Guild Wars 2

“Tonics are consumables that transforms the player into a monster. The monster the player is transformed into is dependent on the tonic used. Almost all known tonics are acquired through opening Black Lion Chests.” — GW2 Wiki

“Hey, what’s that you got there?”

“It’s a tonic. It turns me into a monster.” [gulp] “See?”

“Wow, you’re a Skritt! That’s cool! Do you have any special attacks?”

“Well, no… It’s just a cosmetic change. And all my abilities go away.”

“Oh. Well, got any fun emotes you can do? Can you dance?”

“…No…”

“So what can you do as a Skritt?”

“Uhm. I can… run back and forth a bit?” [runs about]

“…I see… well, what are those other tonics you have?”

“They’re… more Skritt tonics. I got three at once.”

“Oh! Can I have one? We could be Skritt together!”

“Actually… no, I can’t give one to you; they’re bound to me.”

“Oh. So basically you can transform and stand there a couple more times, should you ever need to do so.”

“…Yeah. I have eleven left-over Ooze tonics as well…”

“…”

TONICS: Half the calories, half the fun!
Well, let’s face it. As a novelty item, tonics are a little sad, aren’t they? I already have a pile of them taking up precious space. Honestly, at this rate, they’re probably just going to get deleted, and that seems like a waste to me. Especially seeing as they could be much more fun.

So, let’s make them more fun! Here are some suggestions:

• Make Tonics Tradable - Why these things are account-bound is a mystery to me. I’m having a hard time coming up with the widespread tonic abuse scenario that’s being safeguarded against here? Let us trade ’em! Let us pass them out to friends, so we can become little packs of monsters! Much potential for fun is lost by having Tonics bound, and for no apparent reason.
• Make Tonics Collectable - What could it hurt? Give us a Tonic Collection Bank. The obsessive com—er uhm I mean… the completists among us will then want them all! Collecting is fun! Feed the addic—uh that is to say… accommodate player preferences!
• Add Special Emotes To the Skill Bar - I’ve noticed one monster transformation, the Fire Imp, has what seems to be a special emote option. I think all of the transformations should have at least one of these emote skills, and maybe more. At the very least, Skritt should receive the Gangnam Style dance. That’s just a no-brainer.
• Add Second Tier Tonics to the Mystic Forge - Certain combinations of chest-acquired Tonics could unlock forge-exclusive Tonics, and wouldn’t that be neat? Maybe these could be the emote-equipped versions? There could also be a small chance to receive a related miniature?
• Thrown Tonic = Temporary Miniature - This might make too much of a lag mess? But it’d certainly be amusing. The duration could be brief, and the miniature could just wander about a bit, rather than following the caster like a true mini does.

…Implementing any of these suggestions would be, I think, a great improvement. However, I believe implementing them all would significantly increase the novelty value of Tonics, bring more people to the Trading House, and make actually opening Black Lion Chests a more appealing proposition (right now I’m thinking of building a house with my stack of unopened chests).

Thanks for reading! More suggestions and discussion welcome!

I love the idea! The game is all about cosmetics, so why are our cosmetic shape-changer potions so lame!

I will say that I use them to troll. I have a few eagle ones and I’ll occasionally swoop down on innocent people in cities screeching “Amerrrricaaaaa!!!”

I like these, but how about…

Leave form>Throw tonic
Converts tonic to a one time use bundle which functions as the harpy pheremone consumable. Birds summoned to attack the target (and if you haven’t seen this consumable used… they are literally COVERED in birds) are miniature versions of the tonic creature.

Imagine. You’re a deer. A fight happens. Can you fight in tonic form? No! but in stead you turn back in to yourself, and with a laugh throw the empty bottle with just enough remaining residue at your currently targeted foe. It breaks, leaking magic deer-scent all over him, and you laugh to yourself as he is swarmed by tens of tiny deer, all stuck to him flailing about.

The damage is minimal, but you don’t care. You didn’t do it for the damage, its a tonic. You did it for the lulz.

Perhaps add a speed boost and the ability to jump? Give them a real use.

Temariah.9372:

I will say that I use them to troll. I have a few eagle ones and I’ll occasionally swoop down on innocent people in cities screeching “Amerrrricaaaaa!!!”

Very funny if the reality wasn’t so sad.

I just started collecting the BLC keys, and chests of course. I’m at about 4 chests to 1 key if I remember right. The tonics take up way too much space as is too.

I support this +1

Some ideas I had about tonics:

- ability to craft minis from tonics;
- possibly add a benefit to tonics, i.e. increase rare items gathering chance, or more exp while crafting while under the effect;
- once transformed you no longer aggro the species you are transformed into – could be fun for exploring;
- add armor recipes that require a tonic – maybe masks, that have the appearance of the tonic creature;
- make the tonics tradeable.

The problem with adding game benefits to Tonics is that they then would no longer be strictly a novelty item. That would significantly curtail development options for them.

That said, I’m really fond of this idea…

Kalypta.1073:

- once transformed you no longer aggro the species you are transformed into – could be fun for exploring

…I mean, I really, really like it. Certain conditions would have to be added to prevent abuse, but I think it could work.

I’m also likin’ this one:

- add armor recipes that require a tonic – maybe masks, that have the appearance of the tonic creature

…because it’d have the added benefit of bringing more value to crafting skills—something that I think is sorely needed—and without causing any game/balance concerns.

Let’s just hope these ideas get heard and looked at by the developers!

Very cool ideas and a fun post to read. I would like to see silly abilities similar to the boxing gloves in the gem store. And they definitely need to be tradeable.