Ability Damaged

Ability Damage
Ability damage refers to any temporary effect that reduces one or more of a target's ability scores rather than its hit points.

Effects
The primary effect of ability damage is the reduction of modifiers that come from that Ability. Note that this includes the bonus hit points that come from your Constitution. In general, every 2 points of Constitution damage reduces a creature's Hit Points by a number equal to its level.

Reductions to your Strength also reduce your carrying capacity and can render you unexpectedly encumbered, which reduces your movement speed, some Skills, and possibly your Armor Class.

A Player Character or (non-red/purple) enemy is Helpless while any of its Abilities are reduced completely to 0.

If the stat reduced to 0 was constitution, the creature is also stunned for 6 seconds. They may move about normally after the 6 seconds are up, but will remain helpless.

Recovering ability points
Ability damage regenerates at a rate of 1 point of each Ability score per minute. Some monsters (especially bosses) recover ability damage at a much faster rate.

There are other ways to recover from debuffs and other ability damage.


 * Get the Lesser Restoration, Restoration, Restoration, Mass, Greater Restoration, Panacea or Heal spell cast on you, or use an item or potion with one of those effects. Note that Lesser Restoration only restore 1d4 points of ability damage, while all the others restore all of it.
 * Get a counteracting buff, such as Bull's strength for +4 Strength.
 * Resting at a rest shrine removes all ability damage.
 * If it is only temporary (e.g. when hit by a Ray of enfeeblement spell.), you may wait for it to wear off or remove it using any of the above spells.
 * Tavern regeneration.