You can heal Kelvin in Sons of the Forest, but the mechanic is limited. As far as we can tell, you can only heal him when he’s in a “downed” state and about to die. Otherwise, his health likely slowly refills over time. One thing to note is that if he’s downed, you must heal him; otherwise, he’ll die. Unfortunately, some players are reporting this mechanic is bugged currently, and they’re not receiving a prompt to heal Kelvin.
How to heal Kelvin in Sons of the Forest
Right now, the only way to heal Kelvin in Sons of the Forest is to revive him when he’s downed. When he takes enough damage (from you or another source), he’ll collapse, and you’ll see a first aid cross icon above him. When this happens, you must get near him and press the interact key to revive him.
Since Kelvin’s health seems to regenerate over time, we assume he has some sort of passive buff. However, we haven’t been able to confirm the exact mechanics behind his health.
Can Kelvin Die?
Kelvin can die in Sons of the Forest, and it can happen pretty quickly. Once he’s taken enough damage, he’ll be downed. If he takes a bit more damage, he’ll die. From what we know about his mechanics so far, and any source of injury can cause this to happen, and he’s not safe from your attacks (like with a bow and arrow), cannibals, or falling trees.
Players have reported that leaving Kelvin in the downed state too long can kill him as well. It’s also reported that if you don’t interact with him at the beginning of the game and leave him behind, he’ll also perish.
Can you resurrect Kelvin?
Once Kelvin dies in Sons of the Forest, he’s gone for good. Unfortunately, he’s not just sleeping, and you can’t just wait for him to wake up. The only way to get him back is to restart your game or load a previous save.
It’s possible that the devs will add a way to bring Kelvin back to life in a future patch, but it isn’t very likely. Sons of the Forest is designed to be a brutal game, and losing your buddy is one of many terrible things that can happen to you. Unfortunately, all the above is true for the other possible companion in the game right now, Virginia.
