Stealth Skills: The Path of Shadow – Alchemy

Alchemy allows you to create potent potions and deadly poisons. Their effects are determined by the ingredients you use, but their potency is based on your Alchemy skill. Your skill increases when you discover a new ingredient effect or successfully craft a potion (based on the potion’s value). It also increases slightly if you attempt to craft a potion but fail—while you may lose the ingredients, the experiment isn’t a complete loss.

The Crafting section has extensive details about the Alchemy system, including a full list of ingredients and their effects.

• Constellation: Path of Shadow
• Available Perks: 15

• Available Alchemy Perks

1–5. Alchemist (5 ranks) ★

• Rank 1: Potions and poisons you make are 20% stronger.
• Requires: None
• Rank 2: Potions and poisons you make are 40% stronger.
• Requires: Alchemy 20, Alchemist 1
• Rank 3: Potions and poisons you make are 60% stronger.
• Requires: Alchemy 40, Alchemist 2
• Rank 4: Potions and poisons you make are 80% stronger.
• Requires: Alchemy 60, Alchemist 3
• Rank 5: Potions and poisons you make are twice as strong.
• Requires: Alchemy 80, Alchemist 4

6. Physician

• Potions you mix that restore Health, Magicka, or Stamina are 25% more powerful.
• Requires: Alchemy 20, Alchemist 1

Physician stacks with the Alchemist perks to make significantly more powerful restorative potions.

7. Benefactor

• Potions you mix with beneficial effects have an additional 25% greater magnitude.
• Requires: Alchemy 30, Physician 1

Benefactor stacks with both the Alchemist and Physician perks but improves a broader range of potions than Physician.

8. Poisoner

• Poisons you mix are 25% more effective.
• Requires: Alchemy 30, Physician 1

9–11. Experimenter (3 ranks)

• Rank 1: Eating an ingredient reveals first two effects.
• Requires: Alchemy 50, Benefactor
• Rank 2: Eating an ingredient reveals first three effects.
• Requires: Alchemy 70, Experimenter 1
• Rank 3: Eating an ingredient reveals all its effects.
• Requires: Alchemy 90, Experimenter 2

The Experimenter perks allow you to learn more effects just by eating ingredients. If mixing and matching ingredients isn’t something you’re interested in, this can help you learn effects faster. There’s a complete table of Ingredient effects in the Inventory section, so you don’t need to learn an Ingredient’s effects (in the game) to use it in a potion or poison.

12. Concentrated Poison

• Poisons applied to weapons last for twice as many hits.
• Requires: Alchemy 60, Poisoner

Since poisons normally last for only one hit, Concentrated Poison effectively doubles the strength of all your poisons. It’s definitely worth taking if you use poisons frequently.

13. Green Thumb ★

• Two ingredients are gathered from plants.
• Requires: Alchemy 70, Concentrated Poison

This perk doubles the plant ingredients you have at your disposal. More ingredients means more opportunities to craft potions and poisons, which helps your Alchemy skill increase even faster. Unless you buy all your ingredients from shops, this is worth taking as soon as possible.

14. Snakeblood

• You gain +50% Poison Resistance.
• Requires: Alchemy 80, Experimenter 1 OR Concentrated Poison

Increases your resistance to poison, which is helpful when fighting Falmer, Chaurus, or Frostbite Spiders. This stacks with any racial abilities you may have.

15. Purity

• All negative effects are removed from created potions, and all positive effects are removed from created poisons.
• Requires: Alchemy 100, Snakeblood

Purity “cleans up” your Alchemy results, if they need it. You may be better off just finding a better combination of ingredients to achieve the effect you want, though.

Racial Benefits

• +5 Alchemy
• Breton
• Dark Elf
• Khajiit
• Wood Elf

Trainers

• Journeyman: Lami, of the Thaumaturgist’s Hut, in Morthal.
• Expert: Arcadia, of Arcadia’s Cauldron, in Whiterun.
• Expert: Milore Ienth, of Ienth Farm in Raven Rock, Solstheim.
• Master: Babette, of the Dark Brotherhood, Falkreath Hold Sanctuary.

Other Resources

• The following quests can also increase this skill:
• Other Factions Quest: Finn’s Lute.
• Daedric Quest: Discerning the Transmundane.
• Favor: Rare Item Hunt*.
• Favor: Item Retrieval (Cave)*.