Since I am unable to play Skyrim, I'd love to stay with the Skyrim community...

I found the amount of ingredients and potions you're able to create from those, quite overwhelming.
To the point... none of those potions look potent enough to be of much use. Even at Master level, I found them to be more encumbering than helpful.

What are your thoughts?

How come you are not able to play Skyrim?

Anyway, when I play alchemist, most of the potions I create are multi-effect potions that I won't actually use, but sell instead for cash. As I level up and take perks to make stronger potions, I can make potions that sell for 1000 septims or more. It will be something like Paralysis, Restore Magicka, and Damage Magicka Regeneration all in one potion. Quite useless, but good for making money and leveling up alchemy skills. More expensive potions you create, more experience you get.

Potions that I create that I use are Fortify Smithing potion and Fortify enchanting potion. Fortify barter potion sometimes.

I occasionally use paralysis poison, but mostly I end up selling them because they are worth a lot of money. I also mean to use invisibility potion, but I end up not using it.

The potions that I actually use most are potions of healing of various strengths. Potion of Ultimate Healing is nice to carry around. Nice insurance for when you make stupid mistakes.

Lately I have not been making potions. Playing an alchemist makes me too OCD. I tend to hoard potions and very stingy about using them.

How come you are not able to play Skyrim? See the topic I started way back: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1361470-gold-disapearing-from-inventory-menu/

Fair enough, you make potions to sell. But, as in any other games there is so much you'd like to buy for the gold you aquire.
I had always been keen on alchemy: Morrowind, Oblivion etc. It helped progressing through the levels, but I find Skyrim to be different... I only cared about Health potions. Started making poisons, but they're hopeless; poison of raveged magica is supposed to ravage the NPC from using magicka, but they still hurl at you all, that is at their disposal.

The only potions I make are Fortify Smithing just so I can get leather-based armors over the cap for my assassin chick.

Potion of Fortify Enchanting a 379%: Allows you to reduce magic cost by 100% with a Greater Soul with all relevant perks.

Yeah, you have to exploit to get that, but I feel you earn it because you have to aim at just the right percentage and it takes forever to find that.

Fortify Enchanting at 379%? ... WOW, isn't it a bit overpowering?
You're still enjoy the game at your current difficulty level?

I only use it for magic (which I don't really use that often, but I like to have the option open) and carry weight. Any other enchantment is determined by natural limitations, and I don't do any that augment offensive abilities besides Unarmed.

I also play on Master difficulty, and I'm not allowed to start doing these kinds of exploits until I hit the level cap.

It creates a very difficult starting game but let's me enjoy some more freedom when I get to the max level.

This makes a perfect sense. I didn't quite get it when you replied..

Paralyze/Lingering damage health=the best poison for an archer character.Basically a fire and forget poison with the right perks and skill.
My favorite by far

None..all I use is Ultimate Healing.

Fortify health and one-handed potions.

Poison and lingering poison potions.

I think alchemy is one of the most important skills in the game, especially when you're a low-level character. Potions can do a lot of the work in battles, particularly with dragons. As others have mentioned, alchemy is also a good way to make quick gold. They can also save your ass when you're about to die! Watching an enemy fall over dead a few feet in front of your character from a lingering potion is a gas!

I enjoy trying different ingredient combinations, cooking up more powerful potions. Poisoned bow shots in sneak can take out an entire bandit clan is short order!

I use a whole range of potions, but some of my favorites are paralyze/poison (can save your ass when there are multiple, high-level attackers!), damage health/damage stamina, damage stamina regeneration, weakness to fire, weakness to frost, weakness to poison, fortify health, fortify light-armor (I only use light armor), fortify one-handed, fortify marksman and so on.

My first character made loads my second just buys um as he cant be bothered with all that tedious collecting.

I've always enjoyed Alchemy in TES games, although it's always made characters OP. I wish there was an option to make 'better' potions weigh less as in previous games.

