Yep that is what I meant (find a spot to meditate after they stop chasing you).
Pretty much like the Gothics then. Cant see that I will have a problem with it
as I don't find backing out of a difficult fight unrealistic the way I described it…
Actually, the very reason why alchemy (potions) fails in this game.
Combat is about management of space, as expected and they duly deliver on that feature.
And alchemy falls into circular unnecessity.
If you have space to run, you have space to outmanoeuver the enemies. Space and little skills allows to perform decently in combat, therefore voiding the necessity of drinking potions. You can of course run away and drink potions to get more of what you could get without drinking potions. Still unnecessary.
If you do not have space to run away, situations that happen in this game, the character is a situation of dependence on alchemy (potions) but can not drink them.
It grows circular: in situations you need alchemy (potions), you cant use alchemy. In situations you dont need alchemy, you can use alchemy. Bad.
Scouting has to be forgotten on the same ground. Close space calling for potions use also negate the possibility of scouting. For example, it can be that narrow rooms locked by doors. You enter the room, monsters appear, you cant open doors during battle. Scouting annihilated.
Alchemy is nothing more than a support field for the other two specialities.
Other specialities have out of the box solutions to deal with variations on space. Alchemy has not.
An alchemist has to mimick permanent benefit by drinking potions any time he goes hunting. You do not conceive the strategy by adapting to potential enemies but you build the strategy from what you know for sure: yourself. If you want to inflict incineration, you equip in gear to incinerate, drink the relevant potions and lets go. No matter the enemy, you deal with them the same way or attempt to it if they are immune to incineration.
Alchemy is all about optimization of the character expected damage effects, not about adaptation to enemies.