Installing¶

How to get these mods running in Outward: Definitive Edition.

At a glance - Outward must be on its Mono Steam branch (not the default IL2CPP build). - Mods are loaded by BepInEx 5. - Each mod is a folder under BepInEx/plugins/, alongside the kits it depends on.

1. Put Outward on the Mono branch (required)¶

In Steam: Outward → Properties → Betas → select mono, and let it update.

The whole mod stack is built for Outward's Mono runtime. On the default IL2CPP build the mods silently do nothing — the game just runs vanilla, with no error and no log. This is the single most common reason "nothing loads".

You can tell the two apart in the game's install folder:

Build	Tell-tale files
Mono (correct)	`..._Data/Managed/Assembly-CSharp.dll`, a `MonoBleedingEdge/` folder
IL2CPP (wrong)	`GameAssembly.dll`, a `..._Data/il2cpp_data/` folder

2. Install BepInEx¶

Install the BepInEx 5 pack for Outward (available on Thunderstore). Launch the game once so BepInEx generates its BepInEx/ folder, then quit.

Linux / Proton / Steam Deck: set the Steam launch option WINEDLLOVERRIDES="winhttp=n,b" %command% and force a Proton compatibility tool (a native Steam Linux Runtime won't load BepInEx).

3. Install the mods¶

Two ways:

Mod manager — if a mod is published to Thunderstore, install it there and its dependencies come along automatically.
By hand — drop each mod's folder into BepInEx/plugins/, together with the kits it depends on (see the table below). If BepInEx logs a missing-dependency error and refuses to load a mod, one of its required kit folders isn't there.

Dependencies¶

Every mod needs its kits present. A mod manager resolves these for you; installing by hand, add them yourself:

Install this mod	…and also these
Beastwhispering	ForgeKit, SkillKit, CompanionKit, AggroKit, NetKit, StoryKit, SideLoader
Hireling	ForgeKit, CompanionKit, AggroKit, NetKit
Cloudward	ForgeKit
SpawnKit	ForgeKit, CompanionKit, AggroKit, NetKit

(SideLoader is a separate community mod that Beastwhispering builds on for its custom items and skills.)

Troubleshooting¶

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
No mods load at all, no crash log	Outward is on the IL2CPP branch	Switch to the Mono branch (step 1)
BepInEx loads but one mod refuses	A required kit folder is missing	Add the kits from the table above
Nothing loads on Linux	Missing launch option / native runtime	Set the `WINEDLLOVERRIDES` option and force Proton (step 2)