Dragons Dogma 2: Why does my maximum health decrease over time? Dragons Dogma 2 guide, tips

Declining maximum health is one of the key mechanics of DD2. On this page of the guide, we have explained why the maximum health of your character and pawns is declining and whether it can be remedied.

Last update: 28 March 2024

In Dragons Dogma 2, constant plunging into the heat of action and battle and taking wounds can have an unpleasant effect in the form of maximum health capacity taking a hit and being gradually lowered. This effect can really take its toll on the gameplay, often forcing you to retreat from a promising excursion and forsaking your progress, which can be frustrating as well as problematic. On this page of our guide, we explain the reasons behind lowered health capacity and how to counter it.

• Why does my maximum health decrease over time?
• How to counter the health loss?

Why does my maximum health decrease over time?

1. Even if it may seem that way, the diminishing maximum health was envisioned by the developers as an immersion-creating mechanic rather than just being a bug. It is called by the game as Loss effect. When you take damage during battles, a portion of the damage received affects your maximum health - you may consider this as an attempt to make wounds more permanent and lasting and affecting the hero. The effect can accumulate very fast if you've received a series of hits one after another cause of an unlucky streak, making further battles much harder because of the lowered effectiveness of your hero.
2. The Loss effect also comes into play when you die and decide to load the latest save game at the game over screen. This means that at each next attempt at a given battle is harder than the previous one, as with each try you have less health which means chances of dying are increased.

How to counter the health loss?

1. Unfortunately, there isn't a simple method (potion/spell) to remedy the Loss effect, as it is treated as a key game mechanic that is supposed to build immersion. The longer you're in the wild and more skirmishes you weather, the weaker you become.
2. While there is no remedy for this you can craft, you can counter the health loss by resting at an inn (requires a fee) or at a bonfire (requires a camping kit). Such a longer rest will bring the maximum health of both the Arisen and his team to its original capacity. As can be easily understood, this mechanic encourages regular resting and adventuring in moderation.
3. Another option here is choosing the Load from last Inn Rest option in the game over screen - choosing this option will load a save right after resting when your health is at full capacity. However be careful with choosing that option, as it will revert the entire progress you've made from the last inn rest. Resting at bonfires isn't treated by the game as a rest in an inn and doesn't create a separate save state - this means that Load from Last Inn Rest will ignore all rests you've made at bonfires.