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ESO Alchemy Guide: Potions, Reagents and Fast Leveling

Crafting Alchemy Guide for Elder Scrolls Online with details on how to best level this consumable profession dedicated to creating powerful Potions and Poisons. High level alchemy can be a very profitable craft, as both potions and poisons are highly sought in PvE and PvP. Unlike other vocations, Alchemy is fairly easy to max up if you have a discerning eye for the procurement of Reagents.

ESO Alchemy Guide: Basics

Alchemy mixes Solvents and Reagents to create Potions and Poisons. You will spot herbs and mushrooms, or loot certain special reagents from monsters even if you haven’t crafted a potion or poison yet. You can interact with the Alchemy Station and visit Daniel Telleno in the Mage’s Guild to begin your certification – which will allow you to craft special daily Writs.

Alchemy Component: Solvents

Solvents are the base lubicrant used for Potions and Poisons and they dictate what level Potions and Poisons will be crafted at. Higher level gives better effects. For example, if you use Natural Water as Solvent, it will yield a level 3 potion. If Cleansed Water is used, the resulting potion will be level 30.

There are 2 types of Solvent. Water and Oil (Grease, Ichor, Slime…). Water is used for Potions and can be found in containers, urns, water skins and rivers. Oil is used for Poisons and drops from Monsters. Both Water and Oil are farmed easily by just doing Dungeons and looting everything there.

Water from a river or lake.
Water Skins also provide water.

 

The level of Solvents that you find in the field is subject to the game’s Battle Leveled system. Meaning it will give you materials based on Character Level and Alchemy Rank. For example if you are a high-level character (CP 160) and have no ranks in Alchemy, you will find 50% of materials for max level, and 50% starter materials. If you have a high level character and maximum rank in Alchemy, only highest level Solvents will be found.

Alchemy Component: Reagents

Reagents determine type of Potions and Poisons crafted. Every Reagent has 4 properties that are discovered by successfully combining them together. To mix things successfully, Reagents need to have one shared property.

Reagents can be found in nature (herbs and mushrooms) and by killing certain monsters and insects (animals parts) or completing Abyssal Geysers in Summerset. Regents are found at random and are not level-gated, but you can expect to find Water Hyacinth and Nirnroots by bodies of water, whilst mushrooms will grow in caves and the shaded crevices near rocks and tree trunks. Mountain Flowers and such leafy flora is likely to be found in grasslands and open spaces. The skill Keen Eye: Reagents will make these items glow in-game.

Crafting a Sip of Health Potion

To create a “Sip of Health” potion you need 2 Reagents with the Restore Health property. In this case Blue Enteloma and Mountain Flower will do the trick. The only thing that remains is to add a Water Solvent to determine what level the Potion will be. By changing the Solvent to any Oil Solvent, a Draining Health Poison is created in this instance because Oil is used for Poisons.

ESO Alchemy Skills

As with all crafting skills, you will need to earn and spend Skill Points to further your capacity within the craft. You can earn Skill Points by completing Quests, collecting Skyshards and ranking up in PvP.

Solvent Proficiency

Solvent Proficiency determines what level of Solvents you can use in crafting. These affect the level of your potions and poisons and of the Solvent materials you find in the field, so you will want to max it.

Keen Eye: Reagents

This is a very important Skill for Alchemy. It gives Herbs anice glow when near them so you can spot them easily. At least 1 point into Keen Eye is recommended since Herbscan be difficult to spot.

Medicinal Use

Medicinal Use extends the duration of Potions for up to 30% (only for yourself).

Chemistry

Produces more Potions and Poisons per crafting attempt to a maximum of 3 extra potions or 12 poisons.

Laboratory Use

Laboratory Use lets you add a third Reagent into the mix. This can be used to create powerful Potions and Poisons. Here is a list of Best Potions in the game you can craft with Laboratory Use passive.

Snakeblood

Some of the most powerful Potions in the game have negative effects next to positive ones. To remove those negative effects you need Snakeblood. At Rank 3 all negative effects are removed, this isn’t the most necessary skill so you can leave it for later.

