Death Penalty
At death a number of items will drop on your corpse. The number that drop is a fixed number based on your level plus 0-3 more (random). The specific items that drop depend on the face value of the items you are carrying and their type.
The first item to drop will be the highest value item regardless of type. All items of the same type will now be counted at half their face value. This process repeats (next highest value item, if an item of the same type has already dropped, the face value is halved).
The number of items you drop can be reduced with the Clutch of the Miser augmentation.
You can protect important items like your armor and weapons by carrying death items. These are items that are ideally light weight as well as high in value. You can tinker loot items with bags of Salvaged Gold to raise their face value. Although tinkering special items can remove some of the benefit, as you feel obligated to recover them. Items that can be purchased can just be left if the corpse would be too difficult to recover.
Popular items to use:
- Crowns (tinkered with gold)
- Massive Mana Charges
- Nanner Island Portal Gems
For more details, see the Zone article Recovering from Death.