This page details an overview of the Alchemy skill in Skyrim, including recommended perks, leveling tips, and where to find Alchemy trainers.

Alchemy Overview¶

Alchemy allows you to create beneficial potions and harmful poisons. Its main use is to create Fortify Enchanting and Fortify Smithing Potions. It’s also a good source of income. Level it by creating poison and potions - the more valuable the product, the faster your Alchemy skill will level.

In Skyrim, combining most materials that you find will have results, be it a poison to inflict damage to foes, a healing potion for yourself, disease and poison curatives, or other buffs. This has obvious benefits, but for most buffs (especially healing) you’re probably better off just investing in Restoration. However, another useful aspect of Alchemy is that you can use it to generate large amounts of gold. Various recipes (some of which are mentioned below) allow you to turn relatively common and cheap components into incredibly valuable potions.

In terms of improving your character, the thing that makes Alchemy so valuable to invest in is the ability to create potions which increase your Smithing and Enchanting skills, which in turn allow you to create absurdly powerful weapons and armor. This, more than any skill investment or perk selection (aside from those required to create such equipment, of course) will be the single most powerful investment into creating a powerful character.

Recommended Perks¶

The primary function of Alchemy is to boost your Smithing and Enchanting abilities… which requires you to become an expert at enhancing the beneficial aspects of potions. Ultimately, it’s a fairly large investment of perks to get the best results and make the most powerful Fortify Smithing and Fortify Enchanting potions possible (+147% and +37%, respectively). On the other hand, poisons are something that can be largely neglected.

To that end, improving the base potency of your potions is a good thing, so all five ranks of Alchemist are a worthwhile investment. Improving your skills is a beneficial effect, so the Benefactor perk should also be purchased, while Physician is just a necessary step along the way. None of the other perks are strictly necessary, but getting Snake Blood will get you a heft 50% resistance to poison. Poison itself is rather rare, but if you’re wanting to play on higher difficulties and make a nearly impervious character, it’s a hole in your defense that you can plug.

As for perks that aren’t necessary for the Smithing/Enchanting grind, but are still nice to have for various reasons, Purity will help you make more money from potions. If you plan to turn Alchemy legendary or just make potions and poisons for gold, Green Thumb is a worthy investment, although it requires you to expend two perks along the way. Then again, if you want poisons to be a viable addition to your repertoire, you’re going to want Poisoner and Concentrated Poison regardless. As an added benefit, many useful poisons can be made which consist of easy to obtain ingredients, which will expedite your leveling process.

Leveling Tips¶

The best way to level up Alchemy is through creating potions - the more expensive the potion created, the more experience gained from the brewing. On that note, purchasing relevant perks while leveling up Alchemy will increase the speed at which you level, and also serve to line your purse. The only problem with Alchemy is that to level it, you’ll need hundreds of ingredients, the harvesting of which is a comparatively slow process, making Alchemy a rather poor grinding skill.

To get get these ingredients you have two options; you can go around the world buying ingredients from merchants (this will negatively affect your purse, and isn’t all that fast) or you can roam about, picking flowers and killing beasts. To that end, just be vigilant for things to pick on your travels, and explore the map. You’ll find locations (which will make questing easier, when you get ‘round to it) and will undoubtedly stumble across a fair amount of ingredients. Of course, that’s a rather simplistic explanation, it’s a good rule of thumb to practice as you play - the more you pick, the easier the eventual Alchemy grind will be.

All products of Alchemy aren’t created equal; certain components are rarer than others, and some potions/poisons are better than others. Given how Alchemy levels, then, a more focused strategy than simply running around the map in search of alchemical components would be to venture to places with high concentrations of valuable ingredients, right? First up, let’s go over some of the more lucrative alchemical concoctions, which will reveal the ingredients you want to go after… then it’ll be time to talk geography.

First, anything with “regen” in it does well. Whether it’s damaging the regeneration rate of something, or boosting it. Ingredients that cause status effects are also very good, like Fear, Invisibility, Frenzy and Paralysis. Also, the more effects you put into something, the better its market value. Note that these combos typically only include the best combinations that can be made with common ingredients. It’s not really helpful to your leveling if you have trouble finding a dozen of a certain ingredient. The exception? Giant’s Toes. They drastically improve the value of potions they’re in to such an extent that if you can find/buy/harvest even a few dozen, you’ve done yourself a great service.

Useful Potions and Poisons¶

Poison of Damage Magicka Regen¶

Ingredients: Bear Claw, Blue Butterfly Wing, Blue Mountain Flower, Hanging Moss, Nightshade

Value: 727

This is an easy poison to make with good value. Blue Mountain Flowers, Hanging Moss and Nightshade are all easy ingredients to obtain in abundance. Bear Claws and Blue Butterfly Wings aren’t uncommon, but the former shouldn’t be combined with Blue Mountain Flowers (as they share the Fortify Health property, which will neuter the effectiveness without the Purity perk) and the latter is arguably better saved for a more valuable concoction.

