In Avernum 3, how useful are potions, and alchemy?

[Suspicious Vlish]

Does anyone here actually use potions? Strength potions have a nifty regenerative effect, and heroic brew gives you what Divine Warrior used to, but everything else isn't that flash. Spells can substitute potions.

 

Hence, is investing Alchemy worthwhile?

[Alorael at Large]

If you intend to get the recipe for Knowledge Brew, hunt down the best sources for the ingredients, and mass produce skill points to make your party even more of a weapon of mass destruction, learn alchemy. Otherwise, don't bother. I always found more potions than I knew what to do with.

 

—Alorael, who usually just piled them neatly in Fort Emergence.

[Thralni]

I always use Alchemy a lot, at least in BoA. There are dungeons were your SP simply isn'r enough, and then you'll have to rely on potions and scrolls. I like potions. They do the some things I can do with spells, yes, but at least I don't use up SP. Sometimes, its also better to use a potions, if you have the feeling, or even a hint, that eventually you'll have to fight something big and ugly. So, yes. I invest in alchemy and also in first aid. Just sometimes, it can be really useful. Something else I uyse potions for: energy potions. Restoring SP when you don't have it anymore or even to little to be able to use it, is vital when fighting (at least for me). I advice you to at least be able to make enrgy potions or energy elixers, because they will help you greatly.

[Xoid]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think that if you want the same effect as divine warrior did in Avernum 2, the only way to get it in Avernum 3 is through the heroic brew.

 

Whilst a number of the potions are useless with a strong party near the end-game, the brews are of great assistance. A select few of the elixers are also worth your time and effort. If you manage to stockpile enough ingredients, your potion making skill can convert them into a decent source of income, although using them for knowledge brews is usually the smarter choice.

[Drakefyre]

I use potions, but I don't make them. There are enough you can buy/find without having to make your own.

[Marak]

Hrmm, I guess the question is this: Are you willing to get you Potion Making up to 12-15? Is it worth about 5 Levels' worth of Skill Points to be able to make Elixers and Knowledge Brews at the end of the game, and the occasional MP-restoring potion for the bulk of the game?

 

If you answered "NO" to one or both of the above, it's probably not worth it to invest all the time, coins, and skill points in Alchemy/Potion Making.

[Alorael at Large]

If you do start making Knowledge Brews, you'll recover your skill point losses very quickly.

 

—Alorael, who is otherwise with Drakey. You'll find more potions than you need, so making other potions is either a waste of time or a waste of ingredients that could be used for more Knowledge Brews.

[Foley's Body]

I usually only carry 2 healing potions per character and 4 energy per mage. Potions to me aren't all that important. A few healing elixers, a few energy potions, and probably graymold salve, thats all that is good... nothing more, well unless i'm planning on killing everyone in Storm Port of A3

 

Everything else I just pick up on travels, or if I'm low on money and I have too much herbs in my alchemist's inventory, vuala! I get about 7500 gold and more room! Also that 7500 gold goes to a good cause, ARROWS AND WEAPONS! WOOT!

 

I have millions of potions laying in the supply closet and my bedroom in Fort Emergence, need to get rid of them tho... Too many items in there, got no room to store even MORE POTIONS MWHAHAHAHA.... ne ways i think Amaxander is gonna sue me for making him trip in the hallway outside his office, I need more money,

 

And if I ever run out of potions and sp, what I do is this... wait... never thought about that since i've never ran out of potions...

[Bomber]

the only potion worth getting is the knowledge brew the rest spell can replace.

[Alorael at Large]

Not quite. Energy potions and elixirs are helpful, although you can survive without them through most of the game. In the Tower of Zkal they're absolutely essential.

 

—Alorael, who hasn't had much trouble fitting potions in Fort Emergence. Potions stack and there aren't all that many different kinds.

[Foley's Body]

Quote:

Originally written by Apologenesis:
—Alorael, who hasn't had much trouble fitting potions in Fort Emergence. Potions stack and there aren't all that many different kinds.

Oh shut up... I am too lazy to just put them in a pile (Its is also harder to find them in a pile... I just now sorted them, energy in Storage room, Healing in the room with the fresh water, strength in a barrack and the rest in my room)

[Erika Maroonmark]

I like hoarding my potions (make a few, keep the ones I find) until boss fights, then distribute them among all my party members so that if someone's nearly dead (especially if there are two people who are nearly dead, or the priest-spell-casting characters are in forcecages or something), they can heal themselves and still have a movement point or two left, instead of having a priest take up his whole turn doing it (if they're not incapacitated, that is). At the levels my A3 characters are currently at, potions heal more HP than healing spells. I also like having lots of energy potions on hand for boss fights, so that my mage(s) can cast huge damage-dealing spells with (relative) abandon.