Potion Identification

Put those random potion descriptors to use and learn exactly how you can identify potions with minimal waste!

Potion Identification

Catacomb Kids uses a neat little potion system: every type of potion has a unique combination of three traits. It is possible, then, to create a kind of psuedo-Venn diagram relating potions to each other via their traits.

You can always identify potions by drinking them, but if you drink Flames, you're pretty much dead. You can also throw potions at enemies, but if you throw Might at a Grumbul, that could also be bad news. The game's system of potion traits is here to help.

The Basics

To identify the traits of a potion, hold it. It can be in either your active slot or your stowed slot. Eventually, the first trait will be revealed. The amount of time this takes depends on your INT stat(see Appendix II), but you must have at least 3 INT to identify a second trait and at least 7 to identify a third. It's worth noting that the first trait is ALWAYS either Warm or Cool, and these two traits are mutually exclusive.

In a few cases, the third trait is unnecessary. There are four situations where a combination of two traits will identify a potion:

• Cool + Light = Invis
  
• Cool + Swirling = Might
  
• Warm + Thick = Health
  
• Warm + Swirling = Flames

This doesn't mean that, e.g., Health will always be Warm + Thick, because it can also be Warm + Cloudy, which could be either Health or Flames.

Identification by Throwing

Throwing potions at foes is often the safest way to identify them. In many cases, this will identify the potion immediately and saves you the risk of drinking death. I recommend targeting weak foes such as goo and slime, so that if the effects are positive, it won't be too much of an issue.

Usually, identification by use as a weapon will explain itself, but there are a few cases where the potion's type may not be clear:

• You are too close to the target. Although the potion still works, the game does not recognize this identification (likely a bug). Note that a thrown potion also splashes, which will affect the thrower if they are too close.
  
• Thrown potions ordinarily only do 1 direct damage. If it does more, it's most likely Mana - one of the possible effects of a thrown Mana potion is additional direct damage.
  
• If the potion does no damage, then it was health and the target was already at full health.
  
• If the potion inflicts a single status effect such as Flames, but the target was already afflicted with this status, the potion may not identify.
  
• If the target is immune to the potion, it may not identify - for instance, skeletons are immune to poison.

One other side note - if a Grumbul is carrying a potion, there's a very high chance the potion is beneficial. Might and Health seem to be the most common, but Invisibility and Regeneration are also possible.

Implicit Identification

It helps to keep track of what you've identified. Doing so eliminates possibilities from the diagram and makes future identifications even easier. Consider the following examples, but for reasons I'll explain later, Gold, Silver and Layered potions do NOT follow these rules.

• You know that the Potion of Poison is Blue. Since Cool + Smelly can be either Might or Poison, if you come across an unidentified Crimson potion that is Cool and Smelly, it has to be Might. (The colors in this example are arbitrary; it only matters that they are different.)
  
• You've already identified Poison, Might and Ice. The only remaining Cool potion is Invisibility, so if you find another unidentified potion, you won't even have to wait for the second trait if the first is Cool. (Slow is also Cool, but don't worry about this - I'll explain later.)
  
• You find a Cool + Thick potion. This has to be Ice or Poison, so it's generally safe to throw it at a Grumbul.
  
• You find a Warm + Prismatic potion. This has to be Regen or Mana, so it's safe to drink it yourself.
  
• You've identified Lightning, Flames, Ice and Poison. The only remaining common potions are all safe to drink.

There are some other specific situations where traits can be a dead giveaway due to what you've identified already - just pay attention to the diagram.

"Rare" Potions and Alchemy

The above rules apply to the ten common potion colors and the nine common potion types (see the image at right). There are two situations where these guidelines do not apply, however: "rare" potions and alchemized potions.

Rare potions

The three potion types Haste, Slow and Acid are always either Gold, Silver or Layered potions. They don't appear until floor 3 at the earliest, and only if you're really lucky. I have not yet discovered all the traits of these potions, but I do know that Slow is Cool + Thick + Fizzy, Haste is Warm, and Acid always shows up as [?, ?, ?]. This actually makes them easier to identify, because they don't share potion types with the common potions, and thus only the first trait(Warm/Cool/?) is necessary to identify them.

Methods of Alchemy

Alchemy is another way to violate these rules, but it is extremely rare (if even possible) for such potions to be naturally generated. Instead, there are three ways to obtain alchemized potions:

Intelligent alchemy. The second tier INT trait "Alchemy" is the most convenient way to alchemize potions. Once you have the trait, you can mix two potions by dropping one on the ground, standing over it, having the other potion in hand, then holding Crouch and Use for about a second. Not too long, though - you might accidentally drink the potion!

Purchased alchemy. Often, it is possible to grab an alchemized potion from a kid peddling his wares. However, the potion's nature will be indeterminate unless you have identified the two potions of which it consists.

