The Witcher 3 Alchemy System

[andersonblue]

I actually like the idea of auto-refill. Collecting ingredients isn't that fun (oh I think i need X amount of potions for this battle so i need Y amount of ingredients). I like the idea of gathering specific herbs and hunting monsters for upgrades instead. People who want to 'roleplay' is fine and all, but it's not like the game has a sleep/eating/survival mechanic, so you shouldn't be too concerned about this either. I doubt it makes combat any easier, for those concerned with that. For example If you neglect upgrading potions they will be next to useless in battle, for the harder encounters.

I really don't see any problem. They only refills when you meditate at taverns anyway. I bet there are skills in the Alchemy tree that allows you to refill up to a certain number of potions etc. But in general it just removes the tedious gathering aspect.

 

[karl_hummer]

They only refill when you meditate at taverns anyway.

Any links about that? A dude on YouTube told me the same, but when I asked him for some links to prove it, he "disappeared".

 

[EmperorZorn]

Coming next: auto-refilling orens/crowns.

 

[andersonblue]

Any links about that? A dude on YouTube told me the same, but when I asked him for some links to prove it, he "disappeared".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CvA3reLuH8#t=303

Skip to about 4:00 as he starts to talk about the Alchemy system. The specific part you would like to know is around 4:48.

 

[ferryman10]

Hoarding itself is not the problem according to them - it's just the side effect. The issue is players not using consumables, which is why they're changing them into infinite... "consumables." Their idea is to encourage people to use everything they have at their disposal, make them experiment more instead of ignoring consumable items.

The problem I see in that solution is, that even if potions become necessity before combat (due to more challenging monsters) it might eventually become a boring chore and lessen the enjoyable experience of using potions. You would just meditate before every fight to use the same potions over and over again (Vitality regen + combat boost + situational potion).

I would suggest having only one possible active potion (or just giving penalties for using more than one, which could be lowered to an extent by leveling alchemy). This way you would use either:

• General potion (Regeneration potion or combat ability)
• Special situational potion (Resist poison/fire/magic or even Immunity to certain special attacks - necrophages won't try to bite you, because your blood is infested with the potion etc.).

This way you won't need as many ingredients and it would make alchemy more tactical (potions should give substantial bonuses, but only to one attribute - more potions = rapidly lessened effectivity).

Also about gathering ingredients, I think it would be better than in the previous games, because you can always revisit places where these herbs/monsters appear. I always hoarded a lot of ingredients in W1, because I knew that I won't be able to revisit previous acts, which could make getting some secondary elements unattainable. This however does not apply to open world in W3.

 

[Zhyphix]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CvA3reLuH8#t=303

Skip to about 4:00 as he starts to talk about the Alchemy system. The specific part you would like to know is around 4:48.

He specifically says "when you're preparing for the battle, creating the fireplace or sitting at the fireplace in a tavern". As you can see in the E3 demonstration, you create a fireplace every time you meditate, so every time you meditate your potions are automatically refilled.

Besides, it would be very annoying to be forced to return to a tavern every time you finish your few potions, and make very little sense if you consider the problems they're supposedly trying to solve.

 

[karl_hummer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CvA3reLuH8#t=303

Skip to about 4:00 as he starts to talk about the Alchemy system. The specific part you would like to know is around 4:48.

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but he says "when you are preparing for the battle, creating the fireplace or sitting at the fireplace in the tavern..." so I think you misunderstood him.

EDIT: Beaten by The Fixer... I shall give you a RedPoint and I shall thank for your post as a sign of defeat, but I shall return! And when I do, I shall give you what you deserve...

 

[hardom]

I REALLY don't want auto refilling
If someone thinks that the problem is the tedious task of collecting herbs, well:
1.you can buy them, if you don't have money go monster hunt, if you don't have monster hunt quests anymore, well, then you should balance better your finances
2.Monsters drops ingredient
So it's like:
Kill monsters -> money -> herbs
Kill monsters -> ingredients
So even if you hate all the gathering, you still have more options to get enough ingredients, also monsters aren't the only thing that makes money

Auto-refilling sounds so... weird
Also this makes merchants ten times more useless, and really, I don't want it
Also is so unreal
It will make game to much easier
Also at the end you'll have a bag with 283792828 unused ingredients, "but they will make ingredients harder to find" you say, and I answer: "so at the first hours of games you won't have any potions at all, and after you make one, it will takes more a decade to make the second potion, more other years for the third, and so goes on" and I'm mostly sure that there're some players on this forum that will throw his computer from the window if you throw a console it means you're heretic simply because they can't advance in the game, the only solution is making the game easyer, but then potions would be useless and all the alchemy "improvement" a fail, so NO

 

[Zhyphix]

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but he says "when you are preparing for the battle, creating the fireplace or sitting at the fireplace in the tavern..." so I think you misunderstood him.

EDIT: Beaten by The Fixer... I shall give you a RedPoint and I shall thank your post as a sign of defeat.

Heheh, don't worry mate... The way of the ninja is hard to master Have one from me too as a welcome!

