Sure is hard to find Columbine and Mountain Flower...

[Redwood]

...the 2 reagents you need to do the alchemy intitiation. :( Is there a list somewhere that tells you where on the map to go to harvest partidular reagents?

[Trigger]

try buying from guild traders. No such list.

[Drake]

There are 2 types of plant nodes, water nodes and hill nodes. Plants only grow into one of these spots.

Water nodes are found near water sources (rivers, lakes, beach etc.) while hill nodes are found in areas where there is no water.

Mountain flowers and columbines are found on hill nodes, so you can stop looking near the water. Try foot of mountains, forests, arid lands etc.

[Redwood]

Originally posted by Trigger:

try buying from guild traders. No such list.

I already tried the traders and they sell reagents in bunches that are way too expensive. There does not seem to be a way to buy just one or two of them. :(

[Cat Island President]

Get at least 1 keen eye skill in your alchemy skill line. They will have a glow when you are near them.

[Redwood]

Originally posted by Sajah:

There are 2 types of plant nodes, water nodes and hill nodes. Plants only grow into one of these spots.

Water nodes are found near water sources (rivers, lakes, beach etc.) while hill nodes are found in areas where there is no water.

Mountain flowers and columbines are found on hill nodes, so you can stop looking near the water. Try foot of mountains, forests, arid lands etc.

How did you know I was looking near water sources? This is helpful information, thanks. :)

[Redwood]

Originally posted by ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ:

Get at least 1 keen eye skill in your alchemy skill line. They will have a glow when you are near them.

I will as soon as leveling up allows me to do so. Leveling up has not enabled me to improve reagent sighting skills in awhile. :(

[watchdog79]

Go to the southern dolmen in Auridon. Port to the wayshrine near it. There should be several alchemy nodes around the little lake and some more around the dolmen itself.

There are several alchemy nodes around the central dolmen in Auridon too.

If you need to do the crafting certification quests or daily crafting writs, you may find the little guide below useful. By the way, you don't really need Columbine for the writs, I would save it for crafting tri-stat potions later.

ALCHEMY:

Get as many units of the Natural Water solvent as you can. Each potion will require one unit of solvent, which is Natural Water at the lowest tier. For some writs you may actually need four units, one for the potion and then three more. Just be sure to grab any plant and rip the wings of any butterfly you come accross while you play in any zone.

The reagents I use are simply those I somehow find myself having the most of:

Sip of Stamina (Dragonthorn + Mountain Flower)
Sip of Health (Blue Entoloma + Water Hyacinth / Butterfly Wing)
Sip of Magicka (Bugloss + Lady's Smock)
Sip of Ravage Stamina (Fleshy Larva + Emetic Russula / Imp Stool)

For each writ you will also need three units of one of these:
Blessed Thistle
Corn Flower
Natural Water
Wormwood

[AquaPrime]

I did not know about this water and hill nodes thing neither. Thank you.

[amapola76]

You're also probably having difficulty because of the Anniversary Event; during this event, everyone and her brother are out farming materials for the crafting writs. Particularly since Week 5 is coming up soon.

It's too late for this year, but to be ready for next year, be sure to gather as many materials as you can throughout the year when things are not so scarce. This is harder, but not impossible, if you don't have ESO+ and the crafting bag. If you don't, I would recommend keeping an eye out for the free ESO+ weekends (there are usually a few throughout the year), and stock up as much as you can during those times. Basically you will be able to stock up your crafting bag; later, you'll still be able to withdraw them, you just won't be able to add new items to it. Farming will also be intense during those weekends, because other people will be in the same boat, but items won't be quite as as scarce as they are right now.

[Da Nut Crackah]

Those two are notoriously hard to see without putting points into keen eye skill. Mountain flower is a little easier to see than Columbine, but still not easy. Harvest Map addon is awesome, and basically makes it so you dont even need to put points into keen eye for anything.

