Health regeneration

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Time heals all wounds.

— A loading screen tip

This page discusses how the player health regeneration mechanism works, and how equipment and buffs affect the regeneration rate.[1]

If the player is not hit for a short time, health starts regenerating until the player is hit again. The rate at which the player regenerates health is dependent on five factors:

  1. The player's maximum health: a higher maximum health means a faster regeneration rate.
  2. Movement: if the player is standing still, their regeneration rate is increased by a factor of ×1.25.
  3. Rest: if the player is lying on a bed or sitting on a chair or sofa, their regeneration rate is boosted by a factor of ×1.5.
  4. Time since the player was damaged: the longer it's been since the player was last damaged, the faster their regeneration rate will be; this caps at 60 seconds (1 in-game hour) after which the regeneration rate no longer rises.
  5. Buffs and debuffs: for a feel, a detailed explanation is given below, but keep in mind that the numbers do not represent health regeneration directly; they are just factors (higher is better).

The time the player has to wait until regeneration starts is highly variable from roughly 1/10th of a second to 17 seconds (32 seconds on Expert Mode) and is again dependent on maximum life, movement, and buffs/debuffs.

Source

Below is a list of things that provide health regeneration.

Item Regeneration (per second) Trigger Notes
Band of RegenerationBand of Regeneration (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 1 / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 0.5 Equip
Charm of MythsCharm of Myths (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 1 / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 0.5 Equip
Werewolf (buff)Werewolf (buff) 0.5 Equip Moon Charm or its upgrades, during night
Sun StoneSun Stone 1 Equip during day
Moon StoneMoon Stone 1 Equip during night
Celestial StoneCelestial Stone 1 Equip
Celestial ShellCelestial Shell(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 1 Equip
Shiny StoneShiny Stone(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 1 Equip Slowly increases regeneration rate over time, canceling out when the player moves or uses most items. Expert mode only.
RegenerationRegeneration 2 Consume Regeneration Potion Buff lasts for 8 minutes.
Honey (buff)Honey (buff) 1 Stand in Honey Buff lasts 30 seconds after leaving Honey.
Dryad's BlessingDryad's Blessing(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 3 Near the Dryad
Cozy FireCozy Fire 0.5, 1.1×base regeneration rate Stand near a Campfire
Heart LampHeart Lamp 1 Stand near a Heart Lantern
Crimson armorCrimson armor 1.5×base regeneration rate Equip full set Heals 1 health per "tick". Like natural regeneration, "tick"s occur more frequently when standing still or when not damaged recently.
Rapid HealingRapid Healing (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 2 / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 3 Hit enemy while wearing full set of Palladium armor Buff lasts for 5 seconds.
Solar Flare armorSolar Flare armor(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 3 (1 per piece) Equip
Life DrainLife Drain(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 1.5 Damage enemies with weapon Provides regeneration buff while weapon is damaging enemies
Life NebulaLife Nebula(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 3 per level Collect a Life Booster Lasts for 8 seconds and can be stacked up to three times. One stack is removed at a time, upon which the timer resets itself.
Valhalla Knight's BreastplateValhalla Knight's Breastplate(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 4 Equip
Squire's Great HelmSquire's Great Helm(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 2 Equip
ChairChair 2 (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Sitting in a Chair
Hearty MealHearty Meal(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 3 Hit targets with the Ham Bat Buff lasts for 7 seconds.
Vital CrystalVital Crystal(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Speeds up regeneration rate by 20% Consume the item Effect lasts permanently.

Details

Health regeneration (HR) is determined by the following formula:

alt=\mathit{regeneration_{health}} = \frac{1}{2} \times \left( \left( \underbrace{ \left( \frac{\mathit{health_{max}}}{400}\times0.85+0.15 \right) \times \mathit{time} }_{\mathtt{regen}} \times \underbrace{ \mathit{move} \times \mathit{rest} \times \mathit{expert} }_{\mathtt{special}} \right) + \underbrace{ \mathit{buff} }_{\mathtt{buffs}} \right) and gives the health per second the player regenerates.

