You heal in VOID/BREAKER by staggering enemies and killing them while they are staggered: they drop health pickups (and ammo) that you collect by moving over them. Fill an enemy’s stagger meter with thrown debris, grenades and collapsing scenery, finish it before it recovers, then grab the health it leaves behind.
That loop is the game’s main source of healing, which is why the store page sums up the combat as “stagger enemies to survive.” Below is how staggering works, how to heal during boss fights, how to collect pickups without taking more damage, and the mods and hacks that make the whole thing easier.
How the Stagger Loop Works
Enemies have a stagger meter, a green bar that fills as you hit it with the right things. When the bar tops out, the enemy is staggered for a short window. Kill it inside that window and it drops health and ammo. Kill it any other way and you get the kill but not the healing.
Stubby Games made this the first thing new players learn. Its ASCENSION update changed the staggering tutorial “so it now requires you to acquire full health, more clearly highlighting the combat loop to new players.”
That is the whole point: staggered kills are what give you health back, so a run where you only shoot from range will slowly bleed out.
What Staggers Enemies
| Tool | How it helps |
|---|---|
| Gravity tether | Grab debris or objects and hurl them at enemies, the biggest stagger source |
| Destruction | Blast walls and collapse structures so the falling debris hits enemies |
| Grenades | Add a slight stagger, per the tutorial Stubby Games added in June 2026 |
| Melee | Required to crack Shielded enemies before they take damage |
Shielded enemies, added in February 2026, need a melee strike before they take damage at all, so hit them up close first and then work on the stagger.
How to Heal During Boss Fights
Bosses follow the same rule. Hit them with tethered debris until their stagger meter fills, and they drop healing items and ammo while they are stunned.
The source of that debris changed in June 2026. Bosses used to stand among pillars that you broke for chunks to throw, which pulled your attention away from the fight. Since ASCENSION, “boss attacks themselves will release tetherable debris,” and that debris is easier to see, tether and hurl back. Watch for chunks falling from the boss’s own attacks, tether them, and throw them straight back.
It matters most against the first boss, Gravaxis: keep staggering it and the health drops keep you in the fight, as our first boss guide explains. Version 1.0 also removed the long wait that used to follow emptying a staggered boss’s health bar, per the 1.0 patch notes.
How to Collect Health Pickups Safely
Health only helps if you reach it. Stubby Games has improved this twice:
- The September 2025 patch increased the collection radius for health.
- The HARD RESET update made all pickups, including health, ammo and Voidium, stay in the world longer before disappearing.
Even so, long-range weapons pull you into the middle of the fight to collect drops. Two habits help:
- Stagger enemies near you, not across the arena. Pick fights where the drop will land close.
- Clear the dangerous enemies first. Snipers and ranged attackers can punish a dash to a pickup, so deal with them before you go collecting.
Mods and Hacks That Keep You Alive
Since healing comes from staggering, anything that staggers more often or avoids damage is effectively healing:
- Dash. It has invincibility frames. The tutorial teaches you to dash through a wall of projectiles.
- Armour Plate (module): blocks one hit, then is used up.
- Cold Snap (module): taking damage freezes all enemies.
- Melee Reclaim (module): meleeing an enemy resets your dash cooldown.
- Hard Throw (module): tethered objects destroy the environment when thrown, making more debris.
- Grenade cooldown hack. Grenades stagger, so the hack that cuts their cooldown means more staggers, and so more healing. It is the first hack we would buy.
For the guns you can buy between runs, see our VOID/BREAKER weapons guide. If you are wondering how long the stagger loop needs to carry you, our VOID/BREAKER how long to beat guide covers the run structure, and our VOID/BREAKER co-op guide explains why you are on your own.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get health in VOID/BREAKER? Stagger an enemy, kill it while it is staggered, and pick up the health it drops. That is the main way to heal.
Does VOID/BREAKER have health regeneration? The game is built around staggered kills for healing, and Stubby Games’ notes never mention passive regeneration as a way to recover.
How do you heal during a boss fight? Tether the debris that falls from the boss’s attacks and throw it back until the stagger meter fills. The stunned boss drops health and ammo.
What is the green bar under an enemy’s health? It is the stagger meter. When it fills, the enemy is staggered and a kill in that window drops health.
Why am I not getting health from kills? Healing drops come from staggered kills. Fill the green stagger meter first, then finish the enemy inside that window.