World of Warcraft: Alchemy/Herbalism Guide
start with 1 in the skill, as well as a couple weak alchemy recipes (Minor
Healing Potion, Elixir of Minor Defense). You'll be able to buy many new
recipes from the trainer as you become more proficient.
There are several items you'll need in order to mix your potions. Fortunately,
they're not often hard to find, and early on they're not too expensive.
- Herbs. If you have Herbalism (and you SHOULD have it; I cannot stress this
enough), you can pluck these from various plants you'll find around Azeroth.
If not...either your wallet will drain fast, or someone will be spending a
lot of time on your behalf. Dremoon points out that it's also possible to
get herbs via the Morrowgrain quests, but this is also rather expensive, and
worth it only if one is also trying to get reputation with Darnassus or
Thunder Bluff.
- Vials. For potions, these are vital. There are four kinds of vials: Empty,
Leaded, Crystal, and Imbued. You MUST have the proper vial with you in order
to mix a potion (you can't use a Leaded vial in place of an Empty vial, and
vice versa).
- Oils. You can extract some vital oils from certain fish (none of them are
edible normally). These oils can, in turn, be used to create other potions.
- Other reagents. Sometimes you'll require other reagents, such as metal ore
or bars, or fangs or claws dropped by certain animals.
Later on, you'll be able to Transmute metals and certain elemental essences
from one thing to another--the original definition of an alchemist, if you must
know. To do this, you'll need:
- The item(s) being transmuted. Naturally, you couldn't transmute an item that
wasn't there, now could you? This item will be consumed by the process.
- Philosophers' Stone. This catalyst will require a long cooldown after you
use it, but generally the items it makes are worth it. Especially
transmuting Thorium to Arcanite. You can only have one Philosophers' Stone,
and even if you did, the cooldown would apply to all of your Philosophers'
Stones. Fortunately, the Stone is not consumed by the transmuting process
and can be used again after the cooldown ends.
2. Supporting Professions [ALCH_SUP]
------------------------------------
There are several professions that can support an Alchemist in his trade, but
only two that I really recommend. Mining and Enchanting help in a few cases,
but Herbalism trumps them both--virtually none of the recipes (except for the
Transmute recipes) fail to use herbs. There is a secondary profession/skill
that gives a minor boost to an Alchemist, however, and I will cover it.
Herbalism
---------
An Alchemist without Herbalism is like a plane without an engine. You can put
a lot of effort into pulling it up to the top of a plateau, have someone push
it off the side, and glide for some distance under the force of gravity and the
lift from the wings, but eventually you're going to hit the ground, and
probably hit it fairly hard. And even if you manage a proper landing, you have
to push the plane back to the top of the cliff in order to get it to "fly"
again.
Seriously, herbs are so instrumental to virtually all of your alchemy recipes,
to not have herbalism is to limit yourself severely. You won't get a recipe
involving a Mining product until you hit skill level 225, and you won't get one
for Enchanting until you hit skill level 290! And the recipes requiring herbs
outnumber the ones needing a product of Mining or Enchanting by such a
ridiculous amount, to pick anything but Herbalism as your second primary trade
would be nothing short of foolishness. I would not recommend a primary trade
for an alchemist other than Herbalism. Even having an alternate character
"feeding" herbs to a non-Herbalism alchemist is rather inefficient. Dremoon
points out that it's possible to get many herbs via the repeatable Morrowgrain
quests, but this still costs quite a bit of money over time, and there's no
guarantee that you'll get the herbs you need with any given use of the seeds.
Herbalism is such a vital part of alchemy that if you pair the two professions,
you'll find that only rarely will you need to ask someone else to help you to
craft a reagent you need for a recipe you need to create. This is because many
of the alchemy recipes in the game require only herbs and vials, and most of
the rest require creature drops that are fairly easy to get. Very few recipes
really require outside help to obtain (such as the Philosophers' Stone).
An herbalist/alchemist is fairly independent and rarely needs help to craft
things...but many other classes will need herbs, potions/elixirs, or transmuted
materials in order to craft their materials.
Fishing
-------
Personally, I recommend that you grab all three secondary professions. Why?
Because you can, and because they're all somewhat useful to all characters.
(Exception: First Aid isn't that useful to a Tailor, because both use the same
kinds of cloth.)