Leveling Alchemy in ESO

Leveling Alchemy is done by discovering the properties of Reagents, and simply creating Potions and Poisons and doing Alchemy Writs. Writs can be problematic to accomplish sometimes because of specific Herb required to complete the quest. While creating necessary Potion or Poison to complete the quest is easy, finding 3 Blessed Thistle, for example could be a challenge.

This page contains more information on where to farm these Herbs, but you can also find them in Guild Stores and obtain reagents as a reward for completing special Cyrodiil PvP quests.

A great way to level Alchemy quickly is complete an easy-to-farm potion or poison over and over again with the highest possible Solvent.

  • Use the highest level solvent your character’s level allows as this will greatly increase the experience gained, even if your character can’t use the crafted potions.
  • Make sure to always use reagents that will make a potion or poison, unknown traits that fail to match will yield minimal experience gains.
  • Discovering new traits results in slightly more experience gain.
  • To gain inspiration experience and special materials, craft the daily writs.
  • To make Master Writs, mix 3 ingredients from the reagents list, ensuring 2 of each buff/debuff desired is there.

All Reagents have four traits that must be discovered by usage. Combining the same trait from two or three reagents in a potion will produce that effect, the potion’s magical quality. Many reagents have both positive and negative traits and a specific negative trait will “cancel out” the positive form of that trait.

