Progression in Valheim requires that you eventually get your hands on different kinds of metals and to smelt them, you will need Coal.
There is currently no Coal mine implemented in the game but you can get a good amount of it in different ways.
As you continue out to get newer metals, your need for Coal will rise as the many items you can craft require metal.
Also read all our Valheim guides here: https://progametalk.com/valheim/
How To Get Coal?
Charcoal Kiln
To get Coal, the main way is to build a Charcoal Kiln, which you place wood inside to create a lot of Coal in minutes.
It takes about 16 seconds for 1 wood to turn into Coal when placed inside a Charcoal Kiln and you can store 25 pieces of wood, providing you with 25 Coal within 400 seconds.
Your metal and coal smelter operations require a good supply of Coal and with Charcoal Kiln, you can make an efficient Coal Farm.
Killing Surtlings
Later on, you will discover that Surtlings may provide you with a good amount of Charcoal and there is more than one Surtling location in the game.
You can find a few Surtling spawn locations in the Swamp while heading to the very south of the map will bring you to the Ashlands biome where several Surtlings live.
Killing Surtlings will cause them to drop Coal as well as Surtling Cores which becomes very useful later on in the game as well as when it comes to smelting.
Smelters and Charcoal Kilns require Surtling Cores which makes it a good idea to kill Surtlings for both the Coal and the Surtling Cores.
Loot Coal from Chest
Sometimes you may find chests throughout the game which provide different kinds of loot, including a specific amount of Coal.
The Coal in chests may provide a good amount that you can use later on but sometimes is not worth carrying if you are farming other things.
Overcooked Food
While this is not the best way to get Coal, you can obtain it when you cook food and fail to retrieve it on time once it is ready.
The food will first give off a sound that hints it is ready to be picked up but if you leave it for some time, it will be burnt and will drop Coal when retrieved.
Also read the other farming guides in Valheim
- Wood
- Copper
- Thistle
- Bronze
- Flint
- Stone
- Tin
- Bone Fragments
- Deer Hide
- Leather Scraps
- Surtling Core
- Ymir Flesh
- Fine Wood
- Feathers
- Ancient Elder Bark
- Core Wood
- Carrot Seed Farming
How To Make a Charcoal Kiln?
In order to make a Charcoal Kiln, you will need 20 Stone and 5 Surtling Cores which is quite a steep price when you first start out.
It is possible to swap between Charcoal Kilns and Smelters by demolishing one and crafting the other but there are rare occasions when not all resources are returned.
It is better to farm Surtling Cores and craft the necessary structures for melting which would be good to have multiple amounts of them.
You can create a coal farm by making an area where you keep all of your Charcoal Kilns and even make a Coal slide by digging or placing the right structures so you can pick up all the Coal in one spot.
How To Unlock Charcoal Kiln?
To unlock the Charcoal Kiln, you must first acquire a Surtling Core which will unlock the recipe to craft it.
You can place the Charcoal Kiln on land and it does not have to be placed on any structure but requires placement near a Workbench.
Surtling Locations
Swamp Biome
The Swamp biome is pretty much your first go-to location when it comes to hunting Surtlings and you can easily farm them by killing them in large numbers.
An easy way to take out Surtlings is to dig around their spawn location in the Swamp biome, causing them to die instantly when they come in contact with water.
You can take advantage of their weakness to water and create an automated Coal farming spot using their spawn location and the natural properties of the water in the Swamp biome.
Ashlands Biome
The Ashlands biome will take time to reach and is better sought out when you have a Longboat as it will make your sailing much easier.
Once you reach the Ashlands biome, you can set up a Portal (make sure to set one up before heading out) and you will be able to easily move back and forth long distances.
Best Way to Get Coal
The best to make coal or get it is to farm the Surtlings by either hunting them in the Swamp or Ashland biomes.
Setting up traps for the Surtlings is easy as you simply need a pickaxe to dig around and create a spot where they will spawn on wet ground, preferable one block above below.
Coal Uses
Coal is mainly used for smelting Copper, Tin, Iron, Silver, Black Metal, and Flametal but there may be more metals in the future to smelt as well.
You can use Coal for different purposes such as a few buildings, smelting, crafting the Poison Resistance mead, and some clothing.
Below are the Coal recipes that you can use it for:
Armor
- Cape of Odin
- Hood of Odin
Crafting Station
- Forge
Mead
- Mead base: Poison Resistance
Structures
- Black banner
- Hanging brazier
- Sign
The Hanging Brazier requires Coal to continuously burn and you can refill it to a maximum of 6 pieces in total.
Verdict
The Coal to ore ratio is a slight bit off-scale as Coal burns for 15 seconds while metal requires 31 seconds to burn.
This means that you will need 3 Coal for a single piece of metal and 5 coal for 2, so it’s best to stock up on Coal to simply fill up the Smelter.
It is a good idea to invest in a Coal farming area so that you can easily generate a large number of Coal while you are doing other things.
Coal is very important when it comes to progression because, without it, you will not be able to process the metal you need for crafting better items.
