Skyrim Alchemy guide to craft potions, find skill trainers, and level up your skills

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How to level up Alchemy faster
Other leveling methods

This Skyrim Alchemy guide will help you masters the one of the most powerful side-hustles in the game. Although it's easy to miss the potential here what with all the grind and faff involved generally. It's an ability that requires patience to master, and a tip or two can help cut down that learning curve.

How to level up Skyrim Alchemy faster

These Skyrim Alchemy tips below will help you improve your skill level more quickly:

Using skill trainers
Reading skill books
Completing specific quests, and crafting potions.
Using the Thief Stone, found among the Guardian Stones southwest of Riverwood, to level up your Alchemy skill 20% faster.
The Well Rested buff gained by sleeping can also add an additional 10% boost, while the Lover's Comfort buff, gained when you get married in Skyrim, which adds a 15% XP boost.
These Alchemy perks further increase Alchemy levelling speed: Alchemist, Physician, Benefactor, and Poisoner.
Skyrim Enchanting will let you create gear that can boost your Alchemy skill.

Below we'll take a look at some of these options in more detail.

Skyrim alchemy leveling methods

1. Level up Alchemy by crafting potions from Giant’s Toes and Wheat

Level up Skyrim Alchemy crafting potions from Giant’s Toes and Wheat

Giant’s Toes and Wheat are two easily-obtainable ingredients that yields one of the highest value potions, Potion of Fortify Health, and one of the quickest and easiest way to level up your Skyrim Alchemy skill.

Using alchemy in Skyrim to make a Potion of Fortify Health

Giant’s Toes are especially valuable in the Alchemy process, so slaughter every one you see. Giant camps are marked by Mammoth Skulls on your map. If you're still early game and haven’t found any yet, there are two camps right next to each other in the valley between Whiterun and Windhelm, as shown below.

You can also sometimes find Giant’s Toes for sale at Alchemy shops.

As for wheat, lots can be found at the Brandy Mug, Hlaalu, and Hollyfrost farms, which are all near each other, immediately east-southeast of Windhelm. Harvesting wheat from these fields is not a crime so grab it all.

The Potion of Fortify Health has an 'optional' third ingredient and adding a Creep Cluster to the Wheat and Toe makes the results about 30% more valuable than the basic mix. It's up to you if you want to spend the time finding a third ingredient but Creep Clusters are quite abundant and can be found south of Windhelm. You’ll find some on the rocks beside the round, near the geysers south of Bonestrewn Crest, around the Atronach Stone (directly south of Bonestrewn Crest), and around the Riverside Shack.

If you don't want to fight giants you can just use the free and less dangerous Wheat and Creep Clusters for crafting. The resulting potion is not nearly as valuable as the above combinations, but you'll get quantity over quality and avoid dangerous battles.

2. Buy everything an Alchemist has, craft potions and sell it back

One quick and easy Alchemy levelling method in Skyrim is to find an Alchemist, buy every ingredient they have, use it all to create potions and then sell it all back. That will get you you money back and some alchemy crafting experience.

3. Use Enchanting to improve Alchemy

If you disenchant gear with the Fortify Alchemy enchantment to learn the skill you can then use it as you wish on headgear, necklaces, rings, and gloves. You can find pre-enchanted gear randomly at shops or in the wild, but the “Mourning Never Comes” quest (given by Astrid of the Dark Brotherhood) give you Muiri’s Ring when you complete it along with the optional objective. You can also get the Ring of Pure Mixtures from the Forsaken Cave as part of a quest given by Frida from Dawnstar, but if you give the ring to her, you’ll have to steal it back or loot it from her corpse in order to disenchant it.

You can boost your Enchanting skill by drinking specific potions which in turn allows you to further increase the Fortify Alchemy enchantments. However, the ingredients for potions that increase Enchanting skills can be hard to obtain and might only increase the maximum effect given by a piece of gear from 25% to 29%. Remember as well that both Smithing and Enchanting skills have to be maxed out to achieve such numbers, and that's no easy task.

