Undoubtedly, gathering Alchemy ingredients and making potions is one of the funnest parts of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I know, typical, right?—a girl who likes to gather. In my defense, I like to hunt too, and you’ll need that skill as well if you’re going to be a master Alchemist. Those Spriggans aren’t going to give up their Sap and Taproot willingly!

Finding Ingredients

You may be surprised what ends up in the Alchemy Lab—everything from eggs to feathers to human hearts. You’ll find plants and foliage in the highest numbers, ranging from simple Mountain Flowers and Creep Clusters, to the elusive but beautiful Deathbell. Some, like Dragon’s Tongue, sprout more abundantly in specific regions. Wandering the mountain ranges of Skyrim will provide plenty of opportunity to cull the region’s medicinal offerings, but it’s wise to never keep a closed mind about what an ingredient will entail. Sabre Cats, for instance, will leave behind a Tooth or Eye can that be used in potions, Ice Wraiths will have teeth. You can find simple Chicken’s Eggs in town nests, or Nordic Barnacles on rocks in the icy lakes and rivers. Whenever you harvest an item from nature, or take an unfamiliar substance from a fallen enemy’s body, you should immediately check your Ingredients list to see if it can be used in Alchemy.

Discovering Effects

All ingredients have a set of four effects that determine the nature of the potion in which they are used. Combining ingredients that have attributes in common will strengthen the effect; for instance, a potion containing two ingredients with Fortify Health will be much stronger than a potion only containing one. All potions require at least two ingredients, but a third can also be added. When dabbling with your ingredients to find more attributes, it’s advisable to make your unfamiliar item the third in your recipe, after finding two ingredients with matching effects for the first and second. That way, even if you waste the third ingredient by finding no new effects, you’ve still crafted a potion. Randomly pressing ingredients with no knowledge or attention to their use will sometimes result in a failed potion. This can be very frustrated with rare or expensive items like Moon Sugar.

You should consume each ingredient at least once, as that will reveal one effect without having to experiment at the Alchemy table. However, it only works the one time.

Making Potions

Alchemy can be, as one of my friends put it, the ultimate secret way to “win” an Elder Scrolls game. Having the right potion or poison on hand will not only save you in battle, but also provide a great cash flow. Those with multiple effects are especially profitable, and mixing and matching to find the highest profit can be made easier with the Ingredients menu system. Playing around with the entire list is fun for a time, but once you start to figure out enough of the ingredient effects, it becomes more practical to view them grouped by their common attributes. Doing so will allow you to find stronger potion and poison combinations much quicker, increasing your overall profitability. It will also limit the number of failed potions and wasted ingredients, and thus, the risk it takes in gathering more. 

Rare Ingredients

There are a few items out there that you may have not have run to even if your file is nearing the triple digits. Beehive Husks, for instance, are easy to overlook even though the Hives they inhabit are commonly found out in the fields. Nirnroot, while no longer as rare as it once was, will still only grow near the water, and cannot be harvested in that same place once it has been plucked. A more unique version of this plant, Crimson Nirnroot, can be found in the underground caverns of Blackreach, and will trigger a quest when you retrieve it. Dragon’s Tongue can be found in great abundance in the hot springs south of Windhelm. Deathshade appropriately sprout in large amounts at Hamvir’s Rest. Pearls, which are easily overlooked, are found by harvesting Clams on the shores. Swamp Fungal Pods can be found in the waters near Morthal and the swamps surrounding The Apprentice Stone, as can Deathbell (who make the Abandoned Shack outside of Solitude their home as well). Moon Sugar seems to be only available from vendors, particularly the Argonians and the Khajits. Jarrin Root is so elusive it so far has only appeared in a single Dark Brotherhood quest, (if you find any more, please let me know!) and has a single purpose, but those with PCs and a knowledge of console commands have a chance to enjoy its properties a bit more.

For a full list of ingredients and their effects and locations, check out this list provided by the Elder Scrolls Wiki.

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