Alchemy is a skill in Skyrim that provides players with different benefits through potion and poison brewing. However, to utilize the full potential of Alchemy, you will need to level it up, and the time and resources you spend to level up this skill will be worth it.
Like other skills in Skyrim, Alchemy will also require you to perform certain tasks or activities. While reaching level 100 in Alchemy might sound like a daunting task, the game offers players different methods through which they can level up this skill quickly. Then there are some exploits and glitches as well. In this guide, we are going to discuss different methods and ways through which you can level up Alchemy Skill in Skyrim.
How to Level Up Alchemy Fast Without Exploits
If you don’t want to use any exploits or glitches and want to level up alchemy through regular means, you can use the following methods.
Craft Potions
When crafting, it is important to remember that the higher the value of a crafted potion, the more alchemy experience you gain. Craft potions of different levels, and you gain experience accordingly. Each potion has its pros and cons, so be sure to read the description of the potion before its use. Crafting potions will grant you experience points for your Alchemy skill leveling.
To craft a potion, head over to a crafting table and start your crafting. It’s better to know what you are about to craft as aimless crafting will only lose your ingredients and some ingredients are tough to get in comparison to others. You can use one of the Fan-Made Alchemy Calculators found online, which identify craftable items and their properties along with instructions on what is required to craft them.
The Alchemy skill has perks as well. Perks grant simple boosts to your skill and related activities. The perks of alchemy enhance your crafting ability and the effectiveness of your crafted potions. Skyrim’s Purity Perk is the highest perk in Alchemy and eliminates the negative effects of the potions. The Experimenter Perk (which has 3 levels) reveals the effects of the eaten ingredient. The Physician Perk increases the amount of Health, Magicka, or Stamina restored by potions. The Alchemist Perk (has 5 levels) increases the effectiveness of both potions and poisons by 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and twice as strong. Potion crafting is the fastest way to level up Alchemy; however, you will need to have an ample supply of resources. Worry not; you can always sell the extra potions to recover your investments.
As to what potions are best to craft, Giant’s Toes and Wheat can give you the best option to level the Alchemy Skill, and finding these two materials isn’t that hard. You can also check our Skyrim Potion Recipes guide to have a better idea on which potions to craft.
Alchemy Trainers
Another way to increase your Alchemy skill is to be trained by certain Alchemists in the game. Alchemists not only buy/sell you ingredients, but they also can train you to become a better Alchemist yourself. Of course, this is not done for free; rather, they demand a certain fee. There’s also a trick for that which you can do to counter this expense. The trick is to save your game once you have learned something from the Alchemist and try to pickpocket him. This way, you can get the amount you spent for alchemy training. If you fail, you can always load the game you save earlier.
Here are the names of the Alchemists that can train you. We have Alchemy Trainers locations as well if you want know where you can find them:
- Lami
- Milore Ienth
- Arcadia
- Babette (To unlock Babette, you will need to join the Dark Brotherhood faction)
Alchemy Enchantments
Enchantment is another skill players can use in Skyrim. They boost different aspects of a character when fused with certain items. Alchemy can grant significant buffs in the effects of potions and poisons. To get the most out of any potion, it is important to understand and invest time into enchantment use. Charms can be found by various sources in the game, but it’s a player’s enchanting skills that fully utilize its capabilities. Fortify Alchemy Enchantment can be used to boost potions and poisons crafted. Other enchantment skills and alchemy skills also help boost the overall aspect of items in the game.
Here are some enchantments which aid in alchemy:
- Muiri’s Ring (15% stronger crafted potions)
- Krosis (12% stronger potions)
- Ring of Pure Mixtures (20% increase in alchemy, lockpicking and archery)
Alchemy Books
Just like any other skill in Skyrim, you can also level up Alchemy through Alchemy books. There are 5 types of skill books for Alchemy, but thankfully, there are multiple copies of them scattered throughout the game, which you can obtain. Each skill book levels up your skill by 1, and unlike the Trainers, you can read as many books as you please to gain skill levels.
There is a way to obtain two skill points per book. For that, you need to complete The Winds of Change quest and obtain the Scholar’s Insight ability in the Dragonborn DLC.
*One tip to consider when trying to level up your skill with books is that it’s better to use the book at a higher skill level than a small skill level. To go from level 10 to 11 on a certain skill is easier than level 90 to 91, so it is better to utilize a skill book to get to 91 than 100.
How to Use Alchemy Leveling Glitch to Reach Level 100 Fast
For this glitch to work effectively, ensure your level is enough to have Alchemist perk to level 3 and Benefactor and Physician perks unlocked. You will first obtain a fortify alchemy enchantment to fortify your armor later on. Then, start the quest for the Ring of Pure Mixtures at the Mortar and Pestle to obtain a ring from Frieda by pickpocketing her. Now head on over to an enchantment table and fortify your armor ( helmet, braces, necklace, ring) with the fortify alchemy. Now, start your crafting by crafting a fortify restoration potion.
Be sure to have the ingredients in a good amount, as you will be crafting the same item a couple of times. Once crafted, drink the potion and then head on over to your Apparel and unequip all your fortify alchemy apparel, but stay in the menu. After unequipping, equip them back on. Now repeat the crafting, drinking of that potion, and unequip then equip method for a good 5-7 times, and you will notice that not only the value of your armor is increasing significantly, but also your skill level is increasing.
Skyrim Alchemy and Ingredients Effects
Throughout the game, you come across different ingredients that you can either eat or store to use in crafting. Eating those ingredients directly (if you are unsure) will also give you some Alchemy Skill experience so you literally eat whatever ingredients you find. However, since some ingredients can also render negative effects, it’s always wise to know the effects beforehand. Also, we found out that crafting with ingredients gives better XP than consuming them directly so the priority should be brewing those potions.
