What are the BEST / MOST PROLIFIC and the MOST DANGEROUS and MOST INNACESSIBLE places in Skyrim to forage for alchemical ingredients.

My character has taken time out of her busy schedule of dragon slaying and general making of mayhem to collect flowers, roots and salts for her potions.

Some of these will no doubt be found randomly in barrels and in depths or heights that can only be reached as part of extended quests. That doesn't concern me here. Its time to put thoughts of adventure and random loot aside and to search natures store.

Sometimes the ingredients will be handy in large quantities either in accessible areas or will appear out of sorts in areas which are much less easy to reach. There is much to be said to finding a valley full of mountain flowers but also something special about finding a sole specimen on a mountain top or a rare plant in a pot.

Chimpy says "North to Riften, east to Shor's Watchover there is a cave, Tolvald's Cave, full of Falmers but also full of Glowing Mushrooms (100 easily) and other kinds of mushrooms. Take a basket with you and go.. "

KatyK says "there have been countless times that my snooping, or just exploring, and never giving up on jumping has been rewarded with goodies like a pine thrush nest in a remote mountain nook (or next to the Tower Stone, coolest nest location ever). " - on the coast northeast of dawnstar and west of winterhold

johnywas says "go to Eldergleam sanctuary to collect butterflies". you won't be disappointed. not sure that theres anymore butterflies in eldergleam than anywhere else but the scenery is amazing.

go to a cave just South of Ivarstead (honeystrand cave). bears and bees. its the honeybears. a don't miss. Thanks to KatyK and Bufger

If you want to kind of cheat, the strategy guide has all of the recipes and all four properties of each ingredient. It also tells you where to find ingredients. I do a little alchemy and over the course of gameplay I tend to end up with a lot of ingredients without using the guide. The wiki also has this information. I never went out of my way searching for stuff and have plenty of potions and ingredients to sell to pump up my speechcraft.

<sup>cheers

I don't mind cheating but this isn't really the purpose of the post. I would really like some ideas to add interest to what for me is a fairly mundane pursuit. especially as I can much more easily buy all the ingredients I need.

However, you are right that the wiki lists the major sites for each potion and I may just go have a look at the ingredients in their most common habitat. some like blue flowers and barnacles are obvious. if you want a blue flower go up a mountain - if you want a barnacle go to the northern coast - but some are rather less so.

if people give me suggestions for foolhardy trips. l'll probably follow them up. my character needs some toughening up.</sup>

Blackreach is the only location for Crimson Ninroot, the most powerful Damage Health ingredient (besides the unique Jarrin Root). There is a quest associated with them and a cool reward which you may find interesting as an Alchemist.

What he said. A quest especially for alchemy lovers. You find it during the main quest, probably. It is possible to get it if you do the Daedric quests.

You'll need to be on a quest to get into Blackreach in the first place; both the MQ line and Hermaeus Mora's Daedric quest will provide an opportunity to do so, after which you'll be able to access it freely. You'll have to re-kill the inhabitants each time you go for more, though, as they respawn too. Side note: the quest related to Crimson Nirnroots asks for 30 of them, but there are more than that many available; you can take all of them, though, as any above 30 will not be taken when you deliver them to the person who wants them.

All the following is my opinion, and only what comes to mind right now, as I haven't made notes or hit every inch yet:

- Kynesgrove environs and the adjoining marshy area are the best for dragon's tongue, jazbay, and creep cluster
- Closer to the town, as you're going uphill from the town with Delphine to kill that dragon, is a great place for BEES (during the day).
- marsh around Morthal has mucho deathbell, swamp fungal pod, some nirnroot
- northern coast shipwrecks good for nordic barnacle cluster, nirnroot is easy to spot on all the tiny islands just off the coast (Dawnstar environs)
- Winterhold town and immediate are is great for snowberries (enchanting, smithing)... and west up the hill outside of town you're bound to come across ice wraiths (for teeth), and on the road to the east even wispmother and wisps (glow dust)

There are an unusually large number of mushrooms in Rebel's Cairn.

For a loot-type shopping trip, try the Dawnstar quest about everybody having nightmares. At one point you enter a big alchemy room with, seriously, 3 alchemy tables, tons of ingredients on bookshelves......including 2 daedra hearts.

Of course the alchemy room in the Hall of Countenance respawns reqularly with all the bestest stuff.

Plus there have been countless times that my snooping, or just exploring, and never giving up on jumping has been rewarded with goodies like a pine thrush nest in a remote mountain nook (or next to the Tower Stone, coolest nest location ever).

what is your goal? to power level alchemy? to make money? to make potions? to make poisons?

North to Riften, east to Shor's Watchover there is a cave, Tolvald's Cave, full of Falmers but also full of Glowing Mushrooms (100 easily) and other kinds of mushrooms. Take a basket with you and go..

I forget which hold but the alchemy shop in one randomly has 2-3 crimson nirn roots. A random hunter encounter by giant camps has 10-12 giant toes which are good to add value/skill ups for potions.

I stayed in the caverns but did find lots of mushrooms.

Being a thief I always just break into alchemy shops and steal all the stuff on the counters, it's not rare stuff but it's a lot. I always go here during bedlam jobs seeing there is easily 500 worth of goods there.

This is a good topic. Anybody know where I can find a lot of Dartwings of any color? I caught a Dragonfly out in the lake by Riften once but I haven't ever found alot of them in one spot.

At night over the water is good place, I've seen tons at night.

the Tower stone sounds cool .where is it ?

Wheres the Cairn. My Maps pretty bare ?

Would be easier to google it, wiki will show you on a map where it is. Just like when my wife tries to tell me directions, I'm like just give me the damn map.

Did you continue to Tolvald's Gap and further to Tolvald's Crossing? It's a very extended cave. And I forgot to say that you'll find many Chaurus Eggs. I entered this cave with no ingredients and went out with 194 Glowing Mushrooms, 16 Bleeding Crown, 11 Blisterwort, 11 Fly Amanita, 18 Imp Stool, 12 Namira's Rot, 20 White Cap, 24 Falmer Ear, 192 Chaurus Eggs, 2 Human Flesh, 7 Skeever Tail. And all that in one day:-))

Really? When I was putting together my web-tool, I didn't have that. I found over 15,000 unique recipes - the guide has them all? That would be really handy, because I (and pretty much everybody) am still trying to figure out how the game determines the name and listed effect for a recipe that produces multiple effects.

BTW, Chillwind cave also has lots of Falmer (ears, human flesh, human hearts), Mushrooms (bleeding crown, blisterowrt, imp stool, white cap, fly amantia, glowing), and Chaurus (eggs). It seems designed to show you how the Falmer manage to eat while living under ground.

Did you find it yet? It's at the very top of an island almost exactly between Dawnstar and Winterhold. The island is to the east of the bigger island that's closer to Dawnstar. Good luck!

Thanks Uncle, I'm always running out of blisterwort...