Reliable Block Rebuilt

A client-side fork of ReliableBlock by Korppis, maintained by anneryeo. Original source history and MIT license are retained.

Preview 1.1.0: built, checked offline and startup-tested in Windows Steam Valheim 1.0.16 with BepInExPack Valheim 5.4.2351. Live combat and crossplay testing are pending. Unknown blocking code disables the patch instead of attempting a best guess.

Behavior

When a frontal block or parry fills your stagger bar, the hit still receives shield mitigation if stamina remains after the game's block cost. You still stagger. Insufficient stamina still fails the mitigation check.

This preserves the original mod's damage-mitigation change. It does not turn a staggered block into a successful parry for the separate effects and attacker-stagger checks. Stamina costs, shield durability, skill gains and other game calculations stay in the original method.

The fork applies only to the locally owned player. It does not change NPCs or another player's blocking when you host, add network messages, require installation by friends, or add a server compatibility handshake. Ordinary combat outcomes still synchronize through Valheim. Crossplay compatibility must be tested with an unmodded player; it is not guaranteed by the phrase "client-side."

Install with r2modman

The ZIP already contains the compiled mod; r2modman installs it without compiling. Follow the step-by-step testing guide for the enabled/disabled comparison and unmodded-friend crossplay check.

1. Close Valheim. Back up your saves before testing. The optional script below makes a private, hash-verified local snapshot.
2. Create a separate r2modman profile for testing. Profiles do not isolate characters or worlds. Use a new character and disposable world.
3. Install BepInExPack Valheim 5.4.2351 in that profile. Remove or disable Korppis-ReliableBlock; both versions must not run together.
4. In the profile's settings, use Import local mod and select anneryeo-ReliableBlockRebuilt-1.1.0.zip. See r2modman's local installation guide.
5. Start modded and inspect BepInEx/LogOutput.log in the profile folder. Look for Verified BlockAttack patch installed. A Disabled: message means the compatibility guard refused the patch.
6. Complete the acceptance checks before using valued saves or hosting your usual crossplay world.

For a manual profile install, place only ReliableBlock.Rebuilt.dll in that profile's BepInEx/plugins/ReliableBlockRebuilt folder. Do not replace any game DLLs. Do not install it on a dedicated server.

Disable and remove

With the game closed, set Enabled = false in BepInEx/config/org.bepinex.plugins.reliableblock.rebuilt.cfg and restart. Or disable/remove the package in r2modman. A manual installation can be removed by deleting only its plugin folder. The fork adds no custom saved items or persistent data that need conversion on uninstall.

Safeguards and limits

• Check the original BlockAttack method's SHA256 fingerprint before patching.
• Require the inspected stagger/stamina/mitigation instruction sequence and branch destinations.
• Insert two instructions without removing original instructions or their labels.
• Refuse the old ReliableBlock plugin and detected competing Harmony owners on BlockAttack. Later conflicts also cause this fork to retain the original stagger rejection.
• Restrict the change to the local, owned player and retain the original result on guard errors.
• Make no direct save writes, save-format changes, custom content additions or game-file modifications. BepInEx still writes its normal configuration and logs, and Valheim still saves ordinary gameplay outcomes.

These safeguards reduce the patch's scope; they cannot promise that a game, operating-system crash, Steam Cloud conflict or another mod will never damage a save. The compatibility checks cover this method, not every possible mod interaction. A game update can disable the fork until its code is inspected again. There is no unsafe bypass setting.

Back up local saves

Close the game and local server, let Steam finish syncing, then run from PowerShell:

.\scripts\Backup-Saves.ps1

This copies locally present character/world folders and Steam's local Valheim cloud cache into a new private backups directory. It verifies source and destination hashes and records restore paths. Nothing is uploaded. It cannot capture remote-only cloud data or worlds on another machine.

If Steam or your -savedir location differs from the defaults, supply -SteamUserData or -AdditionalSaveRoots. Read the generated RESTORE.txt before restoring. Keep an additional copy outside the game machine. Never restore over a running game or while cloud sync is writing.

Build and verify

Install the .NET 10 SDK (used by the offline test runner), Valheim and BepInEx. The plugin itself targets .NET Framework 4.7.2. Copy LocalPaths.example.props to LocalPaths.props and set your game and profile BepInEx paths. The first build downloads Microsoft's framework reference package from NuGet.

dotnet build -c Release
dotnet run --project tests -c Release -- "D:\path\to\Valheim\valheim_Data\Managed\assembly_valheim.dll"
.\scripts\Package.ps1

The package script builds, runs the offline checks, and creates a ZIP plus SHA256 checksum in artifacts. No game DLLs, BepInEx dependencies, saves, local paths or decompiled source belong in a release. They are excluded from Git tracking.

The validation record explains the test coverage and corrects the supplied update advice. Tests use the installed method's instructions and game doubles; they do not replace an in-game test.

Credits

Original mod: Korppis / karkkant, Thunderstore listing. Original license: MIT, copyright 2022 Antti Kärkkäinen. This fork is not an official Valheim or Iron Gate release.

The fork's updated code, tests and documentation were developed with OpenAI Codex. Its Thunderstore listing uses the AI Generated category to disclose that assistance.