Baldur’s Gate 3 is full of interesting options, and one of the most fascinating is the art of alchemy. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive into the world of alchemy, covering everything from finding ingredients to crafting strong potions that can aid you in your adventures. Whether you’re looking to heal, gain new abilities, or unleash powerful attacks, alchemy can be your key to success in the game.
Understanding Alchemy in Baldur’s Gate 3
Alchemy in Baldur’s Gate 3 goes beyond potions. Reagents are your building blocks, essential for crafting potions, elixirs, poisons, and more. You can extract these reagents through the Alchemy Crafting Menu. Reagents come in many forms: ashes, vitriols, sublimates, suspensions, essences, and salts, each serving a unique purpose.
Understanding Potions
Potions in Baldur’s Gate 3 are single-use items with immediate effects. When consumed, they grant you various advantages, be they healing, enhanced abilities, or unique powers. In the heat of combat, remember that taking a potion is considered an Additional action, so use them strategically.
Finding Potion Ingredients
Potion ingredients are found across the Sword Coast, but you must know where to look. To spot them easily, press the ‘Alt’ key to highlight plants, minerals, mushrooms, and contextual objects. While many ingredients can be found in open nature during exploration, some rare ones may require high Perception, Survival, or Nature rolls.
Additionally, you can acquire ingredients by exploring caves and dungeons, defeating enemies, or even purchasing them from NPC traders.
Discovering Potion Recipes
Finding potion recipes can be a challenge, but there are three primary methods:
- Collecting Ingredients: Certain recipes can be obtained by collecting specific ingredients and passing automatic skill checks like ‘Nature,’ ‘Medicine,’ ‘Survival,’ or ‘Insight.’ Most of your active party members can pass these checks with ease.
- Reading: Books, notes, letters, and other documents found throughout your journey may contain valuable recipes. Be sure to share this knowledge among your characters via the inventory menu to increase your chances of finding hidden recipes.
- Extraction:Extracting ingredients can also reveal potion recipes, provided your crafting character possesses enough intelligence.
Crafting Potions: Step by Step
Crafting potions requires two important elements: ingredients and recipes. Here’s a step-by-step guide to crafting your own potions:
- Open Your Inventory: Click on the Alchemy Tab located in the top-right circle of your inventory.
- Select available recipes: Browse through your available recipes within the Alchemy tab.
- Brew or extract: Depending on your needs, select “brew” for concoctions or “extract” for reagents.
- Reagent Allocation: The items you craft will be automatically added to your inventory. Refined reagents are stored in your alchemy pouch. Remember that reagents and ingredients are shared across your characters through the ‘Magic Pockets’ feature.
A Collection of Potions
Here’s a comprehensive list of potions and alchemical items you can craft in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Alchemy Potions in BG3
| Potion | Effect | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| Antidote | Cures the effects of Poison. | “Salts of Artemis Any Suspension” |
| Healing Potion | Restores 2d4 + 2 hit points. | “Rogue Snack Salts Any Suspension” |
| Greater Healing Potion | Recovers 4d4 + 4 life points. | “balm ashes any salt” |
| Greater Healing Potion | Restores 8d4 + 8 hit points. | “Musk Creeper Salts Any Suspension” |
| Ultimate Healing Potion | Restores 10d4 + 20 hit points. | “Ki-Rin hair sublimation any ashes” |
| Speed Potion | Induces haste for 3 turns | “hyena ear ashes any salt” |
| Mind Reading Potion | Grants the ability to read the minds of other creatures. | “mergrass suspension Any Sublimated” |
