Combat Exclusive Healing

So you've just been through a brutal fight with the local Boss in Mook Clothing and your team is looking pretty battered. Still no problem, you turn to the team's White Mage and eagerly await their healing magic... But sorry, they can't do that right now. Why? Well, because the battle's over so they can't use their spells anymore. Instead you'll have to go into your next fight with life-threatening injuries and hope to cast them before the enemy finishes you off.

This is the tendency of many games to restrict the use of skills to use in combat, even if they'd be useful at other times. While healing is the most common example, it's not the only one. For example, most turn-based videogame RPGs won't let you cast all your handy buff spells before entering a fight.

A common subtrope is that while healing skills are not allowed, healing items can be used outside of battle. However, items are usually in more limited supply than Mana, which tends to lead to Too Awesome to Use.

Naturally, games with After Combat Recovery have no need for healing outside of battle.

Note that many games actually avert this, so only list subversions and straight entries, please.

Examples of Combat Exclusive Healing include:

A number of RPGs have abilities and/or enchantments that drain enemy HP or restore the user's HP when attacks from either side connect with their target. Naturally these are useless outside of battle if the game does not allow allies to be targeted.
Moves like Recover and Rest can't be used outside of battle in the Pokémon series. Softboiled provides a rather unusual example in that it can be used as a form of Heal Thyself during battle or as an Empathic Healer outside of battle... which naturally encourages you to then go find a weak opponent so you can heal the damage you just inflicted on yourself.
- Pokémon also doesn't allow HM moves (required to access certain areas of the world map) to be used outside of battle without particular badges. This is removed in Generation V, however.
- The jump from Generation III to Generation IV provides an unusual example in the sleep-curing Blue Flute, which possesses a function similar to Kanto's Poké Flute item. In the former generation, the Blue Flute could be used anywhere and could be used an infinite number of times. In the latter, it gets re-categorized as a battle item.
Golden Sun provides a partial aversion as you can still use your spells outside of battle, but not your various healing Djinn that could do the job for no Psynergy cost.
In Final Fantasy IV, Rosa's Pray command restores both health and mana, allowing you to completely restore your team for no cost if fighting a harmless opponent such as the final dungeon's Li'l Murderer enemy, but can't be used outside of battle.
- Some more examples from Final Fantasy include curative Blue Magic/Enemy Skills (like White Wind), one of Edward's bardsongs in the DS version of Final Fantasy IV, the Recover and Revive commands in Final Fantasy VIII, and Amarant's Chakra and Revive skills in Final Fantasy IX. Final Fantasy IX also has the equipable Auto-Regen ability, which will slowly restore a character's HP during battle but not outside of it.
  - Final Fantasy XIII avoids the trope entirely: you're fully healed after every battle, which makes sense when you have characters that can heal without MP restriction. TP, on the other hand, is only restored by being fast in resolving combat, and is much more useful.
- Nicely averted in Final Fantasy XII where there is no separate battle/wandering screen, and you are fully allowed to attack teammates with your Healing Shiv staff or Syphon spell. It's even recommended to spread out learning low-tier summons amongst your characters, so that as many as possible can call them up at late game (when they're normally sub-par) for less mana than you can suck out of them.
Phantasy Star II includes a number of shields, hats, etc that act as a moderate healing spell when used in battle. Given the overall difficulty of the game, the limited inventory spaces, and the way that Random Encounters can whittle down your health before you get to a boss, these are very useful.
Sonic Chronicles has a particularly bad case of this as you don't regenerate the mana equivalent outside of battle, even though it can be recovered in battle simply by using the Defend command. Tails also has a healing skill that both restores health and regenerates more mana than it costs to use.
Dubloon doesn't let you use either Russel's or Riley's healing spells once the battle is over. You can use healing items outside of battle, however.
This is actually inverted in the old Infinity Engine games, such as Baldurs Gate, Planescape: Torment, etc. The clerics are physically incapable of healing everyone in battle, so you have to somehow make it through to be able to tend to your wounds.
- This is, of course, directly from the base rules: most healing spells are Touch-range, and all take some time to cast. Outside combat, the clerics have the time to wander around to all your hurt characters and heal them, and there's no pressure to use the clerics' offensive capabilities. In combat, that is less likely to be the case.
Downplayed in The Reconstruction; you can't use healing skills outside of battle, but you can just wait for your characters to regenerate all their health.
Chrono Cross doesn't let you use healing elements outside of battle, but if there are unused ones remaining at the end of a battle, they are used automatically. You are, however, allowed to use expendables any time you want.
Master of Magic allowed both: pre-buffing and in-combat buffing. Usually, the pre-buffing cost more and had an upkeep cost, while in-combat was cheaper and didn't need upkeep. But specifically 'Healing' spell is tactical map only. And priests has ability that partially heals all other units when the battle ends.
In Wizardry 1-2, Might and Magic 1-3, and Phantasie 1-2, you could only cast healing spells in combat. If you wanted to heal outside of combat, you had to camp or go to an inn. In these games, you could usually get attacked while camping, then immediately attacked after waking up, and thus end up in a weakened condition for the next fight anyway.
In Professional Wrestling, Hulk Hogan would "hulk up" when it was time to defeat the opponent as part of his Five Moves of Doom. One wonders why he didn't hulk up before entering the ring, thus guaranteeing an easy victory.
- Also used by the Ultimate Warrior.
The 7th Saga gives you an infinite-use healing item that is only useable in battle (as well as several other infinite-use buff items with the same restriction). The trick is to somehow manage to get yourself into a fight where you can avoid getting your ass kicked long enough to use it. It's a bit difficult, to say the least.
In Disgaea, you can't use any magic or items when you're in the Hub Level, but you can heal quite cheaply at the Trauma Inn anyway.
