Death

If you want to know more about where you go after dying twice, see The Depths.

Dying as a Game Mechanic

Death is one of the core aspects of Deepwoken, making it a punishing but extremely rewarding and fun experience where all your actions have weight and consequences matter. It is a game based on Trial and Error, similar to many other games where progression as a player comes from experiencing defeat countless times and improving upon your failures. Most of the game's mechanics rely on skill and in order to learn to use them effectively one must first spend a few sessions before getting the hang of parrying and dodging.

Provided you have taken neither the Hollow nor Vow of Thorns Echo Modifiers, you'll effectively have two lives. Upon each death you drop roughly half your notes and unequipped items, though the losses can be decreased via the Talent Robber Baron. Worry not, as Soulbound items are not dropped on death. May that death have been your first your health bar will now appear stained, meaning you're at risk of Drowning by dying again without unstaining yourself. Do note that certain areas classified as Voidzones, the Voidsea included, will ignore the stain and Drown you regardless, with 2x EXP as compensation for the risk.

Stained Health and Drowning

As mentioned previously, dying will result in your health being stained, a sign of great risk and danger. In order to return it back to it's original state, cleansing it, you must level up your Power by spending your Investment Points, essentially allowing you to die once more before Drowning. As a new player you should refrain from mindlessly spending those points merely for the sake of unstaining yourself, as those changes are permanent and you'll eventually learn proper Attribute allocation.

Dying with a stained health bar however will result in a Drown. You'll appear in the Scyphozia, the First Layer of The Depths. The most gut-wrenching dangerous place in the entirety of Deepwoken, as any death here will result in permanently losing your character, also called Wiping, especially since staying alive here is much harder than in the Overworld. This underwater place harbors many unique Enemies that will make quick work of your fragile body, but there is a way to survive and escape this deranged place.

See how to escape The Depths HERE.

Should you successfully escape, your lives will be restored, and you will respawn at your last set spawn point in The Overworld.

If you want to know more about the ways you can die, read the Death Compendium.

Tips on Survival

• Heal at every good opportunity and keep an eye on your Blood, Hunger, and Thirst bars. Ensure you have at least some food on you for your adventures, along with wood and a flint for a campfire.
• It is unwise to kill people in general, as player combat is the #1 most dangerous activity in the entirety of Deepwoken and you will NOT survive unless you are skilled enough.
  • Although frowned upon, you can always log off before being hit if you see a player with ill intentions. However, always beware of Combat Tags. There are two types of in Combat Tags (check it's page for a proper explication). If you are in combat, you cannot log off by clicking the menu button in the top left corner. You can, however, log by quitting the game. Doing so while tagged will often kill you, the only exception is beyond above 60% health during a PvE Combat Tag.
  • There is an option in the configurations to turn off the leave game prompt for much faster logging. Heavily recommended.
• Avoid Voidwalkers by increasing your Reputation with the 6 main factions, those being; Etrea , The Central Authority , The Hive , The Summer Company , The Ignition Union , The Divers and also their own faction, The Knives of Eylis
  • Voidwalkers have a distinct black swirling aura around them, though it may not show up until it's too late, so stay alert.
  • If you are in combat, and you clearly aren't strong enough to fight back, run. Get good at dodging and running until you are out of player combat, then log.
  • They cannot legally hunt players below Power 5! See the Bounty Hunting page for details. It also contains information on not being hunted so it's good to check it anyway.
• You are NOT safe in your Guild Base. All placed guild locations are visible on the map and anyone can enter it. Either take care of your business in your guild quickly and quickly leave or hide the door in a place hard to reach!
• Stay near your allies and friends, just having someone near will spook away most toxic players and greatly boost your chances of surviving an encounter with monsters.
• Lower Erisia and in front of The Lordsgrove's Gate, the most common places for leveling, will often have Gankers lurking. Always watch your back, especially if you look like an easy target.
• Entering a Whirlpool sends you to The Depths regardless of current lives, but it will NOT count as a Drowning. As such, you can cleanse your health bar without making your Depths Trial harder.
• If you find yourself in extreme danger and in risk of Wiping in The Depths jumping into the void below while above the stained threshold shown in your health bar will NOT result in a death, instead sending you to the The Ethironal Shrine, the First Floor of the Second Layer of The Depths. Escaping will safely bring you back to The Depths, potentially saving you from restarting everything.
• Always know your own capabilities. There is no shame in not being as skilled as other players as long as you always strive to improve.

Trivia

• In Lore, the first time you die, you're merely "injured", escaping alive - not actually "dead" as in your life being taken away. The second time you will actually die and your body will stay as a normal corpse in the Overworld. When you die, once more, in The Depths, your character truly "die," as your soul is sucked downwards through the layers so fast, the mind is unable to process the information it receives and the soul is torn apart.
  • Escaping The Depths will actually bring you back to life, healing your bodily injuries like a miracle, as described in the Munet Journal, XIV, one of the multiple lore books.
  • Before The Tides, souls who perished ascended into the Moonseye above.