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Game Mechanics

I'm not a chef, what can foods do for me? * Stat buffs *

The stat buffs work basically the same way as pre-revamp. The available buffs are much more organized: artisan foods for a single HAM or regen stat, drinks that buff all three stats in a single category (Health/Str/Con, Action/Quickness/Stamina, Mind/Focus/Willpower), desserts that buff the two secondary stats in a single category (Str/Con, Quickness/Stamina, Focus/Willpower), entrees for a single usage stat, and Breath of Heaven for a buff to all three usage stats. The duration is at least doubled compared to pre-patch foods, with the exception of the Usage/Regen desserts which remain in the 6-10 minute range, but have a buff in the +4-600 range. Skill buffs *

Brand new additions to the chef menu are foods that give you an increase to a skill. These can range from specialized bonuses useful to a small part of the population (bonus to wookie roar, bonus to Trandoshan regeneration) to foods allowing combat characters access to skills they may not have from their profession (+dodge, +defense vs. knockdown) to bonuses for crafters (+assembly success, +experimental success).

If a skill requires using a command (/survey, /harvest), getting a bonus to that skill only benefits your character if you have already learned that command. Chandad's +survey won't allow a non-artisan to use a survey tool since they don't have the /survey command. Veghash's +creature harvesting won't allow a non-scout to harvest bone/hide/meat from an animal they killed. Jawa Beer's +Mask Scent won't help you unless you already have Exploration II. If a skill does not require using a command (dodge, terrain negotiation, Defense vs. X) then you do gain the benefit of the bonus even if your character did not have that skill. So a non-scout eating Travel Biscuits (+terrain negotiation) will travel faster when going up hills. A non-fencer, non-pistoleer who has eaten a Pikatta Pie will occasionally dodge an incoming attack.

Note: You cannot stack two foods that improve the same skill, even if you're trying to eat different types of food (Air Cake and Pikatta for +dodge, for example). If you try, you will get the message "You are already under the effect of this food". Special Effects *

Damage reduction, crafting bonuses, xp bonuses. All new benefits you can get from food. These have most of the "triggered" effects, so they don't really have a duration. Synthsteak, for example, reduces the damage done to you for the next 25-50 attacks. You can eat one, wander around for thirty minutes, and still get the benefit when you're attacked. Ormachek gives you a 4-5% increase in earned experience (it doesn't apply to crafting xp, though). Starshine Surprise and Cavaelian Creams reduce the duration of your next incapacitation.

Another class of "Special Effect" foods give you built-in resistances to certain special attacks. Trimpian makes you resistant to Fire (sorry, commandos). Blood Chowder gives you resistance against bleed attacks. Thakitillo and Corerelian Brandy give you resistance against knockdown attacks.

Special effect foods have the same un-stackability as skill buffs. You can't take two +40 Defense vs. Knockdown foods and get +80 defense. Pet buffs *

Several foods are specifically to buff pets. The details of the food will contain "Species restriction: pet" if this is the case. Initial reports seem to say that these aren't incredibly useful, except for low-level pets (such as the CL10 creatures usable by non-creature handlers). HAM bonuses, even if they are in the +600 to +700 range, aren't that big a deal if the creature already has 3-5k HAM. It's possible we may see foods to boost pets' secondary stats, especially regeneration, check back later. How can I tell how filling a food is? *

Examining a food item shows how much that food/drink adds to the appropriate fill bar by the value of the "Filling" property. This number is a percentage, so you can eat two 40 Filling foods and a 20 Filling food before becoming completely full. In addition to that, you can drink four 25 Filling drinks, and then be full in both the food and drink bars. How fast does filling go away? *

A full stomach (either food or drink) empties completely in 30 minutes. This is a continuous process that begins as soon as you've eaten an item, and has no connection to the buff duration. So if you start with an empty stomach and eat only a 20 Filling food, your food bar will show about 1/5th full, and will be completely empty again in 30 * 0.20 = 6 minutes. In general, you digest 3.3 points of filling per minute.

There is an issue with digestion right now, either a bug or a poorly communicated design change. From testing done by several chefs it appears that the time to go from 100% to 0% is 45m, not 30. The original plan was 60m, so we're not that bad off. But keep this in mind if you're not able to eat as fast as you think you should given the 30m calculation. I ate a synthsteak, didn't get into combat, and now the buff icon is gone. *

Triggered effect foods have a built-in timer of 60m. If you haven't used it up by then, the buff goes away. This timer isn't effected by any Flavor experimentation the chef does, but it is one of those things we hope the developers are keeping on eye on for their promised "tweak once the revamp goes live".

Food Attributes

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