At end game I make 3 potions:
Fortify Enchanting-Fortify Smithing. Combines both crafts just to cut down on weight and ingredients used, you cannot get both effects out of one potion. Spriggan Sap + Snowberries + Sabre Cat Tooth.
Paralysis-Drain Stamina. The Drain Stamina is pretty useless, but if I add any kind of poison to it it feels too OP. I just enjoy the one-hit and they go down without a sound aspect. Canis Root + Swamp Fungal Pod + Giant's Toe.
Fortify Health-Restore Health-Restore Stamina. My get out of jail free card which is hot-keyed for emergencies (or if I am sprinting for long distances). Wheat + Eye of Sabre Cat + Bear Claws.

Alchemy is great support playing on Master, but it can be so powerful using crafting Fortifies, that it can make you OP even on Master, so it's definitely potent.

I make and use fortify enchanting, fortify smithing, fortify - restore health, paralysis - drain magicka (25 seconds), damage health, and invisibility for my archer character. I make and sell slow potions with other effects. I'll use fortify conjuration or fortify one-handed, but not that often. I like to use the invisibility potions (70 - 90 seconds) so that I can attempt to sneak into and out of a dungeon and kill the least number of bandits.

"Slow" potions for cash and for increasing skill faster. Restore potions as needed.

With my stealth archer: markman, lingering damage health for dragons, carry weight, smithing and enchanting until gear is maxxed. Then a 3 effect resist potion for dragons and tougher mages. Finally, I carry the Ultimate healing potions for the rare times I need them.

I only make potions to sell. I agree that home-made potions, even with a lot of perks, are under-powered. At least in previous Beth games that was balanced in some cases by lower weights, but that advantage has gone.

Depends on the character I'm playing.

One character creates fortify one-handed potions. Another creates weakness to fire and fortify destruction. If I'm looking to level Alchemy a bit, I'll make some 500-1500 septim potions to sell. I don't spam restore stamina potions or anything like that.

For my stealth archer:
-The usual suite of health, magicka, and regen potions.
-Paralysis + damage health + lingering health (human flesh + imp stool + mora tap)
-Paralysis + lingering health (canis root + imp stool + mora tap)
-Cure disease (just in case)
-Invisibility
-Rarely, frenzy or fear (though usually I'll just cast the illusions as needed.)

Here is a pretty basic question: Does the player ever create the larger potions that you can find in the game?

Perhaps my alchemy stats are not up to par. I would much rather carry the 7 Draught of Ultimate Healings that I can find, than the measly health potions I can create (which all seem to be less effective). I pretty much only create Smithing potions, but I have just recently been experimenting with poisoning my blade and arrows, so I may get into that game a bit more.

I've never found a Fortify Smithing potion of +120%.

Thats totally sort of part of my confusion! I can make better smithing potions than I find, but I can't seem to make other potions better.

Have yoy ever created something that was in the larger bottles and was called a draught or elixir? Are the player created ones always called "potions"?

No, but I can try right quick.

Edit:
I messed around with it a little and made a Potion of Restore Health that restores 188. I made a Potion of Resist Poison with values of 96% for 60 seconds. This was with Alchemy skill of 100, all relevant beneficial perks, and 4 * +25% gear.

I checked Uncle Alchey's site and all beneficial potions are called "Potion of ____" and all poisons are called "Poison of ____" so I guess there are no Draughts, Philters, or Elixirs that we can create.

Can't remember the exact name, but it's the 50 second Invisibility potion. I know, it seems a bit excessive, particularly when it takes less than 10 seconds to pull back another arrow, but I like overkill.

I've never put a bottle down to see what it looked like.
It did vex me that players cannot make an 'Ultimate' potion that could heal a stat to full no matter what it was, but I still prefer my home made heal potion to a single effect Ultimate one.

For instance my Health is 610 (buffed) and I have a hot-keyed potion that heals both Health and Stamina +230 as well as Fortifying my Health +147. I've never had a circumstance where that wasn't enough even on Master, and you cannot get a 3 effect potion like that from vendors or loot, so self-made is definitely better to me.