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Skyrim players have many options of how to make their Dragonborn stronger as they play. They can focus on enchanting gear, striking from the shadows, or running into battle with a raised shield and plate mail. However, one of the most universally powerful ways to make your character stronger in Skyrim is brewing potions and poisons to use in battle through the Alchemy skill.
These concoctions can have various effects, whether it’s paralyzing an enemy, allowing you to breathe underwater, or helping you get better prices when you sell all of your loot from the last dungeon. So, here is everything you need to know about alchemy in Skyrim.
Key Info Up Front
Alchemy allows players to gather reagents from their surroundings as they explore the province that can augment their build with various potions and poisons. This makes it not only a universal crafting skill but also a relatively cheap one to level, as you’ll always be able to grab reagents to use as you run through the wilderness.
Alchemy Overview
Alchemy begins with gathering reagents, from fish to plants, and materials from animals. Each reagent has four effects that can be brought out from it that have to be discovered. There are a few different ways to do so, but the easiest is simply eating them. This always reveals their first effect, while you can unlock perks that will eventually allow you to learn about all four.
You’ll want to be careful when mass-consuming new reagents, though, as whatever effects you discover immediately apply to you, no matter if that fire resistance or being paralyzed. They can also be found by mixing the reagents with another with the same effect as one of its hidden ones.
However, most reagents have both positive and negative aspects, making creating potions and poisons a balancing act of not giving enemies too many buffs or yourself too much pain.
Step-by-Step Alchemy Guide
Step One: Gathering Reagents
Most reagents in Skyrim can easily be found in the wild as you travel between quest markers. Most of them are seen as plants among the grasses and foliage of the province and can be picked up as you run past them.
Others take some more work, like killing a monster and looting its corpse or taking the time to grab fish from a lake, or going fishing if you have the fishing creation installed.
Step Two: Locate an Alchemy Table
Once you have your reagents collected, you’ll have to find yourself an alchemy table to do anything with them. The most accessible places to find alchemy tables are at any homesteads that you’ve built with Skyrim’s Hearthfire expansion, as all three can have both an alchemy table made in its main hall as well as an alchemy table as one of its wings.
However, you may not always want to travel all the way home or might want to start brewing things before you’ve built a manor. Thankfully, there is plenty of alchemy tables scattered throughout the game, in cities and the wilderness alike:
Town or Wilderness | Map Location | Details |
City/Town | Dawnstar | Inside store named The Mortar and Pestle |
Falkreath | Inside store named Grave Concoctions | |
Markarth | Inside store called The Hag’s Cure | |
Purchasable addition to the player home Vlindrel Hall | ||
Morthal | Inside store named Thaumaturgist’s Hut | |
Raven Rock | Inside of Ienth Farm | |
Inside of the Raven Rock Mine | ||
Inside of the player house, Severin Manor | ||
Riften | Inside store called Elgrim’s Elixirs | |
Purchasable addition to the player home Honeyside | ||
Inside the Thieves Guild in the Ratways | ||
Riverwood | Inside Dephine’s Secret Room at the Sleeping Giant Inn | |
Skaal Village | Inside Edla’s House | |
Inside Shaman’s Hut | ||
Solitude | Inside store named Angeline’s Aromatics | |
Inside Potema’s Catacombs beneath the Temple of the Divines | ||
Purchasable addition to the player home Proudspire manor | ||
Tel Mithryn | Inside the Tel Mithryn Apothecary | |
Whiterun | Inside store named Arcadia’s Cauldron | |
Purchasable addition to the player home Breezehome | ||
Inside of Dragonsreach | ||
Windhelm | Inside the Palace of the Kings | |
Inside store named The White Phial | ||
Inside the Arch-Mage’s Quarters at the college | ||
Wilderness | Alchemist’s Shack | To the east of Haemar’s Shame, just south of Ivarstead |
Anise’s Cabin | To the west of Riverwood and south of Bleak Falls Barrow | |
Avanchnzel | To the southwest of Riften, only accessible through the quest Unfathomable Depths. | |
Cragwallow Slope | Southwest of Windhelm and east of Witchmist Grove | |
Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary | Northeast of Falkreath | |
Northeast of Dawnstar on the coast | ||
Drelas’ Cottage | To the northwest of Dustman’s Cairn | |
Falkreath Stormcloak Camp | Just east of Helgen | |
Fellglow Keep | To the northeast of Whiterun | |
Forsaken Cave | Directly west of Windhelm | |
Hall of the Vigilant | To the south of Dawnstar | |
Honningbrew Meadery | Just outside of Whiterun to the southeast | |
Mistwatch | Straight to the east of Darkwater Crossing | |
Mount Anthor | A dragon lair to the southwest of Winterhold | |
Reach Stormcloak Camp | To the northeast of Karthwasten on a cliff overlooking the river | |
Rift Imperial Camp | To the south of Ivarstead | |
Saarthal | Southwest of the College of Winterhold | |
Sinderion’s Field Laboratory | Northeast section of Blackreach, just in front of Alftand Cathedral | |
Stony Creek Cave | Southwest of Windhelm to the north of Ansilvund | |
Winterhold Imperial Camp | Northwest of Winterhold | |
Morvarth’s Lair | To the north of Morthal |
Step Three: Brewing
Now that you have an alchemy table sitting before you, you’re ready to start brewing your potions and poisons. Before you start, however, you’ll want to equip any gear you have with the Fortify Alchemy enchantment to help make your creations even more powerful. From here, there are a few different ways to go about making your concoctions. The first is to choose any options listed when you interact with the alchemy table.
