Skyrim Potions, Alchemy Ingredients, and Their Effects

Benefits of Improving Alchemy Skill

Powerful potions and potent poisons can be created with high alchemy skill.  In tight battles, health potions can make all the difference between victory or death. Potions can also help in game exploration and in building up one's character by temporarily enhancing skills. Creating potions aside from increasing alchemy skill also tends to improve speech if the potions are sold and can earn significant coin.  All-in-all alchemy is a recommended skill to prioritize and develop. 

Useful Potion Recipe List 

Examples of some useful potions:

Effect	Ingredients
Fortify Health and Restore Health	Blue Mountain Flower Wheat
Regenerate Health and Regenerate Magicka	Garlic Juniper Berries Salt Pile
Invisibility and Regenerate Health	Luna Moth Wing Vampire Dust
Damage Magicka and Damage Magicka Regeneration	Glow Dust Hanging Moss
Fortify Archery, Fortify Lockpicking, and Regenerate Health	Juniper Berries Namira's Rot Spider Egg
Fortify Destruction and Resist Shock	Glow Dust Glowing Mushroom
Fortify Enchanting	Blue Butterfly Wing Snowberries
Fortify Smithing	Blisterwort Glowing Mushroom
Slow	Deathbell Salt Pile
Paralyze	Canis Root Imp Stool

Potions for Money

With sufficient skill created potions can be sold for a high price greatly easing the burden of making money in the game. Creating powerful expensive potions also have the added benefit of increasing alchemy skill level faster.

Most Expensive Potions when Selling for Money

All other things being equal the potions one can create that command the highest prices all have Giant's Toe as a common ingredient.

Bear Claws + Giant's Toe + Hanging Moss
Blue Butterfly Wing + Blue Mountain Flower + Giant's Toe
Creep Cluster + Giant's Toe + Hanging Moss
Bear Claws + Creep Cluster + Giant's Toe
Blue Mountain Flower + Creep Cluster + Giant's Toe
Creep Cluster + Giant's Toe + Glowing Mushroom
Creep Cluster + Giant's Toe + Wheat
Giant's Toe + Wheat + Wisp Wrappings
Giant's Toe + Scaly Pholiota + Wheat
Giant's Toe + Glowing Mushroom + Wisp Wrappings

Expensive Potions for Lower Level Characters

Killing giants, however, to get a steady supply of giant's toes can be difficult if your character is not already leveled up and powerful. Early on in the game it may make more sense to avoid such confrontations and try making other potions which while not among the most profitable potions containing giant's toe can still help make money and just as important increase alchemy skill.

Potions with multiple high value effects tend to be the most valuable. The potion effects that command the highest price are paralysis, damage magicka regen, invisibility, slow, fortify carry weight and regenerate effects.  If creating potions with the sole intent to sell and make money, creating potions that combine both positive and negative effects may make more sense. Keep ingredients commonly found on farms like wheat for potion making; they probably have more value as potion ingredients than if sold directly.

Some high-value potions which can be created with more readily available ingredients are the following:

Blue Butterfly Wing + Blue Mountain Flower + Wheat
Creep Cluster + Deathbell + River Betty
Deathbell + Jazbay Grape + Salt Pile
Dragon's Tongue + Fly Amanita + Mora Tapinella or Scaly Pholiota
Glow Dust + Glowing Mushroom + Hanging Moss
Purple Mountain Flower + Frost Mirriam + Wheat 

Alchemy Effect and Ingredients Cheat Sheet

A quick Skyrim alchemy guide to the various alchemical effects and recipe of ingredients needed to make a potion to produce the effect.

