Health (DX)

This page describes the game mechanics for the health attribute in Deus Ex.

Player character
The player character (JC Denton) has separate health values for each of six body parts: head, torso, left arm, right arm, left leg, and right leg. Each body part has 100 HP.

The head and torso take double damage, whereas limbs take normal damage. Therefore, even though all body parts have 100 HP, the limbs are more durable than the head and torso when damage multiplier are accounted for. Note that health values for the player character are not directly comparable to health values of NPCs, since the player character and NPCs are subject to different damage modifiers.

Head and torso health are considered to be "critical" in that JC dies if either his head health or torso health is reduced to zero, but does not die if any (or all) of his limbs are reduced to zero health. If any of JC's limbs are reduced to zero health, further damage to that limb will be taken by the torso instead.

Body damage penalties
Loss of health to the arms and/or head will incur the following penalties to accuracy. The maximum total penalty is -55%, which occurs when both arms are fully damaged and head health is below 67 HP. Loss of health to the legs and/or torso will incur the following movement-related penalties. If both legs are at 0 HP, the player is forced to crouch and is unable to walk, run or jump. Additionally, movement speed is set at 80% of the base movement speed, regardless of the penalties listed above.

Healing
Lost health can be regained by the following means:


 * Consumption of medkits
 * Use of the Regeneration augmentation
 * Use of a medical robot
 * Small amounts of health can be regained by using water coolers and fountains and by consuming food and drinks (soy food, candy bar, soda, forty, liquor, and wine)

Human NPCs
Similar to the player character, human non-player characters (NPCs) also have separate health values for each of the six body parts: HealthHead, HealthTorso, HealthArmLeft, HealthArmRight, HealthLegLeft, HealthLegRight. Human NPCs also have a seventh parameter called Health, which is used to track the NPC's overall health, as described below.

Generic NPC types have the same default value for all seven health parameters. Common NPC types and their health values (for all seven health parameters) are listed below. Some named characters have a value of HealthHead (head health) that is higher than that of the other 6 health parameters. For example, Gunther Hermann has a value of 600 for HealthHead, but has a value of only 400 for Health and all other body parts.

Overall health
Human NPCs die (or become unconscious) when their "overall health" reaches zero. Overall health (also known as "total health") refers to the current value of the Health parameter, and constitutes the actual measure of health for the NPC. Overall health is calculated from the individual health values of the body parts as follows:


 * Overall Health = Default Health × ( 100% - ( Head Damage % + Torso Damage % + Limb Damage % ) )

In the above formula,


 * "Default Health" is the default value of the "Health" parameter, as shown in the above table.
 * "Head Damage %" is the percentage of head health (HealthHead) that has been lost.
 * "Torso Damage %" is the percentage of torso health (HealthTorso) that has been lost.
 * "Limb Damage %" is the percentage of the total health of 2.5 limbs that has been lost. For example, if a common trooper has sustained 35 damage at each of the four limbs (140 damage total), then "Limb Damage %" is 140/250 = 56%. Since this parameter is normalized to a total base health of 2.5 limbs, the value of this parameter may range from 0 to 160%.

Therefore, like the player character, human NPCs die when their torso or head health is reduced to zero.

However, unlike the player character, human NPCs will also die if any combination of head, torso, and/or limb damage brings their overall health to zero. For example, 0% overall health would result from the combination of 50% head health and 50% torso health, or the combination of 80% torso health and two fully damaged limbs. Note that human NPCs can die solely from limb damage, by losing 2.5 limbs.

The Targeting augmentation, when upgraded to tech 3 or higher, allows the player to see the overall health of NPCs, as well as the health values for each of the six body parts.

Robots and animals
Robots and animals (e.g., dobermans, greasels, grays, and karkians) use a single health stat. Unlike human NPCs, who receive damage to specific body parts and whose actual health is derived from the individual health of six body parts, robots and creatures receive damage directly to their "Health" parameter. Additionally, robots have a separate health pool, EMP health, that is reduced only by EMP damage.

The body-parts health system used for human NPCs does not normally apply to robots and creatures. However, some damage effects are hardcoded to specifically deduct torso health (and will also update the overall health of the objecting taking damage using the above "overall health" formula), regardless of whether or not the object taking damage is a human NPC. These damage effects typically do not apply to robots and creatures, but when they do apply, the game usually treats robots and creatures as having a torso health (HealthTorso) of 100 HP, even if their default health (Health) is much higher.

For example, the "on fire" damage-over-time effect (caused by the flamethrower and WP rockets of the GEP gun) deducts 5 HP from torso health every second and updates health using the "overall health" formula. Since the karkian is treated as having a torso health of 100 HP (despite having a health of 400 HP under normal circumstances), a loss of 5 HP in torso health will scale to a loss of 20 HP in overall health.

Destructible world objects
Most destructible world objects belong to the class DeusExDecoration or DeusExMover.

The DeusExDecoration class includes breakable crates, barrels, security cameras, alarm panels, and turrets. These objects have a hit points (HitPoints) attribute, which defines the amount of damage that the object can take before being destroyed. Most breakable objects have low hit points. For example, breakable supply crates have a HP of 10. However, security cameras, alarm panels, and turrets have a minimum damage threshold that renders them immune to low-damaging attacks.

The DeusExMover class includes doors, container panels, and breakable walls. These objects have a door strength (doorStrength) attribute, which serves as a health attribute. Door strength is measured in percentages (where 1% corresponds to 1 point of damage) and is displayed in-game along with the separate "lock strength" attribute. A door strength of "INF" means that the object is indestructible by force. Doors, container panels, and breakable walls also typically have a minimum damage threshold, which is a hidden stat that is separate from door strength.