If you don’t mind going the cowardly route, throwing weapons in Mordhau is actually one of the best combat tactics in the game. In other words, go ahead and bring a knife to a sword fight — you might still win!

Not sure how to actually throw any given equipped weapon? It’s easier than you think, although you can’t throw every weapon type in the game.

How To Throw Weapons In Mordhau

To throw an equipped weapon, simply switch to the alternate grip by pressing the “R” key. If the weapon doesn’t have an alternate grip, such as the half sword grip, then it defaults to throwing at wherever you are facing.

Which weapons can be thrown are entirely dependent on weapon type, with most one-handed weapons switching to a thrown position. This includes weapons like the short spear, the dagger, and yes, even the frying pan.

If you press “R” and the weapon doesn’t go flying, that means the weapon has a different grip and can’t be thrown, such as the greatsword or long sword.

Mordhau Throwing Weapon Tips

So, what weapons are worth throwing in Mordhau? In a pinch, most one-handed weapons are helpful, although some are clearly better than others.

Throwing knives are an excellent backup weapon — or even primary means of offense — as you can carry 5 per equipment slot, for a total of 15 knives. Compared to only two throwing axes per slot or one fire bomb per slot, knives actually provide a fairly useful arsenal — just make sure to have something else on hand so you don’t end up going into a fist fight against an axe-wielding knight.

The only main downside there is that the throwing knife animation is fairly easy to block if the enemy sees it coming. Try to hit enemies from behind or the side when they aren’t looking. Due to its small size, the knife is still significantly better than larger weapons like a one-handed axe, however, which can be dodged or knocked out of the way with a shield.

Keep in mind that lightly armored players move quicker, meaning headshots are a little harder to manage with throwing knives, so it’s better to go for the chest instead.

The Yoink Achievement

Aside from the usefulness of hitting an enemy at range, most players want to throw weapons so they can then pull it out of an enemy’s body to earn an achievement.

Unfortunately, the Yoink achievement is currently bugged and cannot be unlocked, no matter how many thrown weapons you pull out of a body. If you check the Steam achievements list, 0% of players have achieved it at this point. 

The same currently goes for Pyromaniac (killing 10 enemies with fire), Stairway To Hell (killing 5 enemies while climbing a ladder), That’s No Ordinary Cold (kill an enemy with an icicle), and the hilariously titled Whack-A-Mole (kill 5 enemies with headshots using a couched weapon while on horseback).

Hopefully, those bugged trophies will be fixed in an upcoming patch. In the meantime, be sure to also leave a note in the Mordhau bug reports forum to let the developers know you want to unlock these unique kill achievements sooner rather than later!

Have a favorite thrown weapon strategy to share that we didn’t cover, or have any other questions about how the throwing weapons mechanic works in Mordhau? Leave us a comment below.