if you’re worried about finding enough iron, launching a game with a seed that has numerous crypts may help. If you do decide to go down this route, make sure you’ve launched your game on a private server with 24/7 uptime thanks to custom, premium Valheim hosting.

In addition to the iron bars, you’ll also need several pieces of ancient wood. As with the iron scraps, these can be harvested within the swamp biome, being harvested from ancient trees. Chopping ancient trees with a bronze axe or better allows you to harvest this unique type of wood. These can also be found within sunken crypt chests, as with iron scraps.

Crafting an Upgraded Iron Buckler

Your first level iron buckler can be upgrade to a higher level with the use of several more resources. The second level iron buckler needs five iron and one ancient bark, while the third quality uses ten iron and two ancient bark.

FAQs

What is the best iron shield in Valheim?

The best iron shield in Valheim is generally considered the best iron shield, with a block armor max of 64 and block force of 110. However, this shield has no parry bonus and massively reduces movement speed by 20%. Given this, the iron buckler offers a better parry bonus at 2.5x and only reduces movement speed by -5%.

How to make iron in Valheim?

Iron is made in a smelter by smelting either scrap iron or iron ore. One scrap iron or iron ore can be used to craft a single iron bar.

Valheim iron buckler vs banded shield - what’s the difference?

The Valheim iron buckler vs banded shield argument is somewhat difficult, as the two shields are vastly different. The banded shield offers a max block armor and force of 54 and 50, higher than the iron buckler’s 40 and 30. However, the iron buckler has a vastly higher parry bonus at 2.5x versus 1.5x for the banded shield.

Where can I find ancient wood to make an iron buckler in Valheim?

In Valheim, ancient wood can be found on trees in the swamp biome. However, you can’t harvest ancient wood with any old axe; instead, you’ll need to have a bronze axe or better in order to get ancient wood from ancient trees in the swamps.

Final Thoughts

When planning your character’s equipment load-out, knowing about the best types of shields is crucial. Fortunately, Valheim has several contenders for the best shields, and the iron buckler is definitely one of the best, especially for relatively early game players.