Fatigue Fatigue is a condition that affects any character travelling water that is too deep , such as the oceans surrounding the continent s . Close to land , the ocean floor is generally not very far below sea level , and it can usually be seen from the surface ; at greater distances from the shore , the floor recedes deeper and deeper . When the depth of the water reaches a certain point , swim ming in the region causes a Fatigue bar to appear , which displaying a player ' s weariness . It behaves similar to the Breath bar ; the bar will deplete over time ( the Fatigue bar depletes much faster than the Breath bar , it matches the rate at which the Breath bar originally depleted ) , and will deal damage to the player when it reaches zero . The Fatigue bar and Fatigue damage occurs regardless of the player ' s depth . ( i . e . swimming on the surface , diving , water walking or even flying over a Fatigue region will cause this ) . Players may swim back toward shallower waters to refill the fatigue bar and avoid death . Fatigue also affects players in ghost form , as the player who is attempting to navigate as a ghost will simply die once more as a ghost ( and inflict a second durability penalty ) and have to return to their body or resurrect at the Spirit Healer . Hunter pet s seem to be affected by Fatigue as well ; however , they display no Fatigue bar to show their weariness . The Fatigue damage can be seen in the Combat Log . Fatigue exists to prevent players from straying too far from land and reaching areas that are unfinished . It also serves as a natural boundary enclosing zones . You can see a Fatigue region when the ocean floor seems to slope downward endlessly . Don ' t bother trying to reach the absolute bottom of the ocean , as even if you survive the Fatigue damage long enough to reach it , there is a barrier at a certain depth below sea - level which kills all characters , similar to the death barriers you encounter whilst falling off the edges in Outland . Fatigue is not associated with time spent swimming . Because of fatigue mechanics , there are a few " normal " areas in the World of Warcraft where fatigue erroneously occurs , such as one small strip of the Vile Reef . Fatigue never occurs in inland lakes , or rivers , no matter how long you swim . Fatigue zones can be easily identified by a darker color on the surface of the water than surrounding areas ( also visible in the minimap . If swimming an unusual route ( for example , from Zoram Strand to Shadowprey Village ) you must tightly hug the shoreline in places to prevent fatigue , although you may save some time by swimming through the Fatigue area , provided you can be sure to clear it before the bar is depleted . Mana regeneration . While in a Fatigue zone , mana regeneration , both regular and while casting ( mp5 ) will cease , meaning it is almost impossible to survive in Fatigue water indefinitely . Some spells and abilities , as well as potion s may still be useful to regenerate mana while Fatigued , but the easiest way to regain mana is to enter safer water . Before this mechanic was in place , low level characters , who have low health pools , high health regeneration ( proportional to their total health ) , and very powerful and mana - efficient heals ( again , proportional to their total health ) , could swim indefinitely in Fatigue water , as their mana regenerated entirely in the time it took for Fatigue to do damage equal the amount healed . The mechanic also increases the difficulty of higher level characters who try to swim through Fatigue . Damage done . The damage done is equal to 20 % of your max HP every 2 seconds . It is possible to reduce the damage of every tick by removing any gear or buffs that grant bonus HP or stamina , but this often comes at the cost of losing mana required for healing through the Fatigue itself . Fatigue - negating techniques . Although the fatigue timer cannot be slowed , players may extend the distance they swim through various means : , a druid ' s Aquatic Form , and Water Walking / Path of Frost can increase the speed at which players travel through or over water . With 2 / 2 On a Pale Horse , a Death Knight can make a mounted run between Teldrassil and Darkshore without dying from fatigue . See Swim # Methods to increase swim speed for the full list . Dying resets the fatigue bar , so players may use a Soulstone , Reincarnation , Resurrection or other means to continue traveling further out to sea . Damage done by fatigue can be healed , though the means of healing are limited by the mana regeneration restrictions mentioned above . Potions can supplement the limited healing received while Fatigued , but their cooldowns are too long to rely on the potions alone for survival . Note that swimming between continents is impossible even without fatigue as Kalimdor , the Eastern Kingdoms , the Azuremyst Isles , and Northrend exist in different " instances " . For example , a player swimming from Kalimdor due east would reach the end of the Kalimdor map and weird emptiness beyond , not the Eastern Kingdoms or into other areas where they aren ' t wanted . Fatigue - negating techniques are actually " required " to travel to the Islands south of Land ' s End Beach in Tanaris , which are involved in the Ahn ' Qiraj Scepter questline , although it is possible to reach these islands before the Fatigue bar becomes depleted . In Cataclysm . With the introduction of being able to use flying mounts in Azeroth , the Fatigue meter has taken on a bigger importance . The Grand Master riding skill can make a mount be able to beat the Fatigue system in order to take unintended shortcuts , such as one that someone can do to get from Stormwind directly to Dun Morogh by going north from Stormwind ( thereby passing two or three other zones you would normally have to travel through ) . Also , someone might be able to beat it if they travel from the dock in Terdrassil to the cost of Darkshore . Finally , someone could beat the Fatigue bar to get from Dun Morogh to the on - land Flight Master in Vashj ' ir . As the Vanilla continents ( Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor ) are shaped more erratically than Outland and Northrend , especially Eastern Kingdoms , players will have to be more careful as to when and if the meter procs when using flying mounts because of the shape of the land .