Death penalty (commonly abbreviated as "DP") reduces your maximum health and energy values by the current % amount of the penalty. Every time you earn a penalty, it is added to your current total; this total cannot exceed -60%. A Death Penalty is the opposite of a Morale Boost, although both are added together for a cumulative effect.
Note: The terms "morale boost" and "death penalty" are also used to describe whether this cumulative effect is positive or negative.
Sources
As the name says, Death Penalty is caused by death, whether through being killed or suiciding. Each death compounds your DP by -15%.
Note: Certain deaths do not incur a death penalty, such as dying while still waiting for skills to recharge after a Rebirth, dying after being resurrected by Vengeance or Unyielding Aura, dying from walking through Sulfurous Haze in the Desolation, and being crushed by a crusher in Sorrow's Furnace or Fahranur, The First City. Also, deaths that occur within 5 seconds of being resurrected do not count towards your DP. Also, death penalty is disabled completely in Pre-Searing, Alliance Battles, Competitive Missions and in The Crag arena.
Removal
There are currently six known methods to remove DP:
- Earning XP. Every 75 XP earned will reduce DP by 1%.
- Earning Morale Boosts. In PvE, this is done by killing bosses, killing certain mobs, or performing certain tasks. Each boost will provide +2% morale. In PvP, holding the flag stand for two consecutive minutes in GvG, holding the altar for two consecutive minutes on king of the hill maps in Heroes' Ascent, or killing the enemy Ghostly Hero on other maps in Heroes' Ascent will provide +10% morale.
- In PvP, if you are alive, the death of an enemy player will reduce DP by 2%.
- Making an "Offering to Courage" to a god's avatar will give your party +2% morale in Tyria, or +2% for you alone, in Cantha or Elona.
- Using special items in PvE.
- Using a Peppermint Candy Cane will remove a character's death penalty.
- Using a Wintergreen Candy Cane removes 15% of a character's death penalty.
- Using a Rainbow Candy Cane gives your party +5% morale.
- Using a Four-Leaf Clover will reduce your party's DP by 5-15% at random.
- Using an Elixir of Valor will give you +10% morale.
- Going back to town or outpost will completely remove a character's DP.
Notes
Quest rewards can give large amounts of XP, thus removing a large amount of DP. However, the removal will only work for those receiving the XP, thus party members, henchmen, and pets are unaffected.
Receiving the blessing from one of the gods will only reduce the DP of the player who paid, thus the DP of party members, henchmen and pets are completely unaffected.
Warning: Death Penalty is calculated against a character's maximum health before the effects of runes and weapon upgrades. Still, it is not possible for Death Penalty to set a character's maximum health into a negative number. But it will set it to 1, in which case that character cannot be resurrected except through the use of a Resurrection Signet or a Restore Life with Healing Prayers more than 14 (health more than 50% will be rounded up to 1 of 1), Resurrection Chant, through Flesh of My Flesh, or especially in PvE with Sunspear Rebirth Signet. For example, a level 20 character has 480 hit points. If this character has three superior runes on, his/her maximum health will be down to 255 hit points (480 - 3 x 75 ). Still, should this character die four times in a row (collecting a death penalty of 60%) their health will decrease by 288 hit points (60% of 480). Since the character does not have that much health, their maximum health will be 1. If resurrected by Rebirth, Resurrect or Light of Dwayna they will stand up and immediately fall to the ground (health will be less than 50% so rounded down to 0 of 1). It will also not be possible for them to take off the armor pieces with runes on them nor can they gain experience to reduce the death penalty.
Tip: It is imperative that you be mindful of Death Penalty when choosing your skills. This is especially important for classes with low energy. A warrior with 20 maximum energy should not rely on several spells/skills that cost 10 energy, because with a DP of 60% he will not be able to cast any (his maximum will be dropped to 8).
If all players/henchmen or heroes all reach 60% death penalty then the message "Your Party Has Been Defeated" message will come up and your leader will have to return to the outpost.