When to take potions...

[Gunshy]

I'm a fairly green newbie in A3 (registered), but have acquired a collection of potions.

 

Healing and Curing are pretty self-explanatory, but when should my party use e.g. Strength and Invulnerability potions? In combat? Just before? How long do they last?

[Marak]

Whew... loaded question. In combat, such potions typically last for about 5-7 rounds on average. Outside of combat, every "step" seems to count for the same amount of time as a round of combat.

 

Thus, you should either drink them IN combat (preferably in the first couple of rounds). If you're going to drink them out of combat, you should only quaff one or two, and them immediately iniatiate combat.

 

The moral of the story is that if you drink potions outside of combat and then cast spells, wait, move, etc. before iniating combat, your potions' effects are going to wear off VERY quickly.

[Alorael at Large]

In general, I've found that all the potions except healing and energy are of limited utility. You can get the same effects from spells, and often better. While I occasionally use potions I find, the only ones I ever carry around just in case are for invulnerability. You never know when you'll run into something that just does too much damage.

 

—Alorael, who acknowledges that this isn't exactly the question asked. To finish, most potions are useless, and potions that give invulnerability or Divine Might are best when used in combat after you've discovered that you need a buff very, very badly.

[Rowen]

The only potions I used were at the start of a game and they saved me tons of times. They are helpful for a short time but after I get leveled up I power up my mage and priest and go to spells.

[Gunshy]

Thank you all - most helpful