An idea pop off my mind after being frustrated often by mana problem every early-mid game for my characters.
Potion in its current conception is boring and often players skip them in favor of leech or other hp healing mechanic in skill.
So my idea to make it more interesting is to introduce belt only affixes that modify the use of potion. These affixes apply to all uses of potion(to avoid poe piano flask). The affix cam be straight buff or a buff/debuff combo for example:
+2 mp recovery every tier
-5%hp recovery amount/+5 mp recovery for every tier
+5 elemental resist/-5% physical resist
+5% movement/+5% damage taken
Immune for 1 second/100% hp regen taken as damage(for that emergency button). Tier decreases the damage
And so on, the exact number can be adjusted higher than the usual tier of related affixes to make it worthwhile its temporary effect.
Taking the place of 1-4 affixes in a playerâs equipment total affixes gives more variation of interesting build for players. This will also buff the potion drop chance skill which is considered the most worthless skill currently.
Furthermore, I would suggest for these affixes to be craft only to reduce drop rng exhaustion which also means there is no tier 6-7 drop of this (since this is a more utility based function). This is to avoid what plague poe currently where almost all drops are worthless and also to avoid complicating the loot filter selection.
This system can be either affix shard drop or a new npc feature such as a potion mixer that offer the upgrade for a generous amount of gold in an exponentially increased amount for every tier n rarity(another gold sink that is sorely needed in the game)
I donât think potions need to be âinterestingâ. There is nothing wrong with mechanics having a singular purpose that isnât taken advantage of at all times. And, IMO, what youâre suggesting here is not interesting at all. Itâs just a maintenance buff. A one button piano is still a piano.
Implicit in this game is too strong so i doubt anyone will want to get potion mod implicit over affixes.
Potion mod affix is interesting because it gives option to the player. Yes, mana issue can be solved via mana regen affix/skills/passive. We can add another option which is to use potion. The spare point can then be used on another specs.
It can also potentially introduce interesting mechanic such as invulnerability for a very short time for the oh shit button on boss battle. Or phasing enemies when surrounded as I believe currently we slow down when trying to move through group of enemies. The powerful abilities of course would have a drawback during/after the effects.
On resource management/balance, we are also constrained to 1-5 potion with less frequent refill on boss fight. This is to be weighted against other more permanent options. If anything, i am in favor of reducing health potion drop rate to balance rather than its current state where potion drop is redundant. This makes potion a valuable resource.
The key to make this successful would be the balance. Not making the potion too powerful that it becomes a must have like in poe. But a situational use. Just an idea i think worth exploring.
To not get something wrong: I was just referring to the mana on potion use.
I think that the current mana mechanic is unique - also very strict. Iâm fine with it and think that there should not be mana leech or mana on potion use. This would just be way too mighty and introduce a mandatory stat that even restricts build diversity instead of increasing it.
The general idea of adding interesting âon potion useâ effects is absolutely fine.
Adding options is not interesting when the options themselves are not interesting.
You said yourself that you came up with this idea because you had mana problems, and it shows. Itâs pretty obvious that the base premise you started with was not to add something interesting to the game, but just wanting something that you could abuse to ignore mana management. The examples you came up with have a very clear focus, and the âdrawbacksâ are, at best, afterthoughts you tacked on to try to make them look like they have tradeoffs without actually having tradeoffs. Itâs just makeup you put on that cow because you know âI want to have infinite manaâ is not a suggestion thatâs going to be taken seriously.
Mechanics like that belong on skills where actual decision-making is/can be involved, not as belt affixes that come with no decision-making of any kind. No stat you can get on a belt competes with free, on demand, instant cast mana regen or damage immunity.
Youâre just recreating POEâs Flasks with more steps and one button instead of five. No thank you.
Hey mate, chill, no need for personal attack and implications. It is just a rough idea and you are free to not like it. Honestly, I see this topic digressing to mana issue which is not my intention. I am also okay with leaving mana system as it is and still add other uses of potion.
I also donât see why there is a need to be so anti-poe. While POE has its own share of critical issues, it is undeniably one of the best -selling and unique ARPG out there (at least til recent patch). We can still be inspired by the good parts while avoiding the pitfalls. To me, reducing potion use to one key is a good compromise and other players including you are free to dislike it. However, just be polite with it.
Anyway, I have expressed this idea sufficiently and am not here to argue it vehemently. The devs will be the one to make a decision, taking their vision, market research, user feedback inyo account, and this early access is a good platform to test out any feature they envision. Personally, I like what I have seen so far and trust them to give us more good surprises in the future.
