Status effects

This article is about status effects in Pillars of Eternity. For status effects in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, see Status effects (Deadfire).

Status effects are abnormal states that may have positive or negative effects on party members' or creatures' attributes or actions. They can be gained from spells, potions, items, enemies, traps, etc. and can be healed by resting, certain ability/spells, or will heal automatically after some time.

Afflictions

There is a fairly big list of defined "afflictions" and the penalties they apply. The status effect and the damage of an attack will be checked separately. Some attacks simply have two separate components that succeed or fail independently of each other, but others will be "2-stage": if the main attack at least scores a graze, the second attack will occur separately (and often against a separate defense).

Affliction		Penalties	Caused by
			Cause	Condition
	Bonded Grief	-10 Accuracy -2 Might -2 Resolve	Combat	Applied to the ranger if their animal companion is knocked unconscious (and vice versa).
	Blinded	-4 Perception -25 Accuracy -20 Deflection -20 Reflex -2 Move Speed Allows a rogue's Sneak Attack	Cipher	Eyestrike
			Druid	Sunbeam
			Priest	Searing Seal
			Rogue	Blinding Strike
			Wizard	Chill Fog
				Curse of Blackened Sight
	Charmed	-25 Accuracy -25 Deflection -25 Fortitude -25 Reflex -25 Will ×0.75 Attack Speed Alliance flipped	Chanter	The Lover Cried out to the Beloved, "I am Yours!"
			Cipher	Ringleader
				Whisper of Treason
			Druid	Charm Beast
	Confused	Every 6 seconds the afflicted randomly starts to attack their allies behave normally do nothing move into a random direction	Cipher	Mind Plague
				Tenuous Grasp
			Wizard	Bewildering Spectacle
				Confusion
	Dazed	-2 Dexterity -2 Intellect -2 Perception -10 Accuracy ×0.85 Attack Speed	Cipher	Eyestrike
				Mind Plague
			Priest	Instill Doubt
				Interdiction
			Wizard	Arcane Assault
				Arkemyr's Capricious Hex
				Arkemyr's Dazzling Lights
	Disoriented	-5 to all Defenses for 5 sec	Weapon hit	Lenas Êr
				Pliambo per Casitàs
				Rod of Pale Shades
				Scon Mica's Roar
				Strike Hard
				The Vile Loner's Lance
				The White Spire
	Distracted	-6 to all Defenses -1 Engagement Limit	Rogue	Persistent Distraction [WM2]
				Smoke Cloud [WM1]
	Dominated	Alliance flipped	Cipher	Puppet Master
				Ringleader
	Flanked	-10 Deflection Allows a rogue's Sneak Attack	Cipher	Phantom Foes
			Combat	Standing directly between two engaging foes
	Frightened	-2 Dexterity -2 Resolve -10 Accuracy	Barbarian	Barbaric Yell
			Chanter	Lo, Their Endless Host, the Harbingers Doom
			Cipher	Secret Horrors
				Tenuous Grasp
			Druid	Venombloom
			Priest	Divine Terror
				Holy Radiance
	Hobbled	-2 Dexterity -20 Reflex -3 Move Speed Allows a rogue's Sneak Attack	Chanter	Rime and Frost Followed the Footfalls of Karth
			Cipher	Fractured Volition
			Druid	Spreading Plague
				Tanglefoot
			Fighter	Crippling Guard
			Ranger	Wounding Shot
			Rogue	Crippling Strike
				Fearsome Strike
			Wizard	Kalakoth's Freezing Rake
				Ninagauth's Freezing Pillar
				Wall of Force
