Originally posted by DarkSlayerofDarkness:

Hey, relatively new to the game, a little over 100 hours.

I think I hear people cook a lot after the third boss, to buff up their HP.

I see how growing stuff, cooking can be enticing in this game. But, not for me. I just don't like spending time chasing the ingredients, cooking and farming. Question: is cooking advanced soups and potions necessary to advance in the game? Or, can one do without? And, if you are further in the game, and not a fan of cooking/farming/scavenging for ingredients like me, how do you manage without it?

Thanks!

Sadly, it is a resource check. Compared to other games where you can replace extraneous grind with just "being a bit more careful" - you can't do that here. You can't run around with 50 health, low tier armor and weaponry, and expect the game to be "mildly more challenging" than if you'd grind for it.
You NEED an increased health pool. You NEED a better armor(not maxed out, granted, but you need a decent armor that allows you to stay alive after first hit).

Even the "stealth+ranged" approach, that usually allows to cheese, in other games, is not really working here, since enemies are everywhere, and they keep on respawning. You are in constant barrage of attacks, or in a constant state of waiting for them.

You can potentially pick middle quality food over other types of better food, and stick with it, if you hate grinding for the best kind there is, but then you should keep in mind that you'll be having issues during boss fights(especially solo boss fights), and during visits to newer biomes.