SubtleShield
Makes the Staff of Protection bubble less visually intrusive, with live-configurable color, opacity, size, and position.
About this mod Author’s original text
Subtle Shield
Subtle Shield is a small client-side Valheim mod that makes the Staff of Protection bubble less visually intrusive while keeping the vanilla effect recognizable.
The default preset uses a darker, translucent bubble and a taller, narrower shape so the shield blocks less of your view during play.
Default preset
- Color: RGBA (0.20, 0.00, 0.00, 0.30)
- Scale: (1.50, 2.40, 1.50)
- Local position: (0.00, 0.00, 0.00)
This mod changes visuals only. It does not change shield strength, duration, protection values, combat logic, or networking behavior.
Live configuration
Subtle Shield uses normal BepInEx configuration entries, so compatible in-game config managers can edit it while Valheim is running.
General
- Enable custom shield VFX
Turning this off restores the captured vanilla shield appearance while the mod remains loaded.
Color
- Red
- Green
- Blue
- Opacity
Size
- Width
- Height
- Depth
Position
- Horizontal offset
- Vertical offset
- Forward offset
Changes are reapplied to the Staff of Protection shield prefab and to currently active shield instances.
The config file is created at:
BepInEx/config/com.soulfulrebel.subtleshield.cfg
Installation
Install through r2modman, or place SubtleShield.dll in:
BepInEx/plugins/SubtleShield/
Only BepInEx is required.
Multiplayer
Subtle Shield is visual and client-side. Other players do not need it installed. Each player sees the bubble according to their own local configuration.
Building from source
Open PowerShell/Terminal in the source folder and run:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File.\build.ps1 -ValheimDir "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Valheim" -BepInExDir "C:\Users\YOU\AppData\Roaming\r2modmanPlus-local\Valheim\profiles\YOURPROFILE\BepInEx" -Install
To create a -ready release zip:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File.\package.ps1 -ValheimDir "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Valheim" -BepInExDir "C:\Users\YOU\AppData\Roaming\r2modmanPlus-local\Valheim\profiles\YOURPROFILE\BepInEx"
The finished upload file is placed in dist.
Build prerequisites:.NET SDK,.NET Framework 4.8 targeting pack, a local Valheim installation, and BepInEx 5. External config-file edits require a config reload or game restart; live changes use a compatible in-game config manager.
Install & use Install: BepInEx plugin
- The archive from playbuff is the mod itself — usually a BepInEx plugin (a .dll or a plugin folder once unzipped).
- Recommended: use a community mod manager (such as r2modman) — pick this game, import the mod, and the manager sets up BepInEx and its dependencies for you.
- Manual route: install the BepInEx loader in the game folder, then drop the unzipped .dll or plugin folder into BepInEx/plugins/.
- Launch the game — the BepInEx console logs every plugin it loads; seeing this mod in the log means it is installed.
Mods with listed dependencies need those installed too, or they will not load. Options are usually changed in-game or in the plugin's config file. In multiplayer, the host and every client need the same mods installed.
Install these first, or the mod will not work: