While Kelvin might be the most recognizable companion in Sons of the Forest, you can also have Virginia as a sidekick on the island. Unlike Kelvin, though, Virginia has been on the island for quite a while and won’t become your companion straight away.
Instead, you have to lure Virginia into becoming your friend first. Eventually, she’ll open up to you, and you’ll gain access to all of her companion abilities.
In the guide below, you’ll find out how to befriend Virginia and make her your companion in Sons of the Forest, as well as how to revive her, change her clothes, and more.
How to befriend Virginia in Sons of the Forest
For starters, you don’t have to find Virginia on the map to befriend her. All you have to do is play the game normally, and she'll eventually find you. This usually occurs after you have slept for the first time, so have Kelvin make a shelter for you by combining a tarp and a stick. Sleeping also allows you to save the game for the first time in Sons of the Forest.
At some point after you’ve slept, Virginia will approach your camp. It’s important not to have a weapon out in front of her until she is fully befriended; otherwise, she’ll simply run away. You also won’t get to speak to Virginia until she comes around your camp a few times first. After some time, she’ll start offering you seeds. You want to try and plant the seeds that Virginia gives you as a sign of goodwill.
Once Virginia has made a few offerings, you can interact with her and start giving her certain items from your inventory. This includes a GPS tracker so you never lose Virginia, as well as weapons. The weapons aspect of Virginia is crucial, as Kelvin can’t hold weapons and protect your base while Virginia can.
You’ll have confirmation that Virginia is a full-fledged companion when she stays around your base regularly and sits down near Kelvin near a fire. She will also start following you around the map, just like Kelvin. It’s important to remember that, unlike Kelvin, Virginia has no set commands you can give her, so she’ll act on her own for the most part.
How to revive Virginia in Sons of the Forest
Of course, just like Kelvin, Virginia is still susceptible to outside elements and she can become incapacitated after taking enough damage. You can revive Virginia if she falls to the ground by going up to her and holding the interact button. This will get the companion off the ground and she’ll be up as good as new. Virginia falls to the ground when she takes a mild amount of damage from you, enemies, or the world.
However, if Virginia fully dies after taking enough damage, then you won’t be able to revive her in the same way. Once Virginia is dead, you can’t respawn her for the rest of the game in any official capacity. You can respawn her through unofficial methods, though. More specifically, you can tinker with your save file in the game’s directory to make either Virginia or Kelvin respawn after they’ve died.
The process is quite convoluted and sometimes doesn’t work, but you can read through a Reddit thread detailing what you need to do if you want to go that route.
What to do if Virginia gets stuck
There are some times when either Virginia or Kelvin will get stuck in the environment in Sons of the Forest. The AI path tracing isn’t the best, and they can get stuck on an island in the middle of a lake, at the start of a cave, or somewhere in your base, especially if you’ve built a lot of structures.
There’s nothing you can really do to stop this from happening, but if it does, here are some fixes you can try to get Virginia out of a situation where she’s stuck:
- Restart your game (this seems to have a 50/50 shot of working)
- Load your most recent save file where you know Virginia was not stuck
- Go into a cave and then walk back out of it, Virginia might teleport from his stuck spot to your location
- Go to sleep and see if Virginia respawns next to you when you wake up
These fixes aren’t guaranteed to work, aside from reloading your save file, but they are the best ways to try and get your companions out of a literal sticky situation.
How to change Virginia’s clothes in Sons of the Forest
The final element of Virginia in Sons of the Forest is her clothing. By default, she’s wearing a blue, one-piece bathing suit that doesn’t do much in the way of protection. If you want to change that, you can easily do so in the same way you give Virginia weapons or any other item.
Simply go up to her, hold the interact button, and view Virginia’s inventory. Here, go to the clothing section, pressing either 'Q' or 'R,' and then pick out a piece of clothing from your inventory that you want her to wear. You must have the clothing item on hand before giving it to Virginia.
There are a few pieces of clothing you can give to Virginia to wear, including:
- Leather Suit
- Dress
- Blue Bathing Suit
- Camouflage Suit
- Tracksuit
When you deck Virginia out in one of these outfits, her stats will not change, so there’s no added layer of protection if you dress her in a camouflage suit. The clothes only change her appearance.
You can find various outfits for Virginia all over the map in Sons of the Forest. Most of them are located in specific spots. Here are the locations for some of Virginia’s outfits:
- Camouflage Suit: Found in a red kayak on the beach in the northwest part of the map (near where you find the Shotgun)
- Leather Suit: Located in the wreckage of a helicopter in the northwest part of the map near a tiny lake.
- Tracksuit: Found in the bunker where you loot the 3D Printer, which is located on the west side of the map near the inlet.
That covers everything you need to know about befriending Virginia and decking her out to be the best companion she can be in Sons of the Forest.