Death is not the end — new potions in Dragonflight let you assist your group while you tank the floor

The switch from elixirs and flasks to phials is not the only exciting thing happening with the Alchemy profession in Dragonflight — two new potions have been added that, notably, can only be used by or on a dead player. While these potions will be of extremely limited usage in solo play (where death tends to reset the encounter), they could be quite useful for group activities.

The first potion is the Residual Neural Channeling Agent, usable by a dead player to place a DOT on their target. The damage will tick over 18 seconds, but if you’re resurrected before it expires the remaining damage will be dealt instantly (the same effect should happen with a Shaman’s Reincarnation). If you release, however, the effect cancels. While extra damage against bosses is useful, where it may really shine, assumes it’s allowed to be used, is in PVP — you’ll be able to assist your arena partners with extra damage, or you can keep a battleground opponent from capturing an objective with the dot (hat tip to Boven in the Queue comments for this idea).

Dealing damage isn’t the only thing you can now do while dead, as you can use the Delicate Suspension of Spores to place a HOT on nearby allies instead. The more allies clustered around you the better, since the effect applies to all in range, making it the ideal potion for a dead player to use during a stacking phase. In addition, it can also be thrown on a dead friendly target to heal nearby players and also benefits from stacking in that scenario.

Although I imagine Dragonflight will spawn an epic story or two around their usage, it seems unlikely we’ll see many high-level encounters “saved” by these potions. But they’re certainly not a bad idea to keep around alongside your phials — just in case. It’s also easy to see the developers incorporating their design into a secret or encounter so they may end up necessary in the future. It’d be great if more “usable while dead” items make their way into the game, because they add a little extra flavor to one of its most boring parts.