Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Do you use these consumables?

I find that I'm always interested in using certain things, but never remember. Mostly, over time, I've developed a playstyle and it's hard to break out of what I'm doing, especially because it works.

Holy water, as an example. I always *want* to use it, but by the time I remember, the undead in question are defeated.

Consumables I never seem to use, off the top of my head:

1. Holy water
2. Arsonist's oil
3. Oil of diminution
4. Wizardsbane oil
5. Remedial potion

There are probably more, but these are the ones I can think of right now.

*

I'm not including ones that I don't use on purpose, like strength elixirs and such.

I have used all of these with the exception of Oil of Diminution. Holy Water I use as a grenade against Demons and Undead. Not as effective as it should be but work as a back up, other options gone weapon.

Arsonist and Wizardsbane I use all the time and Remedial I have used a few time to stop an effect during combat if the fight is close.

I'm trying to make a point of using more consumables because I think they make the game more fun. And I like to shake up my playstyle some.

Really, though, it's so hard to even remember that I have some of these in my inventory when I'm in the middle of the fight!

I have exactly the same problem ... when in combat, I forget most of what's in my inventory. I have 7X more potions, elixirs, coatings, and spare scrolls than I have spell slots. That seems a little excessive, and it kind of marginalizes the character class abilities.

In the old D&D modules they used to have tournament character sheets. Here is one such very high level character from the Descent Into The Depths of the Earth module, which seems appropriate to compare to BG3: Darg Blonke, Gray Elf Fighter/Maigc-Uer, levels 7/11, sword +2, spear +1, chainmail +2, shield +2, ring spell turning, stone controlling earth elementals, potion flying, potion gaseous form, potion invisibility, three potions extra healing, five oil flasks, two holy waters. That's it!

If I tried to list everything in my BG3 level 5 character's inventory right now, it would go off the screen. I've become a new type of D&D subclass, the Hoarder. The Hoarder picks up anything with potential magical value. The Hoarder deludes itself into believing that such items might be useful later in the game, but in practice, neither consumes nor sells such items. The Hoarder eventually succumbs to severe encumbrance.

For some of them, you've got to set them up in the specific character's hotbar. E.g. Oil of diminution for archer Shart, and then Karlach throws.

If I don't manage the inventory/hotbar, they just accumulate in a pouch.

Nope. Mostly oil of accuracy.

It feels like you waste a turn just to throw use an elixir that largely doesn't hurt the enemy much.

Action economy… during combat do attack(spell or weapon) doing massive damage or do I yeet a bottle of holy water?

I choose attack.

That being said, I do use potions that are functional until long rest or angelic type potions that mimic long and short rests.
All other potions, I end up never needing. Sell em.

Edit: Of course heal potions are used as much as needed.

1. Holy water
2. Arsonist's oil
3. Oil of diminution
4. Wizardsbane oil
5. Remedial potion

Just Save then for Later, there are some quests that yu can actually use some of then to help yu.
But if yu get to act 3 and never run into a situation to use any of then.. just Sell it.

(i always end my game with more then 10k becouse of this.. i always Save evrything i find.. and always shows up a oportunit to use then..)
its like Scrools and Fly, invisible potion..
by the time i get to act 3 i already have so Much that i start to split into the companions.

Holy water can be good if you see a couple of undead huddled close together. But yes, you have to be aware of such opportunities in the heat of the fight. It's the same with coatings. If you notice there are a lot of enemies with a particular weakness (e.g. no poison resistance or low CON), it could be smart to take the time to pick an applicable coating. And then also abandon the idea of handling one enemy at a time. It could make sense to have someone weaken the entire herd first. Consumables can enhance creative combat.

There are plenty of fights that you can see coming, and have time to prepare for. Picking the right coatings and preparing bombs and potions can make those fights more fun. It helps to go into turn based mode for that, just before initiating a fight, because of the turn timer that some effects have.

Sometimes the consumables will have little effect. But by trying them anyway you get to learn about them, and hopefully remember using them when good opportunities present themselves.

