Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback AI shanking potion throws: bug or feature?

I’ve noticed a few times in Patch 8 that enemies will throw potions to spots that don’t make sense. For example, they might throw a heaing potion at no-one, leaving a healing surface for anyone to use, including a PC.

I’ve complained before that every enemy is Steph Curry on steroids because they never miss a throw by more than an inch and the surface created by the potion always hits its intended target, no matter the distance, angle or height differential.

If enemies wildly missing their throws is a new feature, then I applaud it. It would be nice to have some sort of indicator that a roll was failed or something.

If this is a bug, may I suggest it become a feature?

I think if throw accuracy was governed by roll it would be good (a bit like XCOM long war handled rockets, or classic UFO fallouts).

Potions being thrown or leaving a healing surface have no place in a D&D game. This isn't Diablo where you "collect" healing from the battlefield.

WHY do they need to add all these gimmicks? Why isn't it enough to drink the potions or just transfer them to another character by throwing?

Action to throw - Reaction to catch. SEEMS like how it should be.

However, with a system that already has Magic Pockets where everyone can simply Use Potion from anyone's inventory, this mechanic would be pointless.

And that's the part that bugs me. It's already BOOTY easy to heal. Bonus Action on your turn means you can heal every round and still attack. You don't NEED to throw potions at all.

The point of potion throwing, therefore, is to offer an alternative solution to having a cleric in the party. You don't NEED a healer now. EVERYONE can be a healer by purchasing potions and throwing them to create surfaces, etc.

But it bugs me to no end for multiple reasons:

1. Clerics and other healers are no longer needed. So, their value is diminished greatly.
2. Potions don't soak up into someone to heal them. Just because your boots run on a puddle of healing potion juice doesn't mean you soak it up and get healed. (What's with that? Poison soaks up into your boots and messes with you too!) That makes absolutely no sense from a fantasy RPG/Forgotten Realms perspective or even a remotely realistic perspective. (Yes. It is fantasy. It isn't SUPPOSED to be realistic, but there is in every fantasy world/universe a set of established rules that create a reality of its own. By going against said rules, you destroy the reality that was built. D&D and Forgotten Realms reality does not include soaking up healing potions and toxins through your boots.) I even have an issue with splashing people with potions to heal them. That's not how it's ever worked ever in the past and it's against the established D&D rules. Drink a potion for magic healing. That is the established method. The rules state, "You regain 2d4+2 hit points when you DRINK this potion." You can ONLY administer a potion to another player if they CONSUME the potion. Thus, you should have to run up to your ally, and there should be a mechanic that allows you to Use Potion On your party member - ONLY if adjacent to them.
3. As pointed out above, enemies can benefit from a healing potion being thrown. A goblin could throw a potion and create a puddle on the ground, and you can run over it and heal. You could throw a potion and a goblin heals because of it. That's crazy bizarre to me.

I frankly hate the entire concept. Potion throwing is like Barrelmancy. It makes no sense. "Here! Let me hurl a glass vial at you so that it shatters all over you and heals you through your clothes and other equipment. Don't worry about getting fragments of glass on you and in your cuts and wounds. It's MAGIC!"

Magic Pockets needs to be disabled in combat, at least on Core Rules difficulty setting. It's good for automatically using a key from anyone's inventory while exploring, but drinking potions from other PC's inventories feels like a bug or exploit. It should matter how you distribute your resources. That's a choice.

A DC 5 Dex check to catch a thrown potion would be appropriate and it sounds like a good use for a Reaction. And then you DRINK it.

I also think Clerics, Druids and other classes who have access to healing magic should retain their perk of combat healing instead of literally everyone being a ranged healer.

+1

I believe that problem would be solved if they finally rethink their 4 person party limit...

Fun Fact: Throwing healing potions is also doing minimal dmg as everything you throw. It was really weird as I throw it near to Findal (1 HP) almost killed by the Gobbos to heal him but insteat I accidentally killed him... WTF....

Good points all around. Before anything else : have any of you seen what I'm talking about? Have NPCs thrown potions in weird spots in any of your games?

I keep picturing the AoE indicator of bombs used for every throwable. The projectile could land anywhere inside it; the indicator grows in diameter as you aim the throw further/higher up.

I agree in principle, and I like the idea of reaction to catch, but BG3's inventory sucks eggs. Splitting and transferring items is a pain, items don't stack properly... There's no Rearrange feature à la Solasta, so stray crud will linger offscreen and trying to rearrange by hand usually crashes the inventory or the game. (It's crazy to me that the inventory is so keen to remember the items' positions, but the hotbar icons refuse to stay in place.)

Managing the inventory in Solasta feels rewarding, in BG3 it feels like a chore. I'm glad it's not mechanically relevant.

At first blush, it seems like it allows more party flexibility, but 5e already lets Clerics, Druids, Paladins, Bards and Rangers heal. Not to mention that Monks of the Open Hand, Bearheart Barbarians and all Fighters heal themselves. You'd have to make a party of Sorcerer, Rogue, Warlock, Wizard to be cut off from any healing. Except, whoops, Wizards can heal in BG3.

Throwing healing potions neither makes in-world nor game design sense.

Damage from potions makes some twisted sense. Where's Larian's commitment to realism when it comes to footwear?

