Anyway, I've been using SPT-AKI for a year now.
BepInEx is necessary because it provides the hooks needed to connect mod code to game code. The BepInEx command prompt opens (Valheim Plus) per usual, but then a smaller window appears with the title, 'Valheim - Unity 2020. Check again after each Step: Update mods and game. log): Not modded Valheim, to my knowledge. UnityExplorer - An in-game UI for exploring, debugging and modifying IL2CPP and Mono Unity games.
This should generate BepInEx configuration file into BepInEx/config folder and an initial log file BepInEx/LogOutput. 2 or newer (Class::Init signatures have been exhausted) My other dozen channels work fine.