Campfire alchemy. Any substantial source of heat (lava, the Infernus spell, a tipped lamp, or a Grumbul campfire) can be used by any character to perform alchemy. It goes like this:

• Drop one of the potions on the flame until the bottle completely empties. Be aware that the fumes work very much like mushroom spores. Bad Swimmer will make this even more dangerous.
  
• Grab the now-empty bottle and throw it through the fumes. Don't throw it somewhere it may break or fall into water or lava. You should now have a Bottle of Fog.
  
• Once the fumes have dispersed, drop the other potion on the flame and allow it to empty.
  
• Throw your bottle of fog through these fumes.
  
• Dip the bottle of fog in water.

This method is obviously very dangerous for offensive mixtures, and should be paired with a backup plan if possible. It is also highly time-sensitive and requires attention, so it's best to clear the area of obstacles and enemies that may interrupt.

Properties of Alchemized Potions

Regardless of the method you come across, you will now have an alchemized potion. These potions do not have traits and cannot assist with identifying without being used, either as a weapon or as a drink. For the most part, alchemizing two unlike potions just combines their effects so that they can be activated at the same time, although there are a few combinations which do create a unique potion. Alchemizing two of the same potion appears to always produce a unique "superpotion."

Jelly grenades

It is also possible to use jellies (goo, slime or mucus) to create a jelly grenade, although this appears to require the INT trait.

• Stand over a ball of jelly with an empty bottle in hand and press Use to bottle the jelly. You should have Ball of foo in a bottle.
  
• Drop the bottle momentarily onto a substantial source of heat. You should have Bottle of foo.
  
• Alchemize it with any other potion.

Jelly grenades essentially combine the potion effect with the effect of the jelly. When the grenade is thrown, it throws the jelly everywhere, very much like a potion of Scorching or a jelly being killed by a smasher trap. In most circumstances, touching this jelly imparts the effect of the potion (although this appears to not include Health). The type of jelly used also dictates a secondary effect:

• Green goo bounces anything that touches it, usually directly away from the surface it is coating. In tight spaces, it is possible to get temporarily trapped by repeated bounces and in this way obtain ridiculous velocity.
  
• Purple slime (Oog) severely impedes movement. Exceptionally deadly when mixed with Ice.
  
• Blue mucus (Ogo) also impedes movement(?). Additionally, it will explode if set on fire, dealing extreme damage.

See Appendix I for specific information on Alchemy combinations.

Credits and Notes

Special thanks to OceanPuddles and ArchPanda for some of the alchemy results and effects.

If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read this! If you see any errors or know of anything to be added, let me know!

Things to do - these are reminders to myself, but some of these can be done by anyone who's willing:

• Test the remaining superpotions:
  
  • Acid + Acid
    
  • Haste + Haste
    
  • Slow + Slow
• Test the remaining unlike common potion combinations:
  
  • Health + Ice
    
  • Ice + Poison
    
  • Might + Poison
• Test the unlike rare potion combinations
  
• Test Slime/Goo/Mucus potions
  
• Figure out the names of Flames + Lightning and Flames + Ice
  
• Double-check combinations represented by yellow cells
  
  • Or determine the answer to the question the causes the yellow cells. I noticed that Flames + Ice showed up as a "Frozen Muddy and Pale Potion," so if the potion does actually have a unique name, then the Frozen prefix would answer the question. Tried again with Health + Regeneration and verified that it has no prefix. However, instead of saying "Muddy and Pale Potion," it said "Muddy Potion of Pale." Still trying to figure this out.
• Determine Haste's properties
  
• Figure out the point of Extra Regeneration and Cure

This guide's contents were last updated for Catacomb Kids version 0.0.13b. Version number shows up in the top-right of the screen in-game. If the versions don't match, take this guide with a grain of salt.

Appendix I: Potion Effects and Superpotions

Base potion	Effects	Superpotion	Effects
Acid	Deals 1-2 damage every ~3 seconds. If the victim is wearing or wielding anything, it may be damaged or destroyed.	?	Untested.
Flames	Deals 1-3 damage every ~2 seconds. Can spread to other creatures by contact, and can be doused by water or ice.	Scorching	Blows up, spreading "sticky flames" around which instantly ignite anything with about the power of lava.
Haste	Increases movement speed, jumping height and attack speed.	?	Untested.
Health	Restores up to 5 health, and cures certain status effects.	Cure	Unknown effect. Still heals.
Invisibility	Renders target invisible, making them difficult to detect.	Vanishing	Unknown effect. Turns you invisible, but ends whenever you attempt to attack.
Ice	Deals 1-2 damage every ~5 seconds, and prevents them from acting. Damage will chip the ice and reduce its duration.	Glaciers	Freezes a MASSIVE area of the map (radius about 4) and any living things inside.
Lightning	Electrifies the target, stunning them periodically. If they are wet, they additionally take 0-2 damage and are stunned more often.	Storms	Shoots lightning at everything nearby.
Mana	When consumed, restores spell charges. When thrown, imparts three random effects, benificial or detrimental.	Unstable Potion	After a few seconds, erupts as though it were over a campfire. Spreads gas that presumably imparts random mana effects (only tested once, got overcharge + haste + might).
Might	Increase attack power and reduces some types of damage.	Berzerk	Increases attack power; whenever an enemy is in sight you lose all control of your character and they start pursuing and attacking said enemy. Control is only regained when the potion ends or there are no more enemies in sight.
Poison	Deals 1 damage every ~3 seconds. Cannot deal the final blow.	Toxicity	Deals 2 damage per tick instead of 1, and can actually deal the final blow.
Regeneration	Restores 1-2 health every ~4 seconds. If the target is at full health and is missing a limb, that limb will be restored.	Extra Regeneration	Unknown. Appears to do absolutely nothing.
Slow	Reduces movement speed, jumping height and attack speed.	?	Untested.