From the reagents in your inventory, Skyrim will automatically match any with the same aspects identified. This allows you to scroll through your options, select, for example, Invisibility, and pick up to three reagents that you wish to use to brew the potion. However, this can be difficult at first, as you won’t have very many aspects of each reagent discovered just yet.
The second option you have is the recipes you can find here and there throughout the game. It is possible to find recipes for loot creations or specific areas that list possible reagents for particular creations that you can then follow.
However, you’ll have to read it in your inventory before brewing or remember what it says, as its contents do not appear in the menu when using the alchemy table.
The final option is to select individual ingredients yourself. The top of the menu has an option that allows you to select up to three reagents from all of the ones in your inventory to mix. This can help you discover similar properties between them but will also lead to plenty of wasted materials if you combine random things.
However, you can always look up the reagents that work for whatever you wish to brew to see what reagents will work ahead of time. All of the possible potion effects in Skyrim are:
- Cure Disease
- Fortify Alteration
- Fortify Barter
- Fortify Block
- Fortify Carry Weight
- Fortify Conjuration
- Fortify Destruction
- Fortify Enchanting
- Fortify Health
- Fortify Heavy Armor
- Fortify Illusion
- Fortify Light Armor
- Fortify Lockpicking
- Fortify Magicka
- Fortify Marksman
- Fortify One-Handed
- Fortify Pickpocket
- Fortify Restoration
- Fortify Smithing
- Fortify Sneak
- Fortify Stamina
- Fortify Two-Handed
- Invisibility
- Regenerate Health
- Regenerate Magicka
- Regenerate Stamina
- Resist Fire
- Resist Frost
- Resist Magic
- Resist Poison
- Resist Shock
- Restore Health
- Restore Magicka
- Restore Stamina
- Water breathing
If instead, you want to use your abilities to harm, the available poison effects are:
- Damage Health
- Damage Magicka
- Damage Magicka Regen
- Damage Stamina
- Damage Stamina Regen
- Fear
- Frenzy
- Lingering Damage Health
- Lingering Damage Magicka
- Lingering Damage Stamina
- Paralysis
- Ravage Health
- Ravage Magicka
- Ravage Stamina
- Slow
- Weakness to Fire
- Weakness to Frost
- Weakness to Magic
- Weakness to Poison
- Weakness to Shock
Once you have your poison equipped, you have to use it from your inventory or quick menu to apply it to your weapon and affect the next target you hit.
Alchemy Perks
As you eat reagents and get to brewing, you will accumulate Alchemy experience that will eventually level up your skill. This will allow you to unlock more perks in the skill’s tree when you level up to buff your creations and help you specialize in either potions or poisons.
