Health elexiers

buckbeach

I continuously have problems drinking these in the heat of battle. Have tried the F keys and going to the character's inventory. Although it sometime says "gulp" it often seems to not execute the command.

Any suggestions?

ConjurerDragon

Characters don’t drink a potion immediately after having been given the order to drink. They drink when it’s their turn to act.

Gallenger

IIRC potions count as spells and you can only "cast" one spell per round - so if you cast a spell use a special ability, or use a potion, you won't be able to do so again for a small period of time until you're on a new combat round.

buckbeach

Got it (I think).

Papa_Lou

I think a full round comes out to be 6 seconds or something like that, if that helps any.

joluv

Yes, it's six seconds, which equals four swings of the pendulum in the lower lefthand corner.

lunar

You can't gulp potion after potion like in a diablo game. A character can only drink one potion, OR use one item/scroll/wand, OR activate one special ability, OR cast one spell in a given round. (6 seconds) A character can still attack after doing these in the given round, though. So you can gulp a potion and then swing an axe in the same 6 seconds. However if you gulp a potion, and try to cast a spell immediately after, your character will stand there like an idiot, waiting for his round to start. Thus, you should make the best use of any given round, after any item/spell usage, attack nearest enemy. This is called 'cast and attack' strategy and it helps you to make the most use of your combat round. Some difficulty enhancing ai mods use this exclusively with great results.

You can set auto pause on end of round, which autopauses at every character's round ends:it is a signal you can start casting another spell or use another potion/item/ability. Quite handy.

Note that in bg2 and tob levels, there is an epic level mage spell that bypasses this 'one spell equivelant action per round only' rule:you can immediately start casting another spell or ability while under the effect of that epic spell. Potions and item uses still have the only once per round rule, though.