A list of possible combinations is provided for your convenience

Show Reagent Combinations

Ingredient 1 Ingredient 2 Effect 1 Effect 2
Blessed Thistle Columbine Restore Stamina
Blessed Thistle Cornflower Ravage Health
Blessed Thistle Emetic Russula Ravage Health
Blessed Thistle Mountain Flower Restore Stamina
Blessed Thistle Namira’s Rot Increase Speed
Blessed Thistle Nirnroot Ravage Health
Blessed Thistle Violet Coprinus Ravage Health
Blue Entoloma Columbine Restore Health
Blue Entoloma Emetic Russula Ravage Magicka
Blue Entoloma Luminous Russula Restore Health
Blue Entoloma Mountain Flower Restore Health
Blue Entoloma Namira’s Rot Invisibility
Blue Entoloma Nirnroot Invisibility
Blue Entoloma Violet Coprinus Ravage Magicka
Blue Entoloma Water Hyacinth Restore Health
Bugloss Cornflower Restore Magicka
Bugloss Lady’s Smock Restore Magicka
Bugloss Luminous Russula Restore Health
Bugloss Mountain Flower Restore Health
Bugloss Water Hyacinth Restore Health
Columbine Blessed Thistle Restore Stamina
Columbine Blue Entoloma Restore Health
Columbine Cornflower Restore Magicka
Columbine Dragonthorn Restore Stamina
Columbine Lady’s Smock Restore Magicka
Columbine Luminous Russula Restore Health
Columbine Namira’s Rot Unstoppable
Columbine Water Hyacinth Restore Health
Columbine Wormwood Unstoppable
Cornflower Blessed Thistle Ravage Health
Cornflower Bugloss Restore Magicka
Cornflower Columbine Restore Magicka
Cornflower Emetic Russula Ravage Health
Cornflower Nirnroot Ravage Health
Cornflower Stinkhorn Ravage Health
Cornflower Wormwood Detection
Dragonthorn Columbine Restore Stamina
Dragonthorn Mountain Flower Restore Stamina
Dragonthorn Water Hyacinth Increase Weapon Crit
Dragonthorn Wormwood Increase Weapon Crit
Emetic Russula Blessed Thistle Ravage Health
Emetic Russula Blue Entoloma Ravage Magicka
Emetic Russula Cornflower Ravage Health
Emetic Russula Imp Stool Ravage Stamina
Emetic Russula Luminous Russula Ravage Stamina
Emetic Russula Nirnroot Ravage Health
Emetic Russula Water Hyacinth Stun
Emetic Russula Whitecap Ravage Magicka
Imp Stool Emetic Russula Ravage Stamina
Imp Stool Nirnroot Lower Weapon Crit
Imp Stool Stinkhorn Ravage Stamina
Lady’s Smock Bugloss Restore Magicka
Lady’s Smock Columbine Restore Magicka
Lady’s Smock Namira’s Rot Increase Spell Crit
Lady’s Smock Water Hyacinth Increase Spell Crit
Luminous Russula Blue Entoloma Restore Health
Luminous Russula Bugloss Restore Health
Luminous Russula Columbine Restore Health
Luminous Russula Emetic Russula Ravage Stamina
Luminous Russula Stinkhorn Ravage Stamina
Luminous Russula Water Hyacinth Restore Health
Luminous Russula Wormwood Lower Speed
Mountain Flower Blessed Thistle Restore Stamina
Mountain Flower Blue Entoloma Restore Health
Mountain Flower Bugloss Restore Health
Mountain Flower Dragonthorn Restore Stamina
Mountain Flower Water Hyacinth Restore Health
Namira’s Rot Blessed Thistle Increase Speed
Namira’s Rot Blue Entoloma Invisibility
Namira’s Rot Columbine Unstoppable
Namira’s Rot Lady’s Smock Increase Spell Crit
Namira’s Rot Nirnroot Invisibility
Namira’s Rot Water Hyacinth Increase Spell Crit
Namira’s Rot Wormwood Unstoppable
Nirnroot Blessed Thistle Ravage Health
Nirnroot Blue Entoloma Invisibility
Nirnroot Cornflower Ravage Health
Nirnroot Emetic Russula Ravage Health
Nirnroot Imp Stool Lower Weapon Crit
Nirnroot Namira’s Rot Invisibility
Nirnroot Stinkhorn Ravage Health
Nirnroot Violet Coprinus Ravage Health
Nirnroot Whitecap Lower Spell Crit
Stinkhorn Cornflower Ravage Health
Stinkhorn Imp Stool Ravage Stamina
Stinkhorn Luminous Russula Ravage Stamina
Stinkhorn Nirnroot Ravage Health
Stinkhorn Violet Coprinus Ravage Health
Violet Coprinus Blessed Thistle Ravage Health
Violet Coprinus Blue Entoloma Ravage Magicka
Violet Coprinus Nirnroot Ravage Health
Violet Coprinus Stinkhorn Ravage Health
Violet Coprinus Whitecap Ravage Magicka
Water Hyacinth Blue Entoloma Restore Health
Water Hyacinth Bugloss Restore Health
Water Hyacinth Columbine Restore Health
Water Hyacinth Dragonthorn Increase Weapon Crit
Water Hyacinth Emetic Russula Stun
Water Hyacinth Lady’s Smock Increase Spell Crit
Water Hyacinth Luminous Russula Restore Health
Water Hyacinth Mountain Flower Restore Health
Water Hyacinth Namira’s Rot Increase Spell Crit
Water Hyacinth Wormwood Increase Weapon Crit
Whitecap Emetic Russula Ravage Magicka
Whitecap Nirnroot Lower Spell Crit
Whitecap Violet Coprinus Ravage Magicka
Wormwood Columbine Unstoppable
Wormwood Cornflower Detection
Wormwood Dragonthorn Increase Weapon Crit
Wormwood Luminous Russula Lower Speed
Wormwood Namira’s Rot Unstoppable
Wormwood Water Hyacinth Increase Weapon Crit
Blessed Thistle Dragonthorn Increase Weapon Power Restore Stamina
Blessed Thistle Stinkhorn Increase Weapon Power Ravage Health
Blue Entoloma Bugloss Lower Spell Power Restore Health
Blue Entoloma Whitecap Lower Spell Power Ravage Magicka
Bugloss Blue Entoloma Restore Health Lower Spell Power
Bugloss Columbine Restore Health Restore Magicka
Bugloss Whitecap Lower Spell Power Increase Spell Resist
Columbine Bugloss Restore Health Restore Magicka
Columbine Mountain Flower Restore Health Restore Stamina
Cornflower Lady’s Smock Increase Spell Power Restore Magicka
Cornflower Violet Coprinus Increase Spell Power Ravage Health
Dragonthorn Blessed Thistle Restore Stamina Increase Weapon Power
Dragonthorn Stinkhorn Lower Armor Increase Weapon Power
Emetic Russula Stinkhorn Ravage Health Ravage Stamina
Emetic Russula Violet Coprinus Ravage Health Ravage Magicka
Imp Stool Luminous Russula Ravage Stamina Lower Weapon Power
Imp Stool Mountain Flower Increase Armor Lower Weapon Power
Lady’s Smock Cornflower Restore Magicka Increase Spell Power
Lady’s Smock Violet Coprinus Lower Spell Resist Increase Spell Power
Luminous Russula Imp Stool Lower Weapon Power Ravage Stamina
Luminous Russula Mountain Flower Lower Weapon Power Restore Health
Mountain Flower Columbine Restore Health Restore Stamina
Mountain Flower Imp Stool Lower Weapon Power Increase Armor
Mountain Flower Luminous Russula Restore Health Lower Weapon Power
Stinkhorn Blessed Thistle Ravage Health Increase Weapon Power
Stinkhorn Dragonthorn Increase Weapon Power Lower Armor
Stinkhorn Emetic Russula Ravage Health Ravage Stamina
Violet Coprinus Cornflower Ravage Health Increase Spell Power
Violet Coprinus Emetic Russula Ravage Health Ravage Magicka
Violet Coprinus Lady’s Smock Increase Spell Power Lower Spell Resist
Whitecap Blue Entoloma Ravage Magicka Lower spell Power
Whitecap Bugloss Increase Spell Resist Lower spell Power

