YAUP | Comestibles news

With the classic Gothic game formula created by Piranha Bytes, a limited selection of comestibles was initially introduced in the very first game, but only with the third part of the trilogy, actual cooking and multitude of foodstuffs appeared (and that is true as well for Risen, Arcania, and ELEX).

There is a lot of new foodstuffs in the mod already, but with the next version, even more new items of that category were introduced, plus new "subcategory" of juices, salves, and ointments as well.

1. Apple, Banana, Carrot, Pear, and Plum.

- Apple (4 Health) [4 gold].
- Banana (6 Health, 6 Mana) [18 gold].
- Carrot (2 Health, 2 Mana) [6 gold].
- Pear (3 Health, 1 Mana) [5 gold].
- Plum (1 Health, 3 Mana) [7 gold].

The fruits (the carrot is called that here only for the uniformity of the concept) by themselves usually are not too worthwhile (maybe except the apples, given their well known innate bonus), so to enhance their capacity for being a somewhat more noticeable merchandise and inventory pieces, they can now be used in the new procedure of pressing juices (each selection always demands 7 fruits), which is done at pitchers, where a stomper tool is required, but no particular training is needed. The fruits now appear as loot at defeated NPCs and monsters, and are purchasable at vendors, and some can be found in the worlds.

2. Apple Pomace, Banana Nectar, Carrot Juice, Pear Slush, and Plum Mash.

- Apple Pomace (40 Health) [40 gold].
- Banana Nectar (60 Health, 60 Mana) [180 gold].
- Carrot Juice (20 Health, 20 Mana) [60 gold].
- Pear Slush (30 Health, 10 Mana) [50 gold].
- Plum Mash (10 Health, 30 Mana) [70 gold].

All juices are the concentrated forms of their respective fruity ingredients. A very limited amount of juice bottles can be bought or found in the worlds, but they never appear as loot.

3. Roast Beast.

4. Mushroom Pate.

5. Bone Broth.

6. Hardtack.

7. Fireflush Brandy.

- Roast Beast (107 Health) [107 gold] {11 raw meats/85 gold}.
- Mushroom Pate (116 Health) [116 gold] {6 digger meats/85 gold}.
- Bone Broth (39 Mana) [78 gold] {15 of any bones/35 gold}.
- Hardtack (16 Health) [16 gold].
- Fireflush Brandy (+1 max Mana, +150 EXP) [550 gold].

The large amounts of raw meats, digger meats (especially for those who are not apprentices to Constantino), and bones (both versions) always accumulate in the inventory in almost every playthrough. To address this in a creative way, that is supplemental to the frying procedure and in sync with the designated NPCs who are capable of preparing dishes for the player, two other NPCs and three new "designs" joined the ranks of food preparation.

Ciroc, the "chef" in the castle in the Valley of Mines knows how to fix up a meat roast and mushroom pate, but he requires the player to bring the basic components and provide quite a bit of gold to utilize his culinary skills. Snaf, the tavern "owner" in the bandit camp in Jarkhendar, can boil a broth from supplied bones, which feels like a cheap substitute for the basic Mana restoring essence. However, the man needs to read the recipe first to get the thing going, and the recipe in question is hidden somewhere in the camp, in a stone chest. None of these delicacies can be bought or found or looted, being exclusives to their individual "authors".

While at it, for a tiny fee Edda can now also cook the normal version of fish soup and prepare the vegetable stew, in addition to her daily rationed "special".

Furthermore, hardtack, the long lasting military "bread", made an introduction and was distributed among the population of militiamen, knights, paladins, and pirates (and two food merchants), as these groups are most likely to care about having it at all.

Additionally, at Salandril the player can buy the special alcohol recipe that can be proffered to Samuel, who's the only person capable of actually creating it. Once the fermentation is finished, the player is permitted to buy the limited stock of this tipple from the pirate.

8. Azure Salve.

9. Black Ointment.

10. Crimson Salve.

- Azure Salve (200 Mana) [400 gold] {1 fire nettle/2 fire weeds/1 mole rat fat}.
- Black Ointment (+2 max Mana) [1000 gold] {25 dark mushrooms/1 mole rat fat}.
- Crimson Salve (200 Health) [200 gold] {1 healing plant/2 healing herbs/1 mole rat fat}.

The method of delivering curatives via potions is the most popular fantasy "trope", but rubbed or spread ointments/salves might be the second most common.

Since quantities of collected dark mushrooms in most playthroughs (again, for those not allied with Constantino as his apprentice) are high as well, and eating 50 samples of them to get the bonus is somewhat tedious, the new recipe for a powerful ointment is now a solution for those inclined. But to comprehend the recipe the player has to know the alchemy skill of essence of Mana plus the most advanced, priestly language of the Builders, since the instructions are to be obtained only in the house of the Healers from a stone bookstand.

The player's inventory gets bloated with healing plants/herbs and fire nettles/weeds usually as well (even more if the player didn't learn alchemy skills for the matching potions made with these plants), so the two new recipes that require knowledge of either extract of healing/Mana were added to Salandril in the Chapter 2. The value of health or mental power replenished via salves is somewhat lesser than from three matching extracts but that's to reflect on the fact that salves work externally rather than internally. Nonetheless, this might be a viable option for those who ran out of (or want to save) meadow knotweeds required for concoctions and have extra mole rat fats.

The new "trophy" skill of squeezing fat from defeated mole rats, taught by Grimbald, is essential for gaining the base needed for all ointments and salves without spending too much gold on it with merchants (and their stock is fairly limited, by the way).

Furthermore, apprentices to Constantino will now receive full +5 max Mana bonus for each 50 dark mushrooms brought to the alchemist; this gives yet another alternative for eating dark mushrooms for their innate bonus.

The act of using smelly ointments employs the new special animation.