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About this mod
Player-made potions are "watered down", lasting ~5 times longer but being ~5 times less powerful.
- Permissions and credits
Lightweight mod to address several issues with potions at once by tweaking two simple multipliers.
I was surprised that I couldn't find a mod to do this that didn't require running a Russian version of the game, so I made one myself in OpenMW.
This is my first mod. Feedback appreciated.
WHAT IT DOES:
It changes fPotionT1DurMult from 0.5 to 0.1, making player-made potions last approximately five times longer.
It changes fPotionT1MagMult from 1.5 to 7.5, making player-made potions approximately five times less strong.
This yields what I call "watered-down" player potions that deliver roughly the same amount of total effect but dispersed over a longer time.
In my testing (100 INT, 95 Alchemy, GM mortar and pestle), default setting restore fatigue potion gives 59 points per second for 171 seconds (~3 mins).
With new settings, restore fatigue potion gives 15 points per second for 840 seconds (14 minutes).
These two outcomes are roughly equal: 59 points for 171 seconds is 10,089 total restoration. 15 points for 840 seconds is 12,600 total. Close enough for me.
That being said, at lower magnitude/duration values the difference between default and "watered-down" can be much different than ~5 times (see the example photo). I'm pretty sure this is because of rounding shenanigans.
This mod ONLY affects player-made potions. I do not intend to change commercial potions (even if I knew how). With this mod, commercial potions now offer interesting mechanical differences over player-made potions (in that they will tend to be shorter but stronger, at least until very high alchemy levels).
Potion prices are unaffected.
ISSUES ADDRESSED BY THIS MOD:
I made this mod because my alchemist wizard is an unkillable god as long as he has potions or potion ingredients on hand - even without using fortify exploits. Basic restoration potions (hp/mag/fat) at high alchemy levels are, in my opinion, severely overpowered. Pop a high level healing, magicka or fatigue potion and for the next few minutes you are a god. By "watering down" the potions you are not as invincible as before, but you can enjoy longer lasting regen over time and thereby "waste" less of the potion when you are at full hp/mag/fat. I consider this more "realistic"; potions should behave more like beverages than cocaine.
Where restoration potions are overpowered, most of the other potion effect types are nearly useless because their durations are so short. You might need a dozen 60-second resist fire potions to enjoy the effect throughout a whole dungeon, and who wants to rush through the dungeon because you only have 20 more seconds of fire resistance to fight the next room? With this mod, you only need two or three to last you the whole dungeon, and it is also harder to cheese your way to 100% resistance or chameleon via potions. Other combat buffs and utility potions are also made more attractive to carry and use because you don't have to rush to get the most usage out of them - you can take your time knowing the buff will last quite long. Utility potions like Detect, Light, Jump, Swift Swim, etc, may finally see some use now that they last long enough to not be a nuisance.
Alchemy exploits are too easy. Because alchemy pauses the game, the fortify intelligence exploit cares only about magnitude, not duration. By reducing the magnitude factor, fortify intelligence takes MUCH more grinding to reach exploitative levels, especially at low alchemy/int levels. This makes breaking the game less tempting, giving you time to rethink your life.
ISSUES CREATED BY THIS MOD:
As mentioned, potion magnitudes and durations are only approximately 5x different from default, and these do not line up exactly. The mod photo shows a healing potion comparison. Default produced a 15 for 37 potion (555 total), modded produced a 6 for 171 (1026 total). So the modded potion provides twice as much total healing than unmodded in this case. This is unintentional, but I don't mind it personally ?. At higher values, the disparity in total restoration between modded and vanilla shrinks.
Potion effects that have a duration but no magnitude (such are invisibility) are now just five times more powerful than normal. You may consider this game-breaking. In my experience, these potions almost never see usage so increasing their duration only makes them more likely to be used at all.
INSTALLATION:
Extract the .esp into your Data Files folder. Simple as. Recommend putting this mod near the end of your mod list (I had problems getting it to activate when it was at the beginning of mine).
CONFLICTS:
Will conflict with any mod that alters fPotionT1DurMult or fPotion54MagMult. Because these are the only two values changed, it should not conflict with anything else.
