It seems like we're both right!

"Two ingredients are gathered from plants"

"2 effects of an ingredient are revealed when testing it for the first time (instead of just one) "

I must have missed that second one when reading the perk list.

Reference: http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/09/26/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-perks-and-racial-skills-revealed-be-a-dark-elf-set-yourself-on-fire/

Or play an argonian and start the game with it :intergalactic:

Oh you did not just link to that article... That is the ONE article that hasn't even made an effort to credit me for that information. Even the lazy journos at IGN credited me directly, but PCGamer couldn't be bothered, even after repeated requests. Check my signature.

Slightly more on-topic - fair enough, we were both right

LOL I definitely read your threads, and knew that's where the info in the article was from. I just didn't realize it was you. My apologies, and thanks again for all the good info :celebration:

Haha no worries, I was only (semi-)joking it just revived a little bit of the anger I felt when they first plagiarised my thread. I'm surprised how uptight I got about it! :whistling:

This time around it sounds like great fun and something i will likely try at some point!

So, guys.

I still can't figure it out. Looks like we still have 4 effects on each ingredient, but we can see only 2 of them (1 at start + 1 from perk). 2 others always remain hidden?
And if there's no automatic recipes catalogue, you'll have to remember (write down) all you do on alchemy table. Cause you can mix a great potion but forget what you just put there. :celebration:

You need to experiment to find out the other effects.

Say you combine 2 ingredients with unknown effects; If they have similar properties, a potion/poison will be made and those effects will be "unlocked". If the ingredients are not compatible, that potion/poison will fail to be made.

That's about the size of it. Want all the properties, you will need a lot of plants/scales/thoraxes, and some measure of patience.

I'm really looking forward to the alchemy, i plan on building my first char around it! I want to be a passive wandering character that collects items and ingredients, experinments and has good rapport with local people. Specialising in archery and playing with poisons

And will it all be affected by your skill level? 'cause you can just open all effects of some ingredient after an hour on alchemy lab. If those effects are not restricted.



Hope we will not need empty bottles for this. A hell of a money to waste. :tongue:

You could probably 'unlock' all of the properties of an ingredient with an Alchemy skill of 1, but that potion would be very week, and you wouldn't be able to go very deep into the perk tree (if at all).

Don't forget the alchemy apparatus. (I think this was for Oblivion, but may also apply to Skyrim - I haven't read the leaked information. http://oblivion.melian.cc/?cmd=cmdOblivionAlchemyFAQ#a4)

Mortar & Pestle:
The one apparatus that is required is the mortar and pestle. This is the basic apparatus you need to combine two or more ingredients into a potion.

Retort:
The retort is optional and increases the magnitude and duration of all positive effects.

Calcinator:
The calcinator is optional and increases the magnitude and duration of ALL effects, both postive and negative.

Alembic:
The alembic is optional and decreases the magnitude of all negative effects, but this does NOT affect poisons, only potions that contain positive AND negative effects.

There are portable alchemy apparatus in Skyrim?

Not as far as we know.

Sounds kind of like a mix of Oblivion's system (with hundreds of different unique ingredients with specific, listed effects) and the system used in The Witcher (with each ingredient having one or two "compounds", the first from one specific set and the second, if present, from a different specific set; combining the compounds from the first set will define the potion, and matching the compounds from the second set will add a second effect if all ingredients have that second compound). I have to say I like this a lot. The Witcher's system allows for a lot of experimentation, and the learning of formulae from creating potions and ingesting them (you can also learn formulae from other characters or from reading books). However, with the limited number of active ingredients, it's a rather limited system; combining that with a vast array of ingredients available in The Elder Scrolls sounds like an alchemist's dream.

No field alchemy! Which was strange anyway.

I think it sounds fun, but does not make much sense. Because of the fun I am willing to overlook how little sense it makes. In a world where alchemy has been in practice for thousands of years you running around and experimenting to discover that comberry damages fatigue seems kind of lame. You would say, "look guys, comberry damages fatigue", every alchemist out there "um yeah where the hell did you go to school that is the first thing you learn."

Who says you learned alchemy in a school?

It doesn't matter where you learned it. People have done these experiments before trained alchemists already know what most ingredients do. This information would be in a book or known to your mom who trained you just in case you were home schooled. The only place the experiment part makes much sense is with rare ingredients like nirnroot in oblivion. Outside rare ingredients like that the discoveries have been made already and would be known by any person who trains you or in any book on the subject.

I hope there are recipe books for the basic potions that describe the effects of some common ingredients. I like the new system, but I think it will make alchemy to difficult for me to use right away.

not really eat the ingredient = field testing

I hope we get a book that we can actually write in so we can make our own alchemy book

This is awesome news, especially for those naysayers who say they are 'dumbing down' the game. They just made alchemy more in depth and complex, making the player have to figure it out without just 'knowing' first.

*dances*

sounds realistic to me. and i like it.

Make kind a sense if not, since we now own a bench to work...