If you want to level up the skill quickly, getting the Thief Standing Stone will increase your XP gain for the skill, while there are also a handful of trainers that can be purchased throughout cities. You’ll also want to keep an eye out for the following skill books that will give you a free level:
- De Rerum Dirennis
- A Game at Dinner
- Herbalist’s Guide to Skyrim
- Mannimarco, King of Worms
- Song of the Alchemists
Some quests will also reward you with Alchemy skill points when you complete them. These include:
- Dungeon Delving from Frida
- Finn’s Lute
- Discerning the Transmundane (if you choose it)
Once you get your Alchemy skill up, you’ll likely want to start investing in its perks to ensure your creations are both as powerful as they can be and so that they sell for as much profit as possible. The skill tree’s perks are:
Perk Name | Level Required | Prerequisites | Description |
Alchemist (5) | -,20,40,60,80 | None | It makes your poisons and potions 20% stronger for each rank |
Physician | 20 | Alchemist | It makes your potions that restore Health, Magicka, or Stamina 25% stronger |
Benefactor | 30 | Physician | It makes your beneficial potions 25% stronger |
Poisoner | 30 | Physician | It makes your poisons 25% stronger |
Experimenter (3) | 50,70,90 | Benefactor | Reveals another effect when eating an ingredient for each rank |
Concentrated Poison | 60 | Poisoner | It makes poisons last on weapons for twice as long |
Green Thumb | 70 | Concentrated Poison | You gather two reagents from each plant |
Snakeblood | 80 | Experimentor or Concentrated Poison | It gives you 50% resistance to enemy poisons |
Purity | 100 | Snakeblood | Removes adverse effects from created potions and positive effects from made poisons |
Reagents
There are a lot of different reagents available in Skyrim, and deciding which ones to use can be tricky until you get the Purity perk since a health potion isn’t nearly as valuable when it also paralyzes you in the middle of combat. Below are all of the reagents in the game, what effects they have in order, and where you can find them:
Reagent | Effects | Location |
Abecean Longfin |
|
Fish Barrels, Lakes, Rivers, Streams |
Ancestor Moth Wing |
|
Ancestor Glade |
Ash Creep Cluster |
|
In areas of Solstheim covered in ash |
Ash Hopper Jelly |
|
Corpses of Ash Hoppers in Solstheim |
Ashen Grass Pod |
|
In areas of Solstheim covered in ash |
Bear Claws |
|
On the corpses of Bears, Cave Bears, and Snow Bears |
Bee |
|
Beehives |
Beehive Husk |
|
Beehives |
Berit’s Ashes |
|
Quest item received from Thadgeir, in Valerica’s Study in Castle Volkihar |
Bleeding Crown |
|
Mushroom clusters |
Blisterwort |
|
Caves and dark areas |
Blue Butterfly Wing |
|
Blue Butterflies |
Blue Dartwing |
|
Found hovering above the water |
Blue Mountain Flower |
|
Mountain Flower clusters |
Boar Tusk |
|
Corspes of Bristlebacks |
Bone Meal |
|
Corpses of Draugr and Skeletons |
Briar Heart |
|
Corpses of Forsworn Leaders |
Burnt Spriggan Wood |
|
Corpses of Burnt Spriggans |
Butterfly Wing |
|
Monarch Butterflies |
Canis Root |
|
Rocky Areas |
Charred Skeever Hide |
|
Cooking on campfires |
Chaurus Eggs |
|
In Falmer caves |
Chaurus Hunter Antannae |
|
Corpses of Chaurus Hunters and Chaurus Hunter Fledglings |
Chicken’s Egg |
|
In chicken nests |
Creep Cluster |
|
Hydro-thermal areas |
Crimson Nirnroot |
|
Blackreach |
Cyodilic Spadetail |
|
In fish barrels, lakes, rivers, and streams |
Daedra Heart |
|
Corpses of Daedra |
Deathbell |
|
In the wild or planters |
Dragon’s Tongue |
|
Hydro-thermal areas |
Dwarven Oil |
|
Dwemer Ruins |
Ectoplasm |
|
Corpses of ghosts |
Elves Ear |
|
In the wild or hanging herbs |
Emperor Parasol Moss |
|
Tel Mithryn |
Eye of Sabre Cat |
|
The corpse of Sabre Cats and Snowy Sabre Cats |
Falmer Ear |
|
Corpses of Falmer |
Felsaad Tern Feathers |
|
Corpses of Felsaad Tern |
Fire Salts |
|
Corpses of Flame Atronachs |
Fly Amanita |
|
Mushroom clusters |
Frost Mirriam |
|
Giant camps, NPC homes, and NPC businesses |
Frost Salts |
|
Corpses of Frost Atronachs |
Garlic |
|
In NPC Homes, NPC Businesses, and cooking areas |
Giant Lichen |
|
Swamp areas |
Giant’s Toe |
|
Corpses of Giants |
Gleamblossom |
|
