In Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water, ghosts are ethereal spirits you can’t touch directly without a specific paranormal gift. However, they can still cause some serious bodily harm. If you’re not careful, your characters will die while you’re exploring a haunted mountain or creepy burned-out building. This guide explains everything you need to know about healing in Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water, so you don’t get caught out while photographing threats to your very existence.
The menu is not the pause screen
The first thing that you need to know about healing is that the menu in this game is not the one that’s brought up by pressing the Start button. You need to press Square on a Dualshock or DualSense controller, X on an Xbox controller, to bring up the in-game menu, which allows you to access healing items.
Use healing items according to damage taken
There are a few different healing items for you to use in this game. Below we’ve outlined what they are, how much healing they provide, and when to use them.
- Herbal Medicine – Heals a small amount of vitality: Use this item when you’ve still got most of your health but want to top it up. You can still use it when you need to do more drastic healing, but you’ll burn through them quickly if you do.
- Sacred Water – Heals you completely: You’ll need this item when your health is near the bottom. It will restore your vitality to the top and leave you ready to be bombarded by ghosts all over again.
- Purifying Embers – Removes Taint of the Black Water: Whenever a character gets wet, they’ll be cursed by the Taint of the Black Water until they dry out. If they enter water again, the curse returns. This makes you more susceptible to ghost attacks and arms reaching out to grab you while picking up items. Only use it if you really don’t want to be hassled by enemies. You’ll get more points if you battle more ghosts though.
- Mirrorstone – Protects you from dying: You don’t ever need to use a Mirrorstone manually. Instead, this item will activate when your health reaches zero. It fully restores your vitality and gets you back on your feet. If you’re struggling with the game’s enemies, consider buying one or two of these before a mission.
Heal when you want to
You can open the in-game menu at any time and heal your characters. It doesn’t matter if you’re relaxed and exploring or in the middle of a boss fight. If you see your health dropping and want to restore it, press the menu button and use the most appropriate item.
