Increase Healing Potion Effectiveness

Unlike a lot of players, I don't carry a heal - or any magic for that matter - as I am strictly melee. I do test the effectiveness potions from time-to-time because what else would they be for than to heal someone who cannot simply cast heal non-stop.

I have 576 HP currently and would only think about using a potion if under 100-150 HP. However, it takes a long time to use and only heals 30-40 HP and during that time, I've taken as much or more damage than that and dealt out none because I'm not attacking when "drinking". 30-40 HP for someone who is 576 HP and taking 50 damage a second in a fight doesn't really do much.

This is why I don't currently use healing potions - it'll just be instant death. Currently using a potion nets you negative HP when you factor in the damage you're taking while "drinking" and the damage you're missing out on inflicting due to losing out on at least one attack, which for me could be 350+ crit. Potions just aren't worth using.

Answers:

1.) Make drinking instantaneous with a somewhat long cooldown. That way players won't be taking damage and dealing out zero damage while they drink the 30-40 HP potion.
2.) Increase the effectiveness of potions by increasing how much they heal. Potions from higher skilled alchemists would be level 2, 3, 4, etc. level potions and each would heal more HP.

 

I don't want instant drinking.. or instant healing from a potion but otherwise I agree. I never carry potions because they just aren't worth it. I am the same way in not using magic. I don' even use a light spell let alone healing. As it is.. if it doesn't look like I'm going to win I disengage.. wait until whatever it is stops chasing me and heal outside of combat.

I would like to see potion take effect over time. More like regeneration rather than instant heal. But effective.. ie 50 hp/sec for 5 seconds.. Taking another potion will only reset the timer so taking them in rapid succession would be inefficient.

 

I look forward to potions being 'alcoholic', limiting their use in that way. I also agree that they should only be effective for regeneration out of combat. Healing doesn't belong in combat! I don't think death magic should heal the user either. Death magic should always be painful to the user. it's blood magic, you're making a blood sacrifice, or 'a deal with the devil' to use it, so to speak.. it should be harmful, but grant you temporary power that may tip the fight in your favor for a brief moment. it's a gamble. There shouldn't be any ways to heal while fighting. Food, rest and drink should be taken before the fight, as preparation tactics, and heal spells, potions and bandages should be used after the fight, to repair and recover. Anyone who doesn't take measures to heal after a fight, should slowly bleed out and die unless they seek rest or help. And that's how it should work.

 

Unfortunately, for any healing to be meaningful after combat they would need to greatly reduce or eliminate health regeneration outside of combat. Without healing it could take weeks (in-game) to fully heal.. instead it takes less than a minute to heal completely from near death making any manner of after battle healing pointless and unnecessary.

I do not mind a regeneration potion during combat so long as you have to stop to drink it. Spells I don't mind either but I think they should also be regenerative rather than instant.

I assume the healing rate will drop once nutrition is in and the game goes through a balance pass or two.

 

Healing potions im thinking will probably see more love when the nutrition system hits, i hope.

 

I'd love for all low and mid level heals to become HoT, slowly regenerating health; with little (non-combat) to no (combat) natural health regen - we're not trolls! (*) Potions and non-top-tier heals will have varying degrees of healing speed and cost/cooldown/cast time, and only the very beast heals be instant, or near instant.

You ought to quaff a potion BEFORE entering combat, much like food is now (food would gain different, and differently appealing bonuses, eventually), and not as a quick "back to HP square one" tools to turn the table when the going gets tough.
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(*) - Not all of us, at least!

 

I think the poor balance of healing potions is a symptom of the larger problem, one that people have brought up several times before. Life magic, and magic in general, should not be so easy for plate wearers. When you make every plate wearer a high DPS cleric, they have no incentive to group with healers, no incentive to group with more vulnerable light armor magic casters, no incentive to do anything but dominate and be XP gathering machines.

I think there should be a healing tree separate from life magic. One that relies on bandages, poultices, and potions. It would make alchemy more relevant (than being merely useful for tamers) and make it more possible for someone to play a pure melee character instead of what we have now, a series of magic hybrids.

 

potions suck in general, I think there potency needs to be determined by the skill of the alchemist, better potions = better numbers. helps the higher level curve along with the economy and boosts alchemies usefulness, which i feel is needed.

 

I wonder if they will make another kind of heal potion for a heal over time. I sure hope there are many different kinds