The Skyrim Alchemy Lab
Drop up to three ingredients into the cauldron and see exactly what you brew: every effect, its strength, duration and gold value, worked out with the game’s own formula and your Alchemy skill and perks.
Your character
Numbers follow the Skyrim Special/Anniversary Edition alchemy formula with base-game, Dawnguard and Dragonborn ingredients. Seeker of Shadows and other rare bonuses are not included, so treat the last digit as a close estimate.
How alchemy works in Skyrim
Every ingredient carries four hidden effects. When two or three ingredients in the cauldron share an effect, that effect ends up in your brew – the rest are wasted. The strongest shared effect decides the name and whether you get a potion or a poison: if the top effect is harmful, the whole bottle is a poison.
Strength and duration grow with your Alchemy skill, the Alchemist perk, Fortify Alchemy gear and the specialist perks. Physician boosts Restore Health, Magicka and Stamina, Benefactor boosts the good effects of potions, Poisoner boosts the harmful effects of poisons, and Purity strips out every effect that does not fit – no more Paralysis hiding in your healing draught. Want to plan the whole tree? Our Skyrim Skills and Perk Trees guide covers every Alchemy perk.
Tips for better brews
- Try a third ingredient: it can add one or two extra effects and push the gold value up a lot.
- Ingredients highlighted in green share at least one effect with what is already in the cauldron.
- Expensive effects such as Fortify Smithing, Invisibility and Damage Health raise the price far more than Restore effects.
- Eating an ingredient reveals its first effect, so the lab saves you a lot of tasting.