Injuries & Afflictions
Health, condition, treatment priorities, medical supplies, and recovery
The Long Dark Injuries & Afflictions Guide
Afflictions are one of the fastest ways a strong run can fall apart. This guide explains condition, max condition, blood loss, infection risk, broken ribs, burns, sprains, frostbite, parasites, scurvy, suffocation, severe lacerations, helpful buffs, and how to recover safely.
This is the featured video because it explains condition, max condition, needs, recovery, and death before diving into the more complicated affliction list.
Start here
Quick survival priorities
When multiple problems hit at once, treat the thing that can kill you fastest before worrying about long-term recovery.
Stop blood loss first
Blood loss drains condition fast, stacks per wound, and increases scent. Use a bandage before doing almost anything else.
Treat infection risk
After animal attacks, infection risk can quietly become deadly later. Use antiseptic or old man's beard dressing before sleeping.
Get warm and safe
Cold can drain condition faster than hunger, thirst, or fatigue. Stabilize warmth before committing to repairs, cooking, or long recovery.
Do not sleep blindly
Food poisoning, infection, freezing, and severe lacerations can punish long sleeps. Check your status screen before resting.
Health basics
Condition, max condition, and need drain
Understanding the health bar matters more than memorizing every status effect. Some damage is temporary, while some reduces how much health you can recover.
Current Condition
Your current condition is your active health bar. Falls, animal attacks, starvation, dehydration, exhaustion, freezing, and afflictions can reduce it.
Maximum Condition
Some afflictions reduce the size of your health bar. These are more serious because normal rest cannot fully restore your condition until the cause is healed.
Need Drain
Warmth, thirst, fatigue, and hunger all matter, but cold is usually the most urgent because freezing can drain condition extremely quickly.
Emergency order
Treatment priority
This is the simple order to follow after an animal attack, fall, burn, toxic area mistake, or bad travel decision.
Treat the run-ending problem first
Blood loss, infection risk, freezing, suffocation risk, and severe laceration timing can punish you quickly. Pain, minor bruises, headaches, and some debuffs are often less urgent. Check the status screen before sleeping, passing time, or committing to long tasks.
Rule of thumb: if it drains condition, blocks escape, caps max condition, or can kill you while sleeping, handle it before anything else.
1. Stop the bleed
Bandage blood loss immediately. Multiple blood loss instances stack, so check the status screen and treat each one.
2. Remove infection risk
Once bleeding is handled, use antiseptic or old man's beard dressing on infection risk before sleeping.
3. Stabilize warmth
Get indoors, build a fire, drink something hot, or change travel plans if freezing is still draining condition.
4. Plan recovery
Broken ribs, parasites, scurvy, and severe lacerations require time management, supplies, and safe rest.
Medical kit
The supplies you should carry
A few simple supplies cover most emergencies. The exact amount depends on difficulty and route, but these categories matter on every run.
Bandages
Bandages are the most important medical item because they stop blood loss and are used for sprains, burns, and broken ribs.
Antiseptic
Antiseptic or old man's beard dressing handles infection risk after animal struggles or wounds.
Antibiotics
Antibiotics or reishi tea help with illnesses like infection and food poisoning. Keep some ready before risky eating or long travel.
Pain Relief
Painkillers or rose hip tea help with burns, broken ribs, and sprains, but minor pain itself is often safe to wait out.
Injuries
Common injuries and what they mean
These are the injuries you are most likely to see from wildlife, falls, steep terrain, fire, cold, and dangerous travel.
Blood Loss
Blood loss is one of the most urgent injuries. It drains condition quickly, can stack, and makes you smellier to predators.
Broken Ribs
Broken ribs usually come from moose struggles. They reduce stamina and carry capacity and can block rope routes unless you use an emergency stim.
Burns
Burns can come from fire, noisemakers, or aurora electricity. The source can kill fast, so leave the hazard before thinking about treatment.
Sprains
Sprains come from steep terrain, falls, wildlife, fatigue, and encumbrance. An ankle sprain blocks sprinting, while wrist sprains can block weapon use.
Frostbite
Frostbite permanently lowers maximum condition. Prevention matters more than treatment, especially early in Interloper or when clothing is frozen.
Severe Lacerations
Severe lacerations are one of the scariest injuries because they reduce max condition and can cause repeated blood loss later.
Run enders
Most dangerous afflictions
Some afflictions are annoying. These are the ones that deserve special planning because they can permanently weaken you, trap you, or kill you outright.
