Health regeneration

“

Time heals all wounds.

— A loading screen tip

This page discusses how the player health regeneration mechanism works, and how equipment and buffs affect the regeneration rate.^[1]

If the player is not hit for a short time, health starts regenerating until the player is hit again. The rate at which the player regenerates health is dependent on five factors:

1. The player's maximum health: a higher maximum health means a faster regeneration rate.
   1. Maximum health can be increased permanently via Life Crystals and Life Fruit, and increased temporarily via Lifeforce Potions.
2. Movement: if the player is standing still, their regeneration rate is increased by a factor of ×1.25, and if the player is moving their regeneration rate is reduced to ×0.5 speed.
3. (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Rest: if the player is lying on a bed or sitting on a chair or sofa, their regeneration rate is boosted by a factor of ×1.3.
4. Time since the player was damaged: the longer it has been since the player was last damaged, the faster their regeneration rate will be; this caps at 60 seconds (1 in-game hour) after which the regeneration rate no longer rises.
5. Buffs and debuffs: for a feel, a detailed explanation is given below, but keep in mind that the numbers do not represent health regeneration directly; they are just factors (higher is better).

The time the player has to wait until regeneration starts is highly variable from roughly 1/10th of a second to 17 seconds (32 seconds on Expert Mode) and is again dependent on maximum life, movement, and buffs/debuffs.

Source

Below is a list of things that provide health regeneration.

Item	Regeneration (per second)	Trigger	Notes
Band of Regeneration	(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 1 / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 0.5	Equip
Charm of Myths	(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 1 / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 0.5	Equip
Werewolf (buff)	0.5	Equip Moon Charm or its upgrades, during night
Sun Stone	1	Equip during day
Moon Stone	1	Equip during night or solar eclipse
Celestial Stone	1	Equip (does not stack with its components)
Celestial Shell(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	1	Equip (does not stack with its components)
Shiny Stone(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	1	Equip	Slowly increases regeneration rate over time, canceling out when the player moves or uses most items. Expert mode only.
Regeneration	2	Consume Regeneration Potion	Buff lasts for 8 minutes.
Honey (buff)	1	Stand in Honey	Buff lasts 30 seconds after leaving Honey and 5 seconds after taking damage with the Honey Comb or one of its upgrades equiped. Increases natural life regeneration timer by 2 per tick; like other forms of natural life regeneration this effect becomes more potent when player avoids taking damage and doesn't move. If player's health regeneration is negative due to debuffs, grants an additional 2 health per second, although this can not bring the health regeneration above zero.
Dryad's Blessing(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	3	Near the Dryad while she is casting the dryad's ward.
Cozy Fire	0.5, 1.1×base regeneration rate	Stand near a Campfire
Heart Lamp	1	Stand near a Heart Lantern
Crimson armor	1.5×base regeneration rate	Equip full set	Increases natural life regeneration timer by 1 per tick; like other forms of natural life regeneration this effect becomes more potent when player avoids taking damage and doesn't move.
Rapid Healing	(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 2 / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 3	Hit enemy while wearing full set of Palladium armor	Buff lasts for 5 seconds.
Solar Flare armor(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	3 (1 per piece)	Equip
Life Drain(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	1.5 (additional 0.5 health for every 2 extra enemies being hit)	Damage enemies with weapon	Provides Life Drain buff while the weapon is damaging enemies. Increases natural life regeneration timer by 5 per tick, with an additional 1 for every 2 extra enemies being damaged; like other forms of natural life regeneration this effect becomes more potent when player avoids taking damage and doesn't move.
Life Nebula(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	3 per level	Collect a Life Booster	Lasts for 8 seconds and can be stacked up to three times. One stack is removed at a time, upon which the timer resets itself.
Valhalla Knight's Breastplate(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	4	Equip
Squire's Great Helm(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	2	Equip
Chair	1.3×base regeneration rate	(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Sitting in a Chair, Toilet, Sofa, Bench, Throne or sleeping in a Bed.	Increases natural life regeneration timer by 3 per tick; like other forms of natural life regeneration this effect becomes more potent when player avoids taking damage.
Hearty Meal(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	3	Kill targets with the Ham Bat	Buff lasts for 7 seconds.
Vital Crystal(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	-	Consume the item	Effect lasts permanently. Increases natural life regeneration timer by 0.2 per tick; like other forms of natural life regeneration this effect becomes more potent when player avoids taking damage and doesn't move.

