In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, players can craft and sell potions with ingredients they can find throughout the world by looting containers, buying from merchants, or finding resources in the wild. One of the most effective ways to earn gold in Skyrim is by crafting and selling potions.
In Skyrim’s Anniversary Update, the Carry Weight, Illusion, Stamina, Health, and Waterbreathing potions are the most profitable concoctions the player can create for selling. These potions should be crafted with the ingredients added by the Rare Curios Creation.
| Potion/Poison | Effects | Ingredients | Value in Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potion of Waterbreathing | Waterbreathing Fortify Stamina Fortify Health | Boar Tusk Fungus Stalk Salmon Roe | 1891 gold |
| Poison of Slow | Slow Fear | Green Butterfly Wing Rot Scale | 1307 gold |
| Poison of Paralysis | Paralysis Slow Fear Invisibility | Daedra Silk Elytra Ichor Rot Scale | 1285 gold |
| Potion of Waterbreathing | Waterbreathing Resist Magic | Chicken’s Egg Hawk’s Egg Salmon Roe | 1264 gold |
| Potion of Waterbreathing | Damage Magicka Regeneration Lingering Damage Stamina Resist Magic Waterbreathing | Hawk’s Egg Nightshade Salmon Roe | 1231 gold |
| Potion of Waterbreathing | Waterbreathing Damage Magicka Regeneration Restore Stamina | Bear Claws Hawk’s Egg Salmon Roe | 1229 gold |
| Potion of Waterbreathing | Waterbreathing Regenerate Magicka | Chicken’s Egg Salmon Roe Dwarven Oil | 1197 gold |
| Potion of Fortify Health | Fortify Health Invisibility Slow | Bloodgrass Elytra Ichor Heart of Order | 1095 gold |
| Poison of Damage Health | Damage Health Slow Fortify Carry Weight | Jarrin Root Poison Bloom Worm’s Head Cap | 958 gold |
| Poison of Damage Magicka Regen | Damage Magicka Regeneration Paralysis Regenerate Health Regenerate Magicka | Harrada Minotaur Horn Purple Butterfly Wing | 878 gold |
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Most Expensive Craftable Potions in Skyrim
Potions will usually yield less gold compared to poisons, but they’re still a quick and efficient way to earn gold.
These prices are calculated when the player has level 15 in Alchemy with no perks or buffs included during its creation.
As a rule of thumb, any type of potion that includes the Waterbreathing effect will sell for more than 1,000 gold.
Potion of Waterbreathing – 1197 to 1891 Gold
Ingredients: Boar Tusk, Fungus Stalk, Salmon Roe
While any potion with a Waterbreathing effect will always yield a high-value potion, this ingredient combination yields the highest base price with these three effects:
- Waterbreathing
- Fortify Stamina
- Fortify Health
Salmon Roe is an ingredient added by the Hearthfire DLC, and you’ll need to kill the salmon in rivers since you won’t get the Salmon Roe by just harvesting them.
Boar Tusk was added by the Dragonborn DLC and drops from Bristlebacks and Rieklings in Solstheim.
Fungus Stalk is a Rare Curios creation ingredient, so you can only purchase it from Khajit caravans.
Potion of Fortify Health – 1095 Gold
Ingredients: Heart of Order, Elytra Ichor, Bloodgrass
This variation for the Potion of Fortify Health will offer two positive effects and one negative:
- Fortify Health
- Invisibility
- Slow
If the player has purchased Skyrim’s Anniversary Update, they can only buy the Heart of Order and Elytra Ichor from Khajit Merchants thanks to the Rare Curios creation.
Bloodgrass is available in the Deadlands area, added by The Cause Creation.
Potion of Fortify Stamina – 823 Gold
Ingredients: Boar Tusk, Giant’s Toe, Large Antlers
This Potion of Fortify Stamina yields two positive effects and one negative when crafted:
- Fortify Stamina
- Fortify Health
- Damage Stamina Regen
You can harvest Boar Tusks when killing Bristlebacks or Rieklings in Solstheim.
Large Antlers can be found in Deers (not to be confused with Small Antlers since they have different effects).
Giant’s Toe can be looted from Giants or rarely found in merchant’s shops.
Most Expensive Craftable Poisons in Skyrim
The player can increase the base value of their poisons by unlocking Alchemy perks. The Purist perk can variably affect the poison’s final price if they remove positive effects that raise the original value.
Poison of Slow – 1307 Gold
Ingredients: Rot Scale, Green Butterfly Wing
The most profitable poison available in Skyrim: Anniversary Upgrade has two negative effects:
- Slow
- Fear
Rot Scale is only available for sale with Khajit Merchants, added by the Rare Curios creation.
