Valheim's Best Mods After 1.0: Crafting Shortcuts, Portable Blueprints, and Quality-of-Life Fixes

Valheim's 1.0 launch saw mod creators quickly adapt their tools to the full release, and PC Gamer has compiled a guide to the best mods worth installing. The roundup covers essential mod managers, required base mods, and gameplay improvements across several categories.

For mod management, PC Gamer recommends Gale Mod Manager as a lightweight option that works with both Thunderstore and Hexium downloads, though Thunderstore-only users can stick with R2ModMan. Both mods require BepInEx as a foundation, with Jotunn recommended as an additional layer for extended compatibility.

On the gameplay front, ValheimPlus (Fork) by Grantapher serves as a community replacement after the original modder stopped updating. The mod is packed with toggleable options. More World Locations AIO adds 188 custom locations, shipping ports, additional NPCs, and random shrines that grant buffs. PlantEverything lets players cultivate berry bushes and mushrooms using the cultivator tool, addressing a long-standing player request.

Building mods tackle persistent pain points. PlanBuild stands out as a favorite for letting players construct and save base blueprints without consuming materials, then relocate and build them later. Floors Stairs Ladders Are Roofs eliminates the need to repair exposed stairs and ladders taking water damage from rain. OdinsFoodBarrels adds decorative barrels that function as storage, giving Viking kitchens more character.

Quality-of-life improvements address vanilla inconveniences. AzuCraftyBoxes enables direct crafting from chests with configurable item limits to prevent accidentally wasting rare resources. Quick Stack Store Restock simplifies the clunky vanilla quick-stack process with a single button for stack, restock, and store-all commands. Workbenches Plus reorganizes the crafting menu with categories, sorting, and filtering by biome. MultiUserChest allows multiple players to access a single chest simultaneously, eliminating wait times in multiplayer sessions.

For aesthetics and visibility, Build Camera provides a free-camera mode without toggling console commands, useful for first-person building and screenshots. Enhanced Lighting Vanilla brightens previously dark areas, particularly the Swamp biome. Valhalla ReShade HD is presented as an out-of-the-box ReShade preset that transfers to other games.

The Greatest Portal condenses portal management by replacing dozens of base portals with a single interactive portal that lists all discovered destinations worldwide.