How to find silver in Valheim

Unsure where to find silver in Valheim? Silver is one of the more challenging metals to mine, but if you've got your heart set on wielding one of the best swords in the game, you'll need to get your hands on some. If that isn't enough to sway you, searching for this resource is also the perfect excuse to clear the fog in some of the unexplored regions of your Valheim map.

Surprisingly, silver has far more uses than plating the toughest weapons and shields. It often crops up as a vital material in many armour and clothing recipes, too. Here's how to use a wishbone to find silver ore, and how to craft a silver sword in Valheim.

Valheim silver: How to use a wishbone to find it

Just like Valheim copper, you need to find and smelt silver ore before you can use it to craft silver armor and weapons. Don't forget to pack a warm cape, because we need to head to the Mountains biome to search for this resource. It's difficult to spot the grey silver veins in this area, and unfortunately these deposits are often buried underground, specifically at higher altitudes.

Before attempting to hunt for this precious metal, make sure you have a wishbone and an iron pickaxe. A wishbone is dropped as a reward when you defeat Bonemass, who happens to be the third Valheim boss. This is a tiring fight, so click the link above so my guide can steer you in the right direction to help you beat the blubbery green brute quickly. 

Once you have the wishbone, you can use it to hunt for secrets, including silver veins, Muddy Scrap Piles, and even buried treasure. If you already purchased the Megingjord belt from Haldor the trader, you'll need to unequip it for the time being as the wishbone shares the same slot. All you need to do is right-click the wishbone in your inventory to begin using it. 

With your wishbone and iron pickaxe equipped, head to the Mountains. When you're close to a silver vein, you'll see turquoise lines pulsing around your character (see the image below), and hear a faint pinging noise. As you walk closer to the secret, more turquoise lines will appear and the tempo of the pinging sound will increase. Use your pickaxe to break the rock and extract the silver ore below.

All craftable Valheim silver items

While you're climbing Valheim's beautiful Mountain ranges, the first thing you should spend your freshly smelted silver on is a set of wolf armor. Not only is this one of the best Valheim armor sets, it also grants you frost resistance, which makes it easier to continue mining silver in this region. Here's everything you can craft using silver in Valheim:

• Draugr fang bow
• Drake helmet
• Fang spear
• Frostner (melee weapon)
• Linen cape
• Lox cape
• Silver arrow
• Silver shield
• Silver sword
• Wolf armor chest
• Wolf armor legs
• Wolf fur cape

Why you should wield a silver sword in Valheim

If you're venturing into the dreary Swamps, you'll want a silver sword to ward off undead mobs. This weapon is very effective against enemies like Draugr and skeletons as it has impressive spirit damage stats. However, it's worth noting that you need to collect 40 silver to make a silver sword, and your forge needs to be at least level three. To craft a silver sword, you need:

• Equipment: Workbench, forge, smelter.
• Wood x2 
• Leather scraps x3
• Iron x5
• Silver x40 

As you go, you can upgrade your silver sword to improve its parry force, durability, spirit, and slash damage stats. Here are the materials you need, once your forge is at the levels three, four, five, and six:

• Silver sword level three: Wood x2, leather scraps x3, iron x5, silver x40. 
• Silver sword level four: Wood x1, leather scraps x1, iron x3, silver x20. 
• Silver sword level five: Wood x2, leather scraps x2, iron x6, silver x40. 
• Silver sword  level six: Wood x3, leather scraps x3, iron x9, silver x60.