Green Butterflies will yield Green Butterfly Wings, added by the Saints and Seducers’ creation.
Poison of Paralysis – 1285 Gold
Ingredients: Daedra Silk, Elytra Ichor, Rot Scale
This poison recipe has four effects:
- Paralysis
- Slow
- Fear
- Invisibility
Elytra Ichor and Daedra Silk can only be found with Khajit caravans thanks to the Rare Curios creation, whereas Rot Scale is added by the Santis and Seducers’ creation and found in the Solitude Sewers as harvestable nodes.
Poison of Damage Health – 958 Gold
Ingredients: Jarrin Root, Poison Bloom, Worm’s Head Cap
The following poison will have three effects:
- Damage Health
- Slow
- Fortify Carry Weight
Worm’s Head Cap is only available at Khajit Merchants as part of the Rare Curios creation. You can harvest Poison Bloom inside the Darkfall Passage, added as part of the Dawnguard DLC.
Note that you can only obtain a single Jarrin Root during the Dark Brotherhood questline, making it a one-time craftable poison with this specific value.
Poison of Damage Magicka Regen – 878 Gold
Ingredients: Harrada, Minotaur Horns, Purple Butterfly Wing
This recipe for a Poison of Damage Magicka Regen will have two negative and two positive effects:
- Damage Magicka Regen
- Paralysis
- Regenerate Health
- Regenerate Magicka
These ingredients come from several creations added by the Anniversary Upgrade.
The player can purchase Minotaur Horns from Khajit Merchants as part of the Rare Curios creation.
The Saints and Seducers’ creations included new types of butterflies that yield colour-specific wings.
Harrada is found in the Deadlands area, added by The Cause creation.
Poison of Damage Stamina Regen – 499 Gold
Ingredients: Creep Cluster, Marshmerrow, Saltrice
The player can craft a Poison of Damage Stamina Regen with the following effects:
- Damage Stamina Regen
- Weakness to Magic
- Restore Health
- Fortify Carry Weight
For this poison, the Dragonborn will have to purchase Marshmerrow and Saltrice with Khajit Merchants, since these ingredients are part of the Rare Curious creation.
The player will find Creep Cluster throughout Skyrim, with greater resource nodes concentrated around Windhelm and Solstheim.
How to Craft Potions in Skyrim
When interacting with an Alchemy Table, the player will have a list of possible potions and poisons they can create based on the available ingredients in their inventory. This list is based on the effects already known by the player.
You must choose at least two ingredients for crafting a potion and optionally add a third one. When creating a new potion, a window pop-up will appear if you’ve discovered new properties for an ingredient.
Enchanting effects will work alongside Alchemy effects when crafting potions, but if they’re targeting the same buff only the strongest effect will be active.
The concoction’s overall duration and price are based on your Alchemy skills. For example, each Alchemist perk rank increases the strength of the resulting potion by 20% up to 100%.
The yielding potion’s value also indicated the amount of experience you gain towards the skill tree.
Where Can I Get Lots of Ingredients in Skyrim?
Players will find ingredients throughout their standard playthrough by finding resource nodes in the wild, looting containers, or enemies’ corpses. The player can also unlock the Green Thumb perk to yield more than a single ingredient from any resource node.
However, there are other methods to consider when obtaining common and rare ingredients in Skyrim.
Method 1: Apothecary
Alchemy stores in cities have a mortar and pestle sign at their entrances. The advantage of purchasing ingredients from apothecaries is that you can wait several in-game days for restocking.
| Vendor | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Angeline Morrard | Angeline’s Aromatics in Solitude | |
| Arcadia | Arcadia’s Cauldron in Whiterun | Expert trainer in Alchemy |
| Babette | Dark Brotherhood’s Sanctuary | Master trainer in Alchemy Only available when joining the Dark Brotherhood |
| Bolar | Narzulbur Stronghold in Eastmarch | |
| Bothela | The Hag’s Cure in Markarth | |
| Edla | Skaal Village in Solstheim, added by Dragonborn DLC | |
| Elgrim / Hafjhorg | Elgrim’s Elixirs in Riften | |
| Elynea Mothren | Tel Mithryn Apothecary in Tel Mithryn, added by Dragonborn DLC | |
| Feran Sadri | Volkihar Keep from Dawnguard DLC | |
| Florentius Baenius | Fort Dawnguard from Dawnguard DLC | Master trainer in Restoration Only available when siding with the Dawnguard and completing the quest Bolstering the Ranks |
| Frida | The Mortar and Pestle in Dawnstar | |
| Herluin Lothaire | The Ragged Flagon in Riften | Only available when completing two Thieves Guild special reputation jobs from Delvin Mallory |
| Lami | Thaumaturgist’s Hut in Morthal | Common