Hunger and thirst: Satiety, Blood Sugar, Hydration and what to eat
You have three food stats: Satiety, Blood Sugar and Hydration. They fall steadily on every map except the Safe House. Low Blood Sugar slows you down, low Hydration makes sprinting and rolling cost more stamina, and empty stats hurt you. This guide gives the numbers, the best foods and drinks, and the Safe House stations that refill you.
The short version
- Each stat starts at 100 and loses 1 point at its own speed. Satiety loses 1 every 8 seconds, Hydration 1 every 14 seconds and Blood Sugar 1 every 15 seconds. From full, Satiety is empty after 13 minutes 20 seconds, Hydration after 23 minutes 20 seconds and Blood Sugar after 25 minutes. What you are doing makes no difference to the speed.
- The Safe House stops the loss. The Bazaar and the tutorial level do not.
- Blood Sugar: 50 or lower is a warning, 40 or lower slows your walking and running by 30%, and 0 slows you by 50% and costs 1 health every 5 seconds.
- Hydration: 50 or lower is a warning, 40 or lower makes sprinting and rolling cost 50% more stamina, and 0 doubles that cost and costs 1 health every 5 seconds.
- Satiety: it only matters at 0, when you lose 1 health every 5 seconds. It is the stat the food gauge on the HUD shows.
- Every point restored buys time at that stat's speed: 8 seconds of Satiety, 14 of Hydration, 15 of Blood Sugar. A Mineral Water (50 Hydration) lasts 700 seconds. Points above 100 are wasted.
- Wine and spirits do not feed you. They give Tipsy and clear Pain, and they do not restore Satiety, Blood Sugar or Hydration (details).
- Your levels carry over between the Safe House and raids. If you die, you start again at 100.
How fast the stats fall
| Stat | Starts at | Falls by | Empty after | What empty does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satiety | 100 | 1 every 8 seconds | 13 min 20 s | You are Hungry: 1 health lost every 5 seconds. |
| Blood Sugar | 100 | 1 every 15 seconds | 25 min | Severe Hypoglycemia: 50% slower and 1 health lost every 5 seconds. |
| Hydration | 100 | 1 every 14 seconds | 23 min 20 s | Severe Thirst: stamina costs doubled and 1 health lost every 5 seconds. |
The loss runs on every map except the Safe House, including the Bazaar. It does not speed up when you sprint or fight and does not slow down when you stand still. The only things that change a stat are eating and drinking, the Safe House stations and bastions (below), and the damage from a few foods.
What a raid looks like if you eat nothing
| Time outside the Safe House | What appears |
|---|---|
| 11 min 40 s | Hydration reaches 50: Mild Thirst. Reminder only. |
| 12 min 30 s | Blood Sugar reaches 50: Mild Hypoglycemia. Reminder only. |
| 13 min 20 s | Satiety reaches 0: Hungry, 1 health lost every 5 seconds. |
| 14 min | Hydration reaches 40: Moderate Thirst (sprint and roll cost 50% more stamina). |
| 15 min | Blood Sugar reaches 40: Moderate Hypoglycemia (30% slower). |
| 23 min 20 s | Hydration reaches 0: Severe Thirst, 1 more health lost every 5 seconds. |
| 25 min | Blood Sugar reaches 0: Severe Hypoglycemia, 1 more health lost every 5 seconds. With Hungry, that is 3 health every 5 seconds together. |
Start a raid with less than 100 and each time shrinks by that stat's seconds per point for every missing point.
What each level does
The levels are measured against your maximum, which is 100 unless you have eaten the permanent-boost items below. Each stat shows one level at a time: a worse level replaces the better one, so the effects of Moderate and Severe do not add up. Blood Sugar and Hydration effects do add up with each other.
| Status | Appears when | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Mild Hypoglycemia | Blood Sugar is 50 or lower | None. The game text says you are in the mood for a snack. |
| Moderate Hypoglycemia | Blood Sugar is 40 or lower | Walking and running speed 30% lower. |
| Severe Hypoglycemia | Blood Sugar is 0 | Walking and running speed 50% lower, and 1 true damage every 5 seconds. |
| Mild Thirst | Hydration is 50 or lower | None. The game text says you could use some water. |
| Moderate Thirst | Hydration is 40 or lower | Sprinting and rolling cost 50% more stamina: sprinting drains 10.5 a second instead of 7, a roll costs 12 instead of 8. |
| Severe Thirst | Hydration is 0 | Sprinting and rolling cost double: 14 a second sprinting, 16 per roll. Also 1 true damage every 5 seconds. |
| Hungry | Satiety is 0 | 1 true damage every 5 seconds. Nothing else. |
- The first damage lands the moment the status appears, then every 5 seconds.
- Where you see them. The statuses are listed in the HUD buff bar. The food gauge on the HUD fills with your Satiety, and the equipment screen has a Satiety bar. The gauge icon changes when Satiety is 0 or when Blood Sugar or Hydration is 0.
- Eating works at once. A status disappears as soon as the stat rises back above its level.
What to eat
Each item lists what one portion restores. A minus sign means eating it costs that stat. Health is restored on the spot. The buy value is the item's base price: terminal shop listings roll between 0.5 and 1.5 times it, and traders set their own prices (Selling items and credits).
- Cheapest Blood Sugar: Fruity Hard Candies (25 for 15), Dried Blueberries and Dried Golden Berries (20 for 15). You craft them from berries once you have researched them.
- Biggest cheap meal: Supplementary Meal Pack. 90 Satiety, 90 Blood Sugar, 20 Hydration and 30 health for 200.