- Since you cannot be attacked anyway at the Hub Level, only when you gate to the next battle, there would be no need to heal up there anyway.
- This is also the case with Phantom Brave and Makai Kingdom.
In Breath of Fire IV, the Rest and Snore skills cannot be used outside of combat. And for good reason, since both of them restore a small amount of both its user's HP and AP for no cost (though Snore makes the user fall asleep for three turns, but that's hardly an issue in this game, and instantly healed after battle).
While Last Scenario averts this for the most part, there are two spells that can restore MP for free—yes, MP—but can only be used in battle.
In Dragon Quest V, the spell Omni Heal which heals everybody to full, cannot be used outside of battle and is the only spell of the heal series that is like this.
- Although that's likely because there are much more MP efficient ways to heal everyone outside of battle, when you have the time: Omni Heal requires a whooping 36 MP, while Fullheal (which heals one person to full HP) requires 7. Much more efficient.
- The series also features items that can be used for spell-like effects without spending any MP or using up the item, but they don't work outside of battle. This includes the late-game Sage's Stone, which anyone can use for an effect identical to Multiheal.
In the Mega Man Battle Network series, you can't use any of your healing chips outside of battle.
- In the Mega Man Star Force series, you can't use any of your healing cards outside of battle.
- Though in both series, your HP is refilled when you leave cyberspace and there are sub-items you can use to heal.
Totally straight in Neo Quest II, once you recruit your healer. Although, because there's no mana system, it is rarely an issue except after unusually difficult battles.
You cannot use any healing skills outside battle in Record of Agarest War. It was either that or infinite healing, since there is no MP system, only action points. You do get After Combat Recovery, but only on the world map, not in dungeons or Boss Rush sequences.
There's normally three ways of healing (aside from the Trauma Inn) in Legend of Dragoon: Items, spells, and defending. Only the first can be used outside of battle, and your inventory is so small that you'll likely only be able to carry three or four potions at any one time.
While conventional healing spells in World of Warcraft can be cast at any time, some classes self-healing abilities rely on being in combat. Death knights have death strike, which heals them but, being an attack, requires an enemy to hit with it. The same goes for the rogues Recuperation ability. Some warriors also regenerate when someone hits them, as well as having healing attacks. It's still possible to heal using potions, food, or even just waiting, but for some builds the most efficient way to recover health after a tough fight is to pick someone smaller and beat them up.
The Tales (series) games tend to apply this to jumping. Meaning you can jump over giant monsters, but not waist-high fences. Various equipment that would give characters hitpoint or mana regeneration would also only operate during combat, denying players free healing.
In the first Baten Kaitos game, healing magnus in your deck couldn't be used outside of battle (but then again, no other deck magnus could either). This was made up for with the ever-available shish kebab, which healed between 20%-60% each, and could be (slowly) bought in bulk at any shop. The somewhat rareness of money made doing this impractical, however. Averted in the prequel, where your health is fully restored upon leaving battle.
Commander Shepard of Mass Effect can only sprint while there are enemies nearby. While using the appropriate control in safe situations would cause same screen-focus effect, it wouldn't make you run faster. This is a pity, as faster running would have been much more useful during all those long boring jogs around the Citadel than in fights.
- This leads to the hilarious situation where players may start throwing grenades around in non combat areas, to enter combat mode and enable sprinting.
Dofus characters have healing abilities, but there's no way to use them outside of battles. This can be extremely annoying for Sacriers, a class built on taking massive damage (Sometimes even intentionally increasing damage done to them) and relying on massive HP pools to survive. HP Pools that have to be restored by healing items that cost money. While regular leveling might allow players to intentionally fight a weak enemy to use healing, in dungeons, this is less of an option.
Dragon Quest IV would usually avoid this, but in chapters 1 and 3 you would sometimes get the situation where NPCs who joined your party would know the healing spell, but the main party member would not. NPCs cannot have their equipment changed, gain levels, or be asked to use their spells outside of battle. The result is they can only heal you in battle, if you're lucky.
The Mount & Blade games have an interesting variation that only show up when cheats are enabled (since the games' "realistic" setting means health normally only regenerates slowly, over a period of several in-game days): the health cheat can only be used while in 1st/3rd person view, rather than map view. The interesting variation comes from the fact that if you try and use the cheat after a battle is won but before returning to the map (or while wandering around a village/town/castle) it will seem to work, but all that cheated healing will be undone the second you get back to map view.
Several healing spells in Kingdom of Loathing can only be used in combat, while others can only be used outside of combat, and a few can be used in both. Pastamancers can learn a level 3 spell that costs 6 MP and heals 10-20 HP in combat or 10-30 HP out of combat. Saucerors, on the other hand, can learn a level 2 spell that costs 4 MP and heals 10-15 HP and can only be used in combat, but there's a chance you can cast it up to three times per battle as a free action, i.e. not spending the combat round.
Hyperdimension Neptunia only allows healing during combat, and you can only set a CHANCE of it happening when conditions are met! Though, to be fair, you can make it a 100% chance.
- Averted in the sequel, which uses a more conventional system for healing.
Lost Odyssey does allow you to use healing spells outside of combat, but doesn't allow you to use healing skills, including the free 'Prayer'. However, you can still use healing spells of the people not currently in your party, so you have up to four characters you can use simply as MP batteries for healing spells.
Inverted in Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City by the Bandage and Slap Awake skills, which can only be used outside of combat to patch up wounds and revive characters. Notably, Bandage is a Common skill that can be learned by any class, while most recovery spells can only be learned by Monks and Princesses.