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Kits

Reusable libraries for Outward mods. A kit isn't installed on its own — a mod that needs it declares a dependency ([BepInDependency]) and BepInEx loads the kit first.

If you're a player, you don't interact with these directly; they arrive as dependencies of the mods you install. This section is for modders building on them.

Which kit do I need?

Kit Use it to… Depends on SideLoader
ForgeKit add dev commands, self-tests, on-screen toasts, config-backed data tables, and register keybinds — no
AggroKit control what enemies target (force-target, calm, taunt) ForgeKit no
NetKit sync your own state across a Photon co-op session ForgeKit no
SkillKit ship a custom learnable skill (active or passive) ForgeKit yes
StoryKit add an NPC / trainer with dialogue and a skill tree ForgeKit yes
EnchantKit apply vanilla enchantments and spawn pre-enchanted gear from a command (dev / testing tool) ForgeKit no
DonorKit get a live creature body for any species, anywhere in the world ForgeKit, NetKit no
CompanionKit give the player a persistent creature companion ForgeKit, AggroKit, NetKit, DonorKit no
SpawnKit spawn creatures at runtime as real vanilla enemies ForgeKit, CompanionKit, NetKit, DonorKit no

Versions and compatibility — what happens when a mod and a kit come from different releases, and the one rule for installs (one bundle, one release): Kit versioning.

The "Depends on" column is each kit's declared [BepInDependency] set. SkillKit and StoryKit both need SideLoader present at runtime to do anything, but neither declares it as a BepInEx dependency — they reference it at compile time and wait for its packs to load instead.

The layering

Kits stack bottom-up. Everything rests on ForgeKit; CompanionKit is the mid-tier that persistent-companion features build on; SpawnKit sits on top of it.

ForgeKit                      dev tooling — no dependencies
  ├── AggroKit                aggro / threat control
  ├── NetKit                  Photon co-op transport
  ├── SkillKit                custom skills            (+ SideLoader)
  ├── StoryKit                NPCs / trainers          (+ SideLoader)
  ├── EnchantKit              enchant / spawn gear     (dev / testing tool)
  └── DonorKit                creature bodies anywhere (harvest engine + expedition tier + template store; needs ForgeKit + NetKit)
        ├── CompanionKit      persistent companions    (needs ForgeKit + AggroKit + NetKit + DonorKit)
        │     └── SpawnKit    runtime creature spawns  (needs CompanionKit + NetKit + DonorKit)
        └── SpawnKit          also sits directly on DonorKit — its species roster IS the donor table

Mods then combine these. Beastwhispering names ForgeKit, SkillKit, CompanionKit, AggroKit and StoryKit directly (DonorKit and NetKit arrive underneath CompanionKit); DangerousRoads names ForgeKit, SpawnKit and CompanionKit; Hireling names CompanionKit and ForgeKit; Cloudward names ForgeKit alone.

Conventions shared by every kit

  • Each ships as its own BepInEx/plugins/<Kit>/ folder with plugin GUID cobalt.<name>.
  • Most have a dev-command channel — write a verb into a plain text file under BepInEx/config/ and it runs on the next poll, even while the game is paused. Unknown verb or help lists them all. This is ForgeKit's command channel. The filenames are not uniform: ak_cmd.txt (AggroKit), ck_cmd.txt (CompanionKit), DonorKit_cmd.txt, NetKit_cmd.txt, SpawnKit_cmd.txt, StoryKit_cmd.txt, EnchantKit_cmd.txt. SkillKit has no channel of its own — its verbs are a pack a consuming mod registers onto its channel.
  • Runtime settings live in BepInEx/config/cobalt.<name>.cfg, generated on first launch — except ForgeKit, which has no settings at all.

See also