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Now that stamina, mana, and health all auto regenerate, I've yet to see the point to alchemy.

Poisons don't do that much damage, and the paralysis effect seems to be more trouble than it's worth. Only really decent effect I can see is slow.

Some of the potions do have nice beneficial effects, but can pretty much find sufficient healing/mana pots out and about. Skill enhancements may be nice, but they are very short term.

Am I missing something?

How is paralysis more trouble than it's worth? I've had my butt saved by paralysis poisons more times than I can count in the early game.

Also, alchemy has huge benefits for other crafting skills, as well as really good elemental resist possibilities for fighting dragons and mages early on. Snowberries, Fly Amanita, and Hawk Beak are fairly easy to acquire and make a potion that protects against all elements.

Damage health and lingering damage health are also pretty potent when you get alchemy really going. Concentrated Poisons effectively doubles that, as well. Human Flesh, Imp Stool, and Slaughterfish Eggs make a poison that paralyzes, does up front damage, and lingering damage for the same length as the paralysis. Really nice fire and forget for powerful things while you mop up weaker foes.

A lot of the value for me, though, lies in roleplay. I just like the idea of turning plants and animal parts into deadly liquids and using them to coat an arrow or a dagger.

Also, you can make poisons even more effective if you use a complementary poison of Weakness to Poison (or, like I do, mod in an enchantment with the same effect).

U don't find satisfaction when u sneak by 20 enemies,paralyze (paralyze potion) half of them, unheard (fortify sneak),unseen(potion of invisibility) with nothing but a poison in your hand finally getting to your target pickpocketing (potion of pickpocketting) with self made poison while the target drops dead(without 5 minute combat) and u leave unnoticed?
Well unless u r not sneaky type who uses cunning ways of alchemy,I guess not

XenopusTex wrote: Am I missing something?

absolutely yes


in a tough fight potions are usually the only thing between me and a reload screen..

paralysis is a great poison - try it on an enemy when they are standing on the side of a mountain

weakness to fire/cold etc are also great for boosting other attacks

invisibility potion after each sneak attack can guarantee your safety, carry load potions are worth their weight in gold

potions give characters access to effects they might never otherwise unlock, they are also a great revenue source if you make poisons/ potions with multiple effects so can aid in speechcraft practicing too

Mattbott wrote: invisibility potion after each sneak attack can guarantee your safety, carry load potions are worth their weight in gold

The basic game potions of invisibility are actually worth anywhere from 4 to 10 times as much as the equivalent weight gold ingot...


OP - try this poison, requires Dragonborn.

Imp stool + scathecraw + skeever tail = Ravage, damage and lingering damage to health.

CBR JGWRR wrote:
Imp stool + scathecraw + skeever tail = Ravage, damage and lingering damage to health.

i am just back from my trip to Solstheim and haven't tested any foreign ingredients yet

Autoregenerate? you mean the passive 10~% or whatever (that's lower when actually fighting). That won't save you from everything. You'll find yourself pressed beyond your character's natural regen rates often enough.

Also there are a number of boost potions that are incredibly valuable

Marelo wrote:How is paralysis more trouble than it's worth? I've had my butt saved by paralysis poisons more times than I can count in the early game.

Also, alchemy has huge benefits for other crafting skills, as well as really good elemental resist possibilities for fighting dragons and mages early on. Snowberries, Fly Amanita, and Hawk Beak are fairly easy to acquire and make a potion that protects against all elements.

Damage health and lingering damage health are also pretty potent when you get alchemy really going. Concentrated Poisons effectively doubles that, as well. Human Flesh, Imp Stool, and Slaughterfish Eggs make a poison that paralyzes, does up front damage, and lingering damage for the same length as the paralysis. Really nice fire and forget for powerful things while you mop up weaker foes.

Also, you can make poisons even more effective if you use a complementary poison of Weakness to Poison (or, like I do, mod in an enchantment with the same effect).

I have to pretty much agree with this guy, and oh, thanks for the recipe. In turn, I give the "Breathable Magicka" recipe, use Red Mt. Flower, Jazbay Grapes, and (Moon Sugar or Fire Salts, the others will give a weakness to magic)

Alchemy has a broader range of use compared to the specialization schools of Magics, sure you can't muffle, conjure, or give armor like flesh spells, but it still makes up for that by giving boosts when you need them, lockpicking and pickpocket especially, where there are no other ways to even magically utilize those skills beyond enchantments and potions.

Imp stool + scathecraw + skeever tail = Ravage, damage and lingering damage to health.

Can i try this out??? I haven't experienced experimenting yet so i guess this one could help.

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joerjoe wrote:

Imp stool + scathecraw + skeever tail = Ravage, damage and lingering damage to health.

Can i try this out??? I haven't experienced experimenting yet so i guess this one could help.

i tried this out and it works a treat

joerjoe wrote:

Imp stool + scathecraw + skeever tail = Ravage, damage and lingering damage to health.

Can i try this out??? I haven't experienced experimenting yet so i guess this one could help.

Why else would I put it up? (yes)

If you're creative, then I think alchemy is very useful. Like mentioned above, you can make some potent potions, and being able to cure paralysis is very useful, since that can often be the difference between life and death!

I myself am not creative. My characters carry around a few potions of heal health and stamina/magicka (depending on whether they're a mage or a warrior), and occasionally I'll use the ones I find in loot, but I myself always see potions as the most basic means of recovery. With restoration being so easy, I usually tend to rely on that school with a majority of my characters, which also reduces the fact that I have to carry around potions and find ingredients. No thanks.

The funny thing about restoring health is that at some point you might actually have potions more potent than your restoration spells.

