Game! - Where the stick is mightier than the sword!

I'm trying to understand the usefulness of healing potions. They seem to only heal a little more than the monsters you are facing will inflict, and since the monsters get an attack, that effectively means that they do almost nothing to help you.

What am I missing? Are they ingredients in some combination or recipe?

If not, can they be made a "free action"?

It depends on your equipment setup, if you've got a shield instead of a second weapon, it mitigates some of the monster damage and makes the healing potions more useful. (Also, you should be happy, I doubled the healing power of all the healing potions awhile ago.)

Aside from that, there is at least one important recipe that involves healing potions.