Home
Forums
Morrowind FAQ
System Specs
Litestep

Alchemy FAQ v1.1

Alchemy
1. Why do Alchemy?
2. How do I get started with Alchemy?
3. What are the Alchemy tools?
4. Where do I get the Alchemy tools?
5. I found a skooma pipe and when I use my mortar and pestle it appears in the tools area.
6. Where do I get ingredients?
7. I bought some ingredients from a merchant and went back later to get more, but she doesn't have them. Why?
8. Do the ingredients I gather out in the wild respawn/grow back?
9. I combined four ingredients and I didn't get a potion, why?
10. I have been trying but I'm failing every time I try to create a potion. Is this worth it?
11. How do I know which effects various ingredients have?
12. I have made a potion but it has Drain Health as an effect. Can I use that on other creatures?
13. What's the easiest way to raise my Alchemy skill?
14. I want to make Skooma. How can I make it?
15. I want to be a Vampire. Can I make a potion that will turn me into one?
16. Where do I find recipes of working potions?
17. Where do I find a list of the various ingredient effects?

Why do Alchemy?
With Alchemy you can create potions that have most of the effects of spells or scrolls (such as restore, shield, detect, invisibilty, etc.) AND it's much cheaper to make them then to buy them. The most basic reason would be to be able to make your own restore potions (health, fatigue, magicka, attributes) and invisibility potions.

How do I get started with Alchemy?
irst you will need a Mortar and Pestle. Once you have one of those in your inventory you can click it and drop it on your character - like equipping an item. That will open up a new window with two rows of four boxes. You will see your Mortar and Pestle in the top row along with any other alchemy tools you have. The others are added automatically if they are in your inventory.

The bottom row is for your ingredients. Left click on one of the open boxes. You will see a new window open up that shows all of the ingredients that you currently have in your inventory. You click on whichever ingredient you wish to use in your potion and select the quantity from the slider bar. Click OK and the ingredient is now listed in the box. Repeat in the other boxes for up to four ingredients.

Once you have the ingredients you desire click create and you either make a potion or fail to make one.

What are the Alchemy tools?
The only required item is the Mortar and Pestle. It is the basic mixing tool and determines the initial strength of your potion. A Retort will increase the magnitude and duration of all the positive effects in a potion. An Alembic will decrease the magnitude and duration of all the negative effects in a potion (Note: A skooma pipe will also function as an Alembic). And a Calcinator will increase the magnitude and duration of all effects in a potion.

Tools vary in quality from Apprentice to Grand Master. The higher the Quality attribute of the tool, the better it is. The better the tool, the more likely you will see a difference in your potions.

Where do I get the Alchemy tools?
You can find lower quality tools from most Alchemy shops, Mages Guild locations or Temples. Higher quality tools are less common but still not hard to find, just look everywhere. The method of obtaining such tools is up to you - if you're going to steal, you should take precautions to avoid getting caught.

I found a skooma pipe and when I use my mortar and pestle it appears in the tools area.
See above in question 3. Skooma pipes are a type of Alembic.

Where do I get ingredients?
Ingredients can be found in many places. They can be found and taken very easily and painlessly from plants. If you put your cursor on a plant and it gives you a name, you can activate/open it just like you would a chest or door. If there is anything on the plant to take it will appear in a standard box like any loot.

You can buy ingredients from certain merchants. Most major towns have at least one alchemy shop, a Temple and a Mages Guild presence. The alchemy shop will sell ingredients and usually at least one person in the Mages Guild and Temple will sell ingredients. In smaller towns general traders usually have some ingredients as well.

You can loot them from creatures and people you kill or find them as treasure in crypts, crates, sacks, etc.

I bought some ingredients from a merchant and went back later to get more, but she doesn't have them. Why?
Every vendor has a number of ingredients that restock and a number that do not. You've most likely bought one of the ingredients that don't restock. A simple way to test if an ingredient you like restocks is to note how many are in the stack, buy one of it, close the barter window and re-open it. If the stack is one less, that ingredient doesn't replenish. If it is the same as the initial quantity, it does.

Do the ingredients I gather out in the wild respawn/grow back?
Yes. After a variable length of time most plants seem to 'grow back'.

I combined four ingredients and I didn't get a potion, why?
To make a potion you need a minimum of only two ingredients, but they must both share a common effect. For example, saltrice and marshmerrow both have 'restore health'. If you wanted to create a potion of restore health you could combine those two ingredients. You may fail occasionally (especially with a low alchemy score) but eventually you will make a potion.

If you want additional effects on your potion, combine more ingredients to get them.

I have been trying but I'm failing every time I try to create a potion. Is this worth it?
Yes, but just like any other skill in the beginning you will fail often. Once you start to develop your skill higher you will find yourself succeeding more often. The higher-end potions you can make are more effective and lasting longer then similar ones from merchants. Well worth the time and effort to raise the skill.

How do I know which effects various ingredients have?
When you view an ingredient it lists the various effects. However what effects you see depend on your alchemy skill. With a low alchemy skill you can't see most of the effects and you'll probably see mostly question marks instead. As your skill increases, more effects will be revealed. Although I am not sure at what skill level it happened, I can see all four effects on ingredients with a skill level of 65 in Alchemy.

I have made a potion but it has Drain Health as an effect. Can I use that on other creatures?
So far no one has discovered a way to use potions on others that have detrimental effects. However they do sell well.

What's the easiest way to raise my Alchemy skill?
Make potions, lots of them. You can also train the skill or increase it through reading some of the books that raise it.

I want to make Skooma. How can I make it?
So far no one has found a way. Many are pretty sure it uses Moon Sugar since Skooma is said to be made from refined Moon Sugar, but so far experimentation has not yielded a combination that creates Skooma.

I want to be a Vampire. Can I make a potion that will turn me into one?
So far no one has found a potion made with regular Alchemy that is capable of turning you into a vampire.

Where do I find recipes of working potions?
There are many books in the game where you can find recipes. Also, if you are doing one of the Mages Guild quests where you must recover stolen notes - read them - they have information. There are various posts on internet forums and websites with working recipes. Also look at the list of effects on ingredients and you can figure out what to make.

Where do I find a list of the various ingredient effects?
Two that I know of are:
http://www.geocities.com/stonecourier/Alchemy.htm
http://www.morrowindalliance.com/herbindex.asp

Comments, suggestions, criticism, errors, corrections, omissions, credit where it should be due, death threats, question you'd like to see, something on your mind? Post in the forums and let me know.