 

[andersonblue]

He specifically says "when you're preparing for the battle, creating the fireplace or sitting at the fireplace in a tavern". As you can see in the E3 demonstration, you create a fireplace every time you meditate, so every time you meditate your potions are automatically refilled.

Besides, it would be very annoying to be forced to return to a tavern every time you finish your few potions, and make very little sense if you consider the problems they're supposedly trying to solve.

Well I stand corrected, but like he says toxicity plays a big role in how much you can consume (like before) so even if you could refill when you meditate out in the field you can't use them. I still like the idea of auto-refill. I don't think it caters to the 'casuals'. I'm sure there will be plenty of recipes that require certain herbs, or monster drops for upgrades and other craftables.

 

[Blothulfur]

Love as much environmental interaction and extra features as possible, really bring the gameworld to life, and make a nice break from the tedious business of the usual combat and conversation. So i'm obviously against any abstraction of features to aid accessibility or appeal to those who don't want to be challenged or learn the games mechanics. If they've not got the patience to click on a few items or perform a little exploration then they should really go back to movies, interactivity is the strength of this medium and we should embrace it, not strip out any hint of it for the sake of the lowest common denominator.

 

[karl_hummer]

Heheh, don't worry mate... The way of the ninja is hard to master Have one from me too as a welcome!

Have another Thank you and REDpoint to express my eternal gratitude! I promise I won't disappoint you! I shall dedicate my life to mastering the way of ninja as of now!

 

[hardom]

Have another Thank you and REDpoint to express my eternal gratitude! I promise I won't disappoint you! I shall dedicate my life to master the way of ninja as of now!

No problem, I'm sure this path will lead you to fix all the problems, that's why he's called the fixer. (Ok terrible joke)
Also ninjas need to gather ingredients to make potions of invisibility, they can't auto refill

 

[Percival_Dickenbutts]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the way to get more people to use potions is to make potions more interesting than being JUST stat upgrades.
Make potions temporarily give you some extra options in combat, by for example give you the opportunity to perform group finishers, Igni causing panic and more powerful incineration, Aard causing knockdown/stun easier and against tougher enemies, and so on and so forth.

I really think that most people who didn't use potions just didn't feel that they were worth the effort, I don't think collecting ingredients or going through the process of brewing the potion was what got in their way.

 

[Zhyphix]

Well I stand corrected, but like he says toxicity plays a big role in how much you can consume (like before) so even if you could refill when you meditate out in the field you can't use them. I still like the idea of auto-refill. I don't think it caters to the 'casuals'. I'm sure there will be plenty of recipes that require certain herbs, or monster drops for upgrades and other craftables.

You would only need to meditate for an hour to use them again. In any case, I wonder how many potions will the toxicity bar allow to drink. Mutagenic potions should be the most toxic, but the (probably work-in-progress) one in the demonstration only filled the bar to 9%. If "support" potions are even less toxic than that, will you be able to drink more than ten? I hope not.

Love as much environmental interaction and extra features as possible, really bring the gameworld to life, and make a nice break from the tedious business of the usual combat and conversation. So i'm obviously against any abstraction of features to aid accessibility or appeal to those who don't want to be challenged or learn the games mechanics. If they've not got the patience to click on a few items or perform a little exploration then they should really go back to movies, interactivity is the strength of this medium and we should embrace it, not strip out any hint of it for the sake of the lowest common denominator.

I completely agree. And love the new signature.

 

[karl_hummer]

No problem, I'm sure this path will lead you to fix all the problems, that's why he's called the fixer. (Ok terrible joke)
Also ninjas need to gather ingredients to make potions of invisibility, they can't auto refill

But can they release the effects of the potions through their metabolism?

 

[hardom]

But can they release the effects of the potions through their metabolism?

No >:[

 

[Pedrolago]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the way to get more people to use potions is to make potions more interesting than being JUST stat upgrades.
Make potions temporarily give you some extra options in combat, by for example give you the opportunity to perform group finishers, Igni causing panic and more powerful incineration, Aard causing knockdown/stun easier and against tougher enemies, and so on and so forth.

I really think that most people who didn't use potions just didn't feel that they were worth the effort, I don't think collecting ingredients or going through the process of brewing the potion was what got in their way.

Another way to make potions more interesting to newcomers is to make them have a visual effect on Geralt(something thats been asked for many times here)

 

[Percival_Dickenbutts]

Another way to make potions more interesting to newcomers is to make them have a visual effect on Geralt(something thats been asked for many times here)

Right you are, I loved how it looked in the 52 and a half trailer.

 

[TheFawz]

Personally the auto-refilling system sounds appealing from a gameplay perspective because it means they can better balance the various potions you can use. I hope the refiling system is handled gracefully to not feel too odd, but I like that aspect a lot more than constantly having to pick bushes or farm monsters to make specific potions. Frequent visits to a alchemy reagent vendor would also be more of an annoyance. To me the potion refiling system means they can design the potions in a way where they can assume you can combine every potion that's available to you.