History Main / AntidoteEffect

* In ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', drinking a bucket of milk will remove all status effects, including poison and similar. There's little worry of TooAwesomeToUse -- buckets are reusable, cheap, and easy to craft, while milk can be harvested infinitely from a single cow or mooshroom. ''But'' a single bucket of milk takes up an entire space in your limited inventory, so you won't want to carry very many, and if you find a reason to use them often enough that running out is a problem, you'll have to run back to your home for more whenever you run out.

* Averted in ''PhantasyStar III'': the "Anti" spell isn't 100% effective, leaving a choice between a renewable (but not guaranteed) cure or a limited-availability, 100% effective cure.

* Avoided somewhat, and unintentionally, in ''{{Infinite Undiscovery}}'', where having a steady supply of minor Antidote-type items stops the [[ArtificialStupidity dumb AI allies]] from using the far more valuable Cure-All items on trivial statuses. They seem to do this even if they have ''a spell to fix the statuses in question''.

*** An interesting variant occurs in Final Fantasy X where items that are already very useful can be made even better. Mega-Potions and Megalixirs restore all three of your onscreen party members when they're used in battle...but when they're used in the menu screen, they heal ''all seven'' of your characters.
** ''FinalFantasyXIV'' has various types of potions, ethers, and status curing potions which are incredibly handy for new players/players using a new class, but the items get outclassed very quickly; healers will have spells that not only restores HP in amounts far beyond what potions can heal, but they also get a spell that removes nasty status effects from a player. Granted, potions are instant use (with no class restrictions), but they have lengthy cool downs to prevent them from being spammed, which limits their overall usefulness. For example, an Elixir, which restores a few hundred HP and MP at once, requires the user to wait several minutes before they can use another or any other similar item. Spell casting is only limited by cast time and the user's remaining MP. Even physical classes on their own have limited self-healing abilities (such as Second Wind) that they can use instead. Gold Needles are an exception since Petrification can only be cured with the use of a Gold Needle (Esuna/Leeches doesn't cure it, despite the spells being able to cure everything else).

The Antidote is a staple item in just about every {{RPG}} that has ever existed. It has a simple use: it will cure a character from a [[StandardStatusEffects Standard Status Effect]]. However, shortly into the game, the character will usually acquire some kind of spell that serves the same purpose, rendering any antidotes in your inventory redundant.

* In some systems, spells require more time to execute than using items; if a character is dying of poison, this could make the difference between keeping them alive and having to ''resurrect'' them later.

** All generations of games eventually make Full Heals available, which duplicates the effect of ''every'' status-cure item.

* Averted in the ''Franchise/TalesSeries''. Since combat in the Tales games takes place in real time, magic takes several seconds to use, while items take effect instantly. Generally speaking, when you want your party members cured, you want them cured ''now''. The best strategy is therefore to use items in battle, and spells outside it when casting time doesn't matter, so that you can keep those items for when you really need them.

* As an MMORPG, ''UltimaOnline'' is set up so that cure potions are inferior to cure spells, but still preferable in certain cases. If one party member gets poisoned, it's trivial for another member to cure them with a quick spell. However, if a solo player gets poisoned, this can be problematic, because casting a spell requires them to stand still for a few seconds, and if they take damage during the casting, it can cause the spell to fail. Thus, trying to cast a cure spell on yourself can be tricky since the poison keeps dealing damage over time, as well as the fact that you'll be stuck in place, unable to put any distance between yourself and whatever monster poisoned you.

* ''BatenKaitos Origins'', an {{RPG}} with a card-based battle system, contains literally hundreds of cards with various esoteric effects, from completely restoring one character's HP (but at the cost of putting that character to [[StandardStatusEffects sleep]]) to reducing the frequency with which the enemy party's turn comes up to restoring a character's HP equal to the amount of overkill damage they do. However, the normal, no-frills healing items are perfectly effective, and including a lot of extraneous situational cards is a good way to get your hand bogged down with useless junk in a critical situation. The most efficient deck setup for nearly the entire game is twenty to twenty-five basic attack cards, ten to twelve super moves, three to four healing items, and one revival item.

* ''VideoGame/FantasyLife'' sort of has this. Healing magic exists, but it takes some time to charge up and makes you vulnerable. If you're an Alchemist or Cook, Food or Healing Potions are relatively easy to make, making Earth Magic pretty useless.

* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}} 2142'' features unlockable weapons--and very limited slots to put them into. Several unlocks are useful in extremly specific situations but are far outclassed by other, more generally useful unlocks.

* The ''BaldursGate'' series of games made antidotes useful, especially in the first game. Even in the later games, the VancianMagic and (in ''Throne of Bhaal'') the existence of potion bags meant that every spell slot counted, so being able to carry around twenty or so antidotes in a single inventory slot was not something to sneeze at.

* {{Culdcept}} is a cross between ''Magic: The Gathering'' and ''Monopoly''. Drawing from it's MTG roots, there are quite a number of very useful if situational spells/creatures/items to draw from or creatures that have useful powers (or combos) given time to develop. However, due to the way the game works (money is mana, functionally, and only earned by rent or passing go), the strict deck building rules, and the random nature of moving around the board (you roll dice), it's usually a better idea to stick with more simple and straightforward combos.

