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

Type	Strong against	Notes
Blunt	Skeletons, blobs, Bonemass	The most broadly useful physical type
Pierce	Unarmoured targets	Weak against blobs; spears double as throwables
Slash	Flesh enemies, fulings	Swords and axes; resisted by stone golems
Fire	Greydwarves, roots	Also the Ashlands answer
Frost	Slows on hit	Crowd control more than raw damage
Spirit	Undead	Only affects certain creatures
Poison	Over time	Good for bosses you can kite

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