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Instead of taking a red healing potion in Icarus to cure all of your injuries, you will need to rely on a wide variety of bandages and antidotes. There are multiple types of injuries that you can have, with unique ways to heal each one. In this guide, we are going to go over how to heal.

Related: Icarus: How To Survive A Storm

This will include methods for each of the damage-based effects, as well as what the damage can do to your body. All of the injuries mentioned here are status effects; this means that to 'heal', you just need to remove the status effect. Doing so will remove negative effects, allowing you to consume health-regenerating food. First, let's take a look at healing basic wounds that aren't too severe.

Wounds And Deep Wounds

basic bandage crafting on technology tree

Wounds and deep wounds are essentially surface injuries. These are quite easy to heal the following items.

Injury

Effects

How To Heal

Wound

  • -80% health regeneration

Bandage

  • 40 Fiber

Deep Wound

  • -25% maximum health
  • -25% maximum stamina
  • -95% health regeneration

Suture Kit

  • 16 Fiber
  • 4 Bone
  • 40 Leather

Bandages are very easy to craft; we recommend always having a handful of this healing item in your inventory at all times. They will help you in a pinch if you have taken damage.

Deep wounds are a little more severe, but with a suture kit, you will be good to go in no time.

Major Injuries

player killed by two bears on unconscious screen
via Tom Sleepy/Steam

Major injuries are a little more serious than wounds and can have some fatal side effects. Below, you can check out every major injury, what it does to your body, and how to heal or prevent it.

Injury

Effects

How To Heal

Broken Leg

  • -50% movement speed
  • -25% stamina regeneration
  • +25% food consumption
  • -50% weight capacity

Splint

  • 2 Wood
  • 8 Sticks
  • 6 Rope

Contusion

  • -25% experience gained
  • -20% movement speed

Blood Thinning Paste

  • 1 Lily
  • 10 Sticks
  • 1 Charcoal

Festering Wound

  • -25% maximum health
  • -25% maximum stamina
  • +10% water consumption
  • -95% health regeneration
  • -5% experience gained

Anti-Parasitic Paste

  • 1 Reed Flower
  • 1 Sulfur
  • 1 Charcoal

Poison

  • -10 movement speed
  • 1 damage per tick

Anti-Poison Paste

  • 1 Fiber
  • 2 Spoiled Meat
  • 1 Charcoal

These four healing items can all be crafted directly from your player inventory, and are tier one items. This means that you can craft them pretty early on in the game.

Similar to bandages, it's important to have a few of each item either in your inventory or inside your base. By doing so, you can quickly use the item without needing to find materials while you are injured.

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Temperature Effects

official game art of icarus with character dead in the snow

As you venture to new biomes, you will become susceptible to temperature-based effects. To get rid of these unwanted effects, you simply need to negate the temperature. For example, if you are overheating, drink or enter the water.

Sometimes, this isn't always possible, but this is where the heat bandage comes in handy. The heat bandage will provide warmth, preventing frostbite and hypothermia. To make a heat bandage, you will need the following items.

  • 40 Fiber
  • 4 Oxite Ore
  • 10 Charcoal

Similar to the other healing methods mentioned above, the heat bandage is a tier-one crafted item.

Dysentery

player near death entering water

Dysentery has a chance to occur if you drink water directly from a river or lake. This illness will pass with time, but if you want it gone, you can use anti-parasitic paste. This is an item also used to heal a festering wound, mentioned above.

Healing Buffs From Food

status effects from a variety of food

In some survival games, food is used to heal and replenish your HP. This works a bit differently in Icarus though.

Although some foods can boost your health regeneration, you will first need to remove the negative status effect. For example, if you have hypothermia, which deals two damage per tick, and then you eat food to boost health regeneration, you will still take two damage.

Below, you can find some of the best foods to eat if you are running low on health.

  • Berries
  • Cooked Meat and Fish
  • Bread

Herbalism Bench

herbalism bench on tech tree

Once you can access tier two of the technology tree, you will be able to construct the herbalism bench. This is a unique crafting bench that allows you to craft various healing items. Here, you can create tonics, which are stronger versions of their paste version.

Additionally, you will be able to craft pastes that improve health, stamina, oxygen, food, and water consumption. These pastes will provide beneficial effects, however, they will not get rid of any negative effects that you currently have. Below, you can check out each paste, as well as what it does and how to make it.

Paste Type

What It Does

Required Materials

Health Buff Paste

Temporarily increases health

Stamina Buff Paste

Temporarily increases stamina

  • 2 Reed Flower
  • 2 Wheat
  • 1 Tree Sap

Health Restoration Paste

Restores health

  • 20 Lily
  • 20 Wheat
  • 10 Tree Sap

Stamina Regeneration Paste

Increases stamina regeneration

  • 2 Reed Flower

Health Regeneration Paste

Increases health regeneration

  • 2 Lily
  • 1 Tree Sap

Stamina Consumption Paste

Slows stamina consumption

  • 2 Reed Flower
  • 2 Tree Sap

Stamina Restoration Paste

Restores stamina

  • 20 Reed Flower
  • 20 Wheat
  • 10 Tree Sap

Oxygen Buff Paste

Increases available oxygen

  • 4 Sponge
  • 2 Charcoal

Oxygen Consumption Paste

Slows oxygen consumption

  • 1 Sponge
  • 2 Charcoal

Oxygen Restoration Paste

Restores oxygen

  • 1 Sponge
  • 2 Charcoal
  • 2 Oxite Ore

Food Consumption Paste

Pauses decrease in hunger

  • 1 Sponge
  • 2 Charcoal
  • 4 Lily

Water Consumption Paste

Pauses decrease in thirst

  • 1 Sponge
  • 2 Charcoal
  • 4 Reed Flower

That's all there is to know about healing. Don't forget to craft basic bandages early in the game; they can be a lifesaver!

Next: Icarus: What Are Exotics?