* Played straight in the first ''KingdomHearts''. The Cure spell can be cast literally dozens of times without having to refuel your magic points, so all your health-healing Potions are pretty much worthless.
** Averted in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', however. Now, a single cast of the Cure spell takes every magic point you have, making Potions much more valuable.

* In {{Morrowind}}, curing diseases can be done via spells, scrolls, potions or at shrines. At a certain point in the main quest, you become immune to diseases, rendering these potions and scrolls vendor trash (and earlier if you pick up the rather cheap spell). Similar for the four types of teleportation spells; they can be used via enchanted items or scrolls, but in the long run it's cheaper and more convenient to just buy the spells and sell any such items you pick up.
** The same cure disease spell is available in VideoGame/{{Oblivion}} as an alternative to potions.
** Likewise in {{Skyrim}}, where an easy enchantment renders all those Cure Disease potions useless. You can also become either a werewolf or a vampire, both of which grant extra awesome powers and full disease immunity.

** The same cure disease spell is available in {{Oblivion}} as an alternative to potions.

* Similarly averted in ''SeikenDensetsu3''. Not only are items used instantly, they can also compensate if your party is missing an important spell.

** Inverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''. There is an accessory you can get a little into the game which allows curative items to inflict the status they cure, with 100% accuracy (unless the enemy is immune to that effect). [[note]]Try using this item with a Remedy after you've acquired all three Remedy Lore licenses...[[/note]] Predictably, this makes the spells which actually ''cause'' these effects (often with less accuracy) as their primary purpose much less useful.

** Inverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''. There is an accessory you can get a little into the game which allows curative items to inflict the status they cure, with 100% accuracy (unless the enemy is immune to that effect). Predictably, this makes the spells which actually ''cause'' these effects as their primary purpose much less useful.

* Potions, scrolls and otherwise useless weapons with a certain ability (like shock damage) that could come in later against an otherwise invulnerable boss in the ''{{Neverwinter Nights}}'' franchise, especially if your character is a non-magic build.

** Avoided in VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics, where casting spells takes time, leaves your Priest vulnerable while casting, and is not 100% effective. The "Item" skill works immediately and always works. It remains valuable throughout the game.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' not only has several spells or skills available to easily get rid of most effects (especially the Paladin skill Nurse, which affects the user and nearby targets, has no cost ''and'' heals some hitpoints), it also makes you choose between being able to use items at all or using the skills from another job instead. And many status effects fade after a few turns anyway. The sequel makes item a bit more useful with Rangers being able to reverse the effect and use them to harm enemies. Unfortunately, the status effect items aren't any more reliable than job alternatives which are often either free or can hit several targets, and may have a wider range and/or deal damage, too. However, there is one job (Alchemist) which gives you Item as a ''third'' slot, leaving you able to use that, your primary class abilities, and a secondary class.

** Potions in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' heal 150 HP, or 5% of your Max HP(thus only increasing in power at 3000+HP, which you won't get until the very end of the game). There's an accessory that slightly increases that but ultimately potions lose their usefulness shortly into the game when the Medic paradigm becomes available. There's arguably a use for items that cure silence, as the only way to get rid of it is to either wait it out (rarely a good idea) or use Dispelga, which removes the status effect, but also any buffs you may have.
*** And Antidotes themselves are utterly worthless in this game, as poison is only dangerous if your health is extremely low due to its very slow HP drain, at which point casting Curaja is the best option.
*** Funnily enough, in Final Fantasy XIII you still can use item even when you are dazed (Prevent character from acting), so you can just use Foul Liquid (Remove Daze) on yourself and get on with the battle.
*** ''FFXIII'''s status-blocking accessories fall victim to this as well. The game throws them at you like they're going out of style, but each one eats up an accessory slot and only gives an inexcusable base 30% chance of blocking its associated status ailment. Combine that with the fact that status ailments aren't particularly crippling outside of certain boss fights, and you'll realize you're better off selling the accessories and just slinging Esuna around whenever statuses show up.
*** The sequel, XIII-2, seems to be going out of its way to avert this with regards to Phoenix Downs. Now they grant Protect and Shell in addiction to reviving the character, something Raise won't do. There's also a new item named Phoenix ''Blood'', which revives and grants ''Haste'', and the only other ways to get that status effect is to either get a pre-emptive strike on an enemy or use accessories that grant it when you're low on HP.

** ''FinalFantasyXIV'' has various types of potions, ethers, and status curing potions which are incredibly handy for new players/players using a new class, but the items get outclassed very quickly; healers will have spells that not only restores HP in amounts far beyond what potions can heal, but they also get a spell that removes nasty status effects from a player. Granted, potions are instant use (with no class restrictions), but they have lengthy cool downs to prevent them from being spammed, which limits their overall usefulness. For example, an Elixir, which restores a few hundred HP and MP at once, requires the user to wait several minutes before they can use another or any other similar item. Spell casting is only limited by cast time and the user's remaining MP. Gold Needles are an exception since Petrification can only be cured with the use of a Gold Needle (Esuna/Leeches doesn't cure it, despite the spells being able to cure everything else).