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
