Defeated

A defeated character is one that is unable to move, use skills, or interact with their surroundings. It is similar to the death mechanic of other games.

Dead ally overhead icon

Acquisition

Player characters are defeated in one of these circumstances:

• By taking more falling damage than their current health.
• By taking more mechanical damage than their maximum health, e.g. from a trap.
• In combat, if they are unable to rally after becoming downed.
• If they lose all health while suffering three points of downed penalty.
• If they are not yet level 5 and lose all health.
• In WvW, whenever a player logs out or changes maps during combat.
• Any combination of above, e.g. taking falling damage after being launched off a ledge while downed.

Defeat after being downed

Primary article: Downed

A downed character will become defeated if their downed health bar reaches zero. This bar decreases over time, unless players or allies take steps to counteract the effect. Players can rally by killing a foe, healing themselves using their bandage skill, or being revived by an ally.

Defeat via downed penalty

Primary article: Downed penalty

Players who enter downed state acquire a downed penalty. Each defeat within the next minute removes another 25% of downed health, so a character will become immediately defeated if they become downed a fourth time within 60 seconds of the third time.

Effects

• In the open world, players will have to use a waypoint to rejoin the game, unless an ally is available to revive them.
  • In dungeons, players are unable to use waypoints until all other members of the party are out of combat.
  • Similarly, in Fractals of the Mists, players must wait until the rest of the party is out of combat to return to a checkpoint.
• Death Count (accessible by typing /deaths in chat box) +1.

Notes

• In PvE, nearby defeated players are shown as a defeated icon on your Mini Map; this icon will always show for defeated team mates in PvP even if they are not nearby.
• In PvP, defeated enemies do not show on the mini map as a defeated icon; instead, they show on the right side of the screen, after the player and skill that defeated them.

Trivia

• During the beta stages, this status was referred to as "death" in several descriptions. This change reflects the fact in lore that resurrections are no longer as easy since the Six Human Gods pulled back their avatars and ceased direct interaction with Tyria. Because of this, defeated players are never considered to be dead in lore.
• Being defeated in combat used to degrade one random piece of armor. If all equipped pieces or armor were damaged, one piece would become broken and no longer apply its bonuses to the character. Damaged and broken armor could be repaired at no cost. This mechanic was removed with the 28 June 2022 game update.