Mongooses / Mongi... Mongeese? Whatever... 
They are kind of the Witchers of the animal kingdom!


Don't believe me?

• They successfully take on prey that is far bigger. 
  

• They have white/grey hairs.
  

• They are resistant to poison. (The toxins in snake venom attach to chemical receptors in their victims and block communications between nerves and muscles. Mongoose receptors have mutated so that the venom simply bounces off the muscle cells.) 
  

• And they are incredibly agile!
  This might partially be due to slower time perception.

And this is also partially why I chose the Blizzard potion.
It increases Geralt's CFFF(Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency)... I mean it slows time and heightens his reflexes.
Another reason is that the Blizzard potion has a fairly short duration.


The purpose of this mod

...is to change up combat - by making you fight like a mongoose (or at least differently)
for a brief period after a strategically activated(or do you say 'imbibed'?) Blizzard potion.

In addition to the Blizzard potion - the poison debuff will also give you the same effects.
(Making you react with ferocity to adversity)

It gives you the motivation to fight more strategically since you:

•  do more damage when not getting hit
•  have a guaranteed critical hit when slashing an enemy's back
•  get a random sign buff 
•  have a chance to get an extra buff when alternating strong/light attacks
  

But not all of these bonuses unlock automatically.
You need to kill some snakes (I mean draconids) first!



Requirements

For balance, I decided to require some skills to be equipped for the powers of the Blizzard/poison to unfold.
These skills are related to a mongoose-like fighting style.

- Fleet Footed (dodging is encouraged)
- Deadly Precision (when it strikes - the mongoose strikes with precision! A fight with a snake is mostly dodging around and then snapping its head with one hit)
- Frenzy (reflexes and toxins)
- Killing Spree (reflexes and toxins)
- Heightened Tolerance (Geralt needs to be able to handle his potions)

Not all of those skills are needed!

Just 3 of those skills need to be equipped to unlock all of these decoction buffs.
And even with fewer or no skills, the Blizzard potion is still powerful:

0 - Doppler Decoction
have a guaranteed critical hit when attacking from behind

1 - Wyvern Decoction
do more damage when not getting hit

2 - Basilisk Decoction
get surprised with a random shrine buff
motivating you to use that sign

3 - Forktail Decoction
have a chance to get an extra buff when alternating strong/light attacks



⚠️ Important:

• All of those decoction buffs last 28s (even if you don't upgrade your Blizzard Potion).
• They don't affect your toxicity bar.
• You also need to have those decoctions in your inventory! (which means you need to get those mutagens and learn the decoction to get each effect from Blizzard).
• But no decoction will be used up by Blizzard/Poison.
• Keep in mind that Poison will trigger the buffs just like Blizzard does. Also when self-afflicted.
• Skills don't need to be fully upgraded. Just equipped.
• Also note, that the icons of the buffs won't reflect the actual decoction icons.
  

In case you are using the Redux overhaul mod:

I do as well. There are two gameplay changes:
- The Wyvern decoction buff will not give you extra damage - but taking damage will increase toxicity.
This is even more fun since you can pop the blizzard potion defensively.
And it makes sense to keep your White Honey potion on a quickslot to drain the toxicity, should things get worse and you need a healing potion.
- The Basilisk decoction won't give you a random shrine buff, which I think is a bit less fun. But your damage-dealing bombs will now be twice as damaging. Gives you a reason to dodge out and unload some firepower.


Lore

There once was a witcher named Richard
Once known for killing many a great lizard
After Vezimir opened a door
In a place that still had surprises left to explore
Inside Kaer Morhen in a room where they used to brew Blizzard
It was that the School of the Wolf uncovered a mystery
And once more - because of an old book hidden under the floor
Richard's tale reverberates through the annals of history 
Bringing new insights to the snake killing art
You see - The School of the Mongoose hasn't entirely fallen apart
Since our witcher Geralt 
Took it's lessons to heart

- Dandelion

Similar mod:
School of the Owl