Alchemy can be incredibly useful. Potions can give you the added boost you may need to get through a long grueling dungeon, and you cannot raise the dead without the right concoction.
You need three things to make a potion:
1. High alchemy skill. When a character tries to make a potion, his/her alchemy skill must be above a certain level. The higher above that level, the better the chance for success.
2. The right ingredient. Ingredients are usually found at special encounters outdoors, and regenerate themselves after a time. Generally, the person who teaches a recipe tells you what plant it needs.
3. The recipe. These are usually bought in towns. You only need to buy each recipe once for the entire party.
When you have all these things, go into a town and click on the blue bottle button. Pick the PC with the highest alchemy skill to make the potion. Hope.
Here is a list of the alchemical concoctions, with min. skill to make:
Weak Poison
Min. Skill - 1
Need toadstools or spider glands. The lowest level poison.
Weak Curing
Min. Skill - 1
Need comfrey root. Cures poison somewhat.
Weak Healing
Min. Skill - 2
Need comfrey root. Provides mild healing.
Medium Poison
Min. Skill - 4
Need toadstools or spider glands. A stronger poison.
Medium Curing Potion
Min. Skill - 5
Need glowing nettle. A decent antidote for poison.
Medium Healing Potion
Min. Skill - 5
Need glowing nettle. Quality healing.
Strong Poison
Min. Skill - 5
Need crypt shrooms or asp fangs. Powerful stuff.
Graymold Salve
Min. Skill - ???
???
Resurrection Balm
Min. Skill - 8
Need ember flowers. Necessary to cast Raise Dead or Resurrection.
Weak Energy Potion
Min. Skill - 10
Need crypt shrooms. Restores some of your spell points.
Strong Healing Potion
Min. Skill - 10
Need ember flowers. Provides excellent healing.
Killer Poison
Min. Skill - 12
Need asptongue mold. The strongest poison.
One of the most useful things you can make with alchemy is poison, a powerful weapon in the magic-poor world of Exile.
Many monsters are immune to magic and fire. However, not many are poison-resistant. This makes poison an excellent mage-killer.
To poison a weapon, use it during combat. Your hand-to-hand weapon (the first one, if two are equipped) or arrows will become poisoned. Each time you attack, the level of poison decreases.
Don't poison a weapon too long before combat. Its effectiveness decreases with time. Also, switching weapons makes the poison disappear.
Poisoning an already poisoned weapon doesn't do much good. The weapon gets the maximum poison level of the poison being added or the poison already there, no more.