Several combinations of unlike potions have been verified to produce a unique effect:

Ingredients	Result	Effects
Health + Flames	Cleansing Flames	Unknown. Still heals and causes burning.
Invisibility + Mana	Ethereality	Renders you invulnerable to physical attack(?)
Poison + Regen	Pointlessness	Deals 1 damage if thrown. (May not do anything if consumed; the 1 damage probably came from the shattering vial.)
Health + Regen	Restoration	Heals and causes regeneration. Restores lost limbs, including the stat losses that went with them.
Flames + Lightning	Smiting?	Creates a small radius ~1 explosion that inflicts both burning and shocking.
Flames + Ice	Fatal Error	Crashes the game. Probably not the intended effect, but that's what happened.

(There should be an image between this text and the last table showing what combinations of potions have been tested thus far. Click to enlarge, or click here[docs.google.com] for the Google Sheet.)

Appendix II: Identification Time

The time it takes to identify a potion's traits is approximately
T = 103 / I for one trait,
T = 210 / I for two traits, and
T = 420 / I for three traits,

where T is the time in seconds and I is your INT value. This table gives the results of this equation:

INT	First	Second	Third	Direct
2	51.50
3	34.33	70.00
4	25.75	52.50
5	20.60	42.00
6	17.17	35.00
7	14.71	30.00	60.00
8	12.88	26.25	52.50
9	11.44	23.33	46.67	59.00

3 INT is necessary to identify a second trait and 7 INT to identify a third. At 9 INT, the potion can also be directly identified - that is, the game stops reporting traits and shows the actual name of the potion. This happens shortly after the third trait is identified.

[IHeartElephants]

mana+mana exploding was both hilarious and terrifying

[TiME_BLiND]

Wow. This is the most thorough guide I've seen for a long time, maybe ever.
I love this game so much but I am still terrible at it.
Maybe some potions will help me make it past floor 2 haha.

[Jinx]

fire+ice doesn't usually cause a fatal error, usually it's an unstable potion which has a few interesting properties. for one, it will eventually begin to vaporize, causing fire damage or ice damage or both to entities in the vapor. for two, when you throw it, it usually explodes and burns or freezes anything in the radius. very powerful, very dangerous, rarely worth mixing up unless you see a whole enclave of undead warriors in the next room. vaporization usually takes about 10 seconds, though i've held onto one for three floors before. maybe a bug?

[Serf]

This guide is amazing, thanks to all contributors!

[Schrödinger's Dinger]

Haste+Haste=Potion of Speed

[Schrödinger's Dinger]

Acid+regen does not make anything

[Schrödinger's Dinger]

And if i remember right i think
Potion of Flames + Lightning
Makes a potion of Smiting?
Il try and check this later

[Schrödinger's Dinger]

Glad to help! ^.^

Just a couple tips with the slimes/jellies Potion combos
To make a slime potion you need to put the Ball of goo/slime/mucus into a bottle THEN heat it
Then you will get a potion of that slime
Slime when thrown into the faces of the enemy will stick to the walls and floors
Just like the double Potion of flames
However
Green slime will be bouncy
Pink slime will be Sticky
And mucus with be Sticky aswell BUT anyone that is covered with Mucus and lit on fire will Explode!
So mixing a potion of Mucus and Flames makes a potion of explosions
Mixing Pink slime and Ice will make a sticky area that freezes people
Green and Pink slime with stay on the ground for some time after face smashing
Same goes for Mucus but i normaly just have it explode
And this might not need to be said but hitting a Mucus covered foe with Fire will have it explode
Just about everytype of fire works

[alphappy]

Glad you guys are finding this useful!
--I stopped updating because I stopped playing for a bit, but I may start again since there's been a couple updates since.
--A big thanks for the tips, ArchPanda! All of that info and credit has been added to the guide, although I haven't updated the image yet because I can't do it on my laptop.
--I actually didn't know about adding jellies to the potions, so that's an entirely new dimension I'll have to explore.

[Schrödinger's Dinger]

Acid and posion does not make anything awesome just Poison and acid