Really, I would love to just see the potions give a bit more rep. Leveling a bit faster would make it far less grind-y. I wouldn't feel obligated to grind out for completion purposes, as with more rep I could play naturally and still get it up to max rank. I wouldn't have to say, 'okay, I've maxed everything and potions is level 3. Time to grind for 4 hours'.
Adding onto this, upping effects could be helpful as well to aid that. More useful potions, that level quicker - I'd genuinely be brewing potions because of their use, and not feel like my potion level is super behind everything else.
Just my 2 cents, and for those who want it
tl;dr - Up strength and rep, and the potions won't feel as grindy imo.
If a lot of people insist on keeping potions, we should think of ways to improve it for everyone! Potions shouldn't be reworked just because we despise them, but for the future.
Idea roundup:
The slightly overhauled system would add purpose (and fun) back to brewing potions. The best way to meet all the above requirements is to make it more fast-paced. This can be done by either replacing the mix-and-match gameplay with a more interesting alternative or by recreating the mix-and-match with a different concept in mind. This would allow pirates to receive
rep and "
points" at a higher rate and allow pirates to actually depend on potions before a battle rather than avoid brewing them because they require time and effort.
When it comes to leveling, there should be
no grinding involved. To level up,
you have to actually use the potions in different scenarios. This will mean a larger variety of potions will have to be introduced to the game and a lot of pre-existing ones (eg: swift foot 1, 2, 3 - marksmans draught 1, 2, 3) will have to be unified into a single potion. Imagine a scenario in which you're about to fight a boss that inflicts extreme amounts of voodoo damage and has high HP. With a voodoo immunity potion, pirates will be able to use it to fight said boss. Bosses should be crafted with gameplay aspects in mind - pirates should be able to take them down in a lot of different ways including using potions as a means of assistance. The same can be applied with enemies that inflict fire damage, extremely swift enemies, or stumps that overuse the earthquake ability. New potions will be created to counteract all of these issues! Bosses should be made tedious to force pirates to depend on the newly overhauled, friendlier potion-making system. So overall, there should be more potions suited to a plethora of different scenarios each pirate might face.
New potion leveling system. Players will need to use a variety of different potions depending on their playstyle. Creating potions will reward a little amount of rep and potion points - however, pirates must use the potions in action to reap the extended benefits. In their current state, the potions might not be useful enough to use. Selling (discussed later on) will also grant reduced rep and points. However, with this reworked system with multiple potions for different contexts - many pirates will be motivated to use them.
New gameplay aspects. Players might need to shrink or enlarge themselves to get past a point in a quest or even make themselves invisible to avoid a group of overpowered enemies. Another scenario can be pirates having to morph themselves to blend with enemies and be able to search around them. The gameplay opportunities are endless with useful potions! Pirates can even be forced to drink certain potions to beat otherwise invincible bosses and earn a guaranteed reward. This can be a weekly quest in which pirates need to achieve a certain feat by drinking potions and playing. They'll receive a gift and different badges in return!
Potion rarity. With potion variety, there's potion rarity. There could be different types (common, rare, famed, legendary, cursed) of potions. This will divide them into sectors of rarity and give pirates an understanding of how important each type of potion is.
Upgrade recipe. Instead of having three types of potions with varying powers or durations - why not have one? As you level up and progress, you can receive a quest that assists you in upgrading your pre-existing potion recipes to make them even more effective! When you upgrade, all your new potions have improved stats.
Potions marketplace. Create useful potions, sell them to others. Some pirates demand potions but aren't patient enough to brew them. How should we fix this? By supplying them with potions! Pirates can directly act as suppliers and sell their potions in a marketplace. This will require loads of varying potions to be added into the game. Pirates who love potions enough to brew them upon mastering will have a reason to go on and others who despise brewing will benefit too. Another advantage is pirates will probably envy your ability to sell these potions for high prices since they're too lazy to brew them and might go ahead and partake in potion-brewing themselves!
Potion points and points store. Different types of potions reward you with rep alongside varying amounts of points. Think of this as an alternative to looting. With these points, you'll be able to spend your points on exclusive items ranging from clothing to tattoos and weapons all in the points store. In addition to this, new mysterious items can be added every month forming a never-ending catalogue of mystical items. This will incentivize players to brew potions. These items are exclusive to the potions store but can be sold in the marketplace for extremely high prices, materials, and other tradeable items.
Finally,
badges. A rewards system with badges and gifts could be introduced to returning brewers. These can be given out to players who achieve certain feats like leveling up, using potions in a specific manner (eg: kill 'x' enemies while drinking this and not getting damaged), selling a large amount of potions in the marketplace, crafting potions for a certain amount of days in a row, or creating 'x' amount of a certain potion.
This is not about simplifying potions, but making it friendlier and more approachable. To enjoy potion making, some pirates need to detach the concept of leveling up and start associating potion-brewing with its advantages. I, for one, mastered my sword fairly quickly since I aimed towards reaching a point where I can deal large amounts of damage to kill enemies faster and in return get more rep and loot. With potions it should be no different.
