this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2025
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[–] DjMeas@lemm.ee 96 points 5 days ago (3 children)

"Better save these elixirs for the last boss." Proceeds to beat the game without using them

[–] wise_pancake@lemmy.ca 66 points 5 days ago (1 children)

There really should be an achievement for this.

Also fuck games that make you consume a potion so you know that’s how potions work.

That NPC handed me a potion and it’s my prerogative to carry it around for the rest of the game.

[–] TheFogan@programming.dev 20 points 5 days ago

Agreed there, personally though I do feel one of the biggest silly combinations games often make is, having marathon grade health, easy access to health potions AND a save anytime system. It's like I could use a potion to heal up... or I could go back 5 seconds and do the fight without taking a hit.

[–] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I feel like it's often bad game design from developers who think they need to put in consumables without understanding their gameplay value.

In too many games using up all your consumables is just A Thing That Happens. So the game is balanced to allow you to survive anyway. But then the corollary is that if it works for a bit then you can finish the game without using any of the consumables. The consumables are just a way to make already achievable portions of the game easier, which is just sloppy game design IMO. Bethesda games for instance are very guilty of that.

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago

At least when I'm playing Bethesda games, potions are a way for me to clear achievable portions that I've made unnecessarily difficult for myself.

[–] BenVimes@lemmy.ca 27 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

This recently happened in my campaign.

We were fighting a dragon, and it kept flying around its lair, making it very hard for my Barbarian to hit it. We ultimately won, but 3 of the party of 5 died.

Later, while dividing loot, I saw that I had been carrying a Potion of Flying the whole time, and the fight probably would have gone better if I had used it.

[–] scops@reddthat.com 8 points 5 days ago

I'm awful about forgetting about my x/per day abilities, especially if they are granted from magic items. I've taken to writing them down on a post-it note to keep them handy for a session.

[–] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 19 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I'm working on a Metroidvania game where consumables work on a system where when you use one it'll respawn at its original location. You can only carry one copy of any given consumable at a time but if you're willing to do a bit of backtracking you can always replenish your stock.

[–] Natanael 1 points 4 days ago

Kinda like rocket league boosts, haha

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 20 points 5 days ago (1 children)

None of them were health potions.

[–] baguettefish@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 5 days ago (1 children)

dick enlargement potions are popular nowadays

Those MIGHT be helpful in battle too, though, depending on what you're working with..

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 15 points 5 days ago

Hey don't criticize how I play!

[–] KindnessIsPunk@lemmy.ca 13 points 5 days ago

This is why I like games where I can combine weaker potions into the more potent equivalent.

[–] joe_archer@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] Truscape@lemm.ee 3 points 5 days ago

"It's not your loot, just your turn to use it."

[–] Notyou@sopuli.xyz 6 points 5 days ago

I was so bad at this growing up...

It's not quite this same, but I was renting a Sega Genesis game called Elemental Master for the weekend. It started with a stage select screen like Mega Man and after beating the initial ones you fight the last boss. The game play was more like Gunsmoke though (top-down shooting). Well I fought all the way to the last boss and then died.

After my fit of anger. I noticed that there were power-ups that you get after beating the other levels. You start mastering more than just the reg attack, like Mega Man. 😔 I felt very dumb, but the game was more fun after that.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

As a DM this is always a dilemma - you want to reward the party with some nice stuff but you hate to kill off a character with it. So it looks like the BBG left his most powerful item in the closet for some reason.

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

The clair obscure / CybP 2077 healing item handling is the way

[–] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

How does Cyberpunk 2077 handle it?

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 9 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Since 2.0 instead of buying consumable items you have consumable item types that can be upgraded and a certain amount of charges with a cooldown. These can be upgraded by finding/ buying health item upgrades and perks

So you don't have to save them because they will regenerate in 20 seconds and you can't just spam them in fight like in previous versions

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

Grim Dawn has a similar approach. You just have a health and energy potion that goes on cooldown. No need to worry about potions for inventory management or remembering to buy them in town or checking if you need to pick some up, plus less loot clutter because of it. The potions return a % of hp/energy, so they scale with your character. And it helps with balance because now those players who do farm tons of potions so they can spam them don't need to be considered.

[–] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Enough to put some flesh back on those old bones.