Made in OpenMW construction kit. Please let me know if it does not work outside of OpenMW. If so, I will attempt to reupload a non-OMW version.
Hope you enjoy.
I was surprised that I couldn't find a mod to do this that didn't require running a Russian version of the game, so I made one myself in OpenMW.
This is my first mod. Feedback appreciated.
WHAT IT DOES:
It changes fPotionT1DurMult from 0.5 to 0.1, making player-made potions last approximately five times longer.
It changes fPotionT1MagMult from 1.5 to 7.5, making player-made potions approximately five times less strong.
This yields what I call "watered-down" player potions that deliver roughly the same amount of total effect but dispersed over a longer time.
In my testing (100 INT, 95 Alchemy, GM mortar and pestle), default setting restore fatigue potion gives 59 points per second for 171 seconds (~3 mins).
With new settings, restore fatigue potion gives 15 points per second for 840 seconds (14 minutes).
These two outcomes are roughly equal: 59 points for 171 seconds is 10,089 total restoration. 15 points for 840 seconds is 12,600 total. Close enough for me.
That being said, at lower magnitude/duration values the difference between default and "watered-down" can be much different than ~5 times (see the example photo). I'm pretty sure this is because of rounding shenanigans.
This mod ONLY affects player-made potions. I do not intend to change commercial potions (even if I knew how). With this mod, commercial potions now offer interesting mechanical differences over player-made potions (in that they will tend to be shorter but stronger, at least until very high alchemy levels).
Potion prices are unaffected.
ISSUES ADDRESSED BY THIS MOD:
I made this mod because my alchemist wizard is an unkillable god as long as he has potions or potion ingredients on hand - even without using fortify exploits. Basic restoration potions (hp/mag/fat) at high alchemy levels are, in my opinion, severely overpowered. Pop a high level healing, magicka or fatigue potion and for the next few minutes you are a god. By "watering down" the potions you are not as invincible as before, but you can enjoy longer lasting regen over time and thereby "waste" less of the potion when you are at full hp/mag/fat. I consider this more "realistic"; potions should behave more like beverages than cocaine.
Where restoration potions are overpowered, most of the other potion effect types are nearly useless because their durations are so short. You might need a dozen 60-second resist fire potions to enjoy the effect throughout a whole dungeon, and who wants to rush through the dungeon because you only have 20 more seconds of fire resistance to fight the next room? With this mod, you only need two or three to last you the whole dungeon, and it is also harder to cheese your way to 100% resistance or chameleon via potions. Other combat buffs and utility potions are also made more attractive to carry and use because you don't have to rush to get the most usage out of them - you can take your time knowing the buff will last quite long. Utility potions like Detect, Light, Jump, Swift Swim, etc, may finally see some use now that they last long enough to not be a nuisance.
Alchemy exploits are too easy. Because alchemy pauses the game, the fortify intelligence exploit cares only about magnitude, not duration. By reducing the magnitude factor, fortify intelligence takes MUCH more grinding to reach exploitative levels, especially at low alchemy/int levels. This makes breaking the game less tempting, giving you time to rethink your life.
ISSUES CREATED BY THIS MOD:
As mentioned, potion magnitudes and durations are only approximately 5x different from default, and these do not line up exactly. The mod photo shows a healing potion comparison. Default produced a 15 for 37 potion (555 total), modded produced a 6 for 171 (1026 total). So the modded potion provides twice as much total healing than unmodded in this case. This is unintentional, but I don't mind it personally ?. At higher values, the disparity in total restoration between modded and vanilla shrinks.
Potion effects that have a duration but no magnitude (such are invisibility) are now just five times more powerful than normal. You may consider this game-breaking. In my experience, these potions almost never see usage so increasing their duration only makes them more likely to be used at all.
INSTALLATION:
Extract the .esp into your Data Files folder. Simple as. Recommend putting this mod near the end of your mod list (I had problems getting it to activate when it was at the beginning of mine).
CONFLICTS:
Will conflict with any mod that alters fPotionT1DurMult or fPotion54MagMult. Because these are the only two values changed, it should not conflict with anything else.
Made in OpenMW construction kit. Please let me know if it does not work outside of OpenMW. If so, I will attempt to reupload a non-OMW version.
Hope you enjoy.