At zero Health, an Operator becomes Downed and gains an Injury. An ally can Rally them so they act again, but the Injury remains until managed at the Den. With permadeath enabled, the third Injury kills a normal Operator permanently. Hawks instead causes mission failure and a restart.
The launch-build Injury chain
Rally solves the immediate availability problem; it does not erase the campaign consequence. EA says Injuries reduce combat effectiveness, and the Medbay at the Den is the management layer used to treat them.
What Downed and Rally actually change
A Downed Operator cannot act. Rally is performed by another squad member and returns the Downed Operator to the mission, which means recovery consumes team position and action opportunity. The official rule confirms the state change; it does not promise that Rally is always the best immediate move.
What the Medbay does
The Medbay is the Den facility associated with treating Injuries between deployments. Injury management competes with the rest of company planning, so roster depth and mission availability matter even when permadeath is disabled.
EA’s public help explains the treatment role but does not make every recovery time, upgrade effect, or optimal facility order universal. Those values can depend on campaign state and difficulty; this page does not flatten them into one guaranteed timetable.
Can you turn permadeath on or off?
Yes—at campaign creation. EA Help says the permadeath setting is configurable when you start a campaign and cannot be changed after that campaign begins. If enabled, three Injuries permanently kill a normal Operator. If disabled, the third-Injury death rule is not active, but Downed states and Injury penalties still matter.
| Question | Launch-build answer |
|---|---|
| When is the choice made? | At the start of a campaign. |
| Can it be changed mid-campaign? | No, according to EA Help. |
| When does a normal Operator die? | On the third Injury when permadeath is enabled. |
| Does the same death rule apply to Hawks? | No. Hawks’ death fails the mission and requires a restart. |
Why Hawks is different
Hawks is required for story missions. EA’s official Q&A says Hawks cannot be permanently removed from the campaign like another Operator: Hawks dying produces an automatic mission failure, and the mission must be restarted. Do not interpret the permadeath toggle as permission to continue the campaign without the protagonist.
What this means for squad planning
- A Rally restores actions, not the Operator’s clean health history.
- A second Injury is a visible campaign risk when permadeath is enabled.
- Medbay capacity and a backup Operator can matter as much as immediate damage output.
- Hawks’ failure rule changes mission recovery even if other Operators can be lost permanently.
For AP, cover, and the actions surrounding a rescue, see the combat guide. To compare the Medic role with other Specializations, use the Specializations guide.
Sources and evidence note
- EA Help — Turn-based tactics basics ↗ — primary Downed, Rally, Injury, and campaign-setting rules.
- EA — Gameplay overview ↗ — Medbay and campaign-management context.
- EA — Answering the Internet’s Biggest Questions ↗ — Hawks mission-failure rule.
Evidence boundary: system states, the three-Injury threshold, setting lock, Medbay purpose, and Hawks exception are official. Rescue priorities and roster advice are labeled editorial guidance.