Health and energy are two of the most important elements of the game. Health keeps you alive, so you can’t afford to lose all of that! Energy maintains any active augmentations you’re using. Some of them drain power over time, and others require a sudden burst of energy. If you are low on health or energy, you’re going to be in serious trouble!
How Health Works
Health is lost when you fall, get shot, walk into a hazard, or otherwise do anything that hurts Jensen. The health bar drains, and there are visual cues onscreen to show that you’re taking damage.
After a few seconds without taking more damage, your health bar begins to fill again. It continues to fill until you’re back at full health or take new damage. Because of this system, it’s imperative that you avoid taking hit after hit of damage even if the individual attacks are minor. You need blocks of time to heal yourself. To get that, flee from battles that are going poorly and hide behind cover or stay inside cleared rooms until you get back to fighting status.
Energy and Its Limitations
Many of your systems cost energy to power. The maximum amount that you start with dwindles quickly because many uses not only cost energy off of your current bar but also lower your maximum energy. At the beginning of a mission you might be able to use several Takedowns back to back without resting. After a while, though, you’ll only be able to regenerate enough energy to use one Takedown.
Because of this, it gets harder and harder for Jensen to use abilities back to back. Compensate for this by spacing out usage of your abilities, or use a Biocell to restore some of your energy and your maximum energy. This provides immediate assistance to your character, and also gives you more time to benefit from having a better pool to draw from.
Applications that drain energy over time are usually the least taxing on your maximum. Smart Vision, used in short bursts, won’t hurt your supply very much. Takedowns and other sudden abilities are the hardest on your maximum.
Biocells, Alcohol, and Painkillers
There are several types of “medication” in the game. Biocells, as we just discussed, restore energy. Alcohol and Painkillers restore health and can improve your maximum health temporarily. Always search around to uncover as many of these useful items as you can carry. Then, stock up in Prague if you feel like you’re still not carrying enough of them to get through future challenges. At lower difficulty levels, these items aren’t always that important. However, they’re extremely useful when you try to beat the game at the higher levels.