Death

Player characters die if

• their hit points are reduced to or below the incapacitation range (−10 HP by default)
• they are killed outright by a spell or effect (such as failing a Fortitude save against a Slay Living spell).

Being dead

When you die:

• Most buffs that are granted by spells or enhancements are dispelled. Other buffs, for example, Guild Airship ship buffs and DDO Store buffs, stay active.
• If you die in a quest or wilderness area, a special item called a "Soul Stone" drops where the body fell. (In public areas, soul stones don't drop.)
• At the moment of death, all non-stacking, equipped items that your character is wearing will take a percentage of item wear. Consecutive deaths without resting will increase this percentage. Various factors can reduce this to 0% and the maximum damage from a single death is 10%. Any item wear acquired in this manner from dying has NO chance of inflicting permanent damage on your equipment when it is repaired. Items that accrue both standard item wear and death item wear will calculate their chance of permanent damage using only the normal item wear (ignoring the item wear from death itself).DDO Forums

Available actions while dead:

• You can walk around in ghost form, even climb or swim. You cannot stray far from the Soul stone, or a 10-second timer will start. If you don't return to the stone before that time, you are automatically transported back to the stone. This is the limit to how far you can travel.
• You cannot open doors, pull levers, or interact with any object (except the resurrection shrine).
• You retain control over hirelings and pets.

Coming back to life

Dead player characters have several options how to resume play:

• They can choose to click the Release button, which removes the character from the quest and sends their soul and body, reintegrated, back to a saved spirit bind point (often a tavern).
  If they are quick, they can even run back to the quest. (Some Raids and Reaper difficulty quests may have mechanic that prevents reentry.)
• While still in the quest, they can run to and click on a resurrection shrine.
  • If out of range of a shrine, other player can carry their Soul stone closer. A hireling or pet can "use" (pick up) their Soul stone (the "gear" icon on their hotbar), then lead that hireling/pet to a shrine, or close enough.
• They can choose to ask another player use a Raise Dead-type spell or spell-like ability.
• They can eat a Siberys Spirit Cake (available from the DDO Store) while dead to bring themselves back. This will not work in Raids.
• They can use the Reborn in Light Epic Moment if they possess the Exalted Angel Epic Destiny.
• They can activate the Cursed Blade of Jack Jibbers, if they own one and it is not on cooldown, to raise yourself temporarily as a Cursed Wraith.

No matter where or how the player is resurrected, a death penalty is incurred on the player's statistics, which can stack while questing. The effect is similar to how negative levels affect a character.

I cannot resurrect!

A few extra restrictions can prevent players from resurrecting:

• Certain raids include mechanics preventing resurrection until some action is taken (Temple of the Deathwyrm prevents you from resurrecting until a named Wraith created by your death is slain, while The Reaver's Fate and The Shroud simply move your character to a locked area on death in certain sections.)
• On most Legendary raids and Reaper difficulty, you will need to wait for a certain amount of time after your death before you can resurrect.
• On Hardcore, a dead player cannot resurrect at all unless given extra lives by a season mechanic.

Miscellaneous

• Dead characters cannot benefit from normal or magical healing or buffing spells.
• Dead players who have the misfortune of dying where their Soul stone rests in an otherwise inaccessible area (such a deep lava pool or body of water) may be forced to release to their bind point.
• Players in a quest that wish to leave a quest immediately can type in /death in their chat console, which immediately takes the player to their bind point. Any quest penalties and death penalties may still apply.