Do you use consumables and traps in games?

[Deathknightish]

Personally I'm awful at using them, other than healing and resource potions (managed etc). I never use atk/def boost pots, and resistance consumables just aren't a thing for me, except for antidotes because some games have really nasty poison that drains your health quick.

Same with gear. I don't keep a separate set of gear to resist fire damage for instance.

I mostly focus on one set or gear and focus on becoming better at the game instead of taking 80 fire damage instead of 90.

I'm also bad at remembering using tools like traps and mines. I just don't have the patience to run around and set up traps or c4 before a fight and have the monster chase me to it.

[Santti]

I think you are talking about the age-old video game paradox.

Useful, therefore never use.

Yeah, that's me alright. Too useful to use.

As far as traps goes, I don't have the patience for them either. I do like to hoard gear, however. because "you never know".

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

I do that with things like Elixirs in Final Fantasy games, just like the comic, I won't even use them during a last boss fight. I tend to only use purchaseable potions.

In WoW, my one character still has the "Light of Elune" item that grants 10 seconds o immunity that he got back in TBC, because I just haven't had "the moment" to use it in the last 14 years.

[Chaotic1962]

Depends on the game i guess. In wow i have massive bag space full of "i might need it sometime" items, which i never use of course. Playing a hunter and using the traps is fun. In other games however, like Neverwinter Nights, Dragon age, i always had a character that can disarm / lay traps, but never used them because its mostly clunky as hell, like you need to be out of combat to set them, but you get ambushed 90% of the time. Dragon Age 2 was better in this regard because the fights were more dynamic and the bombs you could throw at npcs mid combat. So i guess its mostly about the design.

[Zuben]

I generally don't like breaks-on-use temp boosts. It's fine if it's a spell I can use infinitely or refresh with a rest or something, but items can go to hell or wait for the absolute last boss fight (or what I deem too tough to beat without their aid). I remember turning a rare card in Final Fantasy 8 into 99 items that would rez the whole party and replenish them back to full health. The only fight I used them in was Ultimecia, to a great effect.

[Mysterymask]

Depends..I have been getting better about it though

[Easo]

Usually no, the classic paradox of hoarding until needed, then never needing it.

[jazen]

i frequestly make mines/bombs in Wow engineering, have them on bars for use, rarely do it.

[dlld]

if the items in question are 100% reliant on drops or buying from a vendor then likely i wont use them unless it's practically impossible to win a fight without them, which is usually never or at least so infrequent you will still have a big load of them left. But in something like horizon zero dawn i did use them as they were relatively easy to craft and keep topped off (and you were forced into the crafting anyway due to ammo and progression)

[callipygoustp]

Yes, I am an online hoarder.

[Lord Pebbleton]

I love rpgs but I am a straightforward kind of guy. With that I mean that I do not enjoy using consumables and limited resources if I can help it. I ran the whole of the Witcher 3 without potions because, even if they replenish, I just wanted to smash into things with my sword. In WoW I use consumables because raiding, but it's a small chore to go get them when I run out.

Swapping armor can definitely be a deal breaker for me though. There is a pretty huge mod for Diablo 1, called The Hell, which is pretty hard and unforgiving. Many places require you to have different stats or resistances, so you need to have sets of gear ready for specific sections. You cannot cheese your way through it because you cannot leave a floor until every enemy is dead (mod rule). I simply stopped caring because I want to be gradually (but constantly) more powerful and I don't care about side equip.

Playing Breath of the Wild right now and facing the same problem, kinda. But there I can quickly swap on the fly or even power through stuff if I really want. Couldn't do that in The Hell.

[Afrospinach]

I think you are talking about the age-old video game paradox.

Useful, therefore never use.

Yeah, that's me alright. Too useful to use.

As far as traps goes, I don't have the patience for them either. I do like to hoard gear, however. because "you never know".

Hah, interesting.

Yes I think I have talked about this before but having "limited supply" items requires you to make an ignorant decision if it is your first playthrough. Last time I did this that I remember was those "fat mamma" bullets in Rage. I had no idea I was even at the end of the game then everything finished. Never used a single one. Still do not know what they do.

[DarkAmbient]

I hate using potions in games. It just feels bad. Imagine having a fight, and you're like "Hold up mate, can you just stop hitting me while I swig this healing potion? Cheers."

[kail]

Depends heavily on the game. Sometimes they are not needed ever, other times they feel too broken to use. In games like Dark Souls, I tend to make stupid plays that force me to use pots consistently. Games like Pokemon, I sell almost all consumables as Poke Centers are rarely far.

Witcher 3 did a decent job in promoting the idea of using oils and other consumables against certain monsters. I used them mostly for RP appeal.

[dope_danny]

I didn't used to "because what if i need it later" but since i never need it later almost all of the time i figure they are more fun to set up stupid big game breaking horseshit. Like in Days gone setting up a nightmare gauntlet of bombs and traps and pulling a giant horde through on the bike and then getting off far enough away to molotov and mow down the survivors. It can leave you drained of explosives but full on health so it pays off i guess.

[spalernTJ]

Try playing the Atelier games, you'll more or less have to use consumables as one of the core concepts of the game is your character being an Alchemist, and you having to make and use bombs that are ever more powerful with better ingredients and combinations.

[Nerovar]

The only game where I consistently used consumables was Divinity Original Sin 2.

[chiddie]

I think you are talking about the age-old video game paradox.

Useful, therefore never use.

Yeah, that's me alright. Too useful to use.

As far as traps goes, I don't have the patience for them either. I do like to hoard gear, however. because "you never know".

Ahahah that’s 100% true story.

I still remember when I played Half Life for the first time when it came out. I took everything “in store” because “you never know”.

You should have definitely seen my face when I got to the point you’re captured (mid game more or less) and you start again... with inventory totally empty. XD

[Unlimited Power]

I played through Darksiders 3 which is sort of a souls-like. You would acquire souls from enemies you killed and either use it as currency at a vendor or use it to level up iirc. I leveled up a lot throughout the game, but I never spent a single point on increasing my survivability, so I often spent a lot of consumables on bosses to defeat them quickly before I got overwhelmed by mechanics.

As far as RPGs go, I never use consumables. Especially in games like Skyrim I'd often hoard consumables but never use them. Meanwhile in ARPGs like Diablo I'd have no qualms with chucking potions. So in conclusion, it varies depending on the type of game I'm playing. And I never ever play survival games. Hunger and thirst meters don't sit well with me.

[starstationprofm]

I almost always end up hoarding them.

I'll probably use some Mentants or booze in Fallout when I need a stat boost for a skill check.