I didn't use any on my first play-through on 'normal' with the exception of some healing pots. I was totally expecting to use them on my second play-through on tactician but didn't need them on that run either I don't think it makes the game more fun if you can win without them. I think the game becomes more fun if you actually need them and use the right ones at the right time to turn the tides of the fight.

Thats actually a Cool Mechanic indeed WItcher has this too in Harder Difficult yu will never beat any badass contract without the correct oil, potion and stuff..
but dont know thats something that make a game a lot more complex and hard and some players already are having a bad time with the easy games here..
maybe becouse of the Type of game its not traditional action or FPS maybe its this..
But in a PermaDeath or Hardcore it would work wonders.. i bet
Would make a real Challange indeed.

(but the Itens.. best advice i can gave is always save evrything.. and really inspect the enemys yu are facing before the first atack yu make..)
if by act 3 yu never need or use any of then.. just sell
Loot Goblin Life its great in this Game will make yu lot of coins..
20k easy if yu not waste anything. and seel the shit itens too.
(never need to Steal or do the Cheese pickpocket with vendors becouse of that.. i always can buy anything i want.)
Just make a companion the Mule of the Run.. someone with a lot of Streght and yu can bring anything yu want even Stashes too.. any barryl dosent matter yu take evrything yu want and thats it.

and dont forget to take the Magic Stach in Arcane tower that thing can lower the weight of itens..
just yonk that shit and place in the camp.
(but dont forget to take it back in the Camp stuff after use it.. i dont know if will disapear if yu forget in the open.)
yu can lower the weight of anything i beleave even armors.. so yu will be able to Carry a lot more. thats the trick for loot goblin life.
no Mods needed.

like todd says.. Its Just Works! haha

I almost never use consumables. If you build the party right, you simply don't need them - there's always at least one party member that can do the same thing with an ability or spell slot.

I have my problems with the scrolls, as well as with some potions, bombs and elixirs.

I use healing potions and some poisons, as well as arrows, much more, until all the time.

There are several reasons for this.
Consumables have a tendency to run out and you are more inclined to save. At some point, you've been saving for so long that you don't even notice them anymore, or they've lost their value.

They are also a big part of micromanagement, which is always a problem.
I don't particularly like too much clutter, especially not when it gets cluttered or fills up my strips.

Above all, it should be practical, well organized and easy to use in all aspects.
So it should sort and stack itself easily.
It should be generously stackable.
It should be very clear and easy to use.
In Pathfinder 2, for example, there was the scroll sage.
The idea of the class was nice, but the implementation was terrible, also because the scrolls could only be put into the slots one by one and you had to refill everything by hand etc. all the time.

So in short, things definitely need excellent accessibility and playability.
They definitely need to be useful and make the gaming experience cooler, not more stressful.

But there is always the matter of transience.
Anything that gets used up and doesn't seem to be infinitely refillable, or is automatically part of a class idea, like a spell scroll sage, who has to and should use the spell scrolls heavily as a class idea, tends to be saved until you no longer need it.

I don't just put that aside in my behavior.
And then there's the question of usefulness in relation to enjoyment of the game.
If it becomes a burden due to too much management, then it significantly disrupts the flow of the game and makes things unpleasant.

That's why it's always better to incorporate certain mechanics to keep it good and fun on the one hand, as an enrichment, and on the other hand not too annoying and busy.

In other words. Elixirs last a long time, beyond battles. The same goes for applied poisons and oils.
Bombs and traps must be simple and easy to place/throw in the flow of the game and strengthen the class idea rather than weighing it down.

Then they can also be rarer and emphasize a profession system more. But you should have to specialize per character and not be able to do everything in order to create more depth. But at the same time, the items and mats shouldn't be too rare, so that the whole thing doesn't become too economical again.
At the same time, the game shouldn't feel like a collecting marathon.
I hate it when I have to keep picking up a flower, mushroom or ore every 10 meters.
I'd rather collect fewer resources, but 10-15 mushrooms/ore/flowers per source so that it doesn't get out of hand and still works well.