Details

Health regeneration (HR) is determined by the following formula:

[math]\displaystyle{ \mathit{regeneration_{health}} = \frac{1}{2} \times \left( \left( \underbrace{ \left( \frac{\mathit{health_{max}}}{400}\times0.85+0.15 \right) \times \mathit{time} }_{\mathtt{regen}} \times \underbrace{ \mathit{move} \times \mathit{rest} \times \mathit{expert} }_{\mathtt{special}} \right) + \underbrace{ \mathit{buff} }_{\mathtt{buffs}} \right) }[/math] and gives the health per second the player regenerates.

The formula can be split in to 3 parts and a bit of rounding:

1. The regen part consists of:
   • healthmax: maximum health of the player.
   • time: factor for the time that has passed since the last hit taken. A detailed definition can be found in the detailed explanation.
     • The time value starts at 0, and rises by 1 every 5 seconds for the first 30 seconds. After that, it rises by 1 every 10 seconds, to a maximum of 9. (0 ≤ time ≤ 9) That means this part is 0 for at the first 5 seconds, but reaches 6 after 30 seconds, and 9 after 60 seconds. This does not consider the Shiny Stone's effect, which can raise the time value to a maximum of 38, and alters the algorithm in other ways (see below).
2. The buffs part:
   • buff: modifiers from the buffs and debuffs. All "R+n" values from the Buffs section can be added here (the n-part) (there are some buffs which affect other parts of the algorithm; again, see below). This is the easiest part as the buffs are just added to the regeneration. This takes place after all other natural regeneration calculations, as regeneration from buffs is not affected by special modifiers or Bleeding. However, many (see list below) will be nullified by damaging debuffs, like Poisoned.
3. The special part consists of:
   • move: either 0.5 if the player is moving or 1.25 if the player is standing still.
     • The player is only considered moving for this if they have any horizontal momentum and are not being pulled by a grappling hook. Purely vertical movement or movement with grappling hooks will not impede natural health regeneration
   • rest: 1, except if the player is sitting on a chair or lying on a bed, in which case it is 1.3.
   • expert: 1, except if the player is in expert mode and does not have the well fed buff, in which case it is 0.5, or if the player is in expert mode without the well fed buff but has the Shiny Stone equipped, in which case it is 0.75.

All this is rounded to the nearest whole number and finally divided by 2 to get the regeneration per second.

The player will regenerate HR per second, not considering the Shiny Stone and Rapid Healing. This means if the player has HR=0.5, they will regain 1 health per 2 seconds; and if the player has HR=5, they will regain 5 health per second (technically, 1 health every 12 ticks^[2]).

Notes

• Buffs can help to reduce the time when the regeneration starts.
• A starting player will start regenerating health after 12 seconds (17 seconds on expert mode) if standing still or 17 seconds (32 seconds on expert mode) while moving. After consuming their first Life Crystal, this changes to 7 seconds (12 seconds on expert mode) while standing still or 17 seconds (27 seconds on expert mode) while moving.

Technical explanation

The player has these health regeneration stats:

• Regeneration Time (RT): How long the character has been regenerating for. This normally increases +1 per tick, capped at 3600, and resets to zero when the character takes damage (stopping regeneration).
• Regeneration Rate (R): Hit Points (HP) regenerated per tick (1 point of R is equal to 0.5 HP/s). This increases the longer the RT (the longer the player has been avoiding damage).
• Regeneration Counter (RC): Increases by R per tick, becomes 120 or over, or -120 or less, it will be reduced or increased by 120, and player will gain or lose 1 health.

The Regeneration Rate (R) determines how fast the RC changes. R is normally 0 or positive, but could be negative if the player is inflicted with any life-draining debuffs, like Poisoned.

Calculation

The base Regeneration Rate (R) is mainly determined by the Regeneration Time (RT), player's max Health (mHP), and whether player is standing or moving.

First, The RT is converted to an Effective Regeneration Time (eRT).

• If RT <= 1800, each 300 RT boosts eRT +1.
• If RT > 1800, each 600 RT above 1800 boosts eRT +1.

Here is an illustration of the relationship between RT and eRT:

Then, the base Regeneration Rate R = (mHP / 400 * 0.85 + 0.15) * eRT

• If the player is standing still, R will be multiplied by 1.25.
• If the player is moving, it will be multiplied by 0.5.

Finally, it will be rounded to the nearest whole number.

So, for a brief conclusion: the longer player not getting hurt, the higher maximum health player has, the higher for the natural health regeneration rate. Also, standing still gives a 2.5X healing bonus compared to moving. Using an item does not count as moving.

