Condition

Without regular doses of Stabilizer, Sleeper bodies actively decay. A corporate insurance policy to disincentivize escapees means the Sleeper has to keep their **Condition** in mind at all times. The current condition of the Sleeper is represented by a bar at the top, divided into 20 segments. Each represents a point of condition, and every cycle that passes decreases your condition by one. Various activities can also reduce condition, depending on their outcome.

Condition affects the number of Dice you get per cycle. You get one die to start with, plus one die for every four points of condition, up to a maximum of five dice. Maximizing the number of Dice actions you can take each cycle is important, so staying on top of **Condition** has a meaningful impact on general gameplay.

## Restoring condition

Restoring the Sleeper's condition is an act which, except on very rare occasions, can only be done at a Home location. Typically, it is either the last thing you would do before ending a cycle, or the first thing you would do upon awakening to a new cycle; depending on your situation.

* The most restorative method is to inject yourself with Stabilizer. Doing so completely restores the Sleeper's condition. At an initial price of 100 cryo, this item can be a challenging resource to stay on top of in the early game. For about a third of the game's story, the only method of obtaining Stabilizer is to purchase it from Sabine's Surgery/Yatagan Dispensary.
The scarcity of Stabilizer at this point in the game makes it likely that the player will have less than 5 Dice for a significant number of Cycles between doses.
* Later in the game, it is possible to make your own Stabilizer. Completing the Hypha Commune drive unlocks the ability to grow mushrooms that can be converted into stabilizer by a scientist at the Commune, effectively making the Sleeper's condition a renewable resource instead of a constant looming threat.
This method still does not guarantee that the player will always have 5 Dice each cycle, as it can take a number of cycles for the mushrooms to fruit.
* An alternative method is to use the Self Repair perk, which lets you forfeit a unit of Scrap Components in exchange for +1 Condition. Using scrap can prove to be more effective than depending on Stablizer, since it is possible to reliably maintain maximum condition by topping up each cycle.

Scrap can be obtained in several ways, but the two most reliable methods are to either purchase them from the Scrap Freighter using cryo, or to scavenge for them at The Wastes use dice.

## Breakdown

If the Sleeper's condition is reduced to zero, they will suffer a **Breakdown**. This will have the following effects:

* The Sleeper will be in *Recovery Mode*, and will need to end the cycle and rest just to stave off death. Upon ending the cycle and awaking, condition will automatically increase by 10, or by 18 if the Sleeper used a vial of Stabilizer prior to resting. Using the Self Repair perk while in *Recovery Mode* seems to consume the Scrap without increasing your condition.
* One of the Sleeper's skills will be **Broken** and temporarily disabled, which sets that skill's modifier to -1 and removes all perks. This can **only** be reverted by forfeiting an Upgrade Point, which will remove the Broken tag from that skill.

Note: If the Sleeper suffers subsequent **Breakdowns**, additional skills will become **Broken**, and each skill will require an *Upgrade Point* to restore.

It is not possible to "lose" the game by **Condition** loss. If all skills are **Broken**, and the Sleeper suffers another **Breakdown**, nothing unique will occur - the game keeps going. This means that it is technically possible (though tedious) to complete the game without ever worrying about your **Condition**.

Game files suggest that, in the early game, if the Sleeper suffers a **Breakdown**, they will be rescued by Dragos and Sabine. However, this appears to not trigger, at least as of version 1.3.9.

**Bug**

When the Sleeper starts a cycle with zero condition, and consequently suffers a **Breakdown**, if you save the game, then quit and load that save, the Sleeper will be granted one Die.
[Build 1.3.9]

**Bug**

If you do not have the Self Repair perk, but you do have +1 to Engineer actions, and the Engineer skill is Broken, the Self Repair perk will become available at Player Home locations.
[Build 1.3.9]

## Restoration Optimization

There is a balancing act when it comes to increasing your condition.

Because the number of Dice you get per cycle is determined by your condition, and because your condition is reduced by one point when you end a cycle, it can be important to increase condition before you rest. This ensures that you will have the maximum number of Dice available to you the following cycle. So, injecting stabilizer *before* ending a cycle ensures that you have 5 dice the next cycle, but your condition at the beginning of that cycle will be 1 less than maximum - meaning that you are one cycle closer to needing another dose.

Conversely, injecting at the beginning of a cycle is only viable if you are wanting to have one more cycle between now and the next dose of stabilizer.

On the other hand, Self Repair can be done at any time, and is an effective method for staying 1 point of condition over the dice threshold at all times.