‘I guess I’m chronically sick now’: Starfield players shrug off annoying afflictions

Getting sick or experiencing a life-threatening injury in Starfield is a lot less of an inconvenience than it should be, and many players are just living with the consequences of being “chronically sick.”

One would think that if you got sick in actual space, you’d be doomed, or at the very least, hindered in your ability to continue adventuring in the galaxies. In Starfield, though, not only do you have instant cures for every problem imaginable, but most of the time, they aren’t even worth deploying. 

A post to the Starfield subreddit has players discussing the game’s afflictions and how they’re not really worth anything to them. It’s not uncommon to just be running around with intense burns, dislocated limbs, and lacerations across your body, as they don’t really do anything to ruin your gameplay severely. 

One player described their condition as “broken, dislocated everything, torn everything else, horrifically burned from walking in a mysterious liquid,” while another frustratedly voiced their opinion by saying, “[You] fail a jump, [you] broke a leg, [you] pass near gas from terrain and [you] gain a pulmonary disease. Sometimes it feels like I don’t have a suit on.”

It’s very easy to gather afflictions and injuries in Starfield, especially while exploring planets and moons. Jumping and jetpack-boosting from high ledges might surely give you a dislocated limb, engaging in combat with bugs might cause you to bleed profusely, and all of the toxic, foreign chemicals on these alien planets could end up giving you a nasty cough. Still, it’s not like any of those things are an issue, as your character is still relatively strong even while afflicted. It’s only when your oxygen supply or health bar becomes affected that you should take action. 

If you notice that your health bar is permanently reduced to a smidge and a yellow status bar has replaced it, it might be time to see a doctor. Until then, though, the afflictions you gain in Starfield aren’t worth popping a pill over. The easiest way to get rid of these afflictions is to take a dose of a medication called Panacea, which gets rid of any afflictions, injuries, or diseases that your character might be experiencing. For players who are out exploring the stars, we recommend you use Panacea after 

One player in the comments said that they’ll only use some of the medicine items that they pick up once their maximum carry weight starts to get affected by their injuries. “Gamers will run around overburdened with trash items but won’t use one of the dozen med injectors they have to cure themselves,” another player retorted.

For players who are out exploring the stars, we recommend you use your injectors or Panacea after accumulating about four or five afflictions. You don’t want to continuously go into your Aid menu and apply quick fixes, as you’ll likely gain another injury or illness relatively soon after. All told, it’s not worth micromanaging your health in Starfield.