MuchBetterTames

A Valheim mod that makes tamed creatures smarter, more useful, and reliable companions.

MuchBetterTames adds simple follow/stay commands, automatic teleportation, survival mechanics, progression, a follower counter, and improved multiplayer synchronization.

Features

Companion Commands

• Follow / Stay (single tame): Press E (controller: A) on a tamed creature to toggle between following and staying. The standard game message is shown, using the name you gave the creature (e.g. "Fenrir is following you").
• Group Command: Press H (controller: L2 + X) to toggle all tames within range (default 10 m). If any of them is following, all stay; otherwise all follow. The message shows how many tames now follow you / stay.
• Shift+E (controller: LB+A) is left untouched and keeps its vanilla behavior.
• Follow ownership is saved with each creature and restored after teleportation or reloading.
• If another player takes over one of your tames, it is no longer treated as yours.
• The hover text of your tames shows which key/button triggers the group command for the input device you are currently using (can be turned off).

Follower Counter

• Shows how many tames are currently following you.
• Default position: top left, below the standard hotbar. Works independently of hotbar mods.
• Hidden while the inventory (or a chest / crafting window) is open, and when the HUD is hidden.
• Fully configurable: screen corner/edge, X/Y distance, and font size (scales with resolution).

Follower Health Bars

• The health bar of tames that follow you is tinted so you can tell them apart at a glance (visible only to you).
• The color is selectable from a dropdown with 24 colors (default: Blue).
• When a tame stops following you, or another player takes it, the bar returns to its default color.

Automatic Teleportation

• Companions automatically teleport to you when they get too far away (default 40 m, 20 m in dungeons) or are stuck for too long.
• Teleport destinations are always behind the player.
• Ground, walls, and positioning are checked to prevent unsafe teleport locations.
• During combat, the teleport distance increases (default 90 m).
• Following companions are also teleported after using portals or respawning.
• The server searches for following companions across the entire world, including unloaded areas.
• Large creatures can be excluded from dungeon teleportation. By default, this applies to Lox. The exclusion list is configurable.

Companion Survival

• No Permanent Death: Fatal damage knocks your companion unconscious instead of killing it.
• While unconscious, the creature is invulnerable.
• Recovery takes 45 seconds, reduced by 15% per star.
• Recovery is twice as fast when a player is within 15 meters.
• Press E to provide first aid and reduce recovery time by 5 seconds per interaction.
• Recovery continues even when the creature is unloaded.
• After recovering, the creature gets 30% health and resumes following you.

Automatic Health Regeneration

• Outside combat: 0.8% of maximum health per second.
• During combat: 0.1% of maximum health per second.
• Well-fed creatures regenerate 1.5x faster.
• Hungry creatures regenerate at 0.5x speed.

Taming Information

Wild creatures display additional taming information in their hover text:

• Remaining taming time.
• Total taming time.
• Taming progress in percent.
• Warning when taming is paused due to hunger.

Stars & Experience

Tamed creatures can earn up to 2 stars through combat.

• Experience is awarded based on enemy maximum health, level, and boss bonus.
• The creature that gets the kill receives 100% XP.
• Other companions belonging to the same owner within 30 meters receive 25% XP.
• Player kills grant 25% XP to their following companions.
• 1st star: 300 XP.
• 2nd star: 1,000 XP.
• Leveling up restores full health and triggers a visual effect and speech bubble.
• Stars and experience are displayed in the creature's hover text.

Improved Defense

• Wild creatures become enemies to your companions as soon as they attack a player or another tame.
• This also works between creatures of the same species (e.g. Wolf vs. Wolf).
• Applies to all types of tamed creatures.

Languages

Mod texts are available in 14 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Dutch, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Set the language manually or use Auto to follow the Valheim language.

Multiplayer Support

• Gameplay rules are synchronized by the server.
• Client-side (local) settings: keyboard and controller bindings, language, timer display, debug log, and all visual options (health bar color, follower counter, key hint).
• BepInEx and Jotunn must be installed on the server and all clients.

Controls

Notes:

• The controller combo is GroupModifier (default LeftTrigger) + GroupButton (default ButtonSouth). Set GroupModifier to None to use a single button.
• In the base game, ButtonSouth is also the jump button, so you will jump when using the group command on a controller. Choose a different GroupButton if this bothers you.
• Controller input is read directly through Unity's Input System, so it works with Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro, and Steam Deck controllers. If a button does nothing, check for conflicting Steam Input bindings.

Requirements

• Valheim
• BepInEx
• Jotunn

Important: BepInEx and Jotunn must be installed on both the server and all connected clients.

Installation

1. Install BepInEx for Valheim.
2. Install Jotunn.
3. Extract the MuchBetterTames mod files.
4. Place the compiled plugin DLL into your BepInEx/plugins folder.
5. Make sure all players and the server have the required dependencies and mod installed.

Configuration

Configuration files are generated by BepInEx after the first launch. Settings are grouped into sections:

Keyboard and controller bindings need a game restart to apply.

Building from Source

Requirements

• .NET SDK or Visual Studio
• Valheim game installation
• BepInEx
• Jotunn

Build Instructions

1. Open the .csproj file.
2. Update the ValheimDir path to your Valheim installation directory.
3. Run:

dotnet build -c Release

The compiled plugin will be generated in the build output directory.

Troubleshooting

If something doesn't work as expected, enable DebugLog in section 1 General and check:

BepInEx/LogOutput.log

The log contains information about errors, compatibility issues, and runtime problems.

Development Status

Some game API interactions use reflection and exception handling to improve compatibility across Valheim versions. If a future game update changes a method signature, small adjustments may be required.

MuchBetterTames – Better companions, better adventures.