Avowed may not have the same breadth of life skills as other RPGs, but it does still have a number of things going for it. This includes the ability to cook meals, either for restoring Health and Essence, or to gain useful buffs to gain an edge in battle.
Healing and restoring Essence in Avowed can be a bit of a pain, but once you learn how to cook the right meals, you should have an easier time managing your resources. Eating food won't be as reliable as drinking a potion mid-fight, but during those moments of peace in between battles, a hearty meal will get you back on your feet in no time.
Avowed: Best Blood Magic Build
Cleave through your foes like a force of nature with this melee-oriented Blood Magic Battlemage build for Avowed.
How to Cook Food in Avowed
To cook food, you'll first need to return to your party camp by interacting with Adra pillars on campsites or by clicking on the tent icons on the map screen. Once you return to camp, interact with the cauldron set on top of the campfire. This'll open the cooking menu, which contains all the recipes you can make. Simply enough, select the meal you want to prepare, and choose the ingredients you want to use.
Speaking of ingredients, grocers and general goods stores in cities like Paradis usually sell raw or unprocessed food items. You can also pick some up from dead bodies or from plants and bushes all around the Living Lands. For an easier time spotting ingredients, head to the UI tab of the Settings menu and check the bottom of the list. There are options there that let you see interactable corpses and other items of interest on your compass/minimap.
Why Bother Cooking Food in Avowed?
If you're using a magic-heavy build in Avowed, you'll likely find yourself running out of Essence often, and if you're constantly getting overwhelmed by enemies, your health will likely take a big hit too. By eating food, you'll build up Regen meters to the right of your Health/Essence bars. These represent the amount of Health and Essence you can regain quickly whilst out of combat.
Eating food in Avowed isn't like Skyrim. You can't magically refill your health by eating a hundred cheese wheels. Instead, food will gradually restore Health and Essence over time, and the rate at which that happens increases significantly if you aren't in any immediate danger. By having a few prepped meals, you won't have to chug potions to restore your resources, and if you have the right meals, the buffs and other effects they provide can help you win even the hardest fights.
Avowed
- Released
- February 18, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Obsidian Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Franchise
- Pillars of Eternity
- Number of Players
- 1
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unknown
- PC Release Date
- February 18, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- February 18, 2025
- Platform(s)
- Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
