Vitality

Vitality is the new name for what RuneScape and Melvor players know as Hitpoints — your character's raw life-bar pool. Modern indie RPGs (Hades, Hollow Knight, Dredge) all use "Vitality" to mean the same thing, and Tideward followed suit when it rebranded in May 2026. The mechanic hasn't changed: every combat action gives a small Vitality XP bonus, so it levels passively along with whatever else you're training.

How Vitality works

Vitality XP comes from every successful combat hit you land or absorb — about 33% of your combat XP feeds into it automatically, no stance toggle required. Each level adds 10 to your maximum HP pool. At level 99, you're sitting on roughly 990 HP versus the 100 you started with.

Vitality regenerates passively at 1 HP per six seconds out of combat (faster with higher Vigil prayers active). It also recovers from food during combat — eating a Shark during a fight restores 200 HP without breaking your training cycle.

For AFK play, Vitality is what keeps your character alive while you're away. The math is simple: if your incoming-DPS-after-evasion exceeds your food-restoration-per-second, you'll eventually die. A high Vitality pool buys you the cushion to survive a streak of unlucky accuracy rolls. Most players don't train Vitality directly — it just rises with every other combat skill.

Tips for training Vitality

1. You almost never need to train Vitality directly — it levels alongside every combat session.
2. Higher Cooking level = better food = longer AFK sessions before food runs out.
3. A Vigil prayer like Rapid Restore doubles passive HP regeneration. Useful between fights.
4. Equipment-based Vitality bonuses (rings, amulets) add to your max HP without grinding XP.
5. For boss fights, drink a Vitality potion before engaging — it temporarily raises your HP cap above the level-99 ceiling.

Skills that pair with Vitality

The 23 trades aren't isolated. Vitality works best alongside these:

Frequently asked about Vitality

Why is the skill called Vitality and not Hitpoints?

"Vitality" is the modern indie-RPG standard term for the same mechanic. Hades, Hollow Knight, and Dredge all use it. When Manu Idle rebranded to Tideward in May 2026, Hitpoints was renamed Vitality to match Tideward's positioning on the Apple editorial shelf alongside other premium indie RPGs.

How do I train Vitality faster?

You don't train it directly. About a third of every combat XP gain feeds into Vitality automatically. To level it faster, do more combat — switch to Aggressive stance to clear enemies faster, or take on higher-Vitality monsters that grant more XP per kill.

What's the maximum HP at level 99?

About 990 HP base. Equipment, prayers, and active boosts can push the in-combat ceiling higher.