Downed Status, Death Saves and How to Revive Dead Charact... (2024)

Should a character in your party ever sustain damage equal to or greater than their Hit Points, they’ll be downed and potentially dying, savable only by their own fortitude or, perhaps, the kindly attentions of their companions. This page will cover what happens when characters are downed in Baldur’s Gate 3, Death Saves, and how to keep characters from dying.

Down and Dying in Baldur’s Gate 3¶

If a character’s Hit Points are depleted, they’ll be Downed, a status effect that indicates they are helpless, unconscious and otherwise incapacitated. The situation is actually more dire, however, as Downed characters are actually dying, and may expire if they don’t recover, either on their own or with the assistance of an ally. Downed characters cannot take any actions, they will automatically attempt a Death Save every turn, otherwise skipping any other actions.

Death Saves in Baldur’s Gate 3¶

When Downed, a character is also dying, and must make a “Death Save” every turn they are Downed. This isn’t a proper [Saving Throw] - you don’t have Proficiency in it, nor are Ability Score modifiers applied, for better or worse. It’s a simple d20 roll, with a Difficulty Class of 10 - roll a ten or higher and you succeed, 9 or lower and you fail. You make a Death Saves every turn until you’ve either passed three Death Saves or failed three Death saves (cumulatively, not in a row). If you pass three Death Saves, that character recovers and will regain one Hit Point. If their Hit Points are again reduced to 0, they’ll be Downed and dying again and will have to make more Death Saves. If you fail three Death Saves, the character dies. If a Downed character takes any damage, they will automatically fail their next Death Save.

How to Help a Downed Character in Baldur’s Gate 3¶

While it’s possible for a Downed character to recover on their own, a helping hand can mean the difference between life and death. Just as enemies deal damage to a Downed character will cause them to fail their next Death Save, providing a Downed character with any healing will cause them to instantly recover, rejoining combat without consequence with as many Hit Points as they were healed for. Again, any source of healing will do - Healing Word, Cure Wounds, Lay on Hand, you name it. It also doesn’t matter how many Death Saves that character previously passed or failed - they’re safe if they get any healing whatsoever, no matter how long they’ve languished.

If you don’t have healing, you can still help Downed companions by getting close to them and using the aptly named “Help” command. This uses an Action and can only be performed in melee range, but it will bring them back up to 1 HP and into the fight. Any character can use the Help command.

How to Revive Dead Characters in Baldur’s Gate 3¶

Should a character fail three Death Saves in a row, they will die. A dead character is beyond normal healing, only spells and effects that specifically revive the dead can bring them back. The most common source of reviving dead characters is with the Revivify spell, a 3rd-level spell that can be cast by !Clerics and Paladins (note: Revivify is a 3rd-level spell, a !Cleric needs to be 5th-level to cast 3rd-level spells, and !Paladins can’t cast 3rd-level spells until they reach 9th-level.) It’ll take a while before Shadowheart - or a !Cleric of your own - is casting those spells, but in the meantime you can just use Scrolls of Revivify. You should start the game with one, and companions may possess more when they join you.