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How to heal in Scorn

Knowing how to heal in Scorn is integral to surviving the hostile alien creatures that you encounter on your journey across Ebb Software’s nightmarish world

How to heal in Scorn: The humanoid figure that serves as the player character in Ebb Software's first-person survival horror game, hunched over in the fetal position.

If you’re unsure how to heal in Scorn, you’re going to have a bad time. While Scorn does give you a weapon to defend yourself, in true first-person survival horror game fashion, it doesn’t mean you’re less susceptible to taking damage yourself. In fact, dispatching enemies requires you to get up close and personal, making you more vulnerable in the process.

Scorn delivers information to you almost entirely through its environment, including when it comes to the first puzzle in Scorn and its saw or scoop decision, so we don’t blame you if you’ve already taken a few knocks and don’t know how to heal. If you’re worried about your chances of survival, you’ll be pleased to know there is a way. You can press ‘E’ to heal in Scorn, but whether or not this will heal you depends on whether you’ve actually acquired the ability to heal yet. Read on to find out when you can expect to pick up your healing tool, and how to recharge it once depleted.

How to heal in Scorn: The healing tool in Scorn, a bulbous flesh sac with numerous tentacles protruding from it.

How to get the ability to heal in Scorn

You get the ability to heal in Scorn immediately after activating the glowing red pods in the second alien structure on your journey. Once you’ve inserted the key into the pod interface, approach the pod directly ahead. Interact with the console to its immediate left to retrieve a bulbous mound of flesh with tentacles protruding from it. Scorn never actually explains what this is, but surprise: it’s your healing tool. It’s also the core mechanism for the life support machine keeping the squishy fella in the pod alive. Oops. Don’t go feeling too bad about it, though – his loss is your gain, and you now have the ability to heal in Scorn.

How to heal in Scorn: The blood bank used to recharge your healing tool in Scorn, with tanks of blood mounted on either side of it.

How to recharge your heal

The ability to heal in Scorn is hugely beneficial, but it also has limited use. Your healing tool is restricted to a maximum of eight charges. It’s also completely empty when you pick it up, so in order to actually use it, you need to find yourself what amounts to a blood bank. These strange terminals are scattered throughout the environment, usually tucked away in dark corners off the beaten path. They’re single-use only, and relatively rare, so take care to explore the environment to ensure you don’t miss one.

One blood bank provides you with around three or four charges, for a maximum of eight charges. You can see the number of charges you have at any time by aiming with your weapon or opening your inventory. Your charges are represented as nodes above your health bar.

Now that you know how to heal in Scorn, you should be able to survive almost everything the game can throw at you. If you’re yet to delve into Ebb Software’s biomechanical hellscape, check out our Scorn preview for an early impression of what you can expect. We also have a Scorn system requirements overview, as well as an answer to the question: just how long is Scorn, anyway?