AimAssist

Aim assist for players on a gamepad, in the style of console shooters (CoD, BF...), for ranged weapons only. It also colours the crosshair. Nobody else needs the mod to play with you; a dedicated server can have it too, to set the rules.

Short demo on YouTube: aim assist off, then on.

Aim assist

Gamepad only, and only with a ranged weapon: bow drawn, crossbow loaded, staff in hand.

• On a target, the right stick slows down, except for the part of your movement that follows the target.
• Move the stick, even slightly, and the crosshair is drawn toward the part of the body you aim at. With the stick at rest, it sticks to a target it is already on, or has just slipped beside.
• When a target moves, the camera follows part of its movement by itself.

There is no lock-on and no snapping. Push the stick the other way, even barely, and the help gives way. An aim held just above a distant target, for arrow drop, stays where you put it. Nothing happens at point blank (closer than 2 m), and the camera never turns by itself faster than 45°/s. Players, tamed animals and summons are never targets. Mouse and keyboard are never touched.

Turn it on or off in game with F4, or LT + X on a gamepad with the classic layout.

Crosshair colours

The crosshair and the bow circle take a colour for each biome, chosen to stand out against it, and a red one while a valid target is under them.

Multiplayer

Some players dislike aim assist, so the mod says so in the chat, in English:

* I use AimAssist, monsters only. Disable it within 10 min: _aimassistoff

• It does so 15 s after you arrive, then to each player who joins after you.
• From the moment they arrive, and up to 10 minutes after the last announcement or the last player to join, any player, you and other players with the mod included, can type _aimassistoff in the chat, with no slash. The aim assist of everyone who has the mod is then off until they leave the world, and the chat says so: * AimAssist off (Bob). Undo: _aimassiston.
• _aimassiston brings it back when typed by a player without the mod, or by the one who turned it off. A player who has the mod never lifts someone else's request, and neither does F4.
• If the player who turned it off leaves the game, the aim assist comes back: * AimAssist back on (Bob left).
• On a dedicated server that has the mod, the server sets the rules instead. Its config file has a [Server] section: whether the aim assist is allowed, and the SlowdownFactor, TrackingStrength and Magnetism imposed on players who have the mod. Chat commands do not apply there. Leave the server and your own settings come back.

Messages on your own screen follow the language of the game. The chat stays in English, since the other players may not have the mod.

Settings

BepInEx/config/moochi.aimassist.cfg, created on first launch. Changes apply without restarting, from the file or with Configuration Manager.

Setting	Default
Enabled	true	Aim assist on or off (also F4).
Mode	RangedAiming	RangedAiming: bow drawn, crossbow loaded, staff in hand. RangedEquipped: as soon as a ranged weapon is in hand.
SlowdownFactor	0.6	Stick sensitivity on a target (1 = no slowdown).
TrackingStrength	0.5	Share of a moving target's movement the camera follows by itself.
Magnetism	0.5	Pull toward the target (0 = none, 1 = very strong).
AimHeight	0	Raises the point the pull aims at, in metres above the middle of the body. Raise it if your arrows land low.
MaxDistance	50	Targets farther than this, in metres, are ignored.
MinDistance	2	No help closer than this, in metres.
MaxAssistSpeed	55	Fastest the camera turns by itself to follow a target, in degrees per second. Raise it if monsters crossing right in front of you are lost.
IncludePassiveAnimals	false	Also help on wildlife that only flees.
ColorByBiome	true	Crosshair colour by biome (section CrosshairByBiome).
TargetColor	#FF4040	Crosshair colour on a target.
ToggleKey / ToggleGamepad	F4 / JoyAltKeys + JoyButtonX	Toggle keys.
ShowMessages	true	Multiplayer messages in the middle of your screen (aim assist turned off or back on, server rules). Off: log only; the chat is unchanged.

Install

With r2modman or the Thunderstore Mod Manager: install AimAssist from the online list. By hand, with BepInEx installed: copy plugins/ValheimAimAssist.dll into BepInEx/plugins/ValheimAimAssist/.

On a dedicated server, the same DLL goes into the server's BepInEx/plugins/. Players without the mod can still join it.

Vibecoded with care and time for Valheim 1.0.17 and BepInEx 5.4.23. Played alongside Better Archery.