After all of the above, if the player is in Expert Mode and does not have a Well Fed buff, R will be multiplied by 0.5.

Item and buff effects

R is also affected by other items and buffs.

Note: Despite drowning being similar to life-draining debuffs, it only resets the RT and does not affect the RC and R. It directly reduces Hit Points instead.

Buffs

These apply if the player does not have any life-draining debuffs:

Regen debuffs

• Feral Bite debuff: Base R is multiplied x0.5.
• Bleeding and Obstructed debuff: Keeps RT reset to 0, so base R remains at 0.

Life-draining debuffs

These cancel the R boosts in the second table above, reset RT to 0, and reduce R by these values:

• Poisoned: -4
• On Fire!: -8
• Frostburn: -16
• Cursed Inferno: -24
• Acid Venom: -30
• Burning: -60
• Suffocation: -40.
• Electrified: -8 (when standing still), or -40 (when moving horizontally).
• The Tongue: -100 only in Expert mode.

Note: If the player is under the debuff of Burning or Suffocation or expert mode The Tongue, instead of losing 1 health when RC reaches -120, they will always lose 5 health when RC reaches -600.

Honey

• Honey has two effects on the health regeneration:^[3]
  • Firstly, if R ＜ 0, it will increase R by 4. If R ＞ 0 thereafter, reset R to 0.
  • Secondly, it will directly increase R by 2 and boost RT +2 per tick.

Shiny Stone

Equipping the Shiny Stone will change the multipliers of the Feral Bite debuff and Expert mode from 0.5 to 0.75. Both of them only reduce the regeneration speed by 25% instead of the previous 50%. It will also multiply base R ×1.1.

If the player is not using any items and almost standing still (it allows small amounts of movement, up to 0.25 mph either horizontally or vertically), the following effects are applied in addition to those above:

1. If the player has any life-draining debuffs so that R is less than 0, R is reduced by half (if the player also has Honey buff, then it increases R by 4 first (but no more than 0), then, R is reduced by half, finally, the Honey buff additionally increase R by 2.).
2. R +4.
3. RT +4 per tick.
4. If 90 < RT < 1800, RT is reset to 1800.
5. It will remove the RT cap, and when RT > 3000, every 300 RT above 3000 will boost eRT +1 (this part is capped at 30, so it will give an eRT maxed at 38 instead of the previous 9).
6. Finally, if R > 0, RC is boosted +1 per tick.

So, if the player is at 600 max HP, with the Shiny Stone and standing still, in Expert mode, without Well Fed:

• R = (600 ÷ 400 × 0.85 + 0.15) × 38 × 1.25 × 0.75 × 1.1 + 4 = 60
• RC is additionally boosted +1 per tick
• = 30.5 Hit Points per second regeneration rate.

A more complex example

To illustrate how items, buffs and debuffs interact with each other, here is a more complex example:

Assume the player has the Electrified and Frostburn debuffs, the Regeneration and Honey buffs, has the Shiny Stone and Charm of Myths equipped, and is standing still near a Heart Lantern.

According to the above, here is how life regeneration can be determined:

1. The Regeneration buff and Charm of Myths increase R by 4 and 2 respectively, so, R = 6.
2. The life-draining debuffs cancel out the effect above and set R to 0.
3. The Electrified and Frostburn debuffs reduce R by 8 and 16 respectively, so, R = -24.
4. Because R < 0, the Honey buff increases R by 4, so, R = -20.
5. As R is still less than 0, the Shiny Stone cuts it in half, so, R = -10.
6. Then the Honey buff, Shiny Stone, and Heart Lantern increase R by 2, 4, and 2 respectively, so, R = -2.
7. Because the player has life-draining debuffs, RT will remain at 0, so player will not have natural health regeneration.
8. As R is less than 0, the Shiny Stone will not provide the RC +1 per tick bonus.

Thus, the player has R = -2, and will lose 1 health per second.

But, if the player also has the Hearty Meal buff, they will gain R +6 boost which gives the player a 2 HP/s regeneration rate. In addition, because R > 0, the Shiny Stone will now provide a RC +1 per tick bonus, granting an additional 0.5 HP/s regeneration rate. Thus, the player will now have a 2.5 HP/s regeneration rate.

However, if the player has the Rapid Healing buff (which gives the RC +4 per tick effect and does not affect R) instead of the Hearty Meal buff, the Shiny Stone will not provide the RC +1 per tick bonus. So instead, the player will have a 1 HP/s regeneration rate.

References