Alchemy ~OR~ Enchanting

[M'aiq]

M'aiq is curious to know your preference.
And why.

 

[Hermaeus_Mora]

This one's preference is to not powerlevel.

 

[Dagmar]

This one's preference is to not powerlevel.

Using Enchanting and Alchemy have no more to do with power leveling than using any other skill. Powerleveling is simply a technique for leveling any particular skill quickly.

If I have to choose I usually choose Enchanting because it allows me to customize my gear (but I usually end up eventually using Alchemy as well).

 

[imaginepageant]

Probably enchanting because it's so much less complicated. I get frustrated when there's a laundry list of alchemy ingredients I have to keep a constant eye out for. With enchanting, I can pretty much not think about it while I'm adventuring—I just disenchant anything I come across that I don't need to use when I get back to a city. I do sometimes have trouble remembering to cast Soul Trap, but by the time I've built up a good collection of empty soul gems, I've also built a habit of casting the spell on every enemy.

Plus, potions are fairly easy to find and buy, so I never feel much of a need to make them myself. It's much harder, if not nearly impossible, to find the exact type of weapon you want with the exact enchantment you want. If you've put perks into buffing your attacks with axes and fire, and the heavy side of the smithing tree, you're going to want an Ebony or Daedric war axe with a flame enchantment—and the chance that you'll just happen to stumble across one seems pretty slim.

 

[Lady Redpool the Unlifer]

For me it's always enchanting. I find myself constantly pissed off at how easily mages absolutely destroy me and my answer came wonderfully in the form of enchantments. Plus, Alchemy is just too damned complicated.

 

[Uther Pundragon]

Depends on the character I'm role playing. Sometimes I don't use either. Never use anything just because it's there or because I can or even because it makes some things easier. Like I said, just depends on the type of character I decide to RP.

 

[geraldino]

Every time I start over I tell myself I'm going to work on Alchemy so I can have some amazing potions by the end. Every time I do it once or twice and then just get bored of it. I hate having to look out for ingredients while I walk around Skyrim, and all I ever seem to come across are bloody mountain flowers and thistles anyway. And I always forget to use potions and poisons in battles anyway. I walk around with a million different resist potions for different types of attacks and different poisons I think about who I could use them on, then I get into battle and all I can think about is hitting them repeatedly. I end up using healing potions only. So it's easier for me just to stock up on healing potions and sell off all my excess potions I find to fund these.

Plus enchanting is way more fun! The weapons glow!

 

[Stretch]

I always forget to use potions and poisons in battles anyway. I walk around with a million different resist potions for different types of attacks and different poisons I think about who I could use them on, then I get into battle and all I can think about is hitting them repeatedly. I end up using healing potions only. So it's easier for me just to stock up on healing potions and sell off all my excess potions I find to fund these.

I can relate to this far too easily. I just found the ingredients needed for poison of damage magicka regeneration which is worth a fair bit, around 750 gold I think, and just keep mixing that for money with one of my RP characters.

Overall though I'd have to go with enchanting, in terms of the game just from say a purely power leveling, trying to have an amazing character (hope that makes sense) stand point, enchanting is hopelessly more practical and provides a much more substantial boost to the abilities of the character than alchemy can.
In terms of RP I have only pursued it with one character and that was because I was playing as a smith and enchanting's benefits outweigh those afforded by alchemy. It generates more income, provides the character with commercial opportunities outside of weaponry and armor (in regards to smithing) in that jewellery and clothes and whatever else you can enchant are now viable income generators and finally because if you're attempting to play realistically, realistically in what reality would you turn down being able to set your weapons on fire with magic, I rest my case.

 

[Kairee Blackblade]

I use both, but I lean toward enchanting more. While potions are definitely useful, I can find the majority of the ones I need (both beneficial and poisonous) during dungeon crawls. Enchanting opens up a whole new range of kill strategies...it's highly amusing to watch people get set on fire by my flame-enhanced axe...

