Health is how much harm the Wanderer can take. It shows as the red ribbon at the top left of the screen, with the number on it. When it reaches 0 you die and wake at home. Health does not come back on its own: you heal by eating, sleeping, being well fed and a few other ways.
Max health
- Your max health is set by the Health stat: 100 at level 0, rising evenly (about 9 a level) to 999 at level 99.
- Raincoats and Charms add a percent on top of that, and can take it past 999.
- When your Health level goes up, your current health rises by the same amount as your max.
| Health level | Max health |
|---|---|
| 0 | 100 |
| 10 | 191 |
| 25 | 327 |
| 50 | 554 |
| 75 | 781 |
| 99 | 999 |
Losing health
- Blows. A creature's blow takes health. Your Defense level and your coat cut it down (at Defense 99, blows do 29% of their damage).
- Every blow that hits you also takes the same amount from your stamina.
- The dark. The longer you stay out of any light at night, the harder blows land (see The Dark).
- Drowning. Once your breath runs out under water, you lose 20% of your max health every 1.4 seconds.
- Starving. With no stamina left, jumping, swinging and dodging take health instead (see Stamina).
- Poison. A raw Red Cap or Ghostcap poisons you: for a while, the stamina you spend takes health with it. Poison weakens you but can't take your last point of health. Sleep or a curing dish clears it (see Status Effects).
Dodging, a parry, and some coat and dish effects can stop a blow from landing at all.
Healing
Most healing is a share of your max health, so it keeps up as your max grows.
| Way | How much |
|---|---|
| Sleeping in a bed or bedroll | All of it, by morning |
| Being well fed (stamina above 70% of its cap) | 5% of your max health for every 25 stamina you spend |
| Cooked dishes | Many heal at once, from 5% (Roast Fowl) to 35% (Harvest Stew) of your max health at plain grade. Rootling Broth heals all of it. |
| Dishes with Healing | A share every second for a few minutes (for example, Hearty Stew: 0.5% a second for 5 minutes) |
| Dishes made from legendary fish | All of it |
| Sitting in a Hot Tub | 2% of your max health a second |
| Some coats (for example, the Mossback pairing) | A small share every second (see Raincoats) |
| Some charms | For example, health back at home or when you eat (see Charms) |
| Dying | You wake with full health |
| Fainting from hunger | You wake with half your health |
- A dish's grade changes how much it heals (see Dish Grades). Being sleepy cuts it; eating in a cozy home raises it.
- Food heals only if you have room to eat (see Fullness).
Dying
When your health reaches 0, the Wanderer falls. After a few seconds the screen darkens and you wake at home.
- You wake at your Goddess (the one you prayed at last), or where you first woke if you have none.
- You wake with full health and breath. Your stamina is at least 30% of its cap, and any poison is gone.
- What you lose: a quarter of each element of your loose spirits (the ones in your pack, not the ones bound into gear). They stay where you fell as glowing wisps. Walk into them to get them back.
- Out in the world the wisps wait until dawn. Down a dungeon or lair, they wait until that dungeon is renewed.
- What you keep: all your items, gear, materials, levels and Jewels. You never lose these.
Fainting
If starving takes the last of your health (see Stamina), you faint instead of dying. You fold where you stand and wake at home the next dawn, with half your health and a third of your stamina cap. You lose the same quarter of your loose spirits as in a death. They wait where you fell until the morning after the one you wake to.
Tips
- Keep your stamina above 70% and you heal as you go.
- Spend loose spirits at the Spiriting Table before a risky trip. Spirits bound into gear are never lost.
- A cooked meal before a lair fight both heals you and fills your stamina.
In online play, down a dungeon or lair with a friend still standing in it, a killing blow puts you down instead of killing you. You have 20 seconds. A friend who holds E beside you for 3 seconds gets you up with 30% of your health (a blow on them stops it). You can go down twice in a run, the boss's hall included; the third time is a death. If everyone is down at once, it is a death for all. Your count resets once the dungeon is cleared or renewed, or when everyone has left. A faint in a room does not move the room's clock.
