Status Effects need a duration buff

[B [KRAG] Bird]

I really enjoy cooking different teas from the plants you find. When I do they have cool effects (that are not explained what they do exactly). This is all great.

However the buffs only last 1-3 minutes. That's not enough time to do hardly any climbing. I think they might need a 5-10x buff in duration. If I had more grip strength for 5 or 10 minutes I would be more likely to use these items without feeling like I am wasting them. Slow and steady seems to be the way to go in this game and these buffs are only useful if you are speed climbing.

[Rafael]

I think most of the climbing is done through well-thought-out routes. The buffs are designed to help overcome specific sections, which is why their effects are intentionally short-lived. These challenging sections are usually brief but highly demanding on the character, making the buffs almost essential. For instance, some slab sections seem nearly impossible to climb without using buffs. However, they’re short, and the current buff duration provides plenty of time. That’s why I don’t think extending their duration would be ideal.

[B [KRAG] Bird]

Originally posted by Rafael:

I think most of the climbing is done through well-thought-out routes. The buffs are designed to help overcome specific sections, which is why their effects are intentionally short-lived. These challenging sections are usually brief but highly demanding on the character, making the buffs almost essential. For instance, some slab sections seem nearly impossible to climb without using buffs. However, they’re short, and the current buff duration provides plenty of time. That’s why I don’t think extending their duration would be ideal.

The issue is they are consumable so if you use one for a short section but then fall and the time runs out then you are just out of luck.

[Saltucius]

The other problem is that you need to go off belay to use most items, unless you fill your main water bottle with something cooked. Sometimes when going back on belay your limbs end up in a terrible default position and fall immediately, forcing you to ragdoll and grab the rope again, eating up like 10-15 seconds of your buff.

The ultimate infusion (juniper + water twice, then add either dandelion or thistle) gives you 5 minutes of grip, focus, and grit per sip (20 minutes total if you fill the large main water bottle), which is plenty of time, so the game already has a wide enough range of buff times imo. The only thing I'd change is chalk. It should last longer, but also be weaker.

[Ancalagon]

I never needed the buffs to be honest. Even when trying to get the honey. Climbed on the ceiling without much difficulty.

[B [KRAG] Bird]

Not using the buffs is exactly my problem. I also never felt like they were worth it so why are they in the game if you don't need them and they don't last long enough to be helpful?

[Saltucius]

There are some climbs in the demo that I don't think are possible without the boosts. But those climbs are well outside the "intended" routes and you have to intentionally go out of your way to find them.

Not sure how it'll be in the final game, but presumably the items will come more into play in a large scale. Towards the top I imagine the average difficulty will go up, so even the "safe" route might need some buffs. The same also applies to pitons. I'd be impressed if anybody genuinely needed all the pitons in the demo, but there might be climbs in the final game that are triple or even quadruple the height of any pitch in the demo. It'll take more thought when you've already used 3 pitons and still can't even see the top or how far you have to go.