[Mod Request] Enhanced alchemy and potion system

[ro0415]

The thing I liked the least about the witcher 3 was the potion and alchemy system, and how dumbed down it felt. I think the potion and alchemy in the witcher has gotten worse with each game, but it was, for me, by far the worst in the wither 3. One of the things that defined the witcher series for me was the preparation before each fight, and because of the short potion duration, the ability to take potions mid-fight without a penalty, and the ability to refill every potion when you mediate made the preparation feel much less important. This, combined with the fact that you can only have two potions quickslotted, makes each fight feel very similar, because you will just put tawny owl and swallow in the quickslots and use those two potions during the fight.

There are very noticable differences between the potion and alchemy in each game
-The witcher 1:
*Long potion/special effect/buff duration, often lasts more than an hour
*You can take potions and apply oils whenever you want, even during a fight, but it takes a few seconds during which you are exposed
*The alchemy is based on different substances, not specific ingredients. The 6 substances are: aether, hydragenum, quebrith, rebis, vermilion and vitrol.
The combination of these make different potions, and to make more potions you'll need more ingredients; you can not make a potion one time and then refill it by having alcohol and meditating, unlike witcher 3
*There are three additional substances: Albedo, Nigredo, Rubedo. If you make a potion where each ingredient contains the same addition substances, you will get a buff:
Albedo - Reduces toxicity from potions taken while this effect is active. Nigredo - Increases damage by 20%. Rubedo - Increases vitality regeneration.

-The witcher 2:
*Medium potion/special effect/buff duration, normal duration was about 10-20 minutes
*Potions could only be consumed during meditation
*Alchemy is based on the same principle as the witcher 1, but does not have the 3 additional substances

-The witcher 3:
*Short potion/special effect/buff duration, normally lasts 20-30 seconds
*potions can be consumed whenever you want, but there is no animation so you won't be vulnerable while drinking it.
*Alchemy is based on specific ingredients, not on the 6 substances. If you craft a potion once, you will never have to craft it again, because all potions, bombs etc, will refill if you have alcohol in your inventory while meditating.
*There are 3 different tiers of each potion/bomb: normal-enhanced-superior
*there are special decoctions that are strong potions for specific things.

Each game has it's pros and it's cons, so my suggestion is to make a mod which combines everything that's good about the potion and alchemy systems from each witcher game.

-Potion creation:
*You have to make each potion you use, they will not be refilled when you meditate and you have alcohol in your inventory.
*Combination of the 6 substances from witcher 1, and the individual ingredients from witcher 3. For example, to create swallow you will need rebis-rebis-vitriol-white myrtle petals. some potions can use any alcohol as base, other potions need a specific alcogol as its potion base.
*Bring back the 3 additional substances, albedo, nigredo, rubedo, with the same use as they had in the witcher 1
*You can create the normal, enhanced or superior version of each potion depending on what ingredients you use. To create a better version of a potion, you'll need more ingredients and rare ingredients; creating a normal swallow potion is much easier than creating a superior swallow potion, but it's not nearly as good.
*creation of decoctions should be done similar to creating normal potions, but you will need a n ingredient from the creature that you are making a decoction of. Decoctions can also have albedo,nigredo or rubedo buffs

-potion consumption, toxicity and duration:

*You can take potions both while medtating, while walking around, and during combat.
*If you take a potion while walking around or while fighting, there will be an animation like in the witcher 1 which takes a few second during which you'll be vulnerable.
*If you take a potion/decoction while meditating, it will have a longer duration and lower toxicity compared to if you take a potion when you're not meditating.
Potions taken while meditating will have a duration similar to potions in the witcher 1, and potions taken while walking around or while fighting whill have a duration similar to that of the witcher 2.
For example, if you take a normal swallow potion while meditating it will last for one hour and thirty mintues, and the toxicity will be 10/150. If you take a normal swallow potion while walking around or fighting, it will last for 15 minutes and the toxicity will be 20/150. When you take a potion does not affect its effectiveness.
*Depending on what tier the potion you consume is, there will be big differences in toxicity and effectiveness. I'll use swallow as an example:
Normal swallow: regenerates 5% of the players maximum possible health each second, toxicity 10/150 when meditating, 20/150 when not meditating
Enhanced swallow: Regenerates 10 % of the players maximum possible health each second, toxicity 20/150 when meditating 35/150 when not meditating
Superior swallow: Regenerates 20 % of the players maximum possible health each second, toxicity 35/150 when meditating 55/150 when not meditating
*decoctions should have higher toxicity and longer duration than other potions, but the duration and toxicity should still be different depending on if you consume it while you are meditating or not

food can stay as it in the witcher 3

 

-oils:
*you have to make/buy each oil you use, no auto refill
*the higher tier the oil is, the harder it is to make.
*all oils last 12 hours
*when you apply an oil there will be an animation like in the witcher 1 that takes a few second, during which you'll be vulnerable.
*to make oils more usefull, every tier of each oil is buffed:
Normal version - 25% increased damage against "x"
Enhanced version - 50% increased damage against "x"

Superior version - 100% increased damage against "x"

 

-bombs:
*you have to make/buy each bomb you use, no auto refill
*the higher tier the bomb is, the harder it is to make.
*to make bombs more usefull, every tier is buffed

So that's my suggestion and it's quite a lenghty one. This will obviouly be much easier to accomplish once the red kit is realeased
I wish I could create this mod myself, but unfortunately I have no experience that would allow me to do so :sad:
If anyone creates a mod like this I will be incredibly grateful :smile:

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

If you have any suggestions please comment and let me now.

Edited July 14, 2015 by ro0415

[ro0415]

Or decoctions could be made like this:
Combining a specific set of ingredients/substances with a high quality alcohol as a potion base will create a decoction base. Then you use the decoction base instead of alcohol as a potion base, and then you create the specific decoction you want by adding components that are gathered from the creature the decoction is named after.

Edited July 30, 2015 by ro0415

[ro0415]

and btw, does anyone know when the redkit will be released?

[ro0415]

now that the mod kit has been released, is this a more doable project? Is it possible to make this mod with the mod tools that cdpr recently released, even though it's not the full REDkit?