Bend Time

Bend Time is a supernatural ability in Dishonored and its DLCs, as well as Dishonored 2. It allows Corvo Attano or Daud to temporarily slow or stop time, during which they may move unhindered. Bend Time costs 60% of the user's total mana, making it the joint most expensive power in the games with Possession.

Dishonored

Tier I - (2 runes)

Bend Time in action.

With Tier I Bend Time, Corvo or Daud can slow time for up to 12 seconds while moving at regular speed.

Tier II - (8 runes (Corvo) / 6 runes (Daud))

Corvo using Bend Time Tier II.

With Tier II Bend Time, time can be stopped completely, but only for a shorter duration, of about 8 seconds.

Dishonored 2

Ability	Runes	Previous upgrade	Description
Bend Time	4	None	Slow time for a short duration.
Stop Time	6	Bend Time	Stop time for a short duration.
Relativity	1	Bend Time	Move faster, relative to time.
Lasting Bend Time	2	Bend Time	Extend duration of Bend Time.

Usage tips

• Bend Time can be used to set up attacks, move unnoticed or simply escape dangerous situations.
• When enemies are stopped by Bend Time, every successful attack will be fatal.
• During the course of Stop Time, the user are able to walk past security devices that would otherwise kill them outright, such as arc pylons or walls of light, unharmed.
• Bend Time can be used to easily kill or knock out multiple foes using the pistol, crossbow or wristbow.
  • This is especially useful with the respective reload upgrades, as entire rooms can easily be cleared before time restarts.
• As with all other supernatural abilities, Bend Time cannot be activated near Overseer music boxes.
  • Music boxes will not affect Stop Time if it has already been activated.
• Coming into contact with a person or an object will cause their path of momentum to change, before slowing once more.
• Bend Time does not make the user immune to projectiles, even when time is stopped. Running into the path of one causes the user to take damage as usual, disrupting Bend Time before the power resumes.
• Activating Stop Time causes enemies aiming with a pistol to shoot just as the power starts to take effect.
  • Enemy projectiles fired during Stop Time can be collected.
  • When combined with Possession, a target can be moved into the trajectory of a fired weapon to kill them.
• Stop Time in Dishonored 2 allows for time to be slowly advanced during the stop. This can be helpful for setting up sequences of events that require precise timing.
• The bone charms Void Surge and Void Favor both have a chance of preventing Bend Time from using any mana, a big help considering the large amount it uses.

Related Bone Charms

Dishonored

• Void Channel - Increased duration for Bend Time.

Trivia

• Some of those marked by the Outsider are immune to Bend Time, such as Daud, who uses it as a chance to fight Corvo one-on-one, along with Corvo himself. Morris Sullivan and Delilah Copperspoon are also immune to this power. Strangely, Vera Moray is not immune despite being marked.
  • Characters immune to Bend Time do not become suspicious when it is used by others, even though their vision becomes grayscale and objects near them would have slowed/stopped.
• In the first Dishonored 2 trailer, Emily Kaldwin was seen to use Bend Time, but does not have it in the game itself. Harvey Smith said that this was because the development team went through many iterations of which powers each protagonist had.^{[citation needed]}
  • With the advent of New Game +, Emily can access Bend Time within Dishonored 2 finally, but this is not considered canon lore.
• In the DLCs for Dishonored, Daud's Blink acts as a small Stop Time ability, provided he is not moving. In Dishonored 2, the Redirective Blink upgrade for Corvo also stops time, but he cannot interact with objects during this period.
• In-game, when Corvo or Daud bend time, everything turns gray except for the item they are interacting with or characters who are not affected by Bend Time.
  • In the debut trailer for Dishonored, the world does not lose its color. However, in the Dishonored 2 debut trailer, this has been corrected as the world does fade to gray.
• If Corvo walks past a beggar, they will express their disgust and refuse to help him. If he has stopped time as he passes them, they still react as though he had not stopped time, expressing their disgust as soon as time resumes.
• Canonically Corvo acquired Bend Time level 2 in Dishonored, as he is seen using it to kill three traitorous guards in the prologue of Dishonored 2.

Audio

Bend Time sound effect.

Gallery

Alternate Bend Time icon.

Stop Time icon in Dishonored 2.

Relativity icon in Dishonored 2.

Lasting Bend Time icon in Dishonored 2.

Corvo's Bend Time tutorial.

Daud's Bend Time tutorial.

Corvo uses Bend Time II.

Daud stops time to fight a Brigmore Witch.

Naria is surprised by Daud using Bend Time.

Daud stops time to fight Corvo.

Corvo stops time in the Dishonored debut trailer.