Critical Failure

When a player’s Health is reduced to zero, they enter a phase called Critical Failure. The screen becomes blurred and desaturated, and electronic artifacting occurs as the Guardian Frame begins to malfunction. Audio will also be muffled and they gain a Critical Failure debuff.
Critical Failure knocks the player to the ground and reduces their moment speed to 25%, disables the ability to sprint, attack, use Abilities or items, or effectively interact with the world in any way except for very slow movement. Gear becomes locked in place and may not be changed at all.
By default, Critical Failure lasts 30 seconds. During this time, a meter is displayed to indicate how much time remains on the debuff, which can be further sped up by receiving additional damage. Every 5% total HP worth of damage received reduces the timer by one second. If the meter reaches zero and the Critical Failure debuff expires, the player dies.
However, during Critical Failure, an ally can come to the player’s aid. By interacting with them over six uninterrupted seconds, they are able to revive the player. Helping a player in this way removes the Critical Failure debuff and restores 10% of their health and full Overshield, allowing them to fight again. They also gain 75% damage reduction for three seconds. If the Critical Failure timer reaches zero but the player is actively being helped, it will not expire and the player can be revived. Any attack against a player reviving someone will cause an interruption in which case they must begin the revival process all over again.
A player can enter Critical Failure multiple times in a single activity, however each time, they are given a stack of the Revived debuff for five minutes. For every stack of Revived, if a player is critically injured again, the timeframe of the Critical Failure is reduced by 5 seconds each time. If a player is struggling enough to require a revive more than once, they may consider falling back and Extracting.
Certain items provide a last second recovery before reaching zero HP, but these must be utilized before reaching Critical Failure to prevent it.

Critical Failure expiration

If a player fails to be revived before the Critical Failure expires or they Give Up by holding the appropriate input, they incur the penalties of Death. At this point, their Frame becomes inoperable and the player is respawned at the nearest Medical Bay. Any other player can interact with the body and Loot anything remaining in their Pack or Belt. Secured or Bound items cannot be looted. Their body remains lootable for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, the fusion core in the Frame will begin to rapidly degrade. To notify nearby players, it will begin to pulse with light and start beeping for 30 seconds, increasing in speed every 10 seconds. At the end of the 30 second countdown, the body will explode and despawn. This explosion heavily damages anything within 10 meters, so players attracted to the body to attempt to loot it must be very careful.