You can also make all mats purchasable only, but then you have to run the whole thing via money and bring it to a good level here.
But then there will again be competition with items that you can buy and other essential things like healing potions or food, repairs, ammunition or something like that.

Finding a good mix, packaging it well into class ideas and making it easily accessible and clear is the most important element.
If it's really needed, then it has to be fun and not a chore.

Holy Water, I've used. Specifically that fight in the Highlands where there's the 2 dudes with the aura that reduces all non-Radiant damage they take which have a full resurrect as a bonus action. Was it any good? Not really. But considering anything besides Spirit Guardians there is kind of awful it's at least something.

Arsonists Oil/Oil of Diminuation/Wizardbane Oil I just never use. Heck Oils in general I just don't use. I'd rather just dip my weapons in a Toxin which lasts until Long Rest than waste even a bonus action during a fight.

Remedial Potion I've used on a couple of occasions. There are a handful of enemies that cast Blind which can be annoying. Throwing it on allies who are Paralyzed could be an option, but I never remember to do that.

In the end, some consumables simply come down to frequency that they're useful, Remedial Potions and Arsonists Oil would be more memorable if situations where they were useful happened more often (Also, with the amount of Basaliks Oils you get in Act 1, I imagined Petrify would be a more common issue than it is).

Other consumables simply fall by the wayside because of other options competing with them (Holy Water vs attacking? Wizardbane Oil vs just using Long Rest Toxins?)

Of course, there are ways to enhance the usability of some consumables. Like Holy Water you can drop on the ground and have a Mage Hand toss them at undead/demons for free action economy (Same tactic can be used with regular Water to apply Wet status for free and enable double Lightning/Cold damage for your mages)

1. Holy water No oh I did use it once to try and put out the cage fire in the first hag fight as the party member had no water it didn't work seems Holy water is not wet
2. Arsonist's oil No I can see its use case I just forget to use it in combat
3. Oil of diminution Yes I sometime use it instead of poisons and its fun shrinking enemies
4. Wizardsbane oil Very rarely.
5. Remedial potion No I forget it can be thrown. That applies to oils as well.


Here is an oil I do use sometimes Oil of freezing.

I had fun with the oil of diminuation in the steel watch foundry. Lae'zel turned the hulking automatons into cute little toy robots.

Honestly I think all of those a waste of action or bonus action. But I tryed them out just I think it's better if I do a standard attack. I usly sell them.

But the most dissaponting is holy water.

There are plenty of confrontations that you can see coming. That gives you time to prepare. Switch to turn based mode, liberally apply coatings to your weapons, depending on charactaristics of the enemy, and then initiate combat. There is no need to waste a (bonus) action in those cases. By the way, this method also solves the OP problem of having to remember what you have in your inventory while you are busy fighting.

Well i actually sell all poison as well except purple worm.
Almost all of them are pointless.
I just pick up one smal spider trow them down dip into the blood of the spider. And done pick it up agan it's an infinite resource.

I think there is so many usless boosting that we can get in the game that we dont really need. It's just makes anyone a walking God. With some kind of legendary actions healing armor saves. And on top of that even if you try not to hoard things.
For example use potions elixirs scrolls. Its just to much It absolutely removing the need of resting. Or you and up with 3 time inventory slot of potions and scrolls.

I stopped with my Spore druid after act2 because I am waiting for some kind of patch that makes the game playable again.

But I don't even needed to rest 1 time as a druid. There is simply too much power boost every where.

But i do have an opinion.
So for me there was kind of a no challenge in the game.
Also we have te possibility to rest endlessly resurrecting every one w/o any punishment. Respec whenever we want.
The list is endless.

Why the hell they don't gived us endless carrying capacity.
Whats the point of this inventory system. If the game is so brokenly different from dnd5e????

Some of those, but not much. Overall, there are so many items, and UI/inventory gets so cluttered I end up selling more items that I use.

That is a general issue I am running in cRPG - I am generally terrible in using consumables because:
1) I am a hoarder
2) the games rarely are difficult enough to warrant an extra level of tedium. If smashing enemies in the head will work just fine, that fiddling with other tools just feels like waste of time and brain power.