How to Use Gemstones – Valheim

While some mods introduce enchantment as a new system to Valheim, the closest we can get to that in the base game are the gemstones found inside Charred Fortresses in the Ashlands biome. These gemstones will let you turn your Ashlands weapons into new, enchanted versions with additional effects, like a chain lightning or poison attack. This guide will tell you what these gemstones are, how to find them, and what to do with them.

Types of Gemstones

Currently as of the Ashlands update, there are 3 types of gemstones in Valheim:

• Bloodstone
• Iolite
• Jade

While Bloodstone and Jade have some other uses in crafting, the primary function of these gems is to upgrade your Ashlands weapons with powerful new effects. Here’s what they are:

• Bloodstone: increases the damage you do by 0.2% for every point of your health missing
• Iolite: adds 10 Lightning damage to your attacks and has a 25% chance to cast chain Lightning on attack
• Jade: adds 10 Poison damage to your attacks and has a 20% chance to immobilize your targets for 10 seconds

Where to Find Gemstones

The only legit way to obtain Gemstones in Valheim is to raid the Charred Fortresses in the Ashlands biome. We have a dedicated guide that will tell you exactly how to find and get inside a Charred Fortress. Here’s the quick version:

• Locate a Charred Fortress through the green beam it shoots into the sky
• Deal with the enemies and spawners inside, preferably using magic or ranged weapons
• Crack the fortress walls using a Battering Ram or a high-tier pickaxe

You’ll find chests with randomized loot that more often than not contain at least one gemstone beyond the square outer wall of a Charred Fortress. Then, once you crack open the inner tower, you’ll find more chests inside, so make sure to check the tower chests for gems as well.

How to Use Gemstones

You won’t need a special crafting table to process gemstones. Most gemstone recipes are crafted at the Black Forge (Black Marble x10, Yggdrasil Wood x10, Black Core x5), with a few instead taking place at a Galdr Table (Yggdrasil Wood x20, Black Metal x10, Black Core x5, Refined Eitr x5).

You’ll generally need to upgrade these crafting stations with improvements before you can process gems on them. Your Black Forge will need to be at level 4, and your Galdr Table at level 2 to craft some basic gemstone gear.

However, if you want to upgrade those new gem-enchanted items, you’ll want to raise your crafting station levels further. This is particularly important for the Black Forge. In order to get it to level 5, you will need a Gem Cutter (Flametal x5, Ashwood x8, Morgen Sinew x2, Bloodstone). This upgrade requires a Bloodstone to craft. Which means you’ll want to loot one Bloodstone more than what you need to craft and upgrade your gear.

When you have the required ingredients, simply approach a Black Forge or a Galdr Table and interact with them to craft or upgrade the items you want. Keep in mind that when crafting gemstone weapons, you’ll need a weapon base for them. The upgrade level of that weapon will not carry over to the enchanted version. To save on resources, use only basic level 1 weapons for gemstone recipes.

Bloodstone Recipes

Perhaps the most notable recipe here is the one for Dyrnwyn. The ingredients for this ancient sword can only be obtained by going on a lengthy quest across the three Mysterious Locations of the Ashlands. Check out our Mysterious Locations guide for specifics.

Iolite Recipes

Jade Recipes