Elder Scrolls: How Alchemy Can Enhance Skyrim’s Strongest Builds

It’s no secret that Alchemy in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the game’s more lackluster elements. With most potions doomed to lie forgotten on crypt shelves, and underpowered poisons doing impractically low amounts of damage, there’s little reason to invest time or perks into the skill tree. The high-level Alchemy perks are unenticing, so Skyrim’s Alchemy tree is typically overlooked. However, there are some creative methods to make it worth a second look.

Even though it’s not worth investing in Alchemy for its late-game perks, a high skill level in Alchemy will increase potion strength and allow the brewing of more valuable potions to sell, and some of these crafted potions can play a part in forging incredibly powerful gear. That’s all without even getting into Alchemy’s uses in Skyrim’s combat, where a crafted poison or a fortify skill potion can add significant amounts of damage to weapons.

One of the main reasons players tend to ignore Alchemy in Skyrim is that its benefits don’t appear to outweigh the costs. Crafted potions and poisons never seem to match the output of ones just found through exploration. Poisons seem to have little to offer – their damage can’t compare to forged weapons or leveled destruction magic, and they only last for a single hit. While there are some potions Skyrim players should keep on hand, they are rarely ones that need to be specially crafted. Since there’s not much incentive to invest perks in Alchemy, most players don’t know the extent of what they can actually do. While it’s not imperative to reach level 100 with Alchemy, every 20 levels (up to level 80) boosts a crafted potion or poison’s strength by another stacked 20%.

Skyrim: Alchemy & Enchanting Can Endlessly Buff Each Other

After a few perks are put into the Alchemist skill (the first in the skill tree), crafted potions and poisons will actually be stronger than those just found while adventuring in the world of Skyrim. Once the Poisoner and Concentrated Poison perks are unlocked, both of which can be acquired around the same time, poisons deal 25% more damage and can last for two hits. This adds some punch to the Thieves Guild or Dark Brotherhood campaigns since both favor Skyrim’s most popular build – the stealth archer. A sneak attack with an enchanted Dragonbone bow and arrows is arguably the most damaging single strike in the game. The damage output can only be increased with an extra strength Fortify Marksman potion, and arrows dipped in lethal poison.

While an Alchemist Dragonborn would certainly be a unique Skyrim build to refresh the game, the game’s UI was decidedly not engineered for it. The monotonous inventory scrolling can be circumvented, however: Favorited items can be hot-keyed for instant use. This is accomplished by opening the favorites menu, putting the cursor over the item, and holding down either the left or right directional pad on the controller. Favorite the most damaging poisons, then hotkey them before combat starts to quickly rebuff the equipped weapon.

A high level Alchemist in Skyrim will be incredibly wealthy, and will be equipped with the strongest equipment possible. Fortify health potions, among other high-level potions, can be sold for hundreds of gold. Skyrim has more longevity than Elder Scrolls Online partly because there are so many new ways to play the game, allowing players to either experiment or try their hand improving from the last run.

Gear with the Fortify Alchemy enchantment allows for the brewing of more potent potions, including one to fortify the Enchanting skill. Here’s where Skyrim breaks a bit: Potions improve Enchanting, and Enchanting improves Alchemy. The cycle only continues, culminating in weapons and armor unmatched by even the mightiest of leveled loot. In the end, Alchemy in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a background skill similar to Enchanting and Smithing. With the right investment of perks, it’s one more way to stack damage and bonuses, creating more powerful characters than ever before.

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