👉 A diluted potion is a weaker version of a standard potion, often resulting from dipping a potion into water. Diluted potions generally have reduced effects, shortened durations, and provide half the nutrition of regular potions.
Overview
In GnollHack, a potion can acquire the diluted property, which represents it being watered down. This makes its effects significantly less potent and reliable.
General Effects of Dilution
When you quaff any diluted potion, the following general rules apply compared to an undiluted potion:
- Unreliable Effects: For a wide variety of magical effects (including healing, stat gains, levitation, and more), there is a 50% chance that a diluted potion's primary effect will either be completely negated or noticeably reduced.
- Halved Healing and Damage: The primary effect magnitude (such as the amount of hit points healed or damage taken) is reduced by half.
- Halved Duration: Any temporary status effects (such as levitation, blindness, invisibility, or confusion) will last for only half the normal duration.
- Halved Nutrition: A diluted potion provides exactly half the satiety (nutrition) of its undiluted counterpart.
Specific Potion Effects
Beyond the general reductions, dilution alters the specific behavior of many potions. The table below details these specific changes when quaffing or interacting with them.
| Potion | Effect of Dilution |
|---|---|
| Potion of blindness | The blindness effect lasts for half the normal duration. |
| Potion of dwarven mushroom brew | Quaffing it will refresh you without causing confusion. (Undiluted brew confuses the player.) |
| Potion of elven herbal brew | Does not provide the small 1 HP heal that the undiluted brew gives. |
| Potion of gain ability | There is a 50% chance that the potion will have no effect at all. |
| Potion of gain level | There is a 50% chance that the potion will fail, giving only "an elevated feeling" (or an "uneasy feeling" if cursed) instead of a level up or rising to the level above. |
|
Potion of healing Potion of extra-healing Potion of greater healing Potion of full healing |
Heals half the normal amount of hit points. If the potion is breathed or splashed on you, there is a 50% chance it will fail to increase your maximum HP. |
|
Potion of speed Potion of greater speed Potion of lightning speed |
The speed buff is stepped down by one tier. For example, a diluted potion of lightning speed grants the same buff as an undiluted potion of greater speed. |
| Potion of oil | When used to refill a light source, it provides significantly less fuel than an undiluted potion. |
| Potion of polymorph | There is a 50% chance that the potion will fail, causing you to only "shudder for a moment" instead of changing your form. |
| Potion of restore ability | Even if blessed, it will only restore a single drained attribute. (An undiluted blessed potion restores all drained attributes.) |
| Potion of see invisible | A blessed diluted potion only grants temporary see invisible. (An undiluted blessed potion grants the ability permanently.) |
| Potion of sickness | Acts as a mildly stale potion instead of being biologically contaminated. This significantly reduces the damage taken and prevents food poisoning. |
Other Uses
- Dipping in Water: Dipping an already diluted potion into water or a fountain usually washes it out completely, turning it into a potion of water. Dipping a standard potion into water usually makes it diluted.
- Refilling Lamps: If you use a diluted potion of oil to refill a light source, it provides significantly less fuel to the lamp than an undiluted potion.