Northgard Guide: How to Win by Forging the Sword of Odin

From a traditional domination victory to controlling the mythical Yggdrasil, there are multiple ways to triumph and defeat your opponent in Northgard. Some are easy to figure out, while others are a bit more obtuse and unclear.

In this guide, we’ll quickly walk you through the steps to achieving The Smith victory condition, which finds you forging the great Sword of Odin to smite your enemies into the underworld of Hel. 

Let’s get started.

Search the Lands of Northgard for the Magma Flow 

The first thing you’re going to want to do is seek out the Magma Flow, a territory on the map that’s covered in molten rock and small lava cones. That’s where you’ll build your Forge and start constructing the Sword of Odin somewhere in the mid-to-late game.

As you probably already know from our previous Northgard Guide: Tips and Tricks for Getting Started with Your First Settlement, maps in this Viking-centric RTS are procedurally generated – meaning each map will always be different from the last. So that means you’re going to have to seek out the Magma Flow somewhat blindfolded – unless you’re lucky enough to have spawned near it, which is very (very) rare.

But to speed up the process of discovery, make sure you focus on creating Scouts as soon as possible – three to four should be enough to quickly expose the map without compromising your resource production and Warrior recruitment. And speaking of warriors…

Be Prepared to Fight for The Sword of Odin

Not only will you have to recruit Warriors to battle your way through wolves, Draugr, and Valkyries to get and secure the Magma Flow, the area will be a hotly contested one once you get there, especially against multiple AI opponents on a normal-to-high difficulty setting. So, before you even build your Forge, make sure you’ve:

1. Stationed a contingent of at least five-six Warriors in the Magma Flow territory.
2. Pooled your resources to recruit a Warchief for the area. This particular unit is a veritable tank, dealing high amounts of damage while also sponging damage for your Warriors.
3. Built a Defense Tower in the territory, right next to where you plan to build your Forge for optimal protection.

Be prepared for a fight. Once you begin the forging process, the AI will be automatically drawn to that specific territory to stop you.

Forging the Sword of Odin – The Resources You’ll Need to Stockpile

To actually construct the Sword of Odin, you’ll need iron — lots of it. In fact, each piece of the Sword of Odin requires iron for forging — and nothing else. This means that while you’re doing all of the above searching and fighting and fortifying, you’ll also be wanting to:

• Keep an eye out for iron deposits throughout the continent of Northgard — and build Mines whenever possible, especially early on
• Spend any early iron you get on first improving your miner’s tools so that they mine faster in the mid-to-late game
• Stockpile at least 50 iron, while using any excess to then upgrade your Warriors’ weapons (which will cost 5 additional iron) so they’re stronger for defending your Forge

Each piece of the Sword of Odin – the hilt, sword guard, and blade – costs 15 iron each to forge. As soon as you’re done forging these three pieces of the Sword of Odin, you’ll win the game – and be awarded The Smith achievement.

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