Effect	Ingredients
Cure Disease	Charred Skeever Hide     Hawk Feathers     Mudcrab Chitin     Vampire Dust
Damage Health	Crimson Nirnroot     Deathbell     Ectoplasm     Falmer Ear     Human Flesh     Human Heart     Imp Stool     Jarrin Root     Nightshade     Nirnroot     Red Mountain Flower     River Betty     Skeever Tail     Small Antlers     Troll Fat     Void Salts
Damage Magicka	Butterfly Wing     Chaurus Eggs     Daedra Heart     Eye of Sabre Cat     Glow Dust     Hagraven Feathers     Hanging Moss     Human Heart     Jarrin Root     Luna Moth Wing     Namira's Rot     Nordic Barnacle
Damage Magicka Regeneration	Bear Claws     Blue Butterfly Wing     Blue Mountain Flower     Chicken's Egg     Glow Dust     Hanging Moss     Human Heart     Jarrin Root     Nightshade     Spider Egg     Spriggan Sap
Damage Stamina	Berit's Ashes     Blisterwort     Blue Butterfly Wing     Bone Meal     Canis Root     Crimson Nirnroot     Cyrodilic Spadetail     Giant's Toe     Jarrin Root     Nirnroot     Rock Warbler Egg     Spider Egg
Damage Stamina Regeneration	Creep Cluster     Daedra Heart     Frost Mirriam     Giant's Toe     Histcarp     Juniper Berries     Large Antlers     Silverside Perch     Skeever Tail     Wheat
Fear	Blue Dartwing     Cyrodilic Spadetail     Daedra Heart     Namira's Rot     Powdered Mammoth Tusk
Frenzy	Blisterwort     Falmer Ear     Fly Amanita     Hagraven Feathers     Human Heart     Troll Fat
Fortify Alteration	Grass Pod     River Betty     Spriggan Sap
Fortify Archery	Canis Root     Elves Ear     Juniper Berries     Spider Egg
Fortify Barter	Butterfly Wing     Dragon's Tongue     Hagraven Claw     Tundra Cotton
Fortify Block	Bleeding Crown     Briar Heart     Honeycomb     Pearl     Slaughterfish Scales     Tundra Cotton
Fortify Carry Weight	Creep Cluster     Giant's Toe     Hawk Beak     River Betty     Scaly Pholiota     Wisp Wrappings
Fortify Conjuration	Berit's Ashes     Blue Butterfly Wing     Blue Mountain Flower     Bone Meal     Frost Salts     Hagraven Feathers     Lavender
Fortify Destruction	Beehive Husk     Ectoplasm     Glow Dust     Glowing Mushroom     Nightshade     Wisp Wrappings
Fortify Enchanting	Blue Butterfly Wing     Hagraven Claw     Snowberries     Spriggan Sap
Fortify Health	Bear Claws     Blue Mountain Flower     Giant's Toe     Glowing Mushroom     Hanging Moss     Wheat
Fortify Heavy Armor	Ice Wraith Teeth     Sabre Cat Tooth     Slaughterfish Scales     Thistle Branch     White Cap
Fortify Illusion	Dragon's Tongue     Dwarven Oil     Mora Tapinella     Scaly Pholiota     Taproot
Fortify Light Armor	Beehive Husk     Hawk Feathers     Honeycomb     Luna Moth Wing     Skeever Tail
Fortify Lockpicking	Falmer Ear     Namira's Rot     Pine Thrush Egg     Spider Egg
Fortify One-handed	Bear Claws     Canis Root     Hanging Moss     Hawk Feathers     Rock Warbler Egg     Small Pearl
Fortify Pickpocket	Blue Dartwing     Nordic Barnacle     Orange Dartwing     Slaughterfish Egg
Fortify Restoration	Abecean Longfin     Cyrodilic Spadetail     Salt Pile     Small Antlers     Small Pearl
Fortify Smithing	Blisterwort     Glowing Mushroom     Sabre Cat Tooth     Spriggan Sap
Fortify Sneak	Abecean Longfin     Beehive Husk     Frost Mirriam     Hawk Feathers     Human Flesh     Powdered Mammoth Tusk     Purple Mountain Flower
Fortify Two-handed	Dragon's Tongue     Fly Amanita     Troll Fat
Invisibility	Chaurus Eggs     Crimson Nirnroot     Ice Wraith Teeth     Luna Moth Wing     Nirnroot     Vampire Dust
Lingering Damage Health	Imp Stool     Mora Tapinella     Orange Dartwing     Slaughterfish Egg     Slaughterfish Scales
Paralyze	Briar Heart     Canis Root     Human Flesh     Imp Stool     Swamp Fungal Pod
Regenerate Health	Garlic     Juniper Berries     Luna Moth Wing     Namira's Rot     Nordic Barnacle     Vampire Dust
Regenerate Magicka	Dwarven Oil     Fire Salts     Garlic     Jazbay Grapes     Moon Sugar     Salt Pile     Taproot
Regenerate Stamina	Bee     Fly Amanita     Mora Tapinella     Scaly Pholiota
Resist Fire	Berit's Ashes     Bone Meal     Dragon's Tongue     Elves Ear     Fire Salts     Fly Amanita     Mudcrab Chitin     Snowberries
Resist Frost	Frost Mirriam     Frost Salts     Hawk Beak     Moon Sugar     Purple Mountain Flower     Silverside Perch     Slaughterfish Scales     Small Pearl     Snowberries     Thistle Branch
Resist Magic	Bleeding Crown     Chicken's Egg     Crimson Nirnroot     Hagraven Claw     Lavender     Nirnroot     Tundra Cotton     Void Salts     Wisp Wrappings
Resist Shock	Blue Dartwing     Glow Dust     Glowing Mushroom     Hawk Beak     Pearl     Pine Thrush Egg     Snowberries     Swamp Fungal Pod
Restore Health	Blisterwort     Blue Dartwing     Blue Mountain Flower     Butterfly Wing     Charred Skeever Hide     Daedra Heart     Eye of Sabre Cat     Imp Stool     Rock Warbler Egg     Swamp Fungal Pod     Wheat
Restore Magicka	Briar Heart     Creep Cluster     Dwarven Oil     Ectoplasm     Elves Ear     Fire Salts     Frost Salts     Giant Lichen     Grass Pod     Human Flesh     Moon Sugar     Mora Tapinella     Pearl     Red Mountain Flower     Taproot     Vampire Dust     White Cap
Restore Stamina	Bear Claws     Bee     Charred Skeever Hide     Eye of Sabre Cat     Hawk Beak     Histcarp     Honeycomb     Large Antlers     Mudcrab Chitin     Orange Dartwing     Pearl     Pine Thrush Egg     Powdered Mammoth Tusk     Purple Mountain Flower     Sabre Cat Tooth     Silverside Perch     Small Pearl     Torchbug Thorax     Wisp Wrappings
Slow	Deathbell     Large Antlers     River Betty     Salt Pile
Waterbreathing	Chicken's Egg     Histcarp     Nordic Barnacle
Weakness to Fire	Bleeding Crown     Frost Salts     Ice Wraith Teeth     Juniper Berries     Moon Sugar     Powdered Mammoth Tusk
Weakness to Frost	Abecean Longfin     Elves Ear     Fire Salts     Ice Wraith Teeth     White Cap
Weakness to Magic	Creep Cluster     Dwarven Oil     Jazbay Grapes     Rock Warbler Egg     Salt Pile     Scaly Pholiota     Taproot     Torchbug Thorax
Weakness to Poison	Abecean Longfin     Bleeding Crown     Chaurus Eggs     Deathbell     Giant Lichen     Pine Thrush Egg     Sabre Cat Tooth     Small Antlers
Weakness to Shock	Bee     Giant Lichen     Hagraven Feathers     Void Salts

