How to befriend Virginia in Sons of the Forest

Sons of the Forest - Virginia stands in a wooded area beside a campfire
(Image credit: Endnight Games)

If a woman with three legs and three arms appears to you in Sons of the Forest, don't shoot. That's Virginia, the only person we've found in the game who doesn't want to kill us (other than our best boy, Kelvin). 

As long as you don't get off on the wrong foot, Virginia can become an ally. A pretty powerful ally, actually. She can put that extra arm of hers to use by wielding two guns at the same time, defending your camp against invading mutants and cannibals.

It's also possible to scare her off or even kill her, but that'd be a mistake. Surviving is hard enough in Sons of the Forest without making more enemies. Here's how to make Virginia an ally.

Sons of the Forest: How to befriend Virginia

The best thing you can do to befriend Virginia is to treat her like a cat: pretend you cannot see her sneaking around your space and never approach first. When you first see Virginia investigating your camp, put away your weapons and do not approach her. Just let her observe and leave at her leisure. She won't attack. She does seem to particularly dislike you looking directly at her and will often run away when you do.

Earning Virginia's trust is a slow process. She'll return several times (across three days in my experience) as she slowly gets comfortable around you. Eventually, she'll give you a gift of aloe and it's around that time that she'll start hanging around your camp. Once you see the backpack interaction button as you approach her, you've finally made a friend.

Similarly to Kelvin, Virginia will relax by the campfire and generally mind her own business. You can't, unfortunately, issue commands to her like you can to Kelvin, but you can equip her with different clothes and even give her guns that she's not at all afraid to use.

Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.

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