alchemy

[thegodsend]

no one uses it. 20% have made 3 different potions. and its so good. i just loot ♥♥♥♥♥ and make what i have.

[CorwynCorey]

hell yes. Poisons that, if used right (thrown on ground at camp after a rest, everyone dips, lasts all day until you get wet), elixirs that can give advantage on concentration saves, or free spell slots, or make them enlarged (which you can then cast enlarge on)... all kinds of things.

Heals that can hit all 4 people (throw a potion, all hit in the splash) and grenades of course sure, but SO much more.

[Hexoplex]

Been using it to make heal pots and the bloodlust potion for my buddy who's playing a barbarian. He's been having a blast throwing people into other people, if one of them dies, he gets 5hp and an extra turn. Sometimes half the fight is done by the time is turn finally ends :D

[Calv]

I don't really use potions/elixirs/oil etc so have only made the occasional healing or animal speaking potion.

[Hexoplex]

Originally posted by Calv:

I don't really use potions/elixirs/oil etc so have only made the occasional healing or animal speaking potion.

I was making the animal speak ones too, until our face character picked up a skill that let them do it at will.

[•OyajiBR•]

You kidding? This is the only game where alchemy is useful. Very useful and practical. Not only health potions. And so easy to make.

[ska.one]

You've got elixirs that work till long rest, healing pots (multiple strengths) for free, grenades and toxins, multiple utility potions, and spell slot replenishment potions to name a few. Yeah, alchemy is great. Total waste not to use it.

Originally posted by Calv:

I don't really use potions/elixirs/oil etc so have only made the occasional healing or animal speaking potion.

With how many scrolls there are, even after using the ones you want to teach your wizard, they're just free spell slots. I'm not giving them to martial classes to cast spells - that's not going to be the best use of their turns. But having Gale firing off spells without using slots? That's valuable.

[buttawise]

Malice and Drow poisons rule. The Elixirs are also awesome.

[CorwynCorey]

Originally posted by buttawise:

Malice and Drow poisons rule. The Elixirs are also awesome.

Thisobald's Brewed-Up Bellyglummer.

[VastGirth]

The alchemy screen is quite hidden. I didn't realise it was there for ages, instead thinking i would come across a workbench or similar. Plus I reckon a lot of people just forget about it as you come across so many potions anyway.

[Hexoplex]

Originally posted by VastGirth:

The alchemy screen is quite hidden. I didn't realise it was there for ages, instead thinking i would come across a workbench or similar. Plus I reckon a lot of people just forget about it as you come across so many potions anyway.

For the longest time I thought the only way to open it was to double click an ingredient in the herb bag, but after a bit it would only open the combine screen. Finally noticed the icon in the inventory menu :D

[ULTRA]

In a game full of crazy exploits, the alchemy is honestly kinda bread and butter as far as games with alchemy. Yes it's useful, but more as an escape route, like picking up every firewine in the game and shoving them into your camp chest. We don't have a Skyrim situation where it's a shortcut to unstoppable godhood or a Witcher or Potion Craft situation where it's practically the core mechanic of the game.

[Calv]

I feel like one of the reasons I've not used them much is because a lot of them don't have a clear description of what they do. Can usually guess from the name but I want a specific "does X for y turns" line.

[Drake]

Originally posted by Calv:

I feel like one of the reasons I've not used them much is because a lot of them don't have a clear description of what they do. Can usually guess from the name but I want a specific "does X for y turns" line.

Yeah the fact that you need to craft the potion and then go to the inventory to read the effect is again... bad UI, like everything in the game, the UI is the biggest flaw of BG3.
When I saw alchemy the first time, I immediately turned gale into a transmuter to get the double crafting perk and stack potions.

[Hexoplex]

Originally posted by Calv:

I feel like one of the reasons I've not used them much is because a lot of them don't have a clear description of what they do. Can usually guess from the name but I want a specific "does X for y turns" line.

Yeah, not knowing what they do off hand sucks and can feel like you wasted your ingredients. It'd be nice if after you made one, it updated the description in the menu to tell you what it does now.

[ska.one]

Originally posted by Calv:

I feel like one of the reasons I've not used them much is because a lot of them don't have a clear description of what they do. Can usually guess from the name but I want a specific "does X for y turns" line.

It's kind of weird that you have to either have the potion already or brew it and then inspect it. The good thing is that each ingredient makes a unique potion, and the ingredients that make potions you don't care about can be the ones you use for the "any X" ingredient.

You can always quicksave, brew one of each new thing, see what they do, and decide if you want to reload to keep the ingredients or roll with what you just made. In the end nothing seems so important that reloading would even be necessary. You have a potion of X that you may or may not use, instead of a handful of ingredients whose worth is only valuable as potions.