Raiding! Consumables
So far, we’ve looked at just your gear. What about you? (Well, not you specifically but your character.) In this post, we’re going to talk about various consumables. In this case, we’re going to talk about the various consumables that directly affect your character like food, drinks, bandages, elixirs, flasks, potions, and scrolls.
(NOTE: these posts typically have links in them that go to other websites that delve into deeper detail than I will, in case you’re curious to learn about the nitty-gritty.)
The Wonderful World Of Alchemy
Right of the bat, let’s start with the biggest way to buff yourself: Alchemy. Just like enchanting was made for improving your gear, alchemy was made primarily to improve your character through potions. (Commonly nick-named/shortened to, universally, ‘pots.’) There are basically three kinds of things alchemists make that really apply to us: potions, elixirs and flasks.
What Are Potions?
Potions are usually instant or short-duration-based consumables made by alchemists. Amoung your standard superior mana potion and superior health potions, there are myriad of other pots for all kind of things like increasing swim speed, make you invisible for a short while, remove a curse, absorb all kinds of damages, etc. You can view the entire list HERE.
(Potions are so short-lived, but I wanted to mention they do not last through death anyways.)
What Are Elixirs?
These are a step up from potions, and there are two kinds: battle and guardian elixirs. Just like regular potions, they don’t last through death, but they do last longer. (Typically 30 minutes to an hour.) In addition, you can have a total of one battle and one guardian elixir at a time. Elixirs don’t stack, so you’ll never be able to have two battle elixirs on at the same time. The good thing about elixirs is that, since you can have one of each kind, you can mix/match to give you more variety of stat boosters.
What Are Flasks?
These are the top-of-the-line for alchemists. There aren’t as many of them, but they are incredibly potent! So potent, in fact, that they count as both a battle AND a guardian elixir! However, they last two hours across the board, and last even through death. You can view a full list of flasks HERE.
Are Potions Expensive?
It really depends on how you look at it. If you’re an herbalist, and you take the time to farm for the herbs, then, no. If you’re not an herbalist, then the price can go up pretty steeply. The herbs used for many of the flasks are not common and sometimes hard to find. (Supply/demand dictates that will mean higher prices on the auction house.) The finished product itself can go for anywhere between 25-50+ gold. The way I look at it, is that if I get a piece of gear, I value that typically over 1,000 gold. So for me, it’s worth spending money on something that will help me get better gear and progress faster.
Do I Have To Use Pots/Etc?
I separated this commonly-asked question because it can be a doozy! Generally, everyone should have health and/or mana pots with them, since they do become necessary at least in one point of the instance. (And they are so cheap/easy to farm.) Flasks and the like, well, that just depends on a lot of different factors. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Am I underpowered/overpowered?
- Are Others underpowered/overpowered?
- Will the consumable help me survive/last longer?
- Does a particular fight require specific pots to be used?
- Does the fight utilize fire/shadow/frost/etc spells that will need potions to be blocked/absorbed?
So, it just really depends. Take my character, Kibibi, for example. Let’s say I’m going into Karazhan. At this point in my raiding career, Kibibi is over-geared for Kara. If I’m going into Kara with other over-geared players, I probably wouldn’t need a Flask of Blinding Light (or other damage-increasers), because my damage would constantly over-take aggro. Yet, if the group doesn’t have the DPS needed, I may want to take one, just in case we need the extra oomph.
Let’s use just one more example. Let’s say, again Kibibi, is heading into Gruul’s Lair with 24 other brave souls. For the fights that occur in there, it would be important that I have high stamina, as well as high DPS. So, I’d probably look for an Unstable Flask Of The Scorcerer, or some other flask that would help my stamina out. Every instance, and sometimes individual bosses, can be different. So, I need to ask myself those above questions to know what to bring with me. Too little, and I’m not doing my part. Too much, and it would be a waste or risk hurting the raid.
Yummy In Your Tummy!
Of course, you know what food/drinks are. Food restores health, while drinks restore mana. Usually, you don’t have to bring your own regular food/drinks, because there’s usually a mage or two that can make Kibibi Snacksâ„¢ mana biscuits for free. (Which restore both health and mana.) If you have at least one mage, you’re usually set in terms of regular food/drink.
However, there is of course another kind of food consumable that also gives you a well fed buff. Players who take up the cooking profession can make all sorts of food that not only replenish health, but also give you a buff that lasts anywhere between 15-30 minutes. (At least for the higher-end food.) Fortunately, unlike professions like first aid, you don’t have to know cooking to eat the finished product. It is generally expected for all raiding members to have some kind of food buff. Click HERE for a list of all of the higher-end foods.
Cooking is a secondary profession. As such, anyone can learn it, even if you already have two other main professions. Leveling is fairly easy. THIS is a fairly good guide if you’d like to learn to make your own food.
First Aid
Not really a buff so much as self-healing here. First aid allows you to use bandages and anti-venom, even in the heat of battle. Of course, we have some amazing healers in the guild, but there will be times when they are taxed and you’ll need to take a health potion or use some bandages so you can stay alive. With netherweave, practically, crammed into every humanoid you run into around Outland, you can always have several stacks of heavy netherweave bandages on hand with you.
First Aid is one of those professions where, in order to use the higher-end products, you must train up to a certain level. Fortunately, it’s not to hard nor expensive to learn first aid. You can use THIS guide to get you started.
Scrolls
I’m sure most of you know what scrolls are, and they give you different kinds of buffs. Typically though, you can leave those in the bank. In raiding, there will be multiple kinds of classes that have their own group buffs to give out, usually better than the scrolls, anyways. Never the less, sometimes your buffs get clicked-off by accident, so scrolls sometimes come in handy.
…….
So we’ve gotten you the best gear possible, enhanced it, and now we’ve enhanced your character. But raiding especially isn’t the same as running even heroic instances. It’s time we look at how you participate with other people in the raid…
July 17 2008 04:09 pm | Kibibi's Korner and Raiding!
4 Responses to “Raiding! Consumables”
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July 17th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Very nice and concise overview of the wonderful world of Alchemy and its benefits for raiders! Every guild should have a maxed out Alchemist on staff (probably Flask master is best for raiding guilds) and a few herbalists picking every flower they stumble across. Just grabbing them while doing dailies can supply several people with all the mana/healing potions they’ll need. And lower-level players often overlook the benefits of using pots as well! So Alchemists should keep their guild bank well stocked with a variety of tasty consumables. Love the blog!
-Fri
July 17th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Another great post!!
July 18th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Excellent! Keep up the good work, Kibs!
July 18th, 2008 at 9:25 am
These are great guides, thanks for all the work, Kibs!
These should probably be condensed and saved in the regular forums when you are done with the series!