I did just some fast tests but it definately seemed that I received about same damage regardless if I was wearing 2000+ AR heavy armor or clothes and dragonhide.

But dragonhide has some really serious flaws: it doesn't last long enough, it takes too long to cast, you're immobile and unable to block while casting.
Scenario where this leads quite often -> immobile mage with no armor nor protection = dead mage...

Huh. Just verified that. Seems Armor Ignore is a bit overpowered... and that may be exploitable in both directions. Dual Wield Maces would hit harder and ignore armor... Then again, how often will our enemies have armor like us? I wonder how much armo Ancient Dragons have.

On a side note, 50% Damage Reduction vs 75% Armor Ignore requires about 1250 Armor Rating... exactly what we'd expect. But that level of armor also makes you nigh invulnerable to anything with less than 50% Armor Ignore.

if the 85% DR Cap is correct, we'd need 2120 armor rating to negate 75% armor ignore.

seems to be affected, has 45sec duration for me

Do you really need MAX ALCHEMY to achieve the +29% buff?

The TC's posting is full of errors when it comes to these perk selections and there are many possible perks missing. Going by his info you only need a LEVEL 30 Alchemy MAX to get the 5 Alchemy Ranks, Physician and Benefactor. Yet he says you need Level 100?? That makes no sense.

SOMEONE PLEASE CONFIRM THIS!

Your skill impacts potion effect strength. You need at least 90, and likely 100 skill to get the appropriate bonuses.

Sure, you can get the perks early, but the skill is necessary too.

Ah I see. That makes sense.

But what if you don't use Alchemy and stick to base Enchanting? How much more percentage does Alchemy give? Was it +4% in addition to the base 25? Apparently the TC said 5-10% which means 29% could even possibly be surpassed with Alchemy?

So confused lol...

A blank lvl 1 char with 15 skill in alchemy made a 4% enchant potion for me while a 100 skill char at lvl 2 (didnt go to the lvl screen, 0 perks in the tree) made a 6% enchant potion.

So the starting skill of 15 gives you the ability to make potions while maxing the skill gives you a 50% bonus to potions. 5 perks in the first alchemy tree give you a 100% to potions and the other perks give you what they say.

So its easy to say the base 100% of any skill is achieved with 15 skill point and maxing that skill gives you a bonus (50%?) to that skill damage/potions/time/reduce mana cost.

Honestly, this is definitely spreadsheet-worthy. Short version is, all of these bonuses are multiplicative, so a small change in one number can have huge impacts on the final outcome. If you're really concerned about how the numbers pan out, use the console commands he specified, and test out the various configurations. If you decide you only want 2 of the 3 steps, that's fine. He's proven it can be done, and has provided steps for testing and achieving it. The rest is up to you, and how much work you want to do.


I haven't done any tests in that regard, so I can't really answer. I hesitate to draw conclusions from the difference of 4% and 6%, especially with the integer rounding that occurs. I'll get back to you tonight, after I do some controlled tests.

If this is true and it comes down to that small of a difference then maxing Alchemy would be unneeded. Still needs more testing because I am curious of the differences multiplicatively...

I also figured I'd use this opportunity to ask if "Alteration Dual Casting" is needed? Does it increase duration of Alteration spells? And if it does, will it stack with Stability?

Dual casting a spell that is timed will make the time get doubled + a small bonus 10%
Dual casting a destruction spell dosnt do squat if you dont get the stagger perk, its just the same as double throw the exact spell.
Dual casting anything else that isnt destruction and isnt timed dosnt do much either you just get the 2x of that spell plus a 10% bonus the mana drain is the same.

And yes perk bonuses like stabilty stack with it. So a 30 sec spell with stability will become a 90 sec spell when dual cast.

I think the key to alchemy is to use your trains on it until 90 then get the five books to get to 95. At that point you can finish the last daedric quest which according to the strat guide let's you get + 5 to all warrior / their or Mage skills. You could get to 100 that way. I remember the breakpoint to 120 potions being a pretty difficult jump. It won't happen till right near the end.

