Valheim weapon mods: swords, crossbows and bows

Valheim's standard swords, bows and crossbows get old quickly, and slow reloading is irritating from the first shot. These ten weapon mods include hundreds of new recipes. They also add an arrow-trajectory sight and let you fine-tune shooting to your preferences.

BowPlugin

Basic bows and crossbows offer almost no configuration: arrow speed, spread and draw strength are hardcoded. Blacks7ar's BowPlugin moves those settings into a configuration file and Configuration Manager. The author also adds explosive arrows and five new bows and crossbows each.

• Customize arrow speed and spread.
• Adjust bow draw and crossbow reload speed, including skill-based scaling.
• Change critical-hit chance and damage.
• Switch arrow types with one key.
• Twelve crosshair designs in seven colors, switchable while playing.
• Camera zoom when drawing a bow or aiming a crossbow.
• A flint crossbow and matching bolts for early survival.

Install manually by putting BowPlugin.dll in BepInEx\Plugins. When updating, first delete the old config\blacks7ar.BowPlugin.cfg, so a new configuration is generated.

✅ How shooting changes: weapon characteristics are no longer nailed to the code. You decide arrow speed and deviation from the target. ServerSync synchronizes parameters for everyone, using the host's settings on the server. It works well with ProjectileTweaks, but that mod's spread and projectile-speed multipliers are best left at one.

ValheimArmory

Vanilla Valheim often lacks weapons for a particular fighting style. MidnightMods' ValheimArmory fills those gaps. The author adds more than 115 items: boss-themed weapons, early flint equipment, knives, single and dual axes, atgeirs, hammers, shields and magic staves. New arrows and crossbow bolts are included too.

• Weapons themed after bosses from Eikthyr to Fader.
• Flint swords, axes and daggers for the very beginning.
• Dual axes and knives, including powerful Deep North variants.
• New arrows and bolts for different progression stages.
• Magic staves, druid staves and blood magic.
• Forge of Potential upgrades weapons beyond their maximum using special idols.
• Each item's damage, recipe, required station and repair cost can be configured.

BepInExPack and Jotunn are required. The server calculates chest contents, so install the mod there too, or the new bolts will not appear as loot.

✅ How progression changes: suitable weapons appear at every stage. Dual-axe and dagger builds no longer fall behind midway through. EpicLoot recognizes the new items automatically, and settings load from the server. Some items, such as Bronze Arbalist, cannot initially be crafted, so check recipes in the configuration beforehand. The author openly acknowledges that the weapon models are not perfect yet.

Warfare

Two-handed weapons often trail the rest of vanilla Valheim's arsenal, and Warfare's author decided to fix that. Therzie adds 107 weapons, 8 shields and 13 ammunition types. A new Fletcher Table handles bows and crossbows, while all two-handed attacks receive fresh animations. It is the most popular mod in our list, with more than 1.5 million downloads.

• Pikes, lances, greatbows and bastard swords.
• Throwing axes with their own skill progression.
• Eight new shields and thirteen arrow and bolt types.
• A Fletcher Table for crafting bows, crossbows and ammunition.
• Useful extras: new drinks, a bomb and pickaxes.
• Bosses drop unique weapons, with a 4–8% chance according to the author's list.

When updating, delete the old Therzie.Warfare.cfg so a current configuration is generated. Warfare replaces standard battleaxes, sledges and Fenrir claws with its own equivalents. Old recipes disappear when the world loads, but the original items remain spawnable through the console.

✅ How your build changes: two-handed swords and hammers get their own animations and smooth progression without sharp damage gaps between biomes. There is a known issue: Better Trader breaks under the enormous number of new prefabs. The author suggests KGMarketplace with Majestic configurations instead. No new monsters are included; the same author's separate Monstrum mod provides them. Ashlands and Deep North require the separate Warfare: Fire and Ice addon.

Wooden Crossbow

Training Crossbows on targets is too expensive. Powerful weapons smash the targets and waste valuable bolts. Naexn's Wooden Crossbow adds a training weapon dealing just one damage. Its projectile flies more slowly, reloading is 30% faster and shots have no recoil.

• Damage is reduced to one, preserving targets.
• Bolt speed is 40% of the standard value.
• Reloading is roughly a third faster.
• Shot recoil is completely removed.
• The workbench recipe unlocks after picking up your first ordinary crossbow and gathering its materials, including Yggdrasil wood.
• Every weapon parameter, including damage, speed and recoil, can be changed in the configuration.

