Bismuth Flask - A Discussion

I will begin this by admitting that I have not been playing this game for too too long (started near the beginning of Betrayal) and that I mostly play Templar, Witch, and Shadow builds. In the time I've played, though, I seemed to find a place and use for all of the basic flasks in the game except one... Bismuth Flask. It is very possible there are circumstances where it is useful and I just haven't come across them but having maximized resistances seems to be one of, if not the, most important priorities when planning your character. It just seems that relying on a Flask to cap your resistances is unreasonable. I love the role Flasks play in PoE but feel like Bismuth flask really doesn't have a place in how the game is presently designed. That being said, and assuming I'm not totally missing something, I'd like to propose the following change to Bismuth Flask as well as a proposed new Unique Bismuth Flask:

Bismuth Flask
base duration 4 seconds
+2% Maximum Resistances during Flask Effect

Salve of the Righteous
base duration 2 seconds
You are Immune to Elemental and Chaos Damage during Flask Effect
When Flask effect ends, you take prevented Elemental damage as Chaos damage over 3 seconds and prevented Chaos damage as Elemental damage matching your lowest Elemental resistance over 3 seconds.
** Any/all elemental damage you would have taken (based on your resistances) is dealt over 3 seconds as Chaos Damage (and vice versa for Chaos damage). This damage would not be mitigated twice (Doesn't receive reduction on the front end during the flask effect and then additional reduction on the back end. It is simply the classification of the type of damage received.

Again maybe I am just totally wrong and Bismuth Flask has some very defined niche but if such a niche exists I have certainly not found it.

Bismuth flask is great for leveling. Lategame you should not rely on it, that is true. Purpose of the flask is the leveling process though.

5% maximum resistances would be insanely overpowered, especially as a pathfinder (at least I feel so). It would also make all the other res flasks nearly useless in comparison since they don't give maximum res anymore.

I don't have a great frame of reference as to what is overpowered and what is not. Would 2% be more reasonable?

I guess, maybe? Hard to say but 5% is clearly to much :D I think I'd definitely use a 2% max res flask, especially because it has so many charges on it. Add curse removal to it and you got a NICE QoL flask right there :)

Elemental damage is what GGG has decided to rely on as far as what is and is not challenging. Ever since they released the abortion that is "immortal call", they have pretty much been phasing out melee damage from bosses. Trying to get them to add more and more elemental protection so that we can trivialize the one remaining aspect of monster damage is pointless.

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Kahirn wrote:

Elemental damage is what GGG has decided to rely on as far as what is and is not challenging. Ever since they released the abortion that is "immortal call", they have pretty much been phasing out melee damage from bosses. Trying to get them to add more and more elemental protection so that we can trivialize the one remaining aspect of monster damage is pointless.

Partly true. Not everyone relies on Immortal call though.