Coal is one of the most important resources in Valheim. You are going to be using it to melt all of your metal and ores. When each armor piece is going to need about 20 pieces of metal in order to craft it you can bet that you are going to need a hell of a lot of coal in order to melt down all that unprocessed ore. Today, we’re going to look at some of the ways you can get coal. You can get coal in the very early game, mid game and collect vast amounts by defeating a certain enemy in the mid-late game.
What is Coal Used For?
In Valheim, coal is your key to unlocking metal. There are very few items that actually need coal to craft but they do exist. You need coal if you plan on making any signs in Valheim. With the hammer and a workbench, you are able to craft yourself up a sign to put on the wall in Valheim and write your own custom text. This is a great way to name storage in Valheim.
Coal is also used as fuel to fire furnaces. If you plan on melting any metal in Valheim you will need large amounts of coal in order to get that metal melted. Each bar of ore will take roughly 2-3 pieces of coal to melt down. The earlier you get started on collecting coal, the better. You are always going to need it.
3 Ways of Obtaining Coal
There are three different ways you can collect coal in Valheim. Some of these ways are going to be better than others, some more dangerous and 1 just all round great way. The first way you can get coal in the game is going to be so easy that even characters who have only been playing a few minutes can get it. You will only need a fireplace.
Getting Coal Using a Fireplace
One of the first crafting facilities you are going to build is the fireplace. The fireplace and cooking station is where you can cook up that raw meat you’ve found. Some players may not realize that you can also use the fireplace to obtain coal very early in the game. To get coal from a fireplace you simply have to keep the food left on there after it has finished cooking. Once the food has cooked if the food stays on too long it will become coal. Interact with this coal to get it back off the cooking station.
This is the least efficient way of getting coal as it will take a long time before the meat becomes coal. But if you haven’t found enough Surtling cores to create a Charcoal Kiln this will be the only way you can get coal. Getting coal doing using a fireplace is a very safe way of getting coal as you will just have to defeat something that drops meat like a deer or Neck.
Getting Coal Using a Charcoal Kiln
Once you’ve found enough Surtling cores you will be able to craft yourself a Charcoal kiln. This is the main way you will be getting coal in Valheim. Once you have the required materials, put this down outside your shelter and get to work. You do not have to have a roof over the Charcoal Kiln and it will run in the rain. To make coal at the charcoal kiln you just have to throw wood in the front of it. Just collect some wood into your inventory and interact with the front of the charcoal kiln. Then, the wood will be consumed and after some time coal will come out the front of this station. You will get 1 coal for every 1 wood you put into this.
You can use not only regular wood but core wood and fine wood as well in the charcoal kiln. If you have these woods in your inventory be careful when using the kiln as you may accidently burn a supply of the wrong type of valuable wood.
Getting Coal as Loot From Enemies
If you have been playing Valheim long enough you will realize that there are many different types of enemies in the game. Different enemies will drop different types of loot when they are defeated. For example Skeletons will drop bone Fragments and Greydwarfs will drop Greydwarf eyes. There is one creature that actually drops coal when defeated and that is called a Surtling. Occasionally these creatures will also drop Surtling cores as well but they will always drop a few pieces of coal. If you don’t have time to wait for your coal to be created in the kiln head to the swamp and look for fire shooting out of the dirt. This will be where Surtlings spawn, or alternatively take a very long ship ride south and try to find yourself an Ashlands biome.
Be careful when facing these creatures as they will throw a ball of fire at you and be aggressive as soon as they detect an outsider in their midst. They will also attack other creatures such as skeletons and Greydwarfs.
Related: How to Tame Boars in Valheim | How to Farm in Valheim