BepInExPack and Jötunn are mandatory. Settings are read only at startup, so restart Valheim after changing values. In multiplayer, parameters load directly from the server.

✅ What you gain: convenient skill training without wasting expensive ammunition or constantly repairing targets. The mod is very recent: version 1.0.3 appeared on October 14, 2026. With only two endorsements so far, back up your world before installing.

Fast Arbalest

Crossbows reload painfully slowly, and jumping or trying to run resets the animation completely. Neobotics' Fast Arbalest fixes that. It speeds up ordinary crossbows and Dundr, while running, jumping or rolling merely pauses reloading instead of restarting it. A loaded weapon stays ready even when put on your back.

• Configure reload time from 10% to 100% of the original.
• Damage decreases proportionally so faster shooting does not break balance.
• Running, jumping or rolling pauses loading, which resumes where it stopped.
• The crossbow stays loaded when holstered on your back.
• Recoil and enemy knockback behave more like real physics.

Server-controlled settings are marked with @ in the menu. Adjust them conveniently through Configuration Manager in-game; changes apply immediately without restarting Valheim.

✅ How combat changes: the game stops punishing extra movement with a crossbow. CrossbowBalancer, ProjectileTweaks and BowPlugin also adjust reload times, so let only one mod control loading speed to avoid conflicts.

BowTrajectory

Hitting a distant target by eye is difficult because arrows follow a ballistic arc. ModdedWolf's BowTrajectory displays the flight path and exact impact point. The line appears while drawing a bow or aiming a crossbow, and its marker sits directly on terrain, rocks or enemies.

• A visible flight path for arrows and bolts while aiming.
• The impact marker displays correctly on terrain, structures and enemies.
• Quickly toggle the line with B.
• Choose a preset trajectory color, a shifting color or an exact hex code.
• The default draw ring and crosshair are disabled to keep the view clear.

Install through r2modman or copy files manually into BepInEx\plugins\BowTrajectory. Settings are stored in ModdedWolf.BowTrajectory.cfg and available during play through Mod Configs.

✅ Useful details: this is client-side only, so server installation is unnecessary. It works well with Better Archery. If Arrow Improvements is enabled there, it uses that mod's flight physics; disable this through UseBetterArcheryPhysics. Save Crossbow State is compatible too.

BowSecondaryMultishot

Swords and axes have secondary attacks, but bows miss out. ItzArti's BowSecondaryMultishot adds a close-range shot firing several arrows, similar to something seen in a game cutscene. The higher your Bows skill, the more arrows fire together.

• Use the action button, Use, for the bow's secondary attack.
• Skill levels 0–24 fire two arrows; level 100 fires six.
• Each arrow consumes ammunition and grants skill experience on a hit.
• Volley projectiles travel at half normal speed with greater spread.
• One shot can mix fire, frost, poison and ordinary arrows.
• Volley arrows deal 80% of normal damage by default, configurable in the settings.

Settings live in com.example.bowsecondarymultishot.cfg and appear in Configuration Manager. The mod is client-side, so you can join multiplayer servers with it.

✅ How combat changes: archers gain a powerful answer to enemies getting too close. Watch FireAllArrowTypes: it draws every arrow type from your backpack, rapidly consuming reserves. Lower MaxArrows to save resources. The addon is recent, with fewer than a thousand downloads; the current version is 1.6.0.

ProjectileTweaks

Vanilla arrows and spears do not travel exactly through the crosshair's center, drifting slightly left of the character. Searica's ProjectileTweaks fixes the origin and launch angle. It also provides detailed spread and speed settings for bows, crossbows, spears, bombs and magic staves.

• Adjust spread, speed and throwing angle for almost any ranged weapon.
• Move projectile origin horizontally, vertically or forward/backward.
• Bow draw and crossbow loading speed multipliers range from 0.5 to 2.
• Hotbar weapon icons display remaining ammunition counts.
• Right-click aiming zoom and E to cancel a drawn shot.
• Server installation synchronizes settings through Jotunn.

BepInExPack and Jotunn are required. Server installation is optional unless you want shared rules for all players. Configuration is stored in Searica.Valheim.ProjectileTweaks.cfg. Deleting it after new releases helps avoid errors.