 

[Oren74]

Alchemy

Pros:
Make TONs of coin
Fun to experiment

Cons
Potions are cumbersome to use. Best potions are the ones that boost enchatning and smithing. Lots of pausing, finding a potion, drinking...rinse repeat. No thanks

Enchanting

Pros:
Fairly easy to level
Make extremely powerful gear...better than any item you can find in game

COns
Make extremely powerful gear...better than any item you can find in game (boring, makes your character overpowered)
No real secrets to uncover

 

[The Hungry Orc]

I use both. Alchemy for making evil poisons to almost instakill my foes, and Enchanting to get rid of bad items such as meager Novice Robes, and heighten the enchantment on another thing with a Grand Soul Gem.

 

[Kairee Blackblade]

Make extremely powerful gear...better than any item you can find in game (boring, makes your character overpowered)

This is true, so I have a personal rule to make my weapons less powerful. For example, when enchanting a sword to do frost damage, I'd go with the lowest amount of stamina damage but the highest amount of charges. That way it is more challenging to beat my enemies. I also have a personal rule that I carry no more than two enchanted weapons at any one time. I consider shields in that category, since you can bash people with them. Right now I usually carry a one-handed weapon (like an axe or mace) and an enchanted bow.

 

[Minister Of Mayhem]

Enchanting. You can find and buy potions.

 

[Kairee Blackblade]

Enchanting. You can find and buy potions.

Technically you can find and buy enchanted armor and weapons too, but it is so nice to be able to customize it to fit your needs.

 

[Xarnac]

Depends on the RP. Sometimes both.

 

[Streets]

You can find and buy potions that are almost as good as what you could make with the Alchemy hassle. You cannot, however, find or buy dual enchanted gear (there are a few special items with 2 enchantments, but not random loot). I can get 27% smithing gear with a store bought 25% enchanting potion. If I added in Alchemy to make a better enchanting potion, I could get 29% smithing gear. Is that really worth it? You can buy a 50% smithing potion, and I think you can Alchemy a 116% or something like that. But seriously. If you are at 100 Smithing, and using 27% times 4 pieces, you dont even need any potions, you are already going to ohko most things, and armor caps at a low 567. Alchemy has a heavy investment with very low returns. An exception to this is if you are going Destruction Mage, you can make insane +Destruction damage potions(165% I think?), which is great because Destruction damage doesn't scale.

Without any Alchemy skill or perks, I can make a 4 second paralyze 40 damage lingering health poison with Imp Stool, Canis Root, and (any lingering damage ingredient) for about 25 gold to buy the 3 ingredients. I can understand why you might use Alchemy if you specifically weren't Smithing or Enchanting anything, so that you can make powerful poisons or +One Handed%, etc, damage potions to make up for your lack of Smithed damage. I think Enchanting wins, hands down. I usually use only 2/5 or 3/5 in the first perk, and enchant with Greater souls so I don't overpower myself, but at the same time, can have access to dual enchanting.

But yeah, like most others said, personal preference, RP reasons, either are great in different circumstances to different people. Welcome to Skyrim.

 

[Pete]

When I play thief's or assassins I go the potion route. It just feels like a natural fit. Their guilds armor takes care of key enchantments for them.

My warriors mainly go for smiting and stick to armor / weapons that are typical of their race.

My spell swords are the ones who master enchantments and use exotic armors.

 

[Gowsh]

...And I always forget to use potions and poisons in battles anyway. I walk around with a million different resist potions for different types of attacks and different poisons I think about who I could use them on, then I get into battle and all I can think about is hitting them repeatedly. I end up using healing potions only. So it's easier for me just to stock up on healing potions and sell off all my excess potions I find to fund these.

Plus enchanting is way more fun! The weapons glow!

That's me as well. I use healing, stamina and smithing potions almost exclusively, but carry around a whole crapload of other potions that just limit what else I can carry. I recently did a potion purge and recovered around 25 lbs (or whatever the weight unit is in Tamriel).

On the other side of the coin, don't get me started on soul gems. I seem to have a list of those around 3 feet long. No idea how much they weigh.

And yes, the weapons glow. Pretty...