Fishing is actually fairly useful to an alchemist, because it's by fishing that
you can acquire some reagents that may be useful to you or other professions.
Oily Blackmouth, Firefin Snapper, and Stonescale Eel all can have their
precious oils extracted from them by an alchemist. In turn, you can use those
oils either as reagents in your potions, or as reagents that are used by other
professions. (Fire Oil, for example, is used in a few Tailoring patterns.)
The fish that you use for alchemy can sometimes be found swimming in schools,
giving you a far greater chance of landing the fish that you're looking for.
They can also be found in level 10+ fishing areas randomly (L20+ for Firefin
Snapper, L40+ for Stonescale Eel).
3. Specializations [ALCH_BIG]
-----------------------------
OK, so you want to be more productive as an alchemist? Well, you can take one
of three Specializations to increase your production in one of three
categories:
- Potions
- Elixirs (and Flasks)
- Transmutes
To learn a Specialization, a character must be level 68 and have an alchemy
skill of 325. You must also complete the quest for that Specialization. As
of Patch 2.1, it is possible to switch specializations for a sum of 100 gold,
but only if you have already learned one specialization.
These Specializations allow you a chance to produce more than one of a certain
class of alchemy recipe when you use it. The chance of it proccing seems to be
around 20%, or one in five, and when it does proc, it can produce from 1 to 4
extra of whatever you're trying to make or transmute.
For example, let's say that an alchemist has Potion Specialization. When that
alchemist produces, say, Super Healing Potions, and has the materials for five.
Since the proc is random, there's a chance that the alchemist could produce
exactly five, but there's also a chance (albeit very, VERY unlikely) that the
alchemist could produce as many as 25 potions from the materials! Likely the
alchemist will produce about six potions from the materials he has, which can
really add up over the long haul.
Since Specializations don't *reduce* your ability to create recipes, it's
highly recommended that you do a specialization quest. When patch 2.1 rolls
around, it won't be too hard to change your mind if you feel you've made a
mistake.
Master of Potions
-----------------
Since virtually everyone uses some kind of healing or mana potions, this is a
fairly safe specialization to choose. It can also be used to create various
other potions, including the protection potions and free/living action potions.
(Mageblood and Troll's Blood potions are actually elixirs, so they don't fall
under this category.)
In order to become a Master of Potions, you need to get the Master of Potions
quest from Lauranna Thar'well in Cenarion Refuge (Zangarmarsh). The quest
requires you to obtain the Botanist's Field Guide from High Botanist Freywinn
in Tempest Keep (the Botanica). You also need to make 5 Super Healing Potions,
5 Super Mana Potions, and 5 Major Dreamless Sleep Potions.
Master of Elixirs
-----------------
Not everyone is going to be using a great deal of elixirs, but some people are
willing to buy them. And if you're in a guild, some people will be wanting to
use the expensive Flasks (which are also affected by this Specialization!) to
boost their abilities relatively risk-free. The chance to proc while making
Flasks may be reason enough to take this Specialization. Starting with Patch
2.1, elixirs are placed into different categories, making them less useful
since only one per category will be allowed. (And Flasks use up both of the
available categories.)
In order to become a Master of Elixirs, you need to get the Master of Elixirs
quest from Lorokeem in Shattrath City. (He's also the master alchemist trainer
in that city.) The quest requires you to get 10 Essence of Infinity from the
rift-keepers in the Black Morass. You also need to bring 5 Elixirs of Major
Defense, 5 Elixirs of Mastery, and 5 Elixirs of Major Agility.
Master of Transmutation
-----------------------
If you make a good deal of money through transmuting items, then you may be
tempted to take this Specialization. After all, there's a cooldown
restriction, and anything that speeds up the process/increases productivity has
to be good, right?
Well, it depends. Some people aren't so quick to laud this Specialization,
simply *because* the cooldown restriction limits how often it will be used.
Ultimately, it's up to the alchemist to decide.
In order to become a Master of Transmutation, you have to bring 4 Primal Might
to Zarevhi in the Stormspire (Netherstorm), then accept and complete the quest
he has to offer. That's it. However, it'll take some time (and/or money) to
get this quest done, since Primal Might requires five primal esssences each,
and there are four transmutations to be done.
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