Sunburn

Sunburn is a harmful status effect caused by exposure to excessively hot environments. It is less about an immediate burst of damage and more about the way heat keeps wearing a Duplicant down while also making escape harder. As a result, a Duplicant caught in high temperatures can quickly become trapped in the danger zone instead of simply walking out.

The main risk of Sunburn is the combination of direct health loss, ongoing health decline, and reduced movement speed. Affected Duplicants may slow down enough that they cannot leave the hazardous area before their condition worsens further. If they are not rescued in time, they can become incapacitated and eventually die. Because of this, Sunburn is especially dangerous in places where heat sources, hot machinery, or poor insulation prevent a safe retreat.

In practical terms, Sunburn should be treated as a warning that the surrounding area is already beyond safe working conditions. A Duplicant who starts taking heat-related damage is likely to be spending too long in an overheated room, passing through an unsafe corridor, or working near a heat source without adequate protection. Since the movement penalty makes the situation snowball, it is important to prevent exposure rather than waiting for damage to accumulate.

• Duplicants suffering from Sunburn lose health over time while also moving more slowly.
• The slowing effect can prevent them from escaping the hot area, which makes the damage more dangerous than it first appears.
• If rescue is delayed, the affected Duplicant may collapse and die.
• Preventing Sunburn is best handled by keeping work areas at safe temperatures, limiting time spent in hot zones, and ensuring there is a clear route out of the hazard.

Because the effect is tied to heat, any colony design that relies on high-temperature processing, poor ventilation, or uninsulated rooms increases the chance of Sunburn-related accidents. Keeping duplicants away from extreme temperatures is the most reliable way to avoid the cascade of damage, slow movement, incapacitation, and death.