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Condition icon

Condition is a player statistic that represents health as the total amount of damage that can be taken before dying. Condition can be lost immediately through Injuries, indirectly through Afflictions, or through deficiencies in Needs.

When the player falls below 10% condition, the display becomes blurred and begins to sway, with visibility decreased and sound muffled except for the sound of a heartbeat. As condition drops lower and lower, these effects are made more and more pronounced. Movement is still possible at a normal rate, but can be more challenging.

Mechanics

Condition

Injuries instantly subtract a percentage of the player's condition. Incidents such as a short fall or a laceration from a struggle with a wolf can cause minor to moderate injuries. The associated condition loss is immediate and usually does not have any long-lasting effects beyond the condition loss itself.

On the other hand, certain afflictions such as Blood Loss or Infections drain the player's condition until either the affliction is treated or the player slips into the Long Dark. However, a few afflictions limit the maximum condition that the player can reach. Most afflictions last until treated fully, including rest if required. After the affliction has been removed condition may be restored normally.

When a Need reaches 0, the player begins to lose condition. Failing to satisfy needs will consistently drain condition until the need meter is brought above zero. When the player has not had sufficient rest, nutrition, or hydration, condition loss is relatively slow. If the player does not have sufficient warmth, condition loss is very rapid and requires the player to quickly react to prevent death. See below for the condition drain rates when a need reaches 0.

Frostbite afflictions lower maximum Condition by 10% per instance, and is the only Affliction with no treatment (making its effects permanent). Up to 5 instances of Frostbite can be present at once (reducing maximum Condition to 50%).

Well-Fed status effect is the only way to increase maximum condition, up to 105%. Additionally it increases the maximum carrying capacity by 5kg (11lbs).

Need Daily drain rate Hourly drain rate
Warmth -450.0% -18.75%
Fatigue -25.0% -1.04%
Thirst -50.0% -2.08%
Hunger -25.0% -1.04%

Some Afflictions cause Condition damage. Falling through Weak Ice, Bruises (from Falling) and Lacerations (from Struggles) cause instant Condition damage based on Survival Mode (or length of fall). Falls above 50m are instantly lethal on contact with the ground, as are Falls/entering a killbox (e.g. attempting to climb beneath the Raven Falls Trestle (The Ravine) or the gorge below Mackenzie's Crashed Plane (Mountain Town)).

Affliction Daily drain rate Hourly drain rate Minute drain rate
Intestinal Parasites -2.0% -0.08% -0.0013%
Food Poisoning -85.0% -3.5% -0.058%
Blood Loss -720.0% -30.0% -0.5%
Freezing

while Hypothermic

-960.0% -40.0% -0.66%
Fear -72,000.0% -3,000.0% -50.0%
Burns -2,851,200.0% -118,800.0% -1980.0%
  • Note 1: Intestinal Parasites affects maximum Condition.
  • Note 2: Food Poisoning is non-lethal, and cannot lower Condition below 15%.
  • Note 3: Burns (from Electrified Wires or Water during an Aurora or from contact with a lit Campfire) causes 33% Condition damage per second.

Recovering condition

Condition normally restores to 100% but can be limited to less by certain afflictions. Players can restore lost condition using four different methods.

Sleep is the most common method of restoring condition. All four needs must be met for the player to restore condition during sleep. The rate of return is dependent on the bed used and the number of hours slept, with longer periods granting higher returns. Herbal Tea can also help the player achieve a more restful sleep.

Condition is restored at a rate of 25% each day, or just over 1% every hour as long as all four Needs are above 0 and the player has no Afflictions which affects condition (such as Food Poisoning). This passive regeneration improves the player's condition while awake, but is slower than the condition recovery from sleeping.

Using an Emergency Stim will instantly restore 15% of the player's condition when used.

Drinking Birch Bark Tea restores 5% condition over 2 hours.

During the Challenge "As the Dead Sleep" (or Custom), passive healing and sleep healing are disabled, additionally Birch Bark Tea is disabled. This makes Herbal Tea strictly a food item and Birch Bark strictly tinder. The only way to heal during the challenge are with using rare and finite Emergency Stims.

  • Frostbite permanently reduces maximum Condition by 10% per application (up to 5, to a maximum of 50%).
  • Burns temporarily reduce maximum Condition by 15%.
  • Food Poisoning temporarily lowers maximum Condition to 15% of total.

Death

Fading Into The Long Dark - Death

You faded into The Long Dark. old

You faded into The Long Dark...
In-game description

Death occurs when the survivor's Condition reaches zero, providing a brief explanation for the cause of death.

  • In Survival Mode death is permanent, and saves cannot be loaded after dying (aka "Permadeath"). An option to "Save the journal" is available, which will add that save's journal statistics to the global statistics.
  • In Challenges the Challenge ends in failure and must be restarted.
  • In Wintermute (Story Mode) the survivor has the option to restart from a prior save/autosave or checkpoint upon death.

Progress towards Feats, Achievements, and certain Badges persists even after death.

See also

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