4. Use Alchemy Skill Trainers

You can also pay coin to have your skill levelled up for you. There are three Alchemy trainers in Skyrim, each of whom also sells ingredients:

Lami

Lami runs Thaumaturgist’s Hut in Morthal. She is an Adept level trainer.

Arcadia

Arcadia runs Arcadia’s Cauldron in Whiterun. She is an Expert level trainer.

Babette

Babette can be found in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. She is a Master level trainer.

5. Find and read Alchemy books

There are five books to be found throughout Skyrim that enhance your Alchemy skill upon reading. Below you’ll find the locations for said books, though you only get the boost upon your first read.

A Game at Dinner

The second floor of New Gnisis Cornerclub in Windhelm, on a table
On a bookshelf found behind an expert locked door in Harmugstahl, a dungeon in The Reach
In the second floor bedroom of Honningbrew Meadery in Whiterun, on a table
In the lower level of Forsaken Cave in The Pale, found near the White Phial during the “White Phial” quest
Near a lever in Dead Crone Rock, found west of Markarth

Song of the Alchemists

On a table in Anise’s Cabin in Falkreath
On the counter to your right as you enter Bard’s College

De Rerum Dirennis

On a tree stump in an alchemist’s camp just north of Evergreen Grove (northwest of Falkreath)
In the corner of Grave Concoctions in Falkreath
On the corpse of an alchemist at Clearpine Pond (found west of Solitude)
In the lab in The Midden (a dungeon under the College of Winterhold)
At Sinderion’s Field Laboratory (in Blackreach, southwest of Winterhold)

Herbalist’s Guide to Skyrim

Just beyond the door next to the Alchemy Lab in Arcadia’s Cauldron of Whiterun
On a shelf behind the counter of the Hag’s Cure in Markarth
In a chest in Journeyman’s Nook, located southeast of Winterhold
On a shelf in Boulderfall Cave, a location just west of Shor’s Stone (which is north of Riften)

Mannimarco, King of Worms

On an altar at Evergreen Grove (northwest of Falkreath)
On the Alchemy Lab in Nightcaller Temple (east of Dawnstar)
On the Alchemy Lab found just east of Dragon Bridge (southwest of Solitude)
In an apothecary’s satchel near the water east-southeast of Winterhold, next to two skeletons
At an altar southeast of Winterhold, next to Rundi’s corpse

6. Find and complete alchemy quests

There are a small number of quests that, upon completion, boost your Alchemy skill. They are as follows:

Discerning the Transmundane (+5 to Alchemy upon completion)

Skyrim Discerning the Transmundane quest

To begin this quest, seek out Septimus Signus in his outpost north of the College of Winterhold (pictured above). The quest is lengthy, but at the end, choose the ‘path of the thief’ for your stat boost.

Lami’s Misc. Quest (+1 to Alchemy upon completion)

Lami (she runs Thaumaturgist’s Hut in Morthal) is looking for a book called “Song of the Alchemists.” See the previous section for this book’s possible locations. Giving her the book, boost your stat, but don’t forget to read the book first for an additional alchemy boost!

Arcadia’s Misc. Quest (+1 to Alchemy upon completion)

Arcadia (she runs Arcadia’s Cauldron in Whiterun) is looking for some frost salts, which are dropped by Frost Antronachs.

Frida’s Misc Quest (+1 to Alchemy upon completion)

Frida (found at The Mortar and Pestle in Dawnstar) is looking for the Ring of Pure Mixtures. You can find it inside the Forsaken Cave (pictured above).

Inge Six Fingers’ Misc Quest (+1 to all stealth skills, including Alchemy)

Inge, who can be found at the Bards College, is looking for Finn’s Lute. You can accept the quest to find it from her directly, or find the lute first and present it to her. The Lute can be found in a chest inside Stony Creek Cave (location pictured above).