Natural regeneration

Both playing characters and most NPCs will receive health regeneration when not in active combat. Players are considered 'not in active combat', while not currently losing health nor attacking or targeting spells or signets on enemies or having signets and spells targeted on them. A few examples are:

• Sacrificing health will end automatic regeneration.
• Carrying a weapon with a vampiric property will prevent automatic regeneration if no other effect counteracts the health loss. If any other effect brings health regeneration to 0 or more (e.g. Fount Of Maguuma), the automatic health regeneration may start.
• Activating healing skills that target yourself will not interfere with automatic regeneration.
• Effects that increase health regeneration can offset conditions that cause health degeneration. If the balance of all such conditions is +0 or better, you will gain automatic regeneration.
• Being targeted by enemy spells or signets will end your automatic health regeneration even if the skills are not successfully activated e.g. cancelled.
• Targeting spells or signets on enemies will end your automatic health regeneration even if the skills are not successfully activated e.g. cancelled.
• Receiving non-zero damage, or attacking or activating a skill that targets an enemy will end automatic regeneration.
• Activating shouts on enemies or PBAoE spells (e.g. Shockwave) or well spells will not stop your automatic health regeneration.

This means that characters can stay in the middle of a combat, attacked by many enemies, and still gain the automatic health regeneration as long as they do not lose health, do not activate spells and signets that target enemies and are not targeted by enemy spells or signets.

For player characters, automatic health regeneration begins with 1 pip of regeneration after a few seconds and will increase every few seconds to a max of 7 pips of regeneration (i.e. 14 health per second). This adds to any existing regeneration, so a character with any other effect granting +3 health regeneration can get up to +10 just by not engaging in active combat.

For NPCs, regeneration exists in a per-case basis. Some NPCs have innate regeneration, others gain regeneration when passive like players do, others depend solely on skills to gain health regeneration, while others doesn't have any kind of regeneration at all.