Awesome! Totally worth it with Alteration.

Thanks bro.

I think I'm going to make a Breton.... I don't like being an Orc lol

I think there definitely could be more testing done on spreadsheets. My first pass through was pretty rough and was with a character that had already done a ton of quests. My second time through I am going to do the tests on a clean character again to see what I get. There may be some hidden factors that we can't see. For instance... Who could have predicted that marksman potions buff 2-handed damage like one poster commented?

Do you need 100 alchemy? I remember my + smithing potions jumping at one point from 60 to 120. There seem to be crafting breakpoints that put you in a new category. At least that is what I felt when I was doing it. I had more perks when I tested, but the ones I listed seemed to be the only ones that should make a difference on paper.

If someone wants to make a spreadsheet and figure out the bear minimum skill levels you need for alchemy to jump to 120-130 level... That would be awesome.

As far as using maces... The only hint keeping you from one shotting your companion is the armor you make for them. The only thing keeping them from killing you is your armor. Maces do more dps against amored targets but may be dangerous for tha. Very reason if you don't want to play solo.

Since I'm already in spreadsheet land at work, I'll just keep going, and dig into this a bit. We're trying to figure out Alchemy scaling vs Skill, in various configurations of Alchemy perks?

While I'm here.. I looked up Mace damage, and it appears the Base Mace damage for Ebony is 16, and the Base Mace damage for Daedric is... 16. Is there any reason to pick up the higher level weapon? Is tehre a fraction that gets multiplied so there's a difference at max one-hand skill? Daedric does more damage to magical, or armored, or something?

edit: Nevermind, figured out my problem.

what ingredients make fortify alchemy potions wish someone make video tutorial on how to do this im elder scrolls noob skyrim is my first es game

Can anyone tellme if Sneaking is viable with Heavy Armor? Or is Light Armor a must have? Any perks I could pick that could make me sneak better with heavy armor if this is the case?

There is no fortify alchemy ingredient, and there is no fortify enchantment item effect.

There are no fortify alchemy potions.

Instead:
Fortify Enchanting (Blue Butterfly Wing, Hagraven Claw, Snowberries, Spriggan Sap)
Fortify Smithing (Blisterwort, Glowing Mushroom, Sabre Cat Tooth, Spriggan Sap)

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Alchemy_(Skyrim)

Use Fortify Enchanting potions to make +29% smithing and alchemy gear and with alchemy you can make +32% enchanting and smithing potions.

Small question:

I've been playing for quite some time now, and I have not found any items with alchemy enchants which I could disenchant to start this. Any tips or places for sure findings?

Does anyone know if Magic Absorption negates magical damage like they do in oblivion? If they do, maxing magic resist and that might effectively make you close to invicible against magic.

Magic Resist from Breton(25) + Ring(25) + Agent of Mara(15) + Alternation Perk(30) = 95 = 85 (Assumed cap)
Magic Absorption from Alternation Perk(30) + Sign(50) = 80.
This means all magic damage is reduced to 3%. I would test it except I haven't found the standing stone yet. I wonder if breath and shouts damage can also be reduced. The easy way to test will be to start a fight at high Hogarth.

I believe step 4 is to make stronger fortify enchantment potions, then Enchant fortify Alchemy again to get up to 29.

Like I said in my post, I noticed no increase between 23% and 25% smithing with just 100smith. and 4damage for daedric sword and dagger between 23% and 28%.
The 28% I achieved with a store a bought +25% fortify enchant potion.

Go to Solitude and enter the clothes store, first shop on the right. She always has loads of enchanted rings and necklaces. Use the wait function to wait 48hrs and check her stock again, repeat this until she has one with the enchantment you want. Alternatively you could do the same thing at a blacksmith checking their apparel section each time.