I've noticed Alchemy has a few trends when it comes to leveling and matching up ingredients. Here is my guide to getting the most out of your materials while leveling.
XP Breakdown:
- Lvl 10 - 5000
- Lvl 20 - 8000
- Lvl 30 - 12000
- Lvl 40 - 16000
This is the amount of xp you gain per potion combine. It does not matter if you use 2 or 3 ingredients, the result is always the same. Therefore, from a leveling standpoint, it is never useful to combine more than 2 ingredients as you will be wasting the third which could be used for a combine with something else. The only difference in xp gain you will see is when you first discover a new trait of a plant. This will gain an extra 300 xp per trait discovered. It's a nice bonus, but quickly runs out and doesn't give much to begin with anyways.
As soon as you are able to move up to the next tier of potion, it is in your interest to do so. The level of the potion is the only thing that changes xp gains and that is governed by which water you use to create the potion. Unless you are making potions to be consumed there is no need to craft a lower level potion.
ALWAYS craft the 2 component potions by filling one slot with the ingredient you have the most of and working through the second slot with the remaining plants with the same trait. I know this sounds like common sense, but I'm sure there are those who do not realize it. It doesn't matter which plant you use, only the traits. So if you have 8 Water Hyacinth, 4 Bugloss, and 4 Mountain Flower. Combine the Hyacinth with Bugloss and Mountain Flower separately to gain 8 combines. Leftovers aren't helpful.
Finding Components:
Keen Eye is a must for Alchemy as the plants required blend in perfectly with the grass graphics of the game.
I find that the Flowers tend to grow randomly in forested areas and Mushrooms grow in caves and along trees.
Water Hyacinth, Nirnroot, and Water nodes are easily found along streams, lakes, and rivers. Water Hyacinth is a very common plant that has many combinations as it can be used to create Restore Health potions.
Emetic Rusulla is a purely leveling Mushroom as it only produces negative effects. Pair it with anything else to produce junk potions.
Helpful Adventuring Potions:
Bugloss, Columbine, Mountain Flower - Restores all 3 of Health, Stamina and Magicka.
Nirnroot, Blue Entoloma, Water Hyacinth - Restores Health and grants 3 seconds of Invisibility.
Namira's Rot, Water Hyacinth, Wormwood - Grants 301 Spell and Weapon Crit and 5 seconds of immunity to knockback/stun.
Rundown of Passive Bonuses:
Solvent Proficiency - This deals solely with the level of potion you can make. Each rank opens up a new level of water.
Keen Eye - Allows you easily recognize plants in the world. Unlike other professions, Alchemy ingredients are usually out in the open mixed in with the graphical flowers and grass. Alchemy Keen Eye is the most useful of all of them. I would recommend a single point for any character as ingredients are difficult to build up.
Medicinal Use - Increases potion duration by 10/20/30 %. All potions have a duration. This increases the time you have the buff.
Chemistry - Creates an additional 1/2/3 potions with every crafting. It's not a good idea to create potions for consumption until you can at least get the 1 extra.
Laboratory Use - Allows using 3 components to create a potion instead of the standard 2. Needed for some very cool effects.
Snake Blood - Decreases the negative effects from a potion by 50/80/100 %. Some items combine to cause a positive and negative effect. At 100% the potion will only have positives.
I will be adding to this guide as I explore more of Alchemy. I simply wanted to help those wishing to venture into this craft from wasting so many materials as I did. Remember to never simply consume an ingredient to discover the first trait, there are charts which show the traits of all plants. My personal favorite is http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Alchemy_(Online)