General Location of Common Alchemy Ingredients 

Blackreach
Crimson Nirnroot

Eastmarch (area around Windhelm)
Creep Cluster
Dragon's Tongue
Jazbay Grapes
Wheat

Falkreath Hold
Snowberries
Thistle

Haafingar (area around Solitude)
Deathbell
Nightshade
Nordic Barnacles
Spiky Grass

Hjaalmarch (area around Morthal)
Canis Root
Deathbell
Giant Lichen
Swamp Fungal Pod

The Pale
Snowberries

The Reach (area around Markarth)
Hanging Moss
Juniper Berries

The Rift (area around Riften)
Blue Mountain Flower

Canis Root
Scaly Pholiota

Whiterun Hold
Blue Butterfly Wing
Blue Mountain Flower
Lavender
Tundra Cotton
Wheat

Playing as a Mage – Some Tips and Observations

Some observations and recommendations:

Playing as a dedicated mage can be tough.  The lack of defense or ability to damage at close range is a big drawback.  Dual wielding destruction spells looks nice but isn't effective or convenient.  Being able to maintain a high defense with a stoneflesh spell or similar I've found usually takes precedence and alternating to a dual wielding destruction spell setup isn't feasible in the heat of battle.  So I wouldn't recommend using up perks on dual wielding destruction.  Expending effort to remain undetected is usually the most rational choice for a mage in battle.  An important perk for a dedicated mage would thus be Quiet Casting.  Restoration perks speeding up magic regeneration are also useful and easy to overlook.