	Maimed	-15 Accuracy -15 all Defenses If a Maimed character is again reduced to 0 Health, they will immediately die.	Always	A character becomes Maimed after being reduced to 0 Health.
	Paralyzed	-100 Dexterity -40 Deflection -40 Reflex Allows a rogue's Sneak Attack	Chanter	At the Sound of His Voice, the Killers Froze Stiff
			Cipher	Mental Binding
			Druid	Hold Beasts
			Weapon hits or crits	The Grey Sleeper
			Wizard	Arkemyr's Capricious Hex
				Fetid Caress
				Ninagauth's Shadowflame
	Petrified	-100 Dexterity -40 Deflection -40 Reflex ×2 Damage taken Allows a rogue's Sneak Attack	Wizard	Gaze of the Adragan
			Weapon hits or crits	Greenstone Staff
	Prone	-10 Deflection -10 Reflex -2 Dexterity Knocked down Allows a rogue's Sneak Attack	Cipher	Amplified Wave
				Mind Wave
			Druid	Calling the World's Maw
			Fighter	Clear Out
				Knock Down
			Monk	Force of Anguish
			Priest	Pillar of Faith
				Repulsing Seal
			Ranger	Master's Call
				Takedown
			Weapon crits	Arbalests
				Half-Mast
				Tall Grass
				The Hours of St. Rumbalt
				The Temaperacl
				Wē Toki
			Wizard	Slicken
	Sickened	-1 to all Attributes -10 Fortitude -10 Will	Barbarian	Threatening Presence
			Cipher	Secret Horrors
			Druid	Plague of Insects
				Vile Thorns
			Wizard	Arkemyr's Capricious Hex
				Fetid Caress
				Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage
	Stuck	-2 Dexterity -5 Accuracy -20 Deflection -20 Reflex Immobilized Allows a rogue's Sneak Attack	Cipher	Mental Binding
			Priest	Halt
			Ranger	Binding Roots
			Wizard	Binding Web
	Stunned	Overrides Status Effects#Prone -4 Dexterity -4 Intellect -4 Perception -30 Deflection -30 Reflex Allows a rogue's Sneak Attack	Chanter	The Thunder Rolled like Waves on Black Seas
			Cipher	Silent Scream
			Druid	Overwhelming Wave
				Relentless Storm
			Monk	Rooting Pain
				Stunning Blow
			Ranger	Stunning Shots
			Weapon crits	Aedrin's Wrecker
				Borresaine
				Cladhaliath
				Godansthunyr
				Mabec's Morning Star
				Starcaller
			Wizard	Dimensional Shift
	Terrified	Overrides Status Effects#Frightened -4 Dexterity -4 Resolve -20 Accuracy	Barbarian	Barbaric Shout
			Chanter	Reny Daret's Ghost Spake, "I'll Catch You, Ben Fidel"
			Druid	Nature's Terror
			Wizard	Ryngrim's Enervating Terror
				Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage
	Unconscious	-100 Dexterity -40 Deflection -40 Reflex Allows a rogue's Sneak Attack	Wizard	Call to Slumber
	Weakened	-2 Constitution -2 Might -20 Fortitude -20 Will -2 Move Speed Allows a rogue's Sneak Attack	Cipher	Fractured Volition
			Druid	Spreading Plague
				Wall of Thorns
				Venombloom
			Monk	Enervating Blows
			Priest	Painful Interdiction
				Symbol of Berath
			Rogue	Fearsome Strike
				Withering Strike
			Wizard	Concelhaut's Draining Touch
				Ryngrim's Enervating Terror
				Tayn's Chaotic Orb
				Wilting Wind
				Kalakoth's Freezing Rake

Injury

Party members can become injured by being below the threshold of an option in a scripted interaction or by being knocked down to unconsciousness during combat. An Injury gives a penalty that lasts until the next rest.

Injuries gained in combat are selected semi-randomly from the following list. Being knocked out by Fire, Frost or Shock damage tends to cause its corresponding injury.