Forgotten Vale and Darkfall Cave |
Glow Dust |
|
Corpses of Wispmothers |
Glowing Mushroom |
|
Caves and Dwemer Ruins |
Grass Pod |
|
Tundra areas |
Hagraven Claw |
|
Corpses of Hagravens |
Haven Feathers |
|
|
Hanging Moss |
|
Hanging in caves and from buildings |
Hawk Beak |
|
Corpses of Hawks |
Hawk Feathers |
|
|
Hawk’s egg |
|
Hawk nests |
Histcarp |
|
Fish barrels, lakes, rivers, and streams |
Honeycomb |
|
Beehives |
Human Flesh |
|
Caves of Vampires and Falmer |
Human Heart |
|
|
Ice Wraith Teeth |
|
Corpses of Ice Wraiths |
Imp Stool |
|
Mushroom clusters |
Jarrin Root |
|
Dark Brotherhood Quest |
Jazbay Grapes |
|
Hydro-thermal areas |
Juniper Berries |
|
Growing on Juniper Trees |
Large Antlers |
|
Corpses of Deer and Elk |
Lavender |
|
In the wild |
Luna Moth Wing |
|
Luna Moths |
Moon Sugar |
|
Sold by Khajiit Caravans |
Mora Tapinella |
|
Growing on dead trees |
Mudcrab Chitin |
|
Corpses of Mudcrabs |
Namira’s Root |
|
Caves |
Netch jelly |
|
Corpses of Netch |
Nightshade |
|
Grows in graveyards and around the undead |
Nirnroot |
|
Around water |
Nordic Barnacle |
|
Underwater |
Orange Dartwing |
|
Hovers above water |
Pearl |
|
In satchels, oysters, or the Alchemy Laboratory in a Homestead |
Pine Thrush Egg |
|
Pine Thrush nests in forests |
Poison Bloom |
|
Darkfall Cave |
Powdered Mammoth Tusk |
|
Giant Camps and the Alchemy Laboratory in a Homestead |
Purple Mountain Flower |
|
Mountain Flower clusters |
Red Mountain Flower |
|
|
Rive Betty |
|
Fish barrels, lakes, rivers, and streams |
Rock Warbler Egg |
|
Rock Warbler Nests |
Sabre Cat Tooth |
|
Corpses of Sabre Cats and Snowy Sabre Cats |
Salmon Roe |
|
Salmon in waterfalls and the kitchen of a Homestead |
Salt Pile |
|
In containers, near cooking places, and sold |
Scaly Pholiota |
|
On dead birch trees |
Scathecraw |
|
Found all over Solstheim |
Silverside Perch |
|
Fish barrels, lakes, rivers, and streams |
Skeever Tail |
|
Corpses of Skeevers |
Slaughterfish Egg |
|
Underwater |
Slaughterfish Scales |
|
Corpses of Slaughterfish |
Small Antlers |
|
Corpses of Elk |
Small Pearl |
|
Looted from Oysters |
Snowberries |
|
Snowberry bushes in snowy areas |
Spawn Ash |
|
Corpses of Ash Spawn in Solstheim |
Spider Egg |
|
Found in spider lairs |
Spriggan Sap |
|
Corpses of Spriggans |
Swamp Fungal Pod |
|
Swamp areas |
Taproot |
|
Corpses of Spriggans |
Thistle Branch |
|
Thistle plants |
Torchbug Thorax |
|
Torchbugs at night |
Trama Root |
|
Ashen areas in Solstheim |
Troll Fat |
|
Corpses of Trolls |
Tundra Cotton |
|
In tundra areas and on mountains |
Vampire Dust |
|
Corpses of Vampires and Silver Hand |
Void Salts |
|
Corpses of Storm Atronach |
Wheat |
|
Farms and containers |
White Cap |
|
Mushroom clumps in caves |
Wisp Wrappings |
|
Corpses of Wispmothers |
Yellow Mountain Flower |
|
Ancestor Glade and Darkfall Cave |
FAQs
Question: What potions sell for the most gold?
Answer: Most potions sell for a good amount of gold, but the best one is a combination of Wheat, Giant’s Toe, and Creep Cluster. If you’re strapped for gold, it’s a good idea to farm up some of those reagents and get brewing.
Question: Is there a way to grow your own reagents?
Answer: Yes, many Skyrim houses have planters or gardens that allow you to grow plant-based reagents, including Homesteads. Windstead Manor also has a fish hatchery that will enable you to develop fish-based reagents as well.
Question: What is the easiest way to make a health potion?
Answer: The fastest way to stock up on Restore Health potions is in Whiterun. There, you can harvest Wheat from nearby farms, Blue Mountain Flower in the fields, and Butterfly Wings that fly around the areas. Then, just combine those three, and you’ll be ready to tackle anything.
Skyrim Alchemy Guide: Conclusion
Alchemy is an extensive skill that can give powerful bonuses to every type of build. This makes it worth leveling up and exploring, even if you don’t end up investing skill points in its tree so that you can use them elsewhere. Even without investing heavily into the Alchemy skill tree, you can get plenty out of its skill. Having some fortify and healing potions is always helpful, especially if you’re playing a magic-focused build.