I've also found a dedicated mage really needs an NPC tank to help block and prevent enemies from approaching.  A cheat of sorts is having Barbas along.  Barbas is pretty much indestructble and of more use than the daedric artifact his quest line is related to so don't be in a hurry to finish that quest if at all.  Still Barbas like other NPC helpers can be incapacitated with ice spikes, wander off, or be left behind during a fight.

Fortify Restoration Cheat Step-by-Step Instructions

The fortify restoration fortify alchemy fortify enchanting loop is a potentially game busting exploit in Skyrim based on a fortify restoration potion glitch that improves the active effects of the apparel or armor that the main character is wearing, something especially useful for clothing and armor with the fortify alchemy bonus.  This fortify restoration fortify alchemy loop can then be repeated for cumulative effect.  With very high fortify alchemy one can create very powerful potions and sell them for large sums of gold or use them for super-enhanced effects notably to increase fortify enchanting and create game killing enchanted weapons and armor.

Procedure
How it works (creating a save before experimenting with the cheat highly recommended):

1. Find and collect ingredients with a fortify restoration effect.

Fortify restoration potion recipe ingredients

• Abecean Longfin
• Cyrodilic Spadetail
• Salt Pile
• Small Antlers
• Small Pearl
• Yellow Mountain Flower 

The easiest fortify restoration ingredients to procure are likely the Abecean Longfin, Cyrodilic Spadetail and Salt Pile since they are often sold in alchemical shops. They can along be found along rivers or the docks outside Riften. Having enough ingredients to create 5 or more fortify restoration potions is recommended with more preferable.

2. Create or obtain clothes or armor with the fortify alchemy enchantment.

Fortify alchemy apparel could be gloves/bracers, ring, necklace, circlet, and falmer helmet all enchanted with fortify alchemy preferably using grand or black soul gems.

3.  Wear the clothes or armor with the effects you want to improve, in this case fortify alchemy.

4.  Create a fortify restoration potion.

5.  Drink/use the newly created fortify restoration potion.

6.  Quickly unequip all the fortify alchemy equipment then re-equip them.

7.  Repeat steps 4–6 quickly until fortify restoration ingredients run out or as desired.  Each repetition should cumulatively improve the alchemical bonus provided by the equipment worn and create progressively stronger fortify restoration potions.

Outcome
After the last fortify restoration potion's effect would normally run out, the bonus effect on the clothes will appear to revert back to normal if checking through the equip menu, but a look at the active effects menu will show that the cumulative bonus actually still remains.  The cumulative bonus will continue to be active until the apparel or armor is unequipped, so do not remove these items unless one wants to remove the bonus and start back at square one.

With vastly improved potion creation ability one can create powerful potions that can then be used to greatly enhance other skills and promote their learning such as enchanting and smithing which in turn can lead to the creation of vastly more powerful items.

Fortify enchanting potion recipe ingredients

• Blue Butterfly Wing
• Hagraven Claw
• Snowberries
• Spriggan Sap 

Fortify smithing potion recipe ingredients 

• Blisterwort
• Glowing Mushroom
• Sabre Cat Tooth
• Spriggan Sap

Money should no longer be a problem either since selling overpowered potions brings in lots of gold.  One can also create and use fortify enchantment potions to make invincible weapons and armor. Be careful though it is possible to go too high and reset the improvements, but you should be able to make unbelievably overpowered items long before reaching that threshold.

Since the improvement is geometric in progression, starting from a high alchemy skill level and high bonus apparel can lead to dramatically larger improvement than starting from lower skill or bonus levels. It should also improve alchemy skill more noticeably than before.  Starting from too low a level can be relatively costly and produce meager results so it may be best to level up first and focus on this trick after gaining regular access to better soul gems with which to create more powerful enchanted items for step 2.  An Alchemy skill level of 30 with Alchemist perk at level 2 and Physician and Benefactor perks is recommended as well before trying this exploit.