Parasites
Parasites are tied to predator meat risk. Once active, you need daily treatment or the max condition and fatigue penalties can spiral badly.
Cabin Fever
Cabin Fever prevents indoor sleeping and passing time. It is managed by spending enough time outside, in cars, fishing huts, or outdoor shelters.
Scurvy
Scurvy is a long-term vitamin C problem. Clearing the warning once is not enough; you need to rebuild vitamin C over time.
Suffocation
Suffocation risk appears in toxic air areas. If the timer reaches zero, you die regardless of condition.
Infection
Infection can be easy to forget after an animal struggle because bleeding and condition are more obvious. Treat infection risk before resting.
Food Poisoning / Dysentery
Food poisoning and dysentery are usually manageable, but they can ruin recovery if you are already weak, cold, or far from shelter.
Recovery tools
Helpful buffs worth using
Not every affliction is bad. Some are useful buffs that help you recover condition, travel farther, avoid sprains, survive cold, or escape emergencies.
Improved Rest
Drink herbal tea before sleeping to improve condition recovery during rest. It is one of the simplest ways to recover after a bad day.
Restore Condition
Birch bark tea restores condition over time and is valuable because it can help recover condition passively.
Warming Up
Hot drinks and hot food can slow cold buildup, making travel safer during bad weather or cold region crossings.
Well Fed
Well Fed rewards you for avoiding starvation. It increases max condition and carry capacity as long as you keep calories above zero.
Sure Footing
Crampons help with sprains, rope climbing, and weak ice. They are especially useful for mountain travel and risky routes.
Energy Boost
Energy drinks and emergency stims can save your life, but the crash afterward can leave you exhausted and vulnerable.
More videos
Supporting injury and affliction videos
Use these videos for deeper explanations of individual afflictions, dangerous status effects, recovery buffs, and older injury mechanics.
Every Single Injury and Debuff
A detailed reference for blood loss, broken ribs, burns, lacerations, sprains, severe lacerations, suffocation risk, torn clothing, pain, headache, burdened, and gorged.
Most Dangerous Afflictions
A focused breakdown of run-ending afflictions like parasites, broken ribs, cabin fever, frostbite, scurvy, severe lacerations, suffocation, infection, dysentery, and food poisoning.
Afflictions Guide Part 1: Benefits
Explains helpful afflictions and buffs like Armored, Energy Boost, Improved Rest, Restore Condition, Sure Footing, Warming Up, and Well Fed.
Afflictions Guide Part 2: Injuries
A classic injury reference covering blood loss, broken ribs, bruising, burns, frostbite, lacerations, pain, sprains, and suffocation.
Mistakes
Common health mistakes
Most medical problems become deadly because the player sleeps too long, ignores a warning, treats the wrong thing, or recovers in a bad place.
Sleeping with hidden danger
Do not sleep just because bleeding is gone. Check infection risk, freezing, food poisoning, and severe laceration timing first.
Ignoring frostbite risk
Frostbite is not just another temporary warning. Once it becomes frostbite, the max condition loss is permanent.
Using medicine too casually
Pain is often tolerable, while blood loss and infection risk are urgent. Save supplies for what can actually kill you.
Recovering in a bad location
Broken ribs, parasites, and scurvy are much easier to survive if you recover near food, water, firewood, and safe shelter.
Entering toxic air tired
Suffocation risk uses a short real-time timer. Do not enter toxic mine areas encumbered, exhausted, or unsure of the route.
Forgetting long-term nutrition
Scurvy is not solved by barely clearing the warning. Rebuild vitamin C with a longer plan, especially in late-game saves.
A safe recovery is part of survival
The Long Dark does not only punish bad fights. It punishes bad recovery. A survivor who stops bleeding but sleeps through infection, freezes in a bad bedroll spot, ignores frostbite risk, or tries to travel with broken ribs can still lose the run. Treat the emergency, check the status screen, then recover somewhere with warmth, water, food, fuel, and a way to wait safely.
Next guides
Prevent the next emergency
Health ties into warmth, food, hunting, travel, and crafting. These guides help prevent the injuries and afflictions before they happen.
Clothing & Warmth
Prevent frostbite, hypothermia, wet clothing problems, and cold-related condition loss.
Food, Water & Cooking
Avoid food poisoning, dysentery, scurvy issues, starvation, dehydration, and poor recovery.
Hunting & Wildlife
Avoid blood loss, infection risk, broken ribs, cougar danger, wolf struggles, and bear maulings.
Tools & Crafting
Prepare bandages, teas, clothing repairs, crafted gear, and survival tools before emergencies happen.