Valheim Combat Basics — Stamina, Blocking, Parrying and Damage Types

Combat is a stamina economy

Every swing, block and dodge spends stamina. Health decides whether you survive one mistake; stamina decides whether you can make any moves at all. When the bar is empty you cannot dodge, block or attack — that is the state most deaths happen in.

So the loop is: eat three different foods, land a few hits, create space, let stamina recover, repeat. Chasing a kill with an empty bar is how a winning fight turns into a death.

Food is part of your combat gear. Three slots, each contributing its own health and stamina — see survival basics.

Attack, secondary attack and reach

• Primary attack is your bread-and-butter combo; the last hit in a chain usually costs more stamina and does more.
• Secondary attack is heavier — more stamina, different reach or an area effect (the atgeir sweep, the spear throw). Use it to finish or to control a pack, not as your default.
• Reach matters. Spears and atgeirs keep troll-sized problems at distance; knives and axes require you to be inside the enemy’s swing.
• Two-handed weapons trade the shield’s block for damage and stagger. Fine for open ground, punishing in a pack.

Blocking versus parrying

Blocking holds your shield up, absorbs damage and drains stamina while the hit lands and while you keep it raised.

Parrying is a block begun a beat before the hit connects. It costs less stamina, staggers the attacker and gives you a free window to land a full combo. Small shields and bucklers parry best; tower shields block best and parry poorly.

Practical drill: pick one common enemy and fight it with parries only until the timing is automatic. It converts the hardest fights in the game from endurance tests into rhythm.

Dodging

• Dodge sideways through the attack, not backwards away from it — backpedalling keeps you inside the swing arc.
• Dodging costs stamina too, and a dodge into an empty bar is worse than a block.
• Boss AoEs telegraph. Learn the tell, then move once. Panicking and dodge-spamming is the fastest route to zero stamina.

Damage types and resistances

When damage feels weak despite good gear, the type is wrong. Swap class rather than upgrading harder — see weapon tier list.

Pulling: the habit that saves runs

Never fight a pack that you did not choose to fight.

1. Use a bow to pull one enemy out of a group before you commit.
2. Fight in open ground — trees and rocks block dodges and trap you in AoEs.
3. Retreat to a choke point (a gate, a gap between rocks) when outnumbered.
4. Kill the caster and the shaman first; they do the most damage from the safest position.

Before a boss fight

• Three foods eaten, not two. Stamina is what lets you dodge the second phase.
• Set the right Forsaken Power at the Sacrificial Stones before you walk in — Bonemass for most fights, Eikthyr for kiting. Full list: Forsaken Powers.
• Match damage type to the boss. Blunt for Bonemass, and check each boss page for its weaknesses and pattern: boss guides.
• Repair everything. Repairs are free at the station.
• Pick the arena. Clear ground, no water, an escape route, and your bed reasonably close in case it goes wrong.

Related

• Every damage type explained — blunt/slash/pierce plus elemental DoT mechanics and the wet interaction: damage types guide
• Staying alive between fights: survival basics
• What to bring: weapon tier list · armor sets
• Boss patterns one at a time: boss guides