Whirlpools / Spirals should work opposite

[Takuan]

The whole point is to venture outwards and yet most of the whirlpools throw me back. Why? If I'm further out, the only way I'm planning on going back to the center is by finishing a potion or canceling.

[PinkDaddySasquatch]

I've wondered that too, I could see some going "sideways" for short cutting multiple effects even those are few and far between. In fact for me more often than not they are an impediment because you can heat up your potion for faster stir/travel and if you hit a whirlpool it will mess up your whole path.

[rkkn]

They are what they are. Some are useful, some are extremely useful, some are niche, and some are super useless.

[Lord Fioosh]

While a few are useful like down by the strength potion, most are obstacles you need to be cautious of. You usually don't want to go IN the whirlpool, instead the way to take advantage of them is to get around a corner or just a little further by touching the very edge and then adding just enough heat for the whirlpool to swing you around to the other side without dragging you in very much. Good for conserving resources on stuff like explosives (though you get really close to losing the potion riding the edge of that specific whirlpool, best to do it once and save the recipe)

[abitofBaileys]

They are great to gather additional xp books after finishing a potion when you ladle back to the map's center

[semtex]

The swirls/vortexes and bellows under the kettle are something to learn to work with. Then you will find them very useful.
The key to success is pulling the bellows slowly so that the vortex rotates slowly and with little inertia.

For illustration, you can look at my tutorial - the green arrows in the graphic tutorial show the use of the vortex
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2930727415

[Takuan]

Originally posted by semtex:

The swirls/vortexes and bellows under the kettle are something to learn to work with. Then you will find them very useful.
The key to success is pulling the bellows slowly so that the vortex rotates slowly and with little inertia.

For illustration, you can look at my tutorial - the green arrows in the graphic tutorial show the use of the vortex
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2930727415

Cool, any chance the guide is in English? I don't understand Czech.

[semtex]

OK
I've added a quick machine translation of the introduction using Deepl.com.
BTW the text is in Slovak, but it can't be set - Czech is the closest language to Slovak and any normal Slovak or Czech understands the other language very well. We have lived in one country for seventy years.

[Kyresti]

That always struck me as part of the challenge. Some throw you back, some propel you forward, some give you a good chunk of exp at the cost of "dead end or crystal". Some shunt you in directions that seem random and useless but give you more control over ingredient use. Some are bad to warp in but great to ride. And I suspect I'll be using the ladle exp-trick a lot if I try the higher difficulties.

And the only way to know what'll happen is to either look up a map, or try it and see. I basically stopped using them on classic after I could consistently grow enough ingredients to really explore without kneecapping my ability to serve customers.

[Takuan]

Originally posted by semtex:

OK
I've added a quick machine translation of the introduction using Deepl.com.
BTW the text is in Slovak, but it can't be set - Czech is the closest language to Slovak and any normal Slovak or Czech understands the other language very well. We have lived in one country for seventy years.

Thank you for the English translation and forgive my ignorance.

[semtex]

That's fine.

[Element]

Originally posted by abitofBaileys:

They are great to gather additional xp books after finishing a potion when you ladle back to the map's center

You do realize you don't have to ladle back to the center to make potions, right? I mean, it's super useful when making multiple effects, but it's NOT required for brewing.

[Pigeon Chest]

Someone hasn't learned to stoke the fire twice and ride the toilet swirl....

Get gud