Healing Potions seem odd

[Bluewyrm]

I was looking at healing potions the other day, and I noticed two things... one, they heal a fixed amount. Two, they still take a healing surge... They seem almost completely useless.

The amount they heal is often worse than a normal surge would be throughout most of the heroic tier, and certainly if there is a Cleric in the party.

Normally, parties rely upon healing potions and cure-wands when their Cleric is out of spells. Now, I would think that the Cleric's spells would more or less be the equivalent of the parties current surges. When crap really hits the fan, you can at least burn through some non-renewable resources to get by. You are worse for wear, down some gold, but you are at least alive. However, with current potions, you can down them all you want, if you have no surges left, they do nothing. So what is a party to do if they have an unexpectedly bad encounter, but they are some place they cannot rest? Do they just trust that the GM will find some way to "get them out"? Or are they just boned?

Is there some other way that I am unaware of for characters to heal without resting and without spending surges? Or do we think that this was the designers' intent all along?

 

[SableWyvern]

Potions are handy when your Second Wind has been used, and there is no healer available to let you use a surge (too far away, can't wait until their turn comes up, healing powers used up, busy with other things). They're not going to be your first option for healing, but they can be very handy at the right time.

If you're out of surges, then you're in a bad way. Fortunately, the paladin lay on hands ability is still useful in this situation, as are several cleric and warlord powers.

 

[washout]

The game is built around the premise that you have one member from each class type (controller, leader, striker, defender) and then that party can do X number of encounters of the correct level before needing to do an extended rest.

So if healing potions worked the way you are suggesting, healing like 2d6 or 3d4 per potion or something without using a surge then that will extend the number of encounters in between rests. If that is your goal then go for it, you are basically giving the party access to items that will allow them to not need to rest as often.

I think 4e is returning to a beer and pretzels type game anyway so nothing wrong with that.

 

[Mengu]

They are very useful, when

1. You have used your second wind, your leader has used their 2-3 ways to heal during an encounter and you still need healing to keep fighting.
2. Your leader is down, your defender is in the thick of things, and it's up to the striker with no Healing skill to revive the leader.
3. Everyone is hit by an AoE, and your leader can only heal one or two people next turn, which are not likely to be you if you are a controller.
4. You got jumped during a short rest, and have no other healing resources.
5. You are a leader, and don't want to waste your bigger healing abilities on yourself, when you know your defender will need them in a minute.
6. You have no leader in your party.
7. You are an NPC.

I'm sure there are many other situations where healing potions are important to have, but this is what comes to my mind with very little thinking.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Potions are there as a last resort form of in-combat healing. Anything else is usually better. Drinking a potion is a minor action, so you can still take a useful standard action on a round you drink a potion.

There are very few ways to heal without expending surges, but there are some. An Inspiring Warlord's Commanding Presence provides healing when you spend an Action point, and there are other Warlord powers that provide some healing without surges. The Cleric has a number of spells, starting with CLW that heal without a surge. Non-surge healing is generally tied to some other strictly limitted resource, like a daily power or, in the Inspiring Warlord's case, an action point. While potions are a limitted resource when level-apropriate, a lower level potion could be virtually unlimitted (much like the 3e CLW Wand), and it's pretty clear they were trying to avoid that this time around.

 

[Obryn]

They work way better in play than you'd expect from reading about them.

While you may have abundant healing surges, triggering them is not really very easy.

Also, remember that drinking a potion is a minor action, while Second Wind is a standard action for non-dwarves.

-O

 

[Kraydak]

Especially at low levels, parties have *very* few forms of *in combat* healing. Everyone gets (1) second wind. A leader brings (2) boosted HSs. These run out by round 3 or 4ish in a big fight, if not earlier. There are some other encounter/daily effects that help, but because *in combat* healing vastly outweighs *per day* healing in importance, potions are very useful.

 

[ryryguy]

Also, while the fixed number of hit points they restore looks pretty small, it actually compares pretty well to what a PC would get back from a second wind. Not for all characters certainly, and maybe not at the higher levels at which you'd still be using the particular potion... but for many characters over a good chunk of the level "lifetime" of the potion, anyhow.

 

[frankthedm]

If you have quickdraw you can rapid-chug potions.

 

[Regicide]

Yeah, the fact that they use a surge is pretty crazy. Healing potions really are no longer magical, they're just Red Bulls. I can see a pretty common house rule being that players have infinite surges, or that potions don't use surges.

6 hours of rest magically heals all wounds, thus most of the time potions aren't needed. However if the adventure has a time constraint, having a daily limit on surges does exactly what you've said, places the DM in a position of either boning the players or having to change the adventure. All because of some silly new limit that had no need to be imposed. Healing surges really are a pointless mechanic and they're very immersion breaking. They do very well at simulating kid's cartoons like Naruto where one frame he's dripping blood and the next he's perfectly healed up and his cloths are no longer ripped, but they're complete crap for making one feel like one is playing a fantasy character.