One of my favorites is the GTFO pot. Luna Moth Wing + Vamp dust. Invisibility and heightened health regen. If you make use of alch boosting gear it will last long enough to fully restore you as you run or sneak as fast as you can away from whatever caused you to drink it.

Yaije wrote:The funny thing about restoring health is that at some point you might actually have potions more potent than your restoration spells.

One of my favorites is the GTFO pot. Luna Moth Wing + Vamp dust. Invisibility and heightened health regen. If you make use of alch boosting gear it will last long enough to fully restore you as you run or sneak as fast as you can away from whatever caused you to drink it.

your "healing per second" score is far greater with potions - so long as you dont run out lol.. simply by virtue of the completely unrealistic mechanic where accessing your inventory and swigging x number of potions happens instantaneously, whereas it is quite possible you will need another cure spell by the time the healing animation has finished

alchemy is an excellent support skill across the board

I've found alchemy to be very useful with my archers, obviously, as I pop a fortify marksman potion (juniper and spider eggs, for one) and then poison my bow and go to town. There are combination effect poisons that can be made with pretty common ingredients, like Slow/Damage Health (salt, deathbell, another damage health ingr.) or paralysis/damage health or lingering damage health (swamp fungal pod or canis root, imp stool, 3rd ingr. w/ damage or lingering damage).

Avron the S'wit wrote:With restoration being so easy, I usually tend to rely on that school with a majority of my characters, which also reduces the fact that I have to carry around potions and find ingredients. No thanks.

A fair point, as my archer who leveled both alchemy and restoration doesn't really need to be so good at both of those skills. There is great entertainment value in Turning a room full of undead and watching them putter around. Also, combo potions are still listed in my menu with one effect, which means I have to dither around with checking my list of potions to remember what they do besides the effect listed.

XenopusTex wrote:Am I missing something?

Generally speaking, anything that the game allows you to use is only as useful as you make it. And just because it's in the game, that doesn't mean you ever have to use it to begin with.

Step one: Enchant armor with fortify alchemy using grand souls
Step two: Brew fortify enchantment potions while wearing said gear
Step three: Repeat steps one and two until the numbers stop going up.
Step four: Brew a fortify smithing potion (While wearing your capped alchemy gear) and alchemize some fortify smithing gear (after drinking a capped fortify enchantment potion). Use both and temper a bow (Could be any weapon, but let's say bow for now).
Step five: Brew a fortify archery (Or one-handed or two-handed) potion, and the aforementioned ravage/damage/lingering poison, all while wearing your capped fortify alchemy gear.
Step six: Poison your bow, drink the fortify potion, and go one-shot a dragon with a sneak attack (If you're having trouble sneaking, enchant fortify sneaking gear and brew fortify sneaking potions).

Alchemy plays a huge role in how broken that is. On top of all that, if you use tools to help you make the most valuable potions you can, alchemy is very easy to level up and such a money maker that not long into it, you'll be getting all your ingredients from buying out all the alchemy shops AND draining them of all their gold by selling your potions. And all the gold of every other merchant in town to boot. You'll quite literally make them faster than you can sell them. Really, alchemy solves just about every problem in the game except "These shopkeeps won't sell a single item with <insert enchantment effect here>"

XenopusTex wrote:Am I missing something?

Master Difficulty.

Alchemy is great...I love making strong poisons and I make a LOT of money selling my custom potions.

I think it's worth it to rank up this skill.

I use it to fortify smithing and enchanting skills mostly....not to mention some custom crafted potions can bring in some decent coin.

Alchemy is the single most important skill in any TES game... I can see if your a tank and hack and slash you way to the end how alchemy can be ignored but if you are playing a Mage, sneak, or jes a lowly hunter alchemy will make you the most powerful person in all the land... Even if you are playing a tank you can find ways to use alchemy... Not to mention how easy it is to level up and acquire valuable perk points even if you don't spent them on the alchemy tree...

I don't use alchemy that much. Eventhough it's 100 I really don't find it useful. Besides smithing/enchanting potions.

I'm the opposite I use vanilla smithing and enchanting but I use alchemy to strengthen my spells, for instance I can pacify a giant at a very low level with an illusion potion or make my fire spell stronger coupled with magicka regen potions, even at low levels I can cast spells at will with incredible power...

Here you can find some recipies I tend to use quite frequently:

http://forums.uesp.net/viewtopic.php?p=1013649#p1013649
http://forums.uesp.net/viewtopic.php?p=1020388#p1020388

Usually, I consume lots of potions in early game (Master difficulty), and the consumption gradually slows down when gaining levels. If I have perked Alchemy, I tend to keep using it in late game, too.

I was talking to a friend about this the other day. He said "I tried to do alchemy with my mage but I just found it annoying to stop and pick up flowers all the time, and I never seemed to make much that was useful." I was just flabbergasted, really. I can't imagine playing a mage without Alchemy! Even when your gear's enchanted with Fortify Magicka and Fortify Magicka Regen and reduction in spell cost for the Schools of Magic you use, you still need way too many potions of Fortify and Restore Magicka, and Regenerate Magicka, and Regenerate Health, and Fortify and Restore Health, and Fortify Carry Weight, and...

And the potions you make are cheap, sometimes free, and far better than anything you can buy.

I just love the idea of starting with "flowers" (also mushrooms and roots, things you pick up off the floor for free) and making potions which sell in excess of 250 septims each. Alchemy doesn't take long at all, you just stand at the potion table and hit buttons for about 5 minutes real time, and end up with enough to sell to every single merchant in Whiterun. Then you get to level your Speech skill. It's a win-win situation. Free money, and free levels. I just can't understand why people wouldn't use it!

Mind you, in my real life, I'm doing a PhD in chemistry, so I may be biased .