Poison is a status effect that causes Poison damage over time, ticking like a clock. It is able to interrupt spellcasting.
Poison is sometimes called the Bleeding effect, but they are one and the same.
Gameplay[]
- The Poison effect should be clearly distinguished from Poison damage, which is one of the 10 main Damage types in the game and can be inflicted in situations unrelated to the Poison effect
- Every time the Poison effect "ticks", a certain amount of damage is dealt to the poisoned creature, which will be affected by its Poison damage resistance stat, as is the case with all damage types.
- The rhythm at which the Poison effect ticks is affected by Haste and Slow effects — creatures that are both poisoned and hasted will take more damage because the Poison effect will tick more often but through the same total duration.
- As is true with all status effects, application details vary depending on source — what is causing the effect. The source sometimes allows a saving throw or is subject to Magic resistance. Sometimes the poison is very potent and sometimes the damage can be shrugged off. Check the source you're interested in for such details.
Bug[]
In BG2EE Items with poison effects block their own effects on a poison-immune target. However, in some cases, they are also blocking other, non-poison-related effects which should still apply. This will be fixed in the pending Enhanced Edition Fix Pack (EEFP) - example POTN48.ITM)