consuming food

[ds230]

I waas being attacked and energy was near zero so went into inventory and consumed 10 bread, 4 apple and 2 meat, Then exited inventory and my energy was almost at the same level, about 10% full. So what is wrong with the eating food, doesn't seem to work?

[worm_master]

Use Swallow instead, u start with the basic potion, if ya going to use food for health, then u need to invest in the Gourmet perk, this makes each food item last for 20 mins.

[Spogg]

This is not skyrim

it don't work like that, read descriptions of the items you use
also theres a useful skill you can get which buffs food making the hp regen gained from eating last for 20 minutes, very useful early game.

[ds230]

My only argument is when you are in the middle of a fight it is hard to get back any energy when its such a slow recharge, I'm playing on easy difficulty and most equipment seems far too expensive for someone just starting the game.

[s0d0]

Originally posted by ds230:

My only argument is when you are in the middle of a fight it is hard to get back any energy when its such a slow recharge, I'm playing on easy difficulty and most equipment seems far too expensive for someone just starting the game.

At the start of the game you will only have limited healing as such, but there are remedies for that.
My top tip for you is the "gourment" skill, it is in the skilltree of "general" skills.
This lets the foodbuff last 20minutes, which is huge. This will supply you with a still rather slow, but constant regeneration.
For the faster heals I recommend to craft the swallow potion, which is available right after start. Later, you can even craft a potion that gives you an instant-heal for a big chunk of health.

[longjohn119]

Gourmet also makes your food stash last longer and what I do is mostly keep the 15 per second food and sell off most of the rest. Before I go into battle I pop a 15 per second even if I'm already full health and since it lasts 20 minutes there is no need to worry about using another. It's always a good idea to keep Swallow for those time you really are getting your ass handed to you. Thunderbolt which you get early on is also good for early game when you need a little more hit power. Yes there are some better potions later in the game but Swallow and Thunderbolt can help get you through some early game fights until you get the hang of how all the systems. perks and potions work and which ones work best in which situations

[NiceGuy]

For this game it's not meant to pop infinite health potions to have infinite health in fights. You need to manage the fighting and survive with the health bar you have.
If you play on easy and are still at the beginning and still on first map (white orchard) and are struggling with standard fights and need several health buffs to get through a fight you should certainly watch some fighting tutorials.
I play for the first time Witcher. I'm on normal difficulty and level 5 right now. I just ended the tutorial and left white orchard and are now on the Velen map. There was no use to buy any equipment right now I just use what I find. I let built the Smith the viper sword. I got the recipe in a mission. The most difficult fight was the ghost at the well which also was easy if you know what to do.

[moronzzz]

Surprisingly, healing in this game not like skyrim when you can chug tons of food / potions which is good. As others already said, using foods help keep maintain regenerative health. Swallow potion also useful to help boost that regeneration (higher swallow potion could instant heal though). Applying parry / counterattack / dodge / roll could help sustain above safety threshold when facing tough enemies. Beastiary is there for a reason, and this I like.

[stanzebla]

I guess you come from Skyrim, which is known for healing by eating 50 cabbage. While Witcher 3 is in no way realistic, as far as the healing by food goes, it is more realistic than Skyrim. You can't heal like that. You are supposed to not let your hitpoints drop that far. There is a potion that restores part of the vitality instantly I think. My Geralt got it when he was on Skellige (?). But honestly the best defence is in my opinion a good offence in this game. You can also use decoctions. They last longer (but are more poisonous). The Witcher 2 is more difficult in my opinion as far as the boos fights go. Pay attention to the bestiary. Using the right signs and potions can work wonders.

[Spogg]

Originally posted by stanzebla:

I guess you come from Skyrim, which is known for healing by eating 50 cabbage. While Witcher 3 is in no way realistic, as far as the healing by food goes, it is more realistic than Skyrim. You can't heal like that. You are supposed to not let your hitpoints drop that far. There is a potion that restores part of the vitality instantly I think. My Geralt got it when he was on Skellige (?). But honestly the best defence is in my opinion a good offence in this game. You can also use decoctions. They last longer (but are more poisonous). The Witcher 2 is more difficult in my opinion as far as the boos fights go. Pay attention to the bestiary. Using the right signs and potions can work wonders.

Swallow gives hp regen but on death march its useless until you upgrade it because it gives very little

white raffard's decoction gives instant hp back, 30% at base but the full upgraded one fully restores hp and gives a few seconds of invincibility

Not sure how you got to skellige before getting it you must have skipped a lot of content
i usually have all or almost all potions made and maxed before i get to the part where i start heading to skellige.

right now in my current play-through i haven't even touched the main or sidequests/contracts except the ones for kira because magic lamp + amulet is needed for some side things. I have just ran around doing all the "?" locations.
I have completed all "?" undiscovered locations in velen and i just started doing the ones north of velen in the novigrade area and i already have most potions/bombs/oils and decotions at max Superior level.

So if you want all the alchemy stuff undiscovered locations are the way to do it.

[munchman347]

When my health gets dangerously low, I run away till the 'Battle Music' stops, meditate, and I'm healed. Enemies I've already killed are still dead. Only works on lower difficulties though...

[longjohn119]

Quen is also your friend especially if you are like me and prefer the light but fast armors. With light armors you are trading off protection for speed and Quen can make up for that lost protection. Enable Quen just before you start a fight and if Quen gets broken then roll backwards away from the enemy and re-enable it again

Here I'm taking on the level 6 bear in White Orchard while I'm still level 1. I'm also trying to get used to the new controller scheme for Signs so a couple of times I hit the wrong button trying to engage Quen but you can still get a basic idea of how to approach a tougher higher level opponent without taking too much damage

https://youtu.be/MAm-ayJP4Ak