You're crouched in the damp undergrowth of a remote island, clutching a crude spear and listening to the unsettling skittering of something mutant in the distance. Suddenly, a woman with three arms and three legs prances into your peripheral vision. She doesn't attack. She just... watches. Most players' first instinct is to swing. Don't. If you're playing Sons of the Forest, Virginia is arguably your most valuable asset, but she is also the most flighty, misunderstood AI companion in modern gaming.
Honestly, she’s a masterpiece of "show, don't tell" mechanics. Unlike Kelvin, who is a brain-damaged sweetheart following your written commands like a loyal golden retriever, Virginia Puffton is a wild creature you have to tame. She is the daughter of the missing billionaire Edward Puffton, and somewhere under those extra limbs and the blue swimsuit, there’s a person who really just wants to survive this nightmare with you.
Getting her on your side isn't a quick menu toggle. It’s a slow burn.
How to Earn Virginia’s Trust Without Scaring Her Off
First things first: put your weapons away. If you approach her with a shotgun or a bloody tactical axe, she’s going to bolt. It's that simple. When you see her hanging around your camp, just stand still or keep doing your chores. Let her approach you. Eventually, she’ll start bringing you gifts—usually just some aloe vera or a random squirrel she caught—and that’s when you know you’re making progress.
It's a game of patience. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when she stops hissing and running away and starts doing a little dance or pointing out nearby points of interest.
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The Gear That Changes Everything
Once she trusts you, Virginia becomes a walking turret. While Kelvin can't fight worth a damn, Virginia can dual-wield. You can literally hand her a 9mm pistol and a shotgun at the same time. Because she has three arms, she doesn't need to choose.
- The GPS Tracker: This is the first thing you should give her. It lets you see her icon on the map at all times. Without it, she’ll wander off to go frolic in a stream and you’ll spend twenty minutes trying to find your primary defense force.
- The Firearms: Give her the pistol first. Later, when you find the shotgun, give her that too.
- Clothing: You can find a leather suit, a tracksuit, and a camouflage suit around the island. Giving her the camo suit actually helps her blend into the environment, though let's be real, most people just want to get her out of that flimsy swimsuit so she survives a winter.
Winter is brutal for her. If you don't find her some warmer clothes, she’ll spend the whole season shivering and being generally less effective at shooting cannibals in the face.
The Weird Logic of Virginia’s Combat AI
Virginia doesn't have a "stay" or "follow" command. She has a mind of her own. Sometimes she’ll follow you into a dark cave and save your life; other times, she’ll decide a particular patch of sunflowers is more interesting than the raid currently leveling your base.
She has infinite ammo. Read that again. Sons of the Forest Virginia does not use up the bullets you give her. This makes her the most cost-effective defensive measure in the game. If you're playing on Hard or Hardcore mode, her ability to pick off fingers-mutants and twins from a distance without draining your precious ammo crates is literally a game-changer.
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She is surprisingly perceptive. She often hears or sees enemies before the player does. If you see her suddenly take a defensive stance or start pointing frantically at a bush, get your weapon out. She’s not glitching; there’s something out there.
Where Most Players Mess Up
The biggest mistake is accidentally hitting her during a chaotic fight. If you down her, you can revive her, but it takes a massive toll on her trust meter. If you kill her, she’s gone. Permanently. Unless you want to go digging through your save files to flip a line of code from "False" to "True," you need to be careful with your friendly fire.
Another weird quirk: she hates being enclosed. If you build a massive, windowless fortress, she’s going to spend most of her time outside the walls. She likes open spaces and fires. If you want her to stay close, build a nice porch with a fire pit.
Does She Actually Affect the Ending?
Yes. Without spoiling the specifics, Virginia's presence at the end of the game changes your options. There is a specific "best" ending that requires both Kelvin and Virginia to be alive and at a high "sentiment" level with the player. If you've been a jerk to her or let her die, you're locked out of that specific resolution.
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It adds a layer of emotional stakes to a game that could easily have just been about chopping off limbs. You start caring about whether she’s warm or if she’s found enough food.
The Reality of the Island
Let's talk about the lore for a second. Virginia isn't just a random mutant. Endnight Games sprinkled clues throughout the bunkers. You can find her VIP keycard, and you see her in the background of various surveillance tapes. She was a ballet dancer. Her movements—the way she twirls and leaps even with the extra limbs—are a direct reflection of her past. It’s haunting if you think about it too long.
The mutation process on Site 2 (the island) was caused by the activation of the Cube, a mysterious artifact that interacts with biological matter during a "dimensional shift." Unlike the mindless cannibals, Virginia seems to have retained a significant portion of her humanity, or at least a peaceful version of it.
Survival Tips for Keeping Virginia Happy
- Don't build near cannibal camps. If she spends all day in combat, she gets stressed and won't interact as much.
- Plant a garden. She loves eating berries. If you have planters full of blueberries or twinberries (don't worry, they don't seem to poison her like they do you), she'll hang around more often.
- Watch her gestures. She has a specific "come here" gesture and a "there's a threat" gesture. Learning the difference will save you from being blindsided by a Brute.
Advanced Defensive Tactics
If you're building a base, try to create "shooting galleries." Virginia is a crack shot, but her AI can struggle with pathfinding if your base is a total labyrinth. Low fences and open courtyards allow her to utilize her range.
If you're heading into a particularly nasty bunker, wait for her at the entrance. Sometimes it takes her a minute to pathfind to the door. Once she’s inside, she’s great for clearing hallways, but be mindful of tight corners where you might accidentally step into her line of fire. She won't hesitate to shoot, and those shotgun pellets don't distinguish between a mutant and your back.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Save File
- Locate the Camouflage Suit: Head to the northwest part of the map to a small beach area with some abandoned kayaks. It’s the best "all-rounder" outfit for her until you find the leather suit in a specific maintenance bunker.
- Prioritize the Pistol Rail: You can find the pistol rail attachment on the same beach where the music starts playing near a corpse. If you give Virginia a pistol with a rail and a flashlight, she becomes an incredible nighttime sentry.
- Check Your Sentiment Level: If she still won't take items from you, you haven't spent enough "quiet time" near her. Sit by a fire and let her hang out for two or three in-game days without drawing a weapon.
- Save Frequently: Seriously. The AI can sometimes get stuck in rocks or clipped into geometry. If she disappears and her GPS icon stops moving for a full day, you might need to reload a previous save to "reset" her position.
Virginia represents the heart of Sons of the Forest. She’s the bridge between the horror of the mutations and the humanity of the people who were lost there. Treat her like a teammate, not a tool, and the island becomes a lot less lonely.