The formula can be split in to 3 parts and a bit of rounding:

  1. The regen part consists of:
    • healthmax: maximum Health of the player.
    • time: factor for the time that has passed since the last hit taken. A detailed definition can be found in the detailed explanation.
      • The time value starts at 0, and rises by 1 every 5 seconds for the first 30 seconds. After that, it rises by 1 every 10 seconds, to a maximum of 9. (0<=time<=9) That means this part is 0 for at the first 5 seconds, but reaches 6 after 30 seconds, and 9 after 60 seconds. This does not consider the Shiny Stone buff, which can raise the time value to a maximum of 38, and alters the algorithm in other ways (see below).
  2. The buffs part:
    • buff: modifiers from the buffs and debuffs. All "R+n" values from the Buff and Debuff section can be added here (the n-part). (There are some buffs which affect other parts of the algorithm; again, see below.) This is the easiest part as the buffs are just added to the regeneration. This takes place after all other natural regeneration calculations, as regen from buffs is not affected by special modifiers or Bleeding. However, many (see list below) will be nullified by damaging debuffs, like Poisoned.
  3. The special part consists of:
    • move: either 0.5 if the player is moving or 1.25 if the player is standing still.
    • rest: 1, except if the player is sitting on a chair or lying on a bed, in which case it is 1.5.
    • expert: 1, except if the player is in expert mode and does not have the well fed buff, in which case it is 0.5.

All this is rounded to the nearest whole number and finally divided by 2 to get the regeneration per second.

The player will regenerate HR per second, not considering the 2 buffs Shiny Stone and Rapid Healing. This means if the player has HR=0.5 they will regain 1 health per 2 seconds and if the player has HR=5 they will regain 5 health per second. (Technically, rather than 5 health per second, they will get 1 health every 12 ticks[2] of game time.)

Notes

  • Buffs can help to reduce the time when the regeneration starts.
  • A starting player will start regenerating health after 12 seconds (17 seconds on expert mode) if standing still or 17 seconds (32 expert mode) while moving. After consuming their first Heart Crystal, this drops to 7 seconds while standing still.

Technical explanation

The player has these health regeneration stats:

  • Regeneration Time (RT): How long the character has been regenerating for. This normally increases +1 per tick, capped at 3600, and resets to zero when the character takes damage (stopping regeneration).
  • Regeneration Rate (R): Hit Points (HP) regenerated per tick (1 point of R is equal to 0.5 HP/s). This increases the longer the RT (the longer the player has been avoiding damage).
  • Regeneration Counter (RC): Increases by R per tick, becomes 120 or over, or -120 or less, it will be reduced or increased by 120, and player will gain or lose 1 health.

The Regeneration Rate (R) determines how fast the RC changes. R is normally 0 or positive, but could be negative if the player is inflicted with any life-draining debuffs, like Poisoned.

Calculation

The base Regeneration Rate (R) is mainly determined by the Regeneration Time (RT), player's max Health (mHP), and whether player is standing or moving.

First, The RT is converted to an Effective Regeneration Time (eRT).

  • If RT <= 1800, each 300 RT boosts eRT +1.
  • If RT > 1800, each 600 RT above 1800 boosts eRT +1.

Here is an illustration of the relationship between RT and eRT:

RT 0~299 300~599 600~899 900~1199 1200~1499 1500~1799 1800~2399 2400~2999 3000~3599 3600
eRT 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Then, the base Regeneration Rate R = (mHP / 400 * 0.85 + 0.15) * eRT

  • If the player is standing still, R will be multiplied by 1.25.
  • If the player is moving, it will be multiplied by 0.5.

Finally, it will be rounded to the nearest whole number.

So, for a brief conclusion: the longer player not getting hurt, the higher maximum health player has, the higher for the natural health regeneration rate. Also, standing still gives a 2.5X healing bonus compared to moving. Using an item does not count as moving.

After all of the above, if the player is in Expert Mode and does not have a Well Fed buff, R will be multiplied by 0.5.

Item and buff effects

R is also affected by other items and buffs.

Note: Despite drowning being similar to life-draining debuffs, it only resets the RT and does not affect the RC and R. It directly reduces Hit Points instead.

Buffs

Item/Buff Effect
Heart Lantern R +2
Campfire R +1 and base R x1.1
Crimson armor Base R x1.5
RT +1 per tick
Life Drain R +3 (and 1 per 2 additional enemies affected)
RT +5 per tick (and 1 per 2 additional enemies affected)
Rapid Healing RC +4 per tick
Resting or Sitting Base R x1.3

RT +3 per tick

These apply if the player does not have any life-draining debuffs:

Item/Buff Effect
Werewolf R +1
Band of Regeneration

Charm of Myths

Moon/Sun/Celestial Stone

Celestial Shell

Squire's Great Helm

Solar Flare armor (each piece)

R +2
Regeneration R +4
Dryad's Blessing R +6
Valhalla Knight's Breastplate R +8
Life Nebula Sets R = 0 if it's less than 0
R +6 for each buff level (18 at the third level)

Regen debuffs

  • Feral Bite debuff: Base R is multiplied x0.5.
  • Bleeding debuff: Keeps RT reset to 0, so base R remains at 0.

