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Where do you get Crystal Shards in Valheim, and what are they used for? Crystal has existed as a resource in Valheim for a while, but like many crafting materials in this Early Access cult hit, it’s only recently been given a use. The Hearth & Home update has added Crystal Battleaxe and Crystal Wall recipes, and now this previously purely decorative resource is in high demand.
In this Valheim Crystals guide, we tell you how to get Crystal Shards and what to use them for once you have them.
How to get Crystal Shards in Valheim
Crystal Shards are exclusively dropped by Stone Golems. These enemies can be found only in the Mountains biome, and unfortunately are neither the easiest enemies to defeat nor to find in the first place.
Stone Golems only become aggressive when threatened, and when resting they look almost indistinguishable from any other random pile of rocks in the scenery. Prepare to spend a fair bit of time poking around inert mountainous rock formations until you find one that fights back. You might get lucky and spot one from afar being aggroed by a wolf or other mountain creature, but it doesn’t pay to rely on it.
Once aggravated, a Stone Golem will come after you. These enemies each boast 800 HP and one of two brutal sets of attacks, depending on which variant you get. Spike Golems can choose between a lunge attack that inflicts Piercing damage or a swiping attack that does Blunt damage; while Sledge (a.k.a. Boulder-armed) Golems have two different slam attacks, both of which inflict Blunt damage on your poor weary Viking. Other than that there’s very little difference between the two variations, but it’s worth learning to recognise them so you can perform your dodges accordingly.
No matter their sub-type, Stone Golems have only a single weakness: the pickaxe. There’s really no point in trying to defeat them any other way, so be sure to bring along your best pickaxe when hunting them. Fortunately, every downed Stone Golem will drop between 3 and 5 Crystal Shards to reward your efforts.
How to craft with Crystal Shards in Valheim
With the Hearth & Home update, there are now two crafting recipes that call for Crystal Shards.
The Crystal Battleaxe is the flashiest (pun intended) use for Crystal Shards. It’s not quite the best axe in Valheim — the Blackmetal Axe has far superior stats; and while on paper it’s tied with the Battleaxe, the latter still wins hands-down for its far superior attack speed. But it’s a close third place, and well worth adding to your arsenal if you have the requisite 40x Ancient Bark, 30x Silver, and 10x Crystal you need to craft it.
The Crystal Wall may sound less interesting than a beautiful shiny axe, but it’s actually probably the best use for your hard-won Crystal Shards. Costing only 2x Crystal Shards per section to craft, the Crystal Wall is unique in Valheim in that it increases Comfort by 1 when inside a structure that uses it, making the Resting Effect more efficient. As an added bonus, aesthetically it’s currently the closest thing in the game to glass windows, which is worth bearing in mind if you’re into creative base building styles.
That’s all you need to know about Crystals in Valheim (for now), but there’s plenty more to get to grips with in this Viking-themed survival game. Why not check out our best Valheim seeds guide or our console commands cheat list to get you started? Or, if Hearth & Home brought you here, we have guides on some of the update’s other new systems, including how to harvest and craft with Tar, and how to craft and use the Obliterator.
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