using a Potion - issues with the current system

BigES · June 2017

@ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_BrianWheeler

Can someone logically explain to me why the current system locks players out from using their potion while performing certain actions?

For example, I cannot use a potion while sprinting. I cannot use a potion while using an ability.

I get that maybe it's more "realistic". You stop, drink the potion, and continue. But mechanically in the game, it causes too many issues when combined with lag and others general game mechanics. And it severely slows down combat. I have ran into instances where I've physically had to stop hitting all buttons, stand there, hit the potion button, then continue.

Another frustrating part is that the game's audio will actually make the "I drank a potion" sound. But actually, you were locked out and it never even happened. Usually I just end up spamming the button in frustration until it works.

This potion lockout issue has existed for a long time, but I cannot fathom a reason for its existence.

So... can someone explain to me why it exists in the first place?

Waffennacht · June 2017

BigES wrote: »

@ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_BrianWheeler

Can someone logically explain to me why the current system locks players out from using their potion while performing certain actions?

For example, I cannot use a potion while sprinting. I cannot use a potion while using an ability.

I get that maybe it's more "realistic". You stop, drink the potion, and continue. But mechanically in the game, it causes too many issues when combined with lag and others general game mechanics. And it severely slows down combat. I have ran into instances where I've physically had to stop hitting all buttons, stand there, hit the potion button, then continue.

Another frustrating part is that the game's audio will actually make the "I drank a potion" sound. But actually, you were locked out and it never even happened. Usually I just end up spamming the button in frustration until it works.

This potion lockout issue has existed for a long time, but I cannot fathom a reason for its existence.

So... can someone explain to me why it exists in the first place?

Because they don't want me to be able to trigger alchemist during a burst combo

BigES · June 2017

Waffennacht wrote: »

BigES wrote: »

@ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_BrianWheeler

Can someone logically explain to me why the current system locks players out from using their potion while performing certain actions?

For example, I cannot use a potion while sprinting. I cannot use a potion while using an ability.

I get that maybe it's more "realistic". You stop, drink the potion, and continue. But mechanically in the game, it causes too many issues when combined with lag and others general game mechanics. And it severely slows down combat. I have ran into instances where I've physically had to stop hitting all buttons, stand there, hit the potion button, then continue.

Another frustrating part is that the game's audio will actually make the "I drank a potion" sound. But actually, you were locked out and it never even happened. Usually I just end up spamming the button in frustration until it works.

This potion lockout issue has existed for a long time, but I cannot fathom a reason for its existence.

So... can someone explain to me why it exists in the first place?

Because they don't want me to be able to trigger alchemist during a burst combo

Lockout system existed well before Clever Alchemist.

Also I actually don't see a problem with that anyways. Sounds pretty skillful to me.

Darlgon · June 2017

Lockout is to prevent spamming healing pots. Been there since Beta before launch. Its part of the "management of resources has meaning" part of the game.. that basically means.. chug one at 75-60 percent so you can hopefully survive til you need the next one.

Oh, and you know how how you cant use an ABILITY while SPRINTING? yeah.. Sprinting,,, all you can do is sprint.

BigES · June 2017

Darlgon wrote: »

Lockout is to prevent spamming healing pots. Been there since Beta before launch. Its part of the "management of resources has meaning" part of the game.. that basically means.. chug one at 75-60 percent so you can hopefully survive til you need the next one.

Oh, and you know how how you cant use an ABILITY while SPRINTING? yeah.. Sprinting,,, all you can do is sprint.

I think you are confusing the 45 second potion cool down (which is fine) with the potion lockout (cannot use a potion that's available while performing an action).

Shadowshire · June 2017

BigES wrote: »

Darlgon wrote: »

Lockout is to prevent spamming healing pots. Been there since Beta before launch. Its part of the "management of resources has meaning" part of the game.. that basically means.. chug one at 75-60 percent so you can hopefully survive til you need the next one.

Oh, and you know how how you cant use an ABILITY while SPRINTING? yeah.. Sprinting,,, all you can do is sprint.

I think you are confusing the 45 second potion cool down (which is fine) with the potion lockout (cannot use a potion that's available while performing an action).

So you think that while a Sorcerer is winding-up to cast a Heavy Attack, the character should also be able to drink a potion? Or while a Templar armed with sword and shield is blocking an attack from a foe, the character should also be able to drink a potion? I know that ESO is a fantasy role-playing game, but every character still has only two hands (except some of the NPCs, of course). Whether the "potion lockout" is justified is a matter of opinion, but it certainly seems reasonable to me.

