Valheim Defenders
⚪ Last updated 2023⚠️ Install Order · 1 step
Install in this order, then this mod last — most mods fail to load without their framework and dependencies in place.
Preview
🔍 Analysis
- 👍 1.8% endorsement rate — high engagement, a strong quality signal
- 🏆 #38 of 462 Construction mods in this game by downloads
📋 About This Mod
Unofficial mod
Updated for Valheim patch 0. 216. 9 (6/12)
Valheim Defenders
One day, waves of enemies will come to attack your base. Start building these new elemental versions of the ballista to defend it.
Valheim Defenders adds elemental variations of the ballista. There are mini and normal size and a new micro size ballista. The new ballistae do elemental damage: Ice, Fire, Poison and Lightning. They each do some elemental damage of their type and adds the corresponding status effect to the target. ex: Ice Ballista does frost damage and adds the frost slowing effect.
Ballistae and towers can be found in the 'Defenders' tab in the hammer menu.
Installation
Requires BepInEx and Jotunn
- Elemental effects for the bolts - DONE
- Magical elemental towers - Partially Done
- Mega Ballista
- Many other defensive tower types
- Better build icons
NEW Ice Tower
- Shoots 3 icy ice bolts!
- Spawns ice blockers on the ground!
- AOE and slows enemies!
Fireball Tower
- Shoots fireballs!
- Looks neat!
Micro Ballista
- Shoots 5 darts at a time
- Effective against bats, deathsquitos and other small critters
Mini Elemental Ballistae.
- Unlimited Ammo - no reloading
- Wider shooting angles.
- No Friendly Fire
- Small amount of pierce damage plus elemental damage and effects
Build Cost:
- 2 Fine Wood
- 2 Iron Nails
- 1 Freeze Gland for Mini Ice Ballista
- 1 Surtling Core for Mini Fire Ballista
- 1 Ooze for Mini Poison Ballista
- 1 Crystal for Mini Lightning Ballista
Normal Sized Elemental Ballistae
Build Costs
- 10 Yggdrasil Wood
- 5 Black Metal
- 3 Mechanical Spring
- Plus 3 of the corresponding elemental resources; Ice Ballista - 3 Freeze Gland, etc.
- New Firing Modes for Towers, 3 for Ice Tower and 3 for Fire Tower
- Updated Hover-text to show more details
- Fixed issues with Patch 0. 214. 2
- Added hover-text to Ballistae and Towers
- (preview) Firing modes for Towers, cycle with Interact key
- Fixed an issue causing Fireball Tower to have placement always blocked
- Updated Fireball Tower model
- Ice Tower should also be easier to place now
- New Ice Tower: shoots 3 frost bolts that spawn ice blockers when they hit the ground
- New Fireball Tower
- New ballistae bolt visual effects
Valheim Defenders adds new defensive structures to Valheim, including Ice and Fire Towers with elemental AoE damage, plus mini and normal ballista variants with Ice, Fire, Poison, and Lightning effects. These defenses feature unlimited ammo and only target enemies. Build costs for mini ballistae are reduced, making them accessible for base defense.
✨ Key Features
📊 Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Community approved with 145 endorsements and over 8,000 downloads.
- Elemental variety (Ice, Fire, Poison, Lightning) lets you tailor defenses to enemy types.
- Unlimited ammo means no resource grinding for bolts—just build and forget.
⚠️ Cons
- Last updated in July 2023—may not be compatible with the latest Valheim patches.
- Only adds defensive structures—no new enemies or gameplay mechanics, so it's purely for base defense enthusiasts.
For Valheim builders who want to beef up their base defenses with elemental towers and ballistae without worrying about ammo. Skip if you're looking for new enemies or gameplay overhauls—this is strictly about fortifying your stronghold.
💡 Beginner Tips
- Place Ice Towers near water to slow enemies crossing, and Fire Towers in choke points for maximum AoE damage.
- Use the mini ballistae for quick, cheap defense at outposts, saving the normal ones for your main base.
- Since the mod hasn't been updated recently, check the Valheim modding Discord for compatibility patches if you're on the latest game version.
📊 Mod Details
- Game
- Valheim Mods
- Author
- Vystyk
- Version
- 0.2.5
- Downloads
- 8,277
- Endorsements
- 145
- Category
- Construction
- Created
- 2/26/2023
- Updated
- 7/9/2023
🧩 Commonly Used Together
Users add these mods to the same collections — a real compatibility signal, not an AI guess.
🔧 How to Install Valheim Mods
Download from Nexus.
📖 Full step-by-step install guide for Valheim →
Visit the official mod page for specific installation instructions for this mod.
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