I don't see any value in Alchemy - please explain

[revjwh]

Okay I took Alchemy at the start for my pure mage.

However, I do not see any ingredients in the wilderness and buying them is more expensive in the end than just buying what they would make?

For example I need Ambergis and Mandrake to make a mana potion - but haven't seen ambergis anywhere.....

I'm level 8 now and doing well with everything else and have yet to use alchemy at all.... what am I missing?

J

[CrazyBernie]

Okay I took Alchemy at the start for my pure mage.

However, I do not see any ingredients in the wilderness and buying them is more expensive in the end than just buying what they would make?

For example I need Ambergis and Mandrake to make a mana potion - but haven't seen ambergis anywhere.....

I'm level 8 now and doing well with everything else and have yet to use alchemy at all.... what am I missing?

J

To make the most out of alchemy, you need Foraging. It allows you to find ingredients while camping.

[Apoteos]

You should also make sure your Alchemy level is high enough to mix more potent potions, sadly because of studies and other such unimportant stuff I haven´t had a chance to sit down and properly examine Alchemy, but in Book I, Alchemy was vital to many players and my rogues transformed from wimps to powerhouses after a few skill points and I also want to add that I am sorry for writing this post in a single sentence but since many people tend to hold their breath when confronted to limited punctuation I couldn´t resist the urge to try and suffocate someone remotely which would be awsomely cool so im sure you understand

[Ladez]

...

[RezoApio]

you almost had me!!! Luckily I train deep sea foraging to level 10 so I got extra breathing ability

[Apoteos]

Well it seems I failed, but I will get you eventually

Hmm... Getting strange images when pondering wireless strangling compared to strangling with a wire...

I guess I shoul stop thinking now

[Dragonlady]

back to the question now...


Yes, you do need foraging skill, the shopkeepers do have some ingredients but not very many at any one time. Some potions you need high skill in alchemy otherwise you get explosions. Foraging of level 10 -14 when I rested got me enough ingredients to get me to the finish. Some are still rare, some you have to figure out which areas on the map get you more of a particular ingredient. I get foraging skill as early as I can, even before getting alchemy and I stockpile the ingredients in my house. Then when alchemy has been learned I can make lots of potions. I'm careful on the mana ones though. The ingredients needed for that are also needed for a couple of other potions. I bought foraging up to 8, read a book to get it to 10 and then found 2 +2 rings of foraging. Everytime I went to sleep I put them on and got lots of ingredients. It's also a good way to get extra cash if you don't want alchemy, just sell your produce.

[CrazyBernie]

Personally, I didn't extensively use Alchemy until I got it high enough to make level 3 potions. It really shines near the middle/late game when you can buff your weapons an armor, and sell high level potions for extra cash.

If you want to turn it into a bigger money-maker, start pumping points into mercantile.

[AgentTBC]

How many points in alchemy do you need for level II and III potions? I believe it was 5 for level II in Eschalon Book I, but I'm still making level I potions with 5 in this one.

[Dragonlady]

How many points in alchemy do you need for level II and III potions? I believe it was 5 for level II in Eschalon Book I, but I'm still making level I potions with 5 in this one.

According to my notes you have to have Level 22 in alchemy to Imbue +3 on weapons, I think I did it at level 18 at least once during the various beta versions but it might have changed in the final version.

[sirchet]

According to my notes you have to have Level 22 in alchemy to Imbue +3 on weapons, I think I did it at level 18 at least once during the various beta versions but it might have changed in the final version.

Are we talking permanent +3 on weapons, or temporary buff?

[CrazyBernie]

There are no temporary enchantments in alchemy.

Level 3 potions/enchantments have a varied range in skill requirements. Level 3 Healing potions, for instance require a much lower Alchemy skill than level 3 weapon enchantments.

[Dragonlady]

According to my notes you have to have Level 22 in alchemy to Imbue +3 on weapons, I think I did it at level 18 at least once during the various beta versions but it might have changed in the final version.

Are we talking permanent +3 on weapons, or temporary buff?

Permanent, so if you can only do +1 or +2 and you have a very good weapon or armor wait until you can do +3. Once it has had a '+' put on you can't change to a higher one later.