Death
From Guild Wars Wiki
This article is about the death mechanic. For the necromancer attribute sometimes abbreviated as Death, see Death Magic.
Death occurs whenever a character's health drops to zero. In some modes of gameplay whenever a character dies, he/she incurs a -15% death penalty which reduces his/her maximum health and energy. Any party member who dies may be resurrected by a party member with an appropriate resurrection skill. Death also causes the loss of all Energy and Adrenaline, removes most effects and prevents Energy regeneration. A dead character is not a valid target for any skills except for resurrection skills and skills which specifically state that they target a corpse.
[edit] Dying in an explorable area
If all player-controlled characters are killed in an explorable area and there are no heroes or henchmen traveling with the party who are capable of resurrection, then a timer until resurrection will begin. Once the timer reaches zero the entire party (both living and dead characters) will vanish and reappear at the nearest resurrection shrine. Heroes and Henchmen who were still alive will retain their current health and energy levels, but resurrected characters will come back to life with full health and energy. There is no limit to the number of times this can happen, except in Hard Mode. In Hard Mode the entire party will be returned to the outpost if every member reaches the maximum of -60% death penalty.
[edit] Dying on a mission
If all player-controlled characters are killed during a mission, and there are no NPCs traveling with the party who are capable of resurrection, then the mission is failed. There are no resurrection shrines in mission areas; the only option available to a defeated party is to return to the outpost and try again. However, if player-controlled characters remain alive, even if they are unable to resurrect the fallen party members, they can try to complete the mission. If they succeed, then everyone in the party (both living and dead characters) is considered to have completed the mission.
[edit] Dying during PvP
If a player is killed during a PvP battle, then his/her fate depends on the nature of the arena. In some arenas, resurrection shrines resurrect players just as in explorable areas. In other arenas, players must depend on their allies for resurrection. Some arenas do not apply death penalties to characters who die, and some even have resurrection points that can be controlled by one side or the other.
[edit] Instant death
A few effects can cause instant death, such as the expiration of Vengeance, or being hit by an automatically lethal hazard in PvE such as a boulder. Additionally, there are many instant death effects which only affect minions, spirits or summoned creatures in general, such as Verata's Aura, Reclaim Essence and Signet of Binding.
[edit] Notes
- Characters always gain their share of party experience, even while dead.
- If a party member carries the party though a portal to a new area, all dead characters will be alive again when the party appears on the other side.
- There is a short grace period from death penalty after resurrection, dying quickly after being revived will grant no penalty. The exact length of this protection is unknown.
- Being resurrected at a resurrection shrine leaves a character untouchable for 5 seconds.
- Upon death, characters will leave behind an exploitable corpse, which necromancers can use to create minions, wells, and various other effects. Having your corpse exploited does not mean that you cannot be resurrected. If you are resurrected and killed again, your corpse can be exploited again.
- You can see a count of your deaths with the /deaths command. Avoiding death completely will eventually earn you the Survivor title. Not all kinds of death increment the counter and break the title.
- A player who is dead can click on another character's name in the party window and see things from that character's point of view, much as the mechanics of observer mode. If resurrected during this time, their point of view immediately returns to their own character, which can be disorienting if unexpected.
Bug.- While dead, the screen is tinted gray if postprocessing effects are enabled. Spectating another living party member or being resurrected will remove the gray tint.
Bug.
