Dungeon Settlers Near Death, First Aid and Surgery

Near Death

Health is split into torso and head. When head health reaches zero, the settler is downed in the Near Death state and their health bar becomes a death meter. Any further damage kills them for good, although enemies usually go for living targets first.

CanOpener lengthened the Near Death timer so that, even without first aid kits or serums, you have a real chance to carry a critically injured settler home. Near Death still carries a strong mood penalty afterwards (Severely Damaged, -5 ambient mood). Since v0.4.12 the Near Death state takes priority over Severely Exhausted.

First aid

• First Aid kits rescue a downed ally. Select a healthy settler and right-click the downed one, or open the context menu with Alt and choose first aid.
• Since v0.4.17, a nature mage’s Healing Touch no longer overrides First Aid when you right-click a downed ally.
• Ointments and serums restore health; Wild Herbs heal slowly but cost -10 mood for 10 seconds.

Surgery

Badly injured settlers can need an operation back at the settlement. CanOpener’s own short “When your settler needs surgery” shows it, the demo patch notes added a “doing surgery” icon, and Rhadamant’s series has an episode with two life-saving operations. Build your medical setup before the second region.

When a settler dies

• Death is permanent: “once dead, there is no coming back”.
• Other settlers get a mood penalty (Companion Dead -2; Abandoned Companion -1 if you leave the body in a portal).
• Graves are in the game, so you can bury the fallen.
• A second mental break also kills instantly; see mood and stress.

To avoid all of this, read the combat tips and keep a healer in the party (party builds).