Unnecessary amount of flask slots

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VoxelSquid wrote:

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PackersFTW wrote:

I truly believe that if you take out those douches on their high horses who like to insult, you'd be left with a very large player base who thinks 5 flasks is unnecessary.

I don't think it would be fair to make that assertion. I do agree that having to deal with 5 flasks with 5 different mods on them in the most optimal way is quite hard to do. However, even though I'm not that good at flask management myself, I like that this is a part of the game where there is a high skill ceiling. This is because a higher skill ceiling gives the player greater room to improve and feel a sense of accomplishment at becoming better at the game

Anyway, here are some tips/tricks that I've found to be quite useful for flask management:

-Bind HP and Mana flasks to separate rows of keyboard buttons to prevent yourself from accidentally using the wrong type of flask. I currenty have 1,2,3 for HP and S,D for Mana.

-If you often use a certain type of flask, for example, instant HP flasks, always keep them bound to the same button. This way in an emergency, I know that my panic button is 1 and I will be able to press it quickly

-Don't spend time thinking about which flask to use, just rely on muscle memory and press whichever button your fingers feel like pressing. This may sound counter-intuitive to optimizing flask usage, but keep in mind that flask charges are easy to come by, but time in the middle of a hectic combat is usually not. Eventually, you will develop good muscle memory that helps you optimize your flask usage, but that takes time, and you don't wnat to be dying in the meantime.

@PackersFTW
Consider this:
I am not considered "one of those high horse douches", and I happen to really enjoy the flasks and the options they bring. I assume alot of people think the same way I do.
Given your "labeling", You have just insulted a very large portion of the player base.

Talking out the ass much, Sir?

I am with the OP and I think this flask thing is both horrible and game breaking. I am sure I know what he meant because I think it too.

Here is what must be done.

First we need like a bag full of slots to hold flasks. Then, when you get low on health or mana the game will automatically apply the contents of one of the flasks in this bag to you. These would all be auto applying flasks.

And this flask bag should be as big as your normal inventory bag except that it would only hold flasks. So whats that, like it would hold, say 40 flasks or so?

So you just wander around and fight stuff and when you need extra health or mana these flasks would auto apply and you wouldnt have to do anything. They would also refill like they do right now so it wouldnt be that big of a change.


At least I think thats what the OP meant.

I use all 5 of my flask slots and actually wouldn't mind a 5 additional slot expansion ! Surviving is winning and pots help you survive.

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Cronk wrote:

I don't tend to use the flask function that much. Mainly because I belong to the school that states that if you're overdosing on healing potions then you're likely doing something wrong. In almost every RPG I've ever played I use them briefly at the start of a game while I get the hang of the mechanics, then just use them when I get impatient with evasion tactics or can't be bothered to buff, then, for the rest of the game, just store them up for rediculous HP boss fights.

I think this is actually because of poor design in other games. Because in most other games potions are consumable items that you have a limited supply of, people (like me) tend to get stuck in loss-adverse mode, where they think "I'd rather not use this potion now, I may need it later in a real emergency" and end up just hoarding potions and only using them rarely.

In PoE, GGG had the brilliant idea to make flasks recharge as you kill enemies, so that if you are killing mobs while your flask is full, you are actually wasting the potential of the flask. This changes the incentives, so that flasks can become an integral and dynamic aspect of gameplay itself, instead of just being crutches to get you through difficult parts.

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Cronk wrote:

In PoE it's the same but I can't store them for boss fights, I'm limited, and the bosses hit so hard anyway they tend to out-damage the potion anyway.

This is only partly true, since most of the bosses also spawn adds that can recharge you flasks when you kill them. Also, while some bosses can out-damage flasks with their burst damage, you can still get instant-hp flasks to deal with them. Personally, I always keep one instant-hp flask on my belt at all times to deal with situations like this.

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I always use Mana-Regen % rather than Mana Flasks.

With a bit of practice, it is actually not that hard to rely on flasks to power your skills. I've found that this is easier to do if you bind your mana flasks to a different row of keyboard buttons than your hp flasks so don't accidentally hit the wrong flasks. I currently have a setup where 1,2,3 is for hp, and s,d are for mana. When I see a mob pack incoming, I spam my AoE a few times, then hit s or d, and then continue spamming until the mobs are dead. Being able to do this has made me alot less relient on mana nodes, which is espcially useful for classes that tend to lack mana sustainability or access to blood magic, such as dex-focused shadows, rangers, and duelists.

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The elemental flasks only last puny seconds, as does the granite. How you're supposed to know when the effect has started/ended is beyond me, have they fixed that yet? I don't use them so I don't know.

There is now a status indicator box that appears in the top left of the screen when these effects are active. There is also a graphical indicator on your character avatar, but that can be a bit hard to see in the middle of combat.

Flask are one of my favorite things about PoE.

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Cronk wrote:

No, it was not poor design in other games, it was designed to encourage you to not rely on them but to keep them for emergency. That is why the 'quality' RPGs didn't hand them out like candy and didn't let you have 'unlimited' stacks or put a cool-down on their use.

This may come down to personal preference, but I very much prefer PoE's system of being able to use flasks as part of my active skill routine, than the "only use for emergencies" system of other rpgs. I think a large part of the reason is that whenever I use potions in other rpgs, I always feel a little bad, because it feels like I'm shitting away money every time I use a potion.

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The mods on the Flasks are cool, but the timers are too short for 'normal' play and require you to be hung over your keyboard like a sniper waiting for someone to pass between a small doorway 3000ft away

I agree that it is hard to use the mods on flasks optimally. However, this is really an optional component of play that can be safely ignored by most, but is used to great effect in the hands of skilled players. For most people, it is only neccessary to manage hp and mana flasks, and maybe also an instant health flask. What I do myself is to ensure that my flasks only have positive effects, and not negative effects like those "drain hp for mana" mods. This way, it doesn't really matter if I don't hit the right flask at the most optimal moment.

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I don't care what happens after I kill a boss, it's what happens 'during' that interests me. Yes, instant flasks are cool, me too, but, again, not a lot of help against a one-shot boss really is it. I think most people use the 'portal' function here rather than the 'HP' option do they not.

Well, there are several bosses that spawn mobs while they are still alive, such as Piety, Vaal oversoul, Merveil second form, and Alira. I do admit though, that for most bosses I do actually have to portal to recharge flasks when they run dry. However, I don't see as being too much of a problem, since flasks are an integral part of my playstyle, and they don't cost me any money. (Again, personal preference I guess)

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Well, I find having huge % mana regen means you don't have to do any of that crap. :)

I agree, high mana sustain builds are fun! However, always going on a skillgrimmage for mana limits the kinds of builds I can make.

There are hybrid flask for those that get confused easily. Use them.

most retarded shit ive read in a while.....