Potion of Fortify Health¶

Ingredients: Bear Claws, Blue Mountain Flower, Giant’s Toe, Glowing Mushroom, Hanging Moss, Wheat

Value: 1,333

This one consists of some common ingredients, but the Giant’s Toe is what makes it valuable. Just combining the lesser components (sans Giant’s Toe) will get you a potion with an effect of at best 60 seconds, compared with the Giant’s Toe’s 500 second duration, which also makes it worth only 10% of what the Giant’s Toe variant is worth. Note that Creep Clusters and Giant’s Toes share the “Fortify Carry Weight” property, so throwing a Creep Cluster into any Fortify Health mix will get you an even more valuable concoction - a good deal, considering Creep Clusters are fairly common (see Fortify Carry Weight below).

Fortify Carry Weight¶

Ingredients: Creep Cluster, Giant’s Toe, Hawk Beak, River Betty, Scaly Pholiato, Wisp Wrappings

Value: 571

You can safely ignore most of the ingredients in this concoction save the Creep Cluster, which is by far the most common ingredient. While valuable enough on its own, this scarcity makes the mixture relatively insignificant for grinding up Alchemy. On the other hand, the Giant’s Toe is a bridge between this potion and the more valuable Fortify Health potion above. Any time you’re mixing a Fortify Health potion with a Giant’s Toe in it, you might as well throw in a Creep Cluster.

Poison of Slow¶

Ingredients: Deathbell, Large Antlers, River Betty, Salt Pile

Value: 678

Another valuable poison made with common ingredients, the main focus here should be on Deathbells and Salt Piles. The latter can be found in the various barrels throughout Riften in passable numbers, while Deathbells grow in abundance in the swamp north of Morthal.

Potion of Regenerate Magicka¶

Ingredients: Dwarven Oil, Fire Salts, Garlic, Jazbay Grapes, Moon Sugar, Salt Pile, Taproot

Value: 486

Jazbay Grapes can be found in great numbers in the hot springs south of Windhelm, while Salt Piles are stored throughout barrels in Riften. Not a hugely valuable potion, it’s still a passable mix, and if you throw in a Red Mountain Flower (which can be found throughout Skyrim) you’ll add the Fortify Magick property, increasing the potion’s value by around 50%. Not bad.

Potion of Fortify Two-Handed¶

Ingredients: Dragon’s Tongue, Fly Amanita

Value: 560

More of a niche potion, really, but you’re likely to find hundreds of Dragon’s Tongue plants if you plunder the hot springs south of Windhelm, so disposing of some of those might just be appealing. Fly Amanita isn’t nearly as common as Dragon’s Tongue, so your ability to brew this concoction will likely be limited. Still, the two plants share two properties, both Fortify Two-Handed and Resist Fire, and together make for a passable potion.

The above potions and poisons should go a long way towards maxing your Alchemy skill, but where do you get all these lovely ingredients? Well, there are three places where you’ll get most of them, but first, let’s discuss the ones that fall outside these three locations.

Notable Alchemy Ingredient Locations¶

Blue Mountain Flowers¶

Mountain flowers can be found throughout Skyrim and take no special effort to get - as you wander across Skyrim, just pick the flowers that commonly grow alongside the roads and you’ll end up with a grand stockpile.

Blue Butterfly Wings¶

Blue Butterfly Wings can be obtained by plucking the wings off Blue Butteflies. They exist in static locations throughout Skyrim, often in groups of three, mixed in with Monarch Butterfly. Just be sure to grab them whenever you see them.

Creep Cluster/Dragon’s Tongue/Jazbay Grapes¶

South of Windhelm is an expansive stretch of hot springs where you’ll find these three plants. It’s not for the faint of heart, however, as there are two Giant camps and a Dragon’s nest in the area. Still, the treasure-trove of valuable components makes it a must-scour area.

Deathbell¶

North of (and surrounding) Morthal is a swamp where you’ll find Deathbells. While this is the most valuable component in the area, you can also harvest Giant Lichen and Swamp Fungal Pods.

Giant’s Toes¶

Giant’s Toes are sold by alchemists at the various towns, but mostly you’ll get them from Giants. They’re not easy prey, but with decent gear (and perhaps the difficulty turned down to Novice) you can defeat them… especially with sneak attack critical hits with a bow.

Hanging Moss/Juniper Berriers¶

Hanging Moss and Juniper Berries can be found around Markarth, the former of which is the more valuable of the two. Hanging Moss can be found hanging off trees and on rocky ledges, while Juniper Berries can be found on Juniper trees.

Salt Pile¶

Riften is a thriving fishing city, and when you need to preserve meat, you need salt. Search the barrels lying around Riften to find plenty of Salt Piles.

Alchemy Trainer Locations¶