How to learn alchemy?

[Zef]

I have a crapton of ingredients, only a few notes that tell me actual combinations.

How do you know what to combine.

[Docsprock]

Start eating ingedients. Literally. Just eat one of each, and it will tell you what the effects are.

[Zef]

Originally posted by Docsprock:

Start eating ingedients. Literally. Just eat one of each, and it will tell you what the effects are.

Ok and then what? Combine the ingredients that give the same effect?

[DrNewcenstein]

both ingredients must have the same effect in order to form a potion of that effect, yes.

However, as you progress in the Alchemy skill and more effects are revealed, you can make potions that have 2 effects, such as resist frost and restore stamina.


Here's a couple of handy recipes:
-Abecean Longfin or Cyrodillic Spadetail + Salt Pile = Fortify Restoration
Swim the rivers and ponds to catch the fishes.

-Blue Butterfly Wing + Snowberries = Fortify Enchanting
Probably the easiest ingredients to gather.

-Mudcrab Chitin + Vampire Dust = Cure Disease
Hang out with Vigilants, see if they make a Vampire corpse you can loot.

[Docsprock]

Originally posted by Caelistas:

Originally posted by Docsprock:

Start eating ingedients. Literally. Just eat one of each, and it will tell you what the effects are.

Ok and then what? Combine the ingredients that give the same effect?

That would be a start. You can also find recipes scattered around Skyrim. Read here for more:

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Alchemy

[DrNewcenstein]

Or you can do what I did: Make a Book in the CK, then go through and find all the Alchemy Recipes and copy/paste them into the book and drop it in Gunjar's corpse or one of those chests in Helgen. Or you can add them to an existing in-game Book, like An Herbalist's Guide to Skyrim.

[Lucifer ★✬]

i just eat any new thing i find to get the 1st part. then i just go tho every item i got and mix them together. most of the time they wont work, but from time to time you get one that works

[Mastian]

Can recommend the method Lucifer describes, you will get all possible combinations and don't need to find any recips or use skillpoints.

[Belanos]

Originally posted by _mastian_:

Can recommend the method Lucifer describes, you will get all possible combinations and don't need to find any recips or use skillpoints.

It can be a tedious process though, it's not something I'd want to bother with. You usually unlock effects by accident when combining known effects though. For instance, if you eat Blue Mountain Flowers and Wheat, you unlock Restore Health. If you combine those two for a potion with that effect, then you will also unlock Fortify Health.

[Bomb Bloke]

All you'll ever need to know:

https://youtu.be/OBa4M-l1lAM?t=2m15s

[arcasor]

There is also a mod that adds a book listing the effects of all available ingredients to the Alchemist Shack. It is called The Alchemist's Compendium:

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/2961/?

[Zef]

Ty for all the tips

[dimon37]

DO NOT eat the Jarrin Root :)

Then again Astrid will tell you pretty much the same thing :)

[Evilcheesewheel]

Screw around and combine ♥♥♥♥.

[Belanos]

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

All you'll ever need to know:

https://youtu.be/OBa4M-l1lAM?t=2m15s

It would be easier just to go here:

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Alchemy

[Tryst49]

If you don't want to "cheat" by using third party sites, try mixing a couple of ingredients at random. Choose ingredients you've got plenty of to do this though and not the same two twice, you'll fail a lot but sometimes, one or more of the other effects are revealed, giving you a list of potions you can mix. Sometimes, you'll find a combo that works too which will reveal both of the ingredients hidden effects unless the effect is already revealed.

Eating one of each of the ingredients will give you the first of the 4 effects for each one. That should give you a starter list of usable potions to work from if you have enough variation of ingredients.

Quite honestly, the only potion I ever use is the health potion and even then, it's not that often. With no hotbar to do it on the fly, it means pausing the battle to drink a potion which destroys the immersion for me.