A question I've been asked a many times since pot timers became stackable is how long can you stack them for.
I didn't know. So I tested it.
The short answer
You can't stack another pot if your timer already has more than 15h
The technically correct answer
You can stack them as much as you want, however if you have a potion stacked more than 18h12m15s then the time displays wrong, but it still works
The explanation
When you use a pot with a timer the total time is stored as a number of seconds. The game stores it correctly, in a larger integer field, but the buff timer for some reason only uses a 16-bit integer field, so the maximum value that can exist in that field is 2^16-1 which is 65535 (coincidentally, this is also the type of value used to store your pet HP when you log out, which is why pets with higher HP always revert to about 65k when you log back in)
65535 seconds is 18h12m15s, so it can't show values bigger than that. If it tries to, it loops back round, so if you have 65545 seconds of buffs which is 10 seconds more than the limit, the display clock will show 10 seconds. But don't fear, it's just a display bug.
When that 10 seconds reaches 0 the game code tells it to show "buff expired" but the icon doesn't go away and you still have the buffs.
When you relog, the icons are recalculated and it will show the correct amount.
To prevent people hitting that display bug and complaining about it, GM helpfully put a check in to prevent you from stacking another pot if your timer is already above 15h, clearly anticipating that people won't be using pots that have over 3 hours on them. But with higher levels now being able to use more ancient lichens etc., combined with stamina shield, getting over the 18h12m15s mark is easily achievable.
Suggestion for normal players
Don't be twats like me and over-stack pots, just use what you use and don't worry about it
Suggestion for geeks
Stack them to the moon and ignore the display bug, it's fine, don't worry about it
Suggestion for GM
Only people like me will realistically encounter this issue, so don't worry about it
My next curiosity
Will the 15h limit kick in and stop me using another pot if it's currently in a state of 'rolled-over'. Will find out soon!
I didn't know. So I tested it.
The short answer
You can't stack another pot if your timer already has more than 15h
The technically correct answer
You can stack them as much as you want, however if you have a potion stacked more than 18h12m15s then the time displays wrong, but it still works
The explanation
When you use a pot with a timer the total time is stored as a number of seconds. The game stores it correctly, in a larger integer field, but the buff timer for some reason only uses a 16-bit integer field, so the maximum value that can exist in that field is 2^16-1 which is 65535 (coincidentally, this is also the type of value used to store your pet HP when you log out, which is why pets with higher HP always revert to about 65k when you log back in)
65535 seconds is 18h12m15s, so it can't show values bigger than that. If it tries to, it loops back round, so if you have 65545 seconds of buffs which is 10 seconds more than the limit, the display clock will show 10 seconds. But don't fear, it's just a display bug.
When that 10 seconds reaches 0 the game code tells it to show "buff expired" but the icon doesn't go away and you still have the buffs.
When you relog, the icons are recalculated and it will show the correct amount.
To prevent people hitting that display bug and complaining about it, GM helpfully put a check in to prevent you from stacking another pot if your timer is already above 15h, clearly anticipating that people won't be using pots that have over 3 hours on them. But with higher levels now being able to use more ancient lichens etc., combined with stamina shield, getting over the 18h12m15s mark is easily achievable.
Suggestion for normal players
Don't be twats like me and over-stack pots, just use what you use and don't worry about it
Suggestion for geeks
Stack them to the moon and ignore the display bug, it's fine, don't worry about it
Suggestion for GM
Only people like me will realistically encounter this issue, so don't worry about it
My next curiosity
Will the 15h limit kick in and stop me using another pot if it's currently in a state of 'rolled-over'. Will find out soon!