I watched NPC throw healing potions at enemies. Especially that battle at the gate.

And yes I agree, this is the gimmick to fix the limits of a four party group. You no longer need a cleric with yeeting potions and mages learning healing spells. Yet they practically beg you to take Shadowheart lol. Not dissing on Shadowheart, she has grown on me with her attitude updates, but I plan on multi classing her as a rogue. IF they keep these healing gimmicks in game. Clerics are not needed meta game wise.

Actually laughed out loud. What a joke of a game.

Healing potions are too abundant to begin with. No one needs a cleric in their party and you don't need to throw potions. There are so many lying around every character should always be well equipped. Not to mention the rest system and revify scrolls are always there to bail you out.

You could probably also argue you don't need a spellcaster since there are so many scrolls available and anyone can cast them.

Yep to all. Exactly that's why I said you don't need to throw and catch potions. Everyone can use a Bonus to use a potion every round and keep fighting, and with group inventory, if 1 character runs out, just take it from another no matter how far away they are.

HELP feature makes it even more silly. No Medicine check to see if you revive an ally. No healing kit needed. Just HELP and 1 HP restored. Whereas if a Medicine check is needed, and you suck at Medicine, OH that healing potion is SUPER important to save a friend's life.

No one needs a healer, but even healer are better if they use potions rather than their spells !

Because yes, throwing potion is an AOE heal/buff.
ANY POTIONS can be thrown to add his effects to all people in an area.

- Want to use a single strenght potion on 3 characters ? Throw it.
- Want your whole team to become fire resistant with a sibgle potion ? Throw it.
- Want to heal your entire party with a single potion ? Throw it.
- Multiple invisible characters ? Throw a potion !

Just another broken and OP feature in a Larian game.

I tend to agree, that throwing potions is a weird concept and potions are too easy to access. Every druid in the grove has a restockable potion, I have almost 50 potions near the end of EA each time I play.

OMG
They really need to fix this crap.

Else I make a reality check where I throw a bottle with medicine in somebodies face.
Lets see if this helps or hurts that person.
(this is a joke, don´t throw bottles at people unless you live inside a larian game)

While throwing potions might seem weird to some people (and what if it's just vocal minority anyway?), it doesn't necessary make it not fun. And that's what's important, right? Having fun. There always will be weird things in a magical world anyway.

And if you're personally feeling that potions are too easy to access, you can just not use them as much, right? And people who feel that potions' amount is ok can keep having fun with them,


Also, buffing several characters with one potion by throwing it on the ground is a very smart move. Players tend to love feeling smart.

I do not think this is fun or smart. For me it is just dumb.

My opinion is that a good fantasy game should try to simulate a believable world.
That world has rules that may be different from our own, such as the existence of magic and so on.
But the game should follow its own rules and these rules should make sense to the player.

So even in a world with magic and healing potions, throwing a bottle of healing potion in your face should give you a headache, not heal you.
Standing in a puddle of healing potion should not heal you as well.
Being missed by an arrow or spell should have no effect on you, NOT push you around.

The intended use of a potion is to drink it. So doing something else then drinking it should not give you the effect of the potion.

Absolutely agree - this is a direct port of a feature from DOS (which loved surface effects and silliness). I was really irritated the first time I saw a goblin using it...really!? I have not used it myself. This is most definitely NOT D&D. This should be reserved for DOS3, which we have been assured BG3 is not.

I dunno ... it seems that im either blind, stupid, or ignorant ... or all abowe :-/ but i simply cant see even a single benefit in throwing a potion.

I can drink potions straight from my teammates inventory. > So why bother throwing it and waste action for that?
Yes i know it allows me to heal outside that character turn ... but i do 0 damage when i do that, so in the end as the round goes, i often end up in exactly same position, minus single potion. > Not exactly effective tactic if you ask me. :-/
Yes, that idea of healing several characters at once seems benefitial ... except it mean that you either need to run them together in order to heal, or keep them that way, and you will most likely also heal your enemies. :-/ > Again, not exactly benefitial.
Giving resistance to all my party members with single potion is also interesting idea ... except two "teensy-weensy, but ever so crucial, little tiny details":
- for one, there are TONS of potions all over the wilderness, so since we could basicaly swimming in them, i never felt any urge to save them. :-/
- and for two, making whole party resistant to single element isnt exactly effective tactic again, would be much more reasonable to let each of them drink different potion in my opinion. WITH EXCEPTION for Force damage ... i admit that Bomb, especialy on lower levels, can be huge problem. :-/

As for NPCs ... same rules aply, if any enemy decide to heal his teammate by throwing a potion, it means he didnt attack me ... i can overdamage potion healing often with meere cantrip ... wich only results in easier battle for me.

Feeling smart because you use an obvious feature of the game again and again ? Really ?

Why though? Standing in a puddle of magical fire damages you, standing in a puddle of healing liquid heals you. I can see that happening.

True, potions are usually intended so that characters drink them. But that doesn't mean this should be the only possible way of using them! Many people have a lot of fun with coming up with unintended ways of using items, spells, environment and so on.

Then don't throw them - easy!

Well, I wouldn't say that it is obvious for all people. Some people find it obvious, some, when they come up with it, feel like they're smart.