Crafting an Easy Potion For Fast XP

Animal Parts are easier to come by then Herbs because they are predictable. Running Dungeons such as Spindleclutch can net you a lot of Spider Eggs. A second ingredient that is easy to farm and works with Spider Eggs is either Mudcrab Chitin or Scrib Jelly. To farm Mudcrab Chitin just go to any beach and have at it. Scrib Jelly drops from Kwama Scribs, Workers and little Scribs with 1 HP. One of the best spots for farming Scrib Jelly is in Stonefalls between Vivec’s Antlers and Sulfur Pools Wayshrine.

Oil Solvents are really easy to come by in any Dungeon where enemies are Animals of any sort. Now keep combining Grease, Spider Eggs and Mudcrab Chitin/Scrib Jelly until Rank 10 has been achieved.

After reaching Rank 10, upgrade the Solvent Proficiency passive and now you can substitute Grease for Ichor as the Solvent to increase Inspiration gain per crafted Poison. After reaching Rank 20, upgrade Solvent Proficiency again and substitute Ichor for Slime. Keep doing this until max rank is achieved.

ESO Alchemy Guide: Final Tips

Alchemy in ESO is an easy vocation to take that will pay off at end game. Crafting high level Potions and Poisons and selling them at Guild Traders is great way of making money.

Farm easy monster materials and craft the same potion over and over while leveling Solvent Proficiency when needed. 1 more point into Keen Eye: Reagents is recommended for easier Herb gathering. Herb gathering is optional until you hit high ranks because crafting with Animal Parts and Oil Solvents is much faster, but it will pay off to collect everything you find as you level up. Don’t forget about other passives as well when high rank has been achieved.

As with any Crafting Vocation, Inspiration gain can be boosted by 10% from ESO Plus, 10% from Orc Race and 20% from Inspiration Boost Champion Skill.


Stay tuned for more ESO Guides as we take on Crafting, Dungeons, PvP and of course, Builds! Check out our Jewelry Crafting Guide and Leveling Guides.

If you want to find out more about the upcoming changes with Update 19 read about them in Elder Scrolls Online Wolfhunter Changes: The Age Of The Werewolf. You can also check out the upcoming dungeons in The Elder Scrolls Online: Wolfhunter Dungeons Preview.

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