Northgard: Definitive Edition Equipment Guide: Best Equipment Ranked

Q: Which clan should a new player pick?

Stag or Goat. The Stag starts with an extra 75 Food, Wood and Krowns plus 40 Lore, which forgives a slow opening. The Goat builds Sheepfolds that produce food without fertile land, which removes the resource that most often kills a first match.

Q: What are the victory conditions?

There are five. Domination destroys every rival Town Hall. Fame needs 12 areas on small and medium maps or 14 on large ones, 1200 Fame and an Altar of Kings. Trade runs through a Lighthouse and the Great Trade Routes. Wisdom unlocks the four blessings in the Lore tree. Each map also generates one special condition such as Yggdrasil or Odin's Sword.

Q: How do I survive winter?

Stockpile food and wood through summer and autumn, build a Silo to cut the winter food loss, keep a Healer's Hut so sick villagers recover, and stop expanding a season before winter arrives. Harsh winters come on a longer cycle and hit much harder than ordinary ones.

Q: How does the Wisdom victory actually work?

You generate Lore through Loremasters recruited at stone sites, then spend it on the knowledge tree. The four blessings of the gods are the target, and the fourth unlocks at your fifteenth discovered knowledge. It is the slowest path, so it needs a defensible position rather than a large one.

Q: What is the Definitive Edition?

It is the current Steam listing for Northgard, carrying the base 2018 game with its accumulated updates. The extra clans, including Kraken, Ox, Lynx, Squirrel, Rat and the later additions, remain separate purchases layered on top of it rather than being folded into the base package.

Complete Northgard: Definitive Edition equipment guide. Every equipment option ranked with stats, best builds, and how to get them.

EarlyGuides Editorial Team

Researched and editorially reviewed. Updated August 12, 2026.

Northgard is a Viking real time strategy game from Shiro Games, first released on 7 March 2018 and now sold on Steam as Northgard: Definitive Edition. You settle a newly discovered continent one territory at a time, assigning villagers to jobs, feeding them through winters that raise food and wood consumption, and choosing which of the several victory paths to chase. Clans are the real depth here: the base roster of Stag, Wolf, Goat, Raven and Bear plays very differently, and the clan list has grown past fifteen with Kraken, Ox, Lynx, Squirrel, Rat and more. A match usually runs 40 to 90 minutes and is decided long before the fighting starts.

Your choice of equipment defines your damage output and playstyle. This guide ranks every major option, explains what makes each one strong, and tells you which builds they pair best with.

Equipment Rankings

Equipment	Tier	Best For	Notes
Warrior	S	Holding contested territories and forming the front line of any push.	The standard melee unit trained at the Training Camp and the backbone of any army.
Shield Bearer	A	Assaulting defended zones where enemy towers and archers are the threat.	A defensive unit with extra protection against ranged attacks and towers, trained for 30 Krowns with the price rising by 6 for each one you have already made.
Axe Thrower	A	Sitting behind a Shield Bearer line during a territory assault.	A ranged unit with high damage, very weak defence and a noticeably high price.
Skirmisher	B	Reacting to raids and pressuring an opponent's outlying zones.	A faster and lighter fighter used for harassment and for reaching a threatened territory before the main army can.
Warchief	B	Leading an attack and anchoring the army that follows it.	The top of the Warband, hired at a Training Camp for 150 Krowns and 5 Iron, with better stats than any other standard unit.

S-Tier: Warrior

The standard melee unit trained at the Training Camp and the backbone of any army. Warriors are the cheapest way to hold a territory, and every military camp you build also raises your Warband cap by two.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	S
Best For	Holding contested territories and forming the front line of any push.
Key Mechanic	Territory colonisation with Food and Krowns
Recommended Build	Clan of the Stag (Eikthyrnir)

How to get it: Available from mid-game onward. See our walkthrough for the exact progression point.

Best builds using Warrior: Pairs naturally with Clan of the Stag (Eikthyrnir) thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

A-Tier: Shield Bearer

A defensive unit with extra protection against ranged attacks and towers, trained for 30 Krowns with the price rising by 6 for each one you have already made. It exists to absorb the damage that would otherwise land on your Axe Throwers.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	A
Best For	Assaulting defended zones where enemy towers and archers are the threat.
Key Mechanic	Winter and the seasonal clock
Recommended Build	Clan of the Wolf (Fenrir)

How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.

Best builds using Shield Bearer: Pairs naturally with Clan of the Wolf (Fenrir) thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

A-Tier: Axe Thrower

A ranged unit with high damage, very weak defence and a noticeably high price. Left unprotected it dies quickly, but placed behind Shield Bearers it does more damage than anything else in your Warband.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	A
Best For	Sitting behind a Shield Bearer line during a territory assault.
Key Mechanic	Villager job assignment
Recommended Build	Clan of the Goat (Heidrun)

How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.

Best builds using Axe Thrower: Pairs naturally with Clan of the Goat (Heidrun) thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

B-Tier: Skirmisher

A faster and lighter fighter used for harassment and for reaching a threatened territory before the main army can. Speed rather than raw strength is the point, which makes it the answer to raiders and to undefended expansions.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	B
Best For	Reacting to raids and pressuring an opponent's outlying zones.
Key Mechanic	The Lore tree and the four blessings
Recommended Build	Clan of the Raven (Huginn and Muninn)

How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.

Best builds using Skirmisher: Pairs naturally with Clan of the Raven (Huginn and Muninn) thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

B-Tier: Warchief

The top of the Warband, hired at a Training Camp for 150 Krowns and 5 Iron, with better stats than any other standard unit. Several clans also attach their unique bonuses to the Warchief, so it is often the piece an entire strategy is built around.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	B
Best For	Leading an attack and anchoring the army that follows it.
Key Mechanic	Five separate victory paths
Recommended Build	Clan of the Bear (Bjarki)

How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.

Best builds using Warchief: Pairs naturally with Clan of the Bear (Bjarki) thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

Equipment Progression Path

The order you should acquire equipment as you progress:

Starting gear → Enough to clear Your Town Hall territory
Shield Bearer → Your first real upgrade, available early
Axe Thrower → Mid-game upgrade with good scaling
Warrior → Best-in-slot, aim for this by late game
Upgrade to max → The power spike from max upgrades is enormous

Equipment Tips

Always upgrade your primary equipment before diversifying. One strong option beats three mediocre ones.
Match your equipment to your build's stat priorities for maximum scaling.
Send your Scout out in the first seconds of a match, because unexplored territories hide relics, hostile camps and the special victory zone you may want to plan around.
Check our tier list for how equipment rankings affect overall build effectiveness.

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