| Animal Talking Potion | It allows understanding and verbal communication with the beasts until the next long rest. | “Acorn Truffle Essence any salt” |
| Flight Potion | Drinking allows you to fly at 60 feet for one hour. | “Sublimated Eagle Feathers any essence” |
| Featherfall Potion | Grants immunity to fall damage. | “Autumn crocus sublimation any essence” |
| Glorious Leap Potion | Triples the jump distance. | “Wispweed Sublimation any ashes” |
| Invisibility Potion | Grants invisibility for 1 minute. | “Imp Patagium’s Ashes any essence” |
| Angelic Sleep Potion | Sleep for 2 turns, receive the benefits of a Long Rest. | “planetary feather essence Any Suspension” |
Alchemy Elixirs in BG3
| Elixir | Effect | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| Arcane Cultivation Elixir | Gives an additional 1 spell slot. | “Woven Moss Vitriol any sublimate” |
| Great Arcane Cultivation Elixir | Gives an additional 2 spell slot. | “Laculite suspension any vitriol” |
| Greater Elixir of Arcane Cultivation | Gives an additional 3 spell slot. | “Night Orchid Solution any vitriol” |
| Barkskin Elixir | Increases armor class to 16. | “tree bark salts Any Suspension” |
| Bloodlust Elixir | Grants 5 hit points after killing an enemy. | “Worg Fang Ashes any salt” |
| Elixir of Deceptive Movement | Difficult terrain does not hinder movement speed. | “Ocher Gelatin Suspension Any Sublimated” |
| Darkvision Elixir | See in the dark up to 12m. | “Crystal Lens Essence any salt” |
| Elixir of Peerless Focus | Grants a spellcasting focus to the user. | “belladonna sublimated any ashes” |
| Elixir of Fire Resistance | Resists fire. | “Dragon Egg Mushroom Ashes any salt” |
| Elixir of Lightning Resistance | Resists lightning. | “copper shavings salts Any Suspension” |
| Elixir of Necrotic Resistance | Resists necrotic damage. | “copper shavings salts Any Suspension” |
| Elixir of Universal Resistance | Resists all damage. | “Muddy Goo Suspension Any Sublimated” |
| Elixir of the Colossus | Increase the size. | “Salts of Chasm Creeper Any Suspension” |
| Elixir of Evil | Increases chance of critical hit. | “Shadowroot Sac Vitriolany ashes” |
| Elixir of Vigilance | Grants a +5 initiative bonus. | “Bloody Hook Sublimated any ashes” |
Alchemy Grenades and Coatings in BG3
| Brew | Effect | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| Alchemist’s Fire | Throw fire into the arena. | “Fire Ember Ashes Any Salt” |
| Fungal Bamboo | Creates a cloud that inflicts confusion. | “Tin Mask Spore Essence Any Salt” |
| Household Light Pump | Creates light in a 9m radius. | “Night Light Essence Any Suspension” |
| Basic Poison | Covers a weapon to deal poison damage. | “Bonecap Vitriol Any Ashes” |
| Sharpness Diluted Oil | Ignore resistance to blows, cuts, or punctures. | “Sublimated Viridian Crystal Any Salt” |
| Drow Poison | Coats a weapon in poison that puts enemies to sleep. | “Swarm Toadstool Essence Any Salt” |
| Precision Oil | Cover a weapon to receive a +2 bonus on attack rolls. | “Dagger Ashes Any Salt” |
| Malice | Covers a weapon to blind and poison an enemy. | “Lolth’s Candle Vitriol Any Ashes” |
| Combustion Oil | Inflicts oil that damages fire for 2 turns. | “Mephit Magma Ashes Any Essence” |
| Decline Oil | Inflict Strength Debuff on an enemy. | “Sylvan Stone Essence Any Suspension” |
| Snake Fang Toxin | Covers a weapon with 1-6 poison damage. | “Snake Venom Suspension Any Vitriol” |
| Simple Toxin | Covers a weapon with an additional 1d4 Poison Damage. | “Bullywug Trumpet Suspension Any Sublimated” |
| Terrifying Oil | Covers a weapon to reduce the -3 penalty on spell saves and the disadvantage on saving throws. | “Gremishka Glue Essence Any Suspension” |
By following this guide, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to craft strong potions, elixirs, coatings, and grenades to enhance your adventures in Baldur’s Gate 3.
