Alchemy is one of the many crafts that the Dragonborn in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim can specialize in. Although this school of crafts isn't the most popular compared to activities like enchanting and smithing, alchemy can help a player both save and make serious coin throughout their journey.
The trick with alchemy, however, is the abundance of ingredients to make potential potions and poisons. In the beginning, a player simply needs to taste everything to know what works for what, but if that feels like too much effort, here are some of the most powerful and useful recipes to look out for. Keep in mind that a potion can be made with a bunch of different ingredients combined from a category of possible items, so the recipes are not set in stone.
10 Fortify Smithing
Players wanting to ensure they can better improve their gear at the grindstone will benefit from the potion of Fortify Smithing, which will increase a player's smithing skill momentarily. Smithing being one of the best ways to make custom armor and earn some gold, it's a decent investment.
The potion can be made with a combination of any of the following ingredients: blisterwort, glowing mushroom, sabre cat tooth and spriggan sap.
9 Fortify Lockpicking
Faced with a particularly difficult locked door or an intriguing chest that just won't open? Carrying a few Fortify Lockpicking potions is almost a must for characters who don't otherwise have many perk points dedicated to their lockpicking skill. For a short while, the lockpicking mini game will become easier.
Players can craft this potion using any of these ingredients: ashen grass pod, Falmer ear, Namira's rot, pine thrush egg and spider egg.
8 Fortify Enchanting
If the enchanting table isn't allowing the player to create powerful enough enchantments, drinking a potion of Fortify Enchanting is just what's needed. Their proficiency in the art of enchanting will be momentarily increased, allowing for better enchantments.
To craft this potion, choose from these ingredients: ancestor moth wing, blue butterfly wing, Chaurus hunter antennae, hagraven claw, snowberries, spawn ash and spriggan sap.
7 Fortify Carry Weight
As with any adventure, those in Skyrim are bound to be filled with loot. While it's recommended to go for the things that are light to carry but have a good price, such as gemstones and rings, sometimes players will want to haul back other important and heavier things, and that's when anything that boosts carry weight is necessary.
For a carrying weight boost, any these ingredients can be mixed: creep cluster, giant's toe, hawk beak, netch jelly, poison bloom, river betty, scaly pholiota, trama root and wisp wrappings.
6 Cure Disease
Thankfully, diseases aren't a very serious issue in Skyrim. If anything, they're more likely to be profound annoyances as they introduce powerful disadvantages to the player. Some of them can even cut down regeneration of some attributes by 50%, which is why they need to be dealt with eventually.
Carrying a few potions of Cure Disease is a good idea, and they can be made with a mix of any of these: charred skeever hide, felsaad tern feathers, hawk feathers, mudcrab chitin and vampire dust.
5 Restore Health
Early on in the game especially, one of the most important potions is that of Restore Health. It's a basic potion that can be found in loot, but will grow scarce as the levels progress. Moreover, buying it from vendors is a huge money drain, so it's best to learn how to make them.
Any of these items combined will produce a Restore Health potion: ash hopper jelly, blisterwort, blue dartwing, blue mountain flower, butterfly wing, charred skeever hide, Daedra heart, eye of sabre cat, felsaad tern feathers, imp stool, rock warbler egg, swamp fungal pod and wheat.
4 Resist Magic
Rather than going for potions that only specialize in one type of elemental magic, it's much better to favor those like Resist Magic, that provide general resistance to any kind of magic regardless of what element and kind it is. It's especially great when dealing with strong magic users.
Make it by combining any of these together: bleeding crown, chicken's egg, crimson nirnroot, felsaad tern feathers, fine-cut void salts, gleamblossom, hagraven claw, hawk's egg, lavender, nirnroot, tundra cotton, void salts and wisp wrappings.
3 Invisibility
Invisibility is a fantastic addition to the arsenal of any sneaky player, although keep in mind that this effect is only visual and won't actually do anything about one's footsteps. Still, if a sneaky mission sounds too daunting, this powerful potion can make the job much easier.
To brew this potion, combine any of these ingredients: ash creep cluster, Chaurus eggs, crimson nirnroot, ice wraith teeth, Luna moth wing, nirnroot and vampire dust.
2 Fortify Two-Handed
Two-handed weapons being a fairly popular choice, there's also a potion even the most dedicated of warriors should learn to make to further increase their strength. Fortify Two-Handed is ideal when the player is looking for a boost in raw damage for a short period of time.
The potion calls for a combination of any of these ingredients: dragon's tongue, emperor parasol moss, fly amanita and troll fat.
1 Fortify Marksman
Ranged characters might be at a disadvantage at close range, but with added damage to their arsenal thanks to this Fortify Marksman potion, they'll be able to snipe their enemies from afar and kill them almost instantly without having to worry about a thing.
For this potion, combine any of these ingredients: canis root, Elves ear, juniper berries and spider egg.