[Redwood]

Originally posted by watchdog79:

Go to the southern dolmen in Auridon. Port to the wayshrine near it. There should be several alchemy nodes around the little lake and some more around the dolmen itself.

There are several alchemy nodes around the central dolmen in Auridon too.

If you need to do the crafting certification quests or daily crafting writs, you may find the little guide below useful. By the way, you don't really need Columbine for the writs, I would save it for crafting tri-stat potions later.

ALCHEMY:

Get as many units of the Natural Water solvent as you can. Each potion will require one unit of solvent, which is Natural Water at the lowest tier. For some writs you may actually need four units, one for the potion and then three more. Just be sure to grab any plant and rip the wings of any butterfly you come accross while you play in any zone.

The reagents I use are simply those I somehow find myself having the most of:

Sip of Stamina (Dragonthorn + Mountain Flower)
Sip of Health (Blue Entoloma + Water Hyacinth / Butterfly Wing)
Sip of Magicka (Bugloss + Lady's Smock)
Sip of Ravage Stamina (Fleshy Larva + Emetic Russula / Imp Stool)

For each writ you will also need three units of one of these:
Blessed Thistle
Corn Flower
Natural Water
Wormwood

You were right there are a lot of reagents here. Just don't say it too loud or everyone will be here! :)

[Redwood]

Originally posted by amapola76:

You're also probably having difficulty because of the Anniversary Event; during this event, everyone and her brother are out farming materials for the crafting writs. Particularly since Week 5 is coming up soon.

It's too late for this year, but to be ready for next year, be sure to gather as many materials as you can throughout the year when things are not so scarce. This is harder, but not impossible, if you don't have ESO+ and the crafting bag. If you don't, I would recommend keeping an eye out for the free ESO+ weekends (there are usually a few throughout the year), and stock up as much as you can during those times. Basically you will be able to stock up your crafting bag; later, you'll still be able to withdraw them, you just won't be able to add new items to it. Farming will also be intense during those weekends, because other people will be in the same boat, but items won't be quite as as scarce as they are right now.

Originally posted by amapola76:

You're also probably having difficulty because of the Anniversary Event; during this event, everyone and her brother are out farming materials for the crafting writs. Particularly since Week 5 is coming up soon.

It's too late for this year, but to be ready for next year, be sure to gather as many materials as you can throughout the year when things are not so scarce. This is harder, but not impossible, if you don't have ESO+ and the crafting bag. If you don't, I would recommend keeping an eye out for the free ESO+ weekends (there are usually a few throughout the year), and stock up as much as you can during those times. Basically you will be able to stock up your crafting bag; later, you'll still be able to withdraw them, you just won't be able to add new items to it. Farming will also be intense during those weekends, because other people will be in the same boat, but items won't be quite as as scarce as they are right now.

If everyone and their sister are out harvesting they must be finding something--so can the rest of us! The reagents must be respawning faster than we think. :)

[Cat Island President]

Originally posted by Redwood:

Originally posted by ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ:

Get at least 1 keen eye skill in your alchemy skill line. They will have a glow when you are near them.

I will as soon as leveling up allows me to do so. Leveling up has not enabled me to improve reagent sighting skills in awhile. :(

You only need alchemy level 2 to get 1 keen eye perk. Imo, 1 point keen eye is all you ever need. In the mean time, craft anything you are able to craft so you can get to level 2 alchemy as fast as possible.
Also, you dont need to "level up" to gain skill points. Only sub 50 levels gain skill points when you level up. When you get to CP level, the only ways to get skill points are doing special quests or finding skyshards. So try to collect sky shards. 3 sky shards = 1 skill point. Get the addon called "Skyshard map" or something like that.

[Cat Island President]

Also always try to do your daily writs. They give you xp, level up your crafting skill lines, gold, and materials in big bulks as rewards

[Redwood]

Originally posted by ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ:

Also always try to do your daily writs. They give you xp, level up your crafting skill lines, gold, and materials in big bulks as rewards

OK, and thanks for the tip.