In your OP:

Another frustrating part is that the game's audio will actually make the "I drank a potion" sound. But actually, you were locked out and it never even happened. Usually I just end up spamming the button in frustration until it works.

First of all, the number of potions remaining has always been one less than before after I have had the same experience. So that with the sound cue are apparently correct.

Again, I have had the same experience, especially while fighting a Dungeon boss. Still, I have noticed in most of those situations that the potion restored my character's Health, but the boss and/or one or more adds made attacks that very quickly eliminated the Health increase from the potion afterward. So, using a potion does not always enable a character to continue living for very long. In other cases, I was too busy to see how long the effects of the potion lasted, so I don't know whether there was a failure of some kind.

Regardless, my character has often successfully used a potion to restore Health when their Health was almost gone. Nonetheless, on some occasions, evidently the game host ignored my Quickslot key-press(es) while an attack by a boss or other NPC was in progress, and my character died. However, if my character survived the attack(s), the game host acknowledged the key-press and my character used the corresponding potion. In attempting to discern whether the software was working as designed, or the "fail" was evidence of a "bug", I have never reached a conclusion.

Network latency can have some effect upon this, of course. But it shouldn't be a common influence, unless the latency is usually rather high in the context in which you encounter what appears to be the "potion lockout". Be sure that your hardware and LAN are optimized to play TESO. Run Game Consultant and read each section of the report. Its "connections" section can reveal whether there are Internet issues involved, such as a router that is failing. If you have hardware issues, post your report in the Customer Support section of the forum appropriate for your platform. If you can show that there is a bug, and can reproduce it when you want to, then report it in the Bug Report section.

Berenhir · June 2017

Potions are subject to global cool down, just like entering crouch. You cannot hit cloak + crouch at the same time, you have to do one after the other.
Chugging a potion is considered performing an ability and has no priority setting like bash, block or roll dodge.

That's fine with me as drinking a potion can restore up to 13k of magicka, health and stamina at once and give 47.5 seconds of 30% recovery bonus for each resource, making drinking a pot the most powerful resource management ability in the game.

BigES · June 2017

Shadowshire wrote: »

BigES wrote: »

Darlgon wrote: »

Lockout is to prevent spamming healing pots. Been there since Beta before launch. Its part of the "management of resources has meaning" part of the game.. that basically means.. chug one at 75-60 percent so you can hopefully survive til you need the next one.

Oh, and you know how how you cant use an ABILITY while SPRINTING? yeah.. Sprinting,,, all you can do is sprint.

I think you are confusing the 45 second potion cool down (which is fine) with the potion lockout (cannot use a potion that's available while performing an action).

So you think that while a Sorcerer is winding-up to cast a Heavy Attack, the character should also be able to drink a potion? Or while a Templar armed with sword and shield is blocking an attack from a foe, the character should also be able to drink a potion? I know that ESO is a fantasy role-playing game, but every character still has only two hands (except some of the NPCs, of course). Whether the "potion lockout" is justified is a matter of opinion, but it certainly seems reasonable to me.

Yes. I do. Because of the reasons stated in the OP. Issues when it comes to using a potion with advanced game play mechanics like animation canceling when combined with lag and other buggy factors that prevent you from using an available potion.

No offense, but the logic for the "realistic" aspect of drinking a potion isn't a real argument anyways. There is no realism in drinking a potion in ESO. Its a button you hit that gives you resources or a buff. Instantly. There is no animation tied to it. If we were worried about realism, there would be threads upon threads of people asking for an animation for my character to stop, pull out a potion, drink it, then proceed. Note that this has been a consistent theme (instantly eating food, drinking a potion) throughout all Elder Scrolls games, as hilariously mocked in the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LZhsstWPe8

Also Note, potions are not subject to any type of global cool down outside of the 45second window. It is simply a lockout. You are able to drink a potion and perform an action immediately between skills.

I didn't really find the rest of your post relevant, so I didn't address it, unless you feel I missed something.

Berenhir wrote: »

Potions are subject to global cool down, just like entering crouch. You cannot hit cloak + crouch at the same time, you have to do one after the other.
Chugging a potion is considered performing an ability and has no priority setting like bash, block or roll dodge.

That's fine with me as drinking a potion can restore up to 13k of magicka, health and stamina at once and give 47.5 seconds of 30% recovery bonus for each resource, making drinking a pot the most powerful resource management ability in the game.

If you hit cloak, you will be prevented from crouching until you finish the cloak animation. Hence its faster to crouch then cloak (faster animation) compared to cloaking then crouching.

