Twiffle
Well-Known Member
Alchemy is a favorite school of mine and it is well known in certain other threads I always suggest Alchemy as a skill to use, practice and utilize for builds as an alternative to Smithing and Enchanting. I am not saying or suggesting it is either better or worse but if used correctly (without loops or cheats) it could save your life more often than not, so I have decided (and hope not done before) a small guide and introduction to , in my opinion, one of the most versatile of schools way above any other.
This may turn into a long post but please bear with me, I will only being doing basic stuff, the rest is up to yourselves as the surprises you will have and understanding of this school will be, IMHO amazing for what it can do for you character/build. The beauty of it is it never needs to be a major skill, or even a minor skill, it can be a skill you just dabble in, but with the correct perks placed when available you will be amazed at the riches, the power and unstop ability you can gain by just quaffing a simple bottle of juice.
Lets first get rid of one of the most talked about myths on here, collecting ingredients, some say walking around catching butterflies, harvesting plants, wheat, giants toes etc etc, this is plain and simple a myth put out by those (and previous by myself) totally UNTRUE. Let me enlighten you.
We all know the game from the character creation screen is designed to both help and teach the player the skills required for whichever style they want to play and Alchemy is (although subtle) heavily included, let me shed some light on that statement.
If you look in the correct places without ever going of track and just following either Ralof or Haldar by the time you get to Riverwood you have the potential to make the following potions.
Fortify Marksman
Fortify sneak
Fortify Destruction
Fortify Restoration
Fortify Heavy/Light Armour
Restore Health
Restore Stamina
Fortify Smithing
And a few others, also you would have the potential to create potions that have a saleable value of over 2000 gold, add that to the other crap you carry from Helgen it can be in excess of 3000 gold, and you aint done anything yet. So now we have a pocket full of gold, so who needs to constantly gather ingredients, yes gather a few as you pass them, but otherwise just buy them, you will make way more profit when you have mixed them to resell.
But lets look at what it can do for you, We all talk about how week we are at the lower levels, so my answer is, make a few potions, give yourself the edge, the game is giving it to you, so use it, mix a potion for 12% extra destruction damage, its not a lot but it could be the difference of live or die, same goes for archery, and great when you actually sneak upto an enemy and slit his throat, oh and im only level 2 but a potion has helped me, and it was free.
Next we come to perks, lets be honest at around level 20 ish we usually have a perk or two we can use in schools or save, so put them in Alchemy, use this school effectively and it will reward 10 times in return, because now the school is making you richer but more importantly more powerful and survivable.
I would like to make this clear at this point, I use Alchemy in virtually ever character but I never ever use the Restoration loop, so to give you an example I currently have a mage in Dragonscale armour fully smithed with capped armour and I havnt used any perks in light armour, but I have used Alchemy to make me rich, powerful but not invincible.
Your views on my post are appreciative and if you need some tips or pointers just let me know, I wont give you the answer outright, but I will give you a few clues how to use this, imho, the most dismissed but helpful of schools.
Tip No 1, its not all giants toe either.
I know I havnt given recipes for uber power potions, that’s not the point, its just my way of hopefully introducing players to a school that has so many possibilities that I myself still learn daily.
So just to recap, if you reroll another build just think the game gives you either, Heavy/Light Armour, swords, maces, daggers, shields, 2 handed weapons and Mage apparel, but more importantly if you look around yourself it gives you a way to improve there use right off the bat.
Have fun.
This may turn into a long post but please bear with me, I will only being doing basic stuff, the rest is up to yourselves as the surprises you will have and understanding of this school will be, IMHO amazing for what it can do for you character/build. The beauty of it is it never needs to be a major skill, or even a minor skill, it can be a skill you just dabble in, but with the correct perks placed when available you will be amazed at the riches, the power and unstop ability you can gain by just quaffing a simple bottle of juice.
Lets first get rid of one of the most talked about myths on here, collecting ingredients, some say walking around catching butterflies, harvesting plants, wheat, giants toes etc etc, this is plain and simple a myth put out by those (and previous by myself) totally UNTRUE. Let me enlighten you.
We all know the game from the character creation screen is designed to both help and teach the player the skills required for whichever style they want to play and Alchemy is (although subtle) heavily included, let me shed some light on that statement.
If you look in the correct places without ever going of track and just following either Ralof or Haldar by the time you get to Riverwood you have the potential to make the following potions.
Fortify Marksman
Fortify sneak
Fortify Destruction
Fortify Restoration
Fortify Heavy/Light Armour
Restore Health
Restore Stamina
Fortify Smithing
And a few others, also you would have the potential to create potions that have a saleable value of over 2000 gold, add that to the other crap you carry from Helgen it can be in excess of 3000 gold, and you aint done anything yet. So now we have a pocket full of gold, so who needs to constantly gather ingredients, yes gather a few as you pass them, but otherwise just buy them, you will make way more profit when you have mixed them to resell.
But lets look at what it can do for you, We all talk about how week we are at the lower levels, so my answer is, make a few potions, give yourself the edge, the game is giving it to you, so use it, mix a potion for 12% extra destruction damage, its not a lot but it could be the difference of live or die, same goes for archery, and great when you actually sneak upto an enemy and slit his throat, oh and im only level 2 but a potion has helped me, and it was free.
Next we come to perks, lets be honest at around level 20 ish we usually have a perk or two we can use in schools or save, so put them in Alchemy, use this school effectively and it will reward 10 times in return, because now the school is making you richer but more importantly more powerful and survivable.
I would like to make this clear at this point, I use Alchemy in virtually ever character but I never ever use the Restoration loop, so to give you an example I currently have a mage in Dragonscale armour fully smithed with capped armour and I havnt used any perks in light armour, but I have used Alchemy to make me rich, powerful but not invincible.
Your views on my post are appreciative and if you need some tips or pointers just let me know, I wont give you the answer outright, but I will give you a few clues how to use this, imho, the most dismissed but helpful of schools.
Tip No 1, its not all giants toe either.
I know I havnt given recipes for uber power potions, that’s not the point, its just my way of hopefully introducing players to a school that has so many possibilities that I myself still learn daily.
So just to recap, if you reroll another build just think the game gives you either, Heavy/Light Armour, swords, maces, daggers, shields, 2 handed weapons and Mage apparel, but more importantly if you look around yourself it gives you a way to improve there use right off the bat.
Have fun.