Life-draining debuffs

These cancel the R boosts in the second table above, reset RT to 0, and reduce R by these values:

Note: If the player is under the debuff of Burning or Suffocation, instead of losing 1 health when RC reaches -120, the player will always lose 5 health when RC reaches -600.

Honey

If Then
R ≤ -4 R boosted +6
-4 < R ≤ 0 R set to 2
R > 0 R boosted +2
  • Which means Honey reduces the rate of any life-draining debuff.
  • Honey additionally boosts RT +2 per tick (RT increase is 3× as fast).

Shiny Stone

If the player is using items or not standing still, it will reset the multipliers of the Feral Bite debuff and Expert mode to 0.75 from 0.5. Both of them only reduce the regeneration speed by 25% instead of the previous 50%. It will also multiply base R ×1.1.

If the player is not using any items and almost standing still (it allows small amounts of movement), the following effects are applied in addition to those above:

  1. If the player has any life-draining debuffs so that R is less than 0, R is reduced by half (if the player also has Honey buff, then it increases R by 4 first (but no more than 0), then, R is reduced by half, finally, the Honey buff additionally increase R by 2.).
  2. R +4.
  3. RT +4 per tick.
  4. If 90 < RT < 1800, RT is reset to 1800.
  5. When RT > 3000, it will remove the RT cap, and every 300 RT above 3000 will boost eRT +1 (this part is capped at 30, so it will give an eRT maxed at 38 instead of the previous 9).
  6. Finally, if R > 0, RC is boosted +1 per tick.

So, if the player is at 600 max HP, with the Shiny Stone and standing still, in Expert mode, without Well Fed:

  • R = (600 ÷ 400 × 0.85 + 0.15) × 38 × 1.25 × 0.75 × 1.1 + 4 = 63
  • RC is additionally boosted +1 per tick
  • = 32 Hit Points per second regeneration rate.

A more complex example

To illustrate how items, buffs and debuffs interact with each other, here is a more complex example:

Assume the player has the Venom, On Fire! debuffs, the Regeneration and Honey buffs, has the Shiny Stone and Charm of Myths equipped, is standing next to a Heart Lantern, and is standing still.

According to the above, here is how life regeneration can be determined:

  1. The Regeneration buff and Charm of Myths (pre-1.4.1) increase R by 4 and 1 respectively, so, R = 5.
  2. The life-draining debuffs cancel out the effect above and set R to 0.
  3. The Venom and On Fire! debuffs reduce R by 12 and 8 respectively, so, R = -20.
  4. Because R < 0, the Honey buff increases R by 6, so, R = -14.
  5. As R is still less than 0, the Shiny Stone cuts it in half, so, R = -7.
  6. Then the Honey buff, Shiny Stone, and Heart Lantern increase R by 2, 4, and 2 respectively, so, R = 1.
  7. Because the player has life-draining debuffs, RT will remain at 0, so player will not have natural health regeneration.
  8. As R is greater than 0, the Shiny Stone will provide the RC +1 per tick bonus.

Thus, the player has R + 1, and will gain health.

But, if the player places a Campfire nearby, it will give R +1 boost and give the player a 0.5 HP/s regeneration rate. In addition, because R > 0, the Shiny Stone will now provide a RC +1 per tick bonus, granting an additional 0.5 HP/s regeneration rate. Thus, the player will now have a 1.5 HP/s regeneration rate.

However, if the player has the Rapid Healing buff (which gives the RC +6 per tick effect and does not affect R) instead of placing a Campfire, the Shiny Stone will not provide the RC +1 per tick bonus. So instead, the player will have a 3.5 HP/s regeneration rate.

References

  1. Information taken from the Desktop version Desktop 1.3.5.3 source code, method UpdateLifeRegen() in Terraria.Player.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.
  2. A tick is a time unit countable by the software. Most of Terraria's updating logic happens every tick. A tick has the length of 1/60th of a second, hence there are 60 ticks in a second and 3600 ticks in a minute.