Injury		Penalties	During scripted interaction
			Location	Interactable	Requires	Affects
	Bruised Ribs	-4 Constitution	Northweald	Staircase	Athletics 5	Afflicted to the weakest Party member.
	Concussion	-2 Intellect -2 Resolve	Dyrford Ruins	Wymund	Cipher	Afflicted to the player or a cipher companion
			Durgan's Battery (Exterior)	Chasm interaction	Athletics 7 or Dexterity 18	Player
			Northweald	Staircase	Athletics 5	Afflicted to the weakest Party member.
	Frostbite	-10 Fortitude -8 DR (Freeze)
	Severe Burn	-2 Dexterity -8 DR (Burn)
	Severe Wound	-50% Healing Received
	Sprained Wrist	-15 Deflection
	Swollen Eye	-2 Perception	Lle a Rhemen	Broken Stairs	Athletics = 1Verify	Party member with lowest Athletics score
	System Shock	-?? Defense vs. Stunned -8 DR (Shock) Prone
	Twisted Ankle	-25 Reflex
	Wrenched Knee	-3 Move Speed
	Wrenched Shoulder	-2 Might -25% Attack Speed	Pearlwood Bluff
			Durgan's Battery (Exterior)	Chasm interaction	Varies	Player

Fatigue

When a character sustains an injury in combat, they accrue fatigue. Fatigue can also be gained by failing a skill check in dialog or scripted interactions. Fatigue can be "healed" by resting and through the use of certain drugs.

Status		Penalties
	Minor Fatigue	-10 Accuracy, -10% Maximum Endurance
	Major Fatigue	-20 Accuracy, -25% Maximum Endurance
	Critical Fatigue	-30 Accuracy, -50% Maximum Endurance

Note: The following information refers to mechanics that no longer apply to the current version of the game.

As time passes without resting, characters will get fatigued and receive a penalty. How fast this happens depends on the Athletics skill of the character. Fatigue is accrued at a level of 1.0 per in-game second while moving (standing still doesn't increase fatigue), while in combat, while travelling between areas on the world map, and when waiting. When a character's fatigue reaches a certain threshold, a status effect is applied representing the severity of fatigue.

While in combat, a multiplier is applied to the rate at which fatigue increases. This is calculated with 10 + (Athletics * -4.0), which is then limited to a minimum of 1.0 (therefore only characters with 1 and 2 Athletics will become fatigued at a faster rate in combat - at 6x and 2x respectively)

While travelling between areas, the fatigue accrued is reduced by a factor of 0.33.

The thresholds at which a fatigue status is gained is dependent on the characters Athletics. By default minor, major and critical fatigue is gained after 16, 28 and 40 hours without resting, and a multiplier of 1.0 + (Athletics * 0.1) is used to extend it.

Fatigue	Threshold per Athletics skill (hours)
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	...
Minor Fatigue	16.0	17.6	19.2	20.8	22.4	24.0	25.6	27.2	28.8	30.4	32.0	...
Major Fatigue	28.0	30.8	33.6	36.4	39.2	42.0	44.8	47.6	50.4	53.2	56.0	...
Critical Fatigue	40.0	44.0	48.0	52.0	56.0	60.0	64.0	68.0	72.0	76.0	80.0	...

Other than the status effect appearing next to the player's portrait, the screen also becomes vignetted and color tinted the more fatigued the player becomes.

Fatigue was changed in a later patch to the game so that it no longer accrues over time.

Death states

Unconscious

If a character loses all Endurance during a fight they are knocked out for the duration, unable to move or take any actions. Unconscious characters cannot benefit from endurance healing, but they can be revived to life via certain abilities. Once the fight ends they will regain consciousness and eventually recover their Endurance.

Maimed

If a character loses all Health and endurance during a fight, once becoming conscious they will be Maimed and near death. A maimed character may still move and take any actions, but suffer severe penalties to their accuracy and all defenses. If the character gets hit again and are reduced to 0 Health, they must rest to remove Maimed status (and restore Health).

Dead

If a character loses all Health during a fight, and is Maimed (or playing with permadeath), they will die. Dead characters cannot be restored to life and are removed from the game. Their soul leaves their body and their energy will move forward in the eternal cycle.