an easy way to test ingredients is save the game, eat the ingredient, write down wat happens and, if its bad reload the save.
ill probably do this just so i dont lose my ingredients testing stuff..

Actually alchemy unlike of magic have real counterpart as chemistry and without of formulas and numbers this form of since cannot be, medieval Alchemy have them also but in obscure cryptic way instead of standardized universal formulas.
In TES unlike of many other games Alchemy dynamic no based on predefined receipts, number of combinations of them is really high, additionally we have various Apparatus thats add new level experimentation by allowing purify and enhance magnitude of effects in potion, weight and cost of potions is also dynamic and based on parameters of ingredients what also add more exploration in pursuit of best result, there even on-line calculators thats can help with such research, additionally we can enhance our since experience with mods what add new features to alchemy what impossible in vanilla, Alchemy is spreadsheety but I think no one will say thats bad feature because actually we like experiments in Art of Alchemy does not?
[Thrown Fireball to test your shield]

Sounds interesting, like Alchemy now will be something much more involved and rewarding than just blindly picking everything out of the ground. Still don't like the fact it was moved from magic to stealth but this bit of news makes up for that. :tes:

I find it awesome. From a gameplay point of view first.

After that, what I would like most for the alchemy system (but it's details) would be that common food has their first effect (restore stamina or health I don't know) already revealed but other ingredients haven't and that there were some heavily guarded books from a random alchemist society in the game (not describing every effect of course) but mostly I like the alchemy like it is.Moreover, it works perfectly with my character background, she has good reason to test herself the ingredients even if it's dangerous so it's perfect.

You can always test result on NPC just stealthy put your unusual potion or ingridient into their inventory with "Eat Me" label

[Stands firm, there's a perk for that, probably] Nothing wrong with the numbers in MW and OB. What I mean is, they could have made Alchemy more complicated, added in stacks off extra effects, loads of extra equipment etc. Extra depth, extra complication, some like that, some don't, but they didn't do that. Instead, this one really simple, easy to understand, easy to implement idea, by itself, has made the system just a tiny,tiny little bit deeper

I prefer it in stealth myself, it's not like there's actually any magic involved in mixing and matching ingredients.

Awesome avatar btw. People constantly tell me I look just like Chris Hemsworth. Love that film, Thor's the coolest superhero ever...

Not sure if this is possible, has it been confirmed? I know you can put poison in other NPCs inventory while using stealth but if you put a potion that has 2 unknown effects and that NPC drinks it, how would you know what are it's effects unless it kills him/her? It's not like the NPC will give you a piece of paper indicating what it did to him..

Actually thats feature from Morrowind alchemy what I glad to see again but now it will be enhanced with perks.



If NPC will drink\eat it then positive effects is better then negative at last don't harm health magicka and stamina which NPC AI can avoid if item not a poison, additionally on consuming of such item can be VFX played on what we can assume what kind of effects ingredients has, or you can use mod like I use in Oblivion what allow see certain stats of NPC if player character win check for Attributes and Skills (intelligence more 50 + Alchemy more 50 for example allow see how stats change from potions and poisons in message box, I like experiment on caged animals and captured bandits, too bad devs remove useless for them but needful for modders attributes)

I don't really mind where it is. Its just that to me Alchemy is a part of the arcane / magic school of thought. But since there are no more major or minor skills, all in all it really doesn't matter I reckon.

THx for liking avatar.

This means when i start out i will have a reason for reading those alchemy books.

There is a big difference between knowing just one effect, and being able to make some known potions from the start, and not having a clue at all, and having to eat items with unknown qualities, or experiment, and risk wastage, from the beginning.

In Morrowind you can know no effects yet still make potions...

I believe the scanned copy of the manual (turn away now if you do not want to know) said that you eat an ingredient to reveal the first effect, and then boil it down, distill etc to reveal the rest. These later techniques will be done at a station I guess. As such, the reveal "2 on first test" perk seems to simply be a helpful hand when out and about.

Oh dear, yes, my mistake. Just checked, never would have had an Alchemy below 15, so didn't realise.

Difference only thats low skills can fail you during potion creation while in Oblivion and most probably Skyrim we have no failure chances, interesting how thats will be balanced, perhaps with rarity of ingredients.

I like it in Stealth. It makes sense that someone who would take the time to make potions might want spell effects without the light show. It also puts magical effects within the reach of non-magical characters, since it’s just mundane chopping and cooking.

As far as the trial and error, now I will be more inclined to listen to NPCs when they are talking about alchemy, and pay attention to any recipes that might be lying around. I’m actually really excited about this, now that I think about it.

I think i would good if the properties were randomized for each ingredient every playthrough just to keep you on your toes.

its cool

meh, metagaming.

anywhooo, this new alchemy system sure does promise alot of alchemical exploring.

I'm pretty sure that perk means you gather 2 samples rather than 1 when you pick a flower or something similar. It doesn't have anything to do with the known properties of said materials.

It will require running a written list of ingredients that failed when mixed. But hey, that just adds to the roleplay Plus this adds potential for alchemical books that contain recipies.

Exellent feature.True to what alchemy is.....experimentation.

Er... no, I read it myself when I played the game. It's definitely "reveal 2 effects when you test an ingredient instead of just 1."

I think it would be cool if you could gain a resistance to poison, like if you you ate a hundred pieces of Nightshade over time, you would gain 10% resistance to poison. Of course, the resistance would only go up to like, 25%, because it would a little overpowered if you could just be immune to poison.