Skyrim Alchemy Calculator
Pick two or three ingredients to see which effects they share, search for every ingredient with a given effect, and calculate how much your skill and perks increase potion strength.
Mix ingredients
Find ingredients by effect
Potion strength
How alchemy works
Every ingredient in Skyrim has four effects. When you combine two or three ingredients at an alchemy lab, the result gets every effect that at least two of the ingredients share. Effects that only one ingredient has are lost. If no effect is shared, the ingredients are not used up and you make nothing.
A mix can end up with both beneficial and harmful effects. The most valuable effect in it decides whether you get a potion or a poison, and the other effects come along with it. The Purity perk at Alchemy 100 strips the harmful effects from potions and the beneficial ones from poisons.
How to use the alchemy calculator
- Pick two or three ingredients. The calculator shows the effects they share and ticks the effects each ingredient contributes.
- Pick just one ingredient to see every other ingredient it can be combined with, grouped by effect. Click any ingredient to add it to the mix.
- Use Find ingredients by effect to list every ingredient with an effect. Add a second effect to find ingredients that have both.
- Enter your skill, perks and Fortify Alchemy gear to see how much stronger your potions are than a beginner's.
The calculator covers 111 ingredients from the base game and its add-ons.
Example recipes
| Ingredients | Result |
|---|---|
| Blue Mountain Flower + Wheat | Restore Health, Fortify Health |
| Glowing Mushroom + Spriggan Sap | Fortify Smithing |
| Snowberries + Glowing Mushroom | Resist Shock |
| Deathbell + River Betty | Damage Health, Slow (poison) |
| Blue Mountain Flower + Wheat + Giant's Toe | Restore Health, Fortify Health, Damage Stamina Regen |
The last row shows how a third ingredient can add an unwanted effect. Giant's Toe shares Fortify Health with the other two, but it also shares Damage Stamina Regen with Wheat, so the potion picks up a harmful side effect.
Potion strength
How strong a potion is depends on your skill and perks:
Strength = base × (1 + 0.5 × Alchemy ÷ 100) × Alchemist × Physician × Benefactor or Poisoner × (1 + Fortify Alchemy)
| Bonus | Applies to | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Alchemy skill | Everything | up to +50% |
| Alchemist (5 ranks) | Everything | +20% per rank |
| Physician | Restore Health, Magicka, Stamina | +25% |
| Benefactor | Beneficial effects in potions | +25% |
| Poisoner | Harmful effects in poisons | +25% |
| Fortify Alchemy gear and potions | Everything | as listed |
At Alchemy 100 with all five Alchemist ranks, Physician and Benefactor, a restore potion is about 4.4 times as strong as one made by a beginner, before any gear.
Tips
- Learn effects by experimenting. Eating an ingredient reveals its first effect, and the Experimenter perk reveals more. Every potion you make also reveals the effects it uses.
- Sell the expensive ones. Fortify and Invisibility potions are worth far more than Restore ones, which makes alchemy a good money maker as well as a fast way to level.
- Plan the tree. See all nine Alchemy perks on the Alchemy perk tree page, or check how many levels alchemy gives you with the skill XP calculator.