- Cheapest Hydration: Yesterday's Brew (85 Hydration for 10) and Mineral Water (50 for 100). Despite the name, Yesterday's Brew is a normal drink with no Tipsy.
- Everything at once: Watermelon, 100 Satiety, 100 Blood Sugar and 100 Hydration.
- Watch the minus signs. Sweet and salty food takes Hydration away: the Energy Bar costs 10, the Chocolate Bar 15 and Extreme Condensed Milk 50. Each point is 10 seconds of thirst, so drink with them.
Food
Sorted by Blood Sugar, highest first.
Drinks and watery food
Sorted by Hydration, highest first.
| Item | Satiety | Blood Sugar | Hydration | Health | Base buy value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watermelon | 100 | 100 | 100 | - | 1,200 |
| Yesterday's Brew | 15 | 10 | 85 | - | 10 |
| Functional Drink | 15 | 10 | 70 | - | 350 |
| "Top Rack" Whole Milk | 38 | 35 | 65 | - | 600 |
| Mineral Water | 10 | 0 | 50 | - | 100 |
| "Cambo" Tomato Soup Can | 40 | 40 | 45 | - | 500 |
| "Milio's" Milk | 32 | 25 | 45 | - | 300 |
| Redscale Shroom Soup | 20 | 20 | 25 | - | 50 |
| Bearberry Tea | 15 | 15 | 20 | +10 | 50 |
Items that raise a maximum for good
Each of these also restores the amounts shown. Every one you use adds to your maximum for good, up to a limit for each item: the boost is saved with your character and dying does not remove it. Once the limit is used up, the item cannot be used again. The restored amounts above the maximum are lost, so use them when low. The limits and totals are in Permanent bonuses.
| Item | Satiety | Blood Sugar | Hydration | Health | Base buy value | Every one you use, for good | Uses allowed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Type 2" Burger | 95 | 155 | -10 | - | 4,000 | Maximum Satiety +1 | 10 |
| Extreme Condensed Milk | 15 | 300 | -50 | - | 30,000 | Maximum Blood Sugar +1 | 10 |
| "Pure" Water | 40 | 0 | 300 | - | 15,000 | Maximum Hydration +1 | 10 |
| The Valley's Wild | 260 | 180 | 20 | - | 10,500 | Maximum health +1 | 20 |
| Talisman Water | 10 | 10 | 50 | - | - | Maximum stamina +1 | 10 |
| "Super Momentum" Energy Drink | 60 | 50 | 40 | - | 5,000 | Movement speed +0.01 | 5 |
Items that hurt you
These restore a lot but deal true damage when eaten. Make sure you have the health.
| Item | Satiety | Blood Sugar | Hydration | Health | Base buy value | Damage to you |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radiated Banana | 100 | 100 | 30 | - | 5,000 | 30 |
| Nuke Egg | 100 | 100 | -30 | - | 40,000 | 30 |
Spirits and wine
Eating one of these five drinks gives you the Tipsy status and does not change Satiety, Blood Sugar or Hydration. Do not count on them to feed you. Tipsy and Drunk are explained in Combat effects.
Stabilizing Powder
Stabilizing Powder restores 20 Satiety and 20 Blood Sugar when used and clears Dimensional Overload. Its main use is explained in Corrupted weapons and gear.
Cooking
The Cooking Station and its upgrade, the Advanced Cooking Station, are built in the Safe House. They cook the recipes below. Put the ingredients in the input grid; a recipe makes the amount shown. Cooking is the way to get many meals from little: one Venison makes 15 Grilled Meat Skewers.
Recipes you research are found in Safe House progression.
Refilling in the Safe House
Stats do not fall in the Safe House, and two stations refill them. Both work anywhere in the Safe House once built, and the effect ends when you leave.
| Station | Status you get | Refill rate | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooking Station or Advanced Cooking Station | Satiated | 2 Satiety, 2 Blood Sugar and 2 Hydration every second | 50 seconds |
| Basic Medical Station | Revitalized | 3 health every second, increased or reduced by your healing bonus | Starting health is 200, so about 67 seconds from empty before your healing bonus |
- Building a second Cooking Station does not double the refill. You get a single Satiated status.
- Top up before you leave. Your levels go with you into the raid, so wait out the 50 seconds.
Where traders sell food
| Trader | Food and drink in stock |
|---|---|
| Uncle Viktor | Canned Stewed Beef, Special Canned Ham, Canned Sardine, Canned Venison and sometimes one "Bear Cub" Chocolate |
| Quartermaster | Energy Bars, Functional Drinks, "Cambo" Tomato Soup Can, "Top Rack" Whole Milk and "Barns" Honey Oats |
| Huang Batian | "Bear Cub" Chocolate, "Milio's" Milk and Grilled Hot Dog |
| "King" Crumb | Potatoes, Roasted Mushroom Skewers, Boiled Eggs and Grilled Meat Skewers, paid for in Biomass |
See The Bazaar for how to reach them.
A simple plan
- Fill up in the Safe House. Stand in it with a Cooking Station until all three stats read full, then go.
- Pack for the length of the raid. The first warning arrives at 11 minutes 40 seconds and the first penalty at 13 minutes 20 seconds. Every point restored buys 8 to 15 seconds, depending on the stat.
- Eat at the Mild warning. At 50 there is room for a 50-point item with nothing wasted. A 40-point meal at 80 wastes 20 points.
- Drink after salty or sweet food. Several foods subtract Hydration.
- Carry a Supplementary Meal Pack for emergencies. It heals 30 and restores 90 Satiety and Blood Sugar in one go.