Again, there is no animation tied to drinking a potion, so there should be no conflict with two animations being performed simultaneously if they removed the lockout.

magictucktuck · June 2017

Shadowshire wrote: »

BigES wrote: »

Darlgon wrote: »

Lockout is to prevent spamming healing pots. Been there since Beta before launch. Its part of the "management of resources has meaning" part of the game.. that basically means.. chug one at 75-60 percent so you can hopefully survive til you need the next one.

Oh, and you know how how you cant use an ABILITY while SPRINTING? yeah.. Sprinting,,, all you can do is sprint.

I think you are confusing the 45 second potion cool down (which is fine) with the potion lockout (cannot use a potion that's available while performing an action).

So you think that while a Sorcerer is winding-up to cast a Heavy Attack, the character should also be able to drink a potion? Or while a Templar armed with sword and shield is blocking an attack from a foe, the character should also be able to drink a potion? I know that ESO is a fantasy role-playing game, but every character still has only two hands (except some of the NPCs, of course). Whether the "potion lockout" is justified is a matter of opinion, but it certainly seems reasonable to me.

In your OP:

Another frustrating part is that the game's audio will actually make the "I drank a potion" sound. But actually, you were locked out and it never even happened. Usually I just end up spamming the button in frustration until it works.

First of all, the number of potions remaining has always been one less than before after I have had the same experience. So that with the sound cue are apparently correct.

Again, I have had the same experience, especially while fighting a Dungeon boss. Still, I have noticed in most of those situations that the potion restored my character's Health, but the boss and/or one or more adds made attacks that very quickly eliminated the Health increase from the potion afterward. So, using a potion does not always enable a character to continue living for very long. In other cases, I was too busy to see how long the effects of the potion lasted, so I don't know whether there was a failure of some kind.

Regardless, my character has often successfully used a potion to restore Health when their Health was almost gone. Nonetheless, on some occasions, evidently the game host ignored my Quickslot key-press(es) while an attack by a boss or other NPC was in progress, and my character died. However, if my character survived the attack(s), the game host acknowledged the key-press and my character used the corresponding potion. In attempting to discern whether the software was working as designed, or the "fail" was evidence of a "bug", I have never reached a conclusion.

Network latency can have some effect upon this, of course. But it shouldn't be a common influence, unless the latency is usually rather high in the context in which you encounter what appears to be the "potion lockout". Be sure that your hardware and LAN are optimized to play TESO. Run Game Consultant and read each section of the report. Its "connections" section can reveal whether there are Internet issues involved, such as a router that is failing. If you have hardware issues, post your report in the Customer Support section of the forum appropriate for your platform. If you can show that there is a bug, and can reproduce it when you want to, then report it in the Bug Report section.

I could put the potion bottle in my mouth and block it with my tongue and when im about to land my axe on your head remove my tongue.. tell me that's not realistic my friend.

Beardimus · July 2017

Hmm, I raised this as a bug. Seems its intended. I get global cool down with all else but not sprinting on a controller in combat its easy to accidently sprint just feels clunky too with lag, combat, bar swapping etc. Potions used to always be instant I swear

MalagenR · July 2017

Adds a level of skill in my opinion. LOS to pot in PVP.

Drakkdjinn · July 2017

BigES wrote: »

@ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_BrianWheeler

Can someone logically explain to me why the current system locks players out from using their potion while performing certain actions?

For example, I cannot use a potion while sprinting. I cannot use a potion while using an ability.

I get that maybe it's more "realistic". You stop, drink the potion, and continue. But mechanically in the game, it causes too many issues when combined with lag and others general game mechanics. And it severely slows down combat. I have ran into instances where I've physically had to stop hitting all buttons, stand there, hit the potion button, then continue.

Another frustrating part is that the game's audio will actually make the "I drank a potion" sound. But actually, you were locked out and it never even happened. Usually I just end up spamming the button in frustration until it works.

This potion lockout issue has existed for a long time, but I cannot fathom a reason for its existence.

So... can someone explain to me why it exists in the first place?

My favorite part of this massively stupid system is when the game plays THE POTION SOUND even though it didn't get used. *** you too ZoS.

Trader08 · September 2019

BigES wrote: »

...Another frustrating part is that the game's audio will actually make the "I drank a potion" sound. But actually, you were locked out and it never even happened. Usually I just end up spamming the button in frustration until it works. ...

Drakkdjinn wrote: »

My favorite part of this massively stupid system is when the game plays THE POTION SOUND even though it didn't get used. *** you too ZoS.

Old thread, same bug. I managed to make an addon to fix that:
"Potion Taken Sound Fix"
https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info2463-PotionTakenSoundFix.html