What damages the brain
- Head trauma. Stalactites, skullcrushers, falls onto your head, turret and spike hits to the head.
- Low oxygen. Brain health starts falling below 80% SpO2 and much faster below 60%. Cardiac arrest drains it quickly.
- Heat. Heatstroke above 41.5°C body temperature; 0.5% per second above 42°C.
- Radiation, from the first gray, plus random 10-point hits above 9 Gy.
- Opiate overdose and stroke.
- Water intoxication (thirst above 175).
Brain health also caps consciousness: at 60% brain health you can never be more than 60% conscious.
Stages
| Moodle | Brain health | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Cognitive impairment | 95% to 80% | Mild distortion, confused talk, tastes metal, minor garbled text |
| Neurological damage | 80% to 60% | Heavy distortion, incoherent speech, hard-to-read text |
| Severe neurophysiological deterioration | 60% to 30% | Violet distortion, speechless under 50% |
| Comatose | under 30% | Incapacitated, text unreadable |
Below 95% you can randomly shake and ragdoll, get mirrored controls (the screen flips to match), see flashes, vomit (33% every 30 seconds) and hear combat music that is not there. In 1.0 several of these only trigger at progressively lower brain health, so mild damage is less disruptive than in the demo. Official
Braingrow, neural booster and mindwipe
| Item | Effect | Catch |
|---|---|---|
| Braingrow | Repairs brain health; clears a stroke over 100 s | 50% vomit chance, braingrow sickness, overdose risk. Small doses only. |
| Neural booster | +10 brain health and +20 mood on first use; clears stroke | INT 18 to craft. A second one makes you vomit and overheat. |
| Mindwipe | +50 brain health, stroke to 0 | INT to 0, permanent Hollow |
| Rest | About 0.18% per minute, 11% per hour | Slow; not after a mindwipe |
| Last stand | Sets brain health to 75 to 90% | Once per run, mood-dependent |
Hollow trap. Taking braingrow or a neural booster within 20 minutes of a mindwipe or neural booster makes you Hollow too. Community wiki
Helmets and prevention
- Hunt shade crawlers on layers 1 to 3 until you have 2 stiff carcasses, then craft a makeshift helmet at INT 8. The community guide calls it top priority.
- Upgrade to a bicycle helmet at INT 13.
- Upgrade to a riot helmet at INT 17.
- Throw a glowplant fruit into dark drops before jumping, and look up for stalactites in the Dried desert and Wasteland.
Questions
Does braingrow increase intelligence?
No. Braingrow only repairs lost brain health and clears strokes. It does not raise INT. It has a 50% chance to make you vomit and overdosing is dangerous, so use small doses.
What is cognitive impairment?
The first brain damage moodle, between 95% and 80% brain health: mild visual distortion, confused speech, occasional erratic behaviour and some garbled text.
What does mindwipe do?
It is a last resort. After a painful sequence it gives +50 brain health and clears strokes, but sets INT to 0 and makes you permanently Hollow: black and white vision, no speech, mood stuck near 0 and worse trader reputation.
Which helmet is best?
Makeshift helmet (INT 8, needs 2 stiff carcasses from shade crawlers), then bicycle helmet (INT 13), then riot helmet (INT 17). None gives full immunity to stalactites.
Sources
- Community wiki Injuries (limb and body statuses) Scav Prototype / C:U wiki, checked 2026-10-03
- Community wiki Consciousness Scav Prototype / C:U wiki, checked 2026-08-18
- Community wiki Guide: Getting started Scav Prototype / C:U wiki, checked 2026-07-09
- Players Braingrow, doesn't. Steam forum, checked 2026-11-11
- Official Release 1.0 patch notes Steam news, checked 2026-11-09
- Official September progress update Steam news, checked 2026-09-15