Eh? Bandage stops bleeding right? My perk isn't working either. Okay i'll give the bandage a whirl
There are 3 numbers at work here....
1) Your Health cap. This is the highest your health can ever go. You cannot change this number unless you put points into Fortitude.
2) Your current Max Health. This cannot rise any higher than (1) above, and this number is reduced when you take damage, and can only be recovered by using bandages etc.
3) Your current actual Health. This cannot rise any higher than (2) above. This numbr is reduced when you take damage, and can be recovered just by eating food.
If your UI reads 50 / 100, then this is showing you the value for (3) and the value for (1). The value in (2) is harder to see and is indicated by the black part that is missing from the overall health bar. This is why a lot of players end up confused, as the UI design for this bar is pretty poor. The reason people think their Healing perk isn't working is because until you have at least 4 points in it, that perk can only increase (3) up to a cap of (2).
So, for example to illustrate all this....
a) My Health cap is 100
b) My current Max Health is 80
c) My current actual Health is 50
d) My UI reads "50/100"
- If I have the Healing perk, then the 50 will gradually increase to 80, where that perk will then stop working (unless I have 4 points or more in it).
- If I eat a ton of food or use painkillers, then the 50 can be brought up to 80, but no further
- If I use bandages, then the 80 can be brought up to 100 again. This is turn will make the previous two actions (the perk and eating food/painkillers) now able to restore me to 100 HP.
- If I put a point into Fortitude, then the 100 becomes 110.
Hope that helps.