✅ Compatibility: the author warns that BetterArchery is incompatible. BowPlugin works reliably if spread and speed multipliers remain at one in both mods. ProjectileTweaks' launch-angle settings override BowPlugin's. If you also use BowsBeforeHoes, enable zoom in only one of them.

CrossbowBalancer

A normal crossbow takes at least three and a half seconds to load, and its base damage does not justify the wait. Its skill also progresses much more slowly than Swords or Bows. Somedudethattrytomakemodwork's CrossbowBalancer addresses this through configuration. Raise damage and skill progression, or reduce stamina costs and reload time.

• Damage multiplier ranges from 0.10 to 5.00, defaulting to 1.35.
• Automatic bolt-damage scaling, enabled by default.
• Faster skill gain per hit, with a 0.10–10 multiplier and a default of 1.5.
• Configure stamina cost per shot.
• Crossbow loading time ranges from 20% to 300% of vanilla.
• Changes affect the standard crossbow, Ripper and weapons from mods such as Valheim Armory and BowPlugin.
• Server synchronization and optional locking prevent players from changing settings.

Put CrossbowBalancer.dll in BepInEx/plugins. For multiplayer, install it on the dedicated server too so it supplies the master configuration. Settings are in com.aitod.valheim.crossbowbalancer.cfg.

✅ What to change first: if Crossbows skill badly trails your other weapons, I recommend raising its experience multiplier. Fast Arbalest also changes reload time, so do not configure speed in two places. This mod is very new, and version 1.0.2 has not yet received player ratings.

BetterArchery

In vanilla Valheim, fired arrows disappear and changing types means rummaging in your inventory. Ishid4's BetterArchery adds a convenient three-slot quiver, lets you retrieve arrows from enemy bodies and assigns camera zoom to right-click. The author also reworked ballistics so arrows travel through the crosshair instead of dropping below it.

• A craftable three-slot leather quiver, switching ammunition with Alt + 1, 2 or 3.
• Arrow recovery depends on material: wood 20%, flint 30%, bronze 50% and iron 70%.
• Manual or automatic aiming zoom, plus E to cancel a shot.
• Reworked gravity and arrow speed for greater realism.
• Sneak-attack damage appears numerically in the top-left corner.
• Wooden and elemental arrow recipes can be edited in BetterArcheryRecipes.json.

Place the BetterArchery folder in BepInEx/plugins. First launch generates ishid4.mods.betterarchery.cfg. Crafting the quiver requires 20 leather scraps, 10 deer hide and 10 troll hide.

✅ Before installing: the author strongly recommends backing up your world and character. Disable Valheim Plus inventory settings if you use it. More Slots causes overlapping interfaces; adjust the quiver position in the configuration. ProjectileTweaks is completely incompatible. Dating back to 2021, this is currently the oldest and most popular mod in the selection, with over a million downloads.

How to install Valheim weapon mods without crashes

Thunderstore mods need the basic BepInExPack Valheim framework. ValheimArmory, Wooden Crossbow and ProjectileTweaks additionally require Jotunn.

1. Back up your world files and character profile.
2. Install BepInExPack Valheim through r2modman or Thunderstore Mod Manager.
3. Add Jotunn if using ValheimArmory, Wooden Crossbow or ProjectileTweaks.
4. Install addons individually and launch after each one. It is much easier to identify which file causes crashes.
5. Delete old BowPlugin and Warfare configuration files after updating; they regenerate automatically.
6. If a mod adds chest loot or changes server balance, as ValheimArmory, CrossbowBalancer and BowPlugin do, install it on the dedicated server too.
7. Configuration Manager is the easiest way to adjust settings, accessed in-game with F1.

Which Valheim weapon mods work together, and which should you leave alone?

Start with one major weapon pack: ValheimArmory or Warfare. Both add dozens of knives, axes and hammers, so test them separately. Choose one foundation for shooting too: flexible BowPlugin with its many sliders, or BetterArchery for the quiver and recoverable arrows.

ProjectileTweaks pairs well with BowPlugin but conflicts with BetterArchery. Only one of Fast Arbalest, CrossbowBalancer or BowPlugin should control crossbow reload speed.

Know a great Valheim weapon mod missing from this selection? Contact me. I will check it and may add it to the article.

When you are ready to download your chosen weapons and aiming tools, read my guide on where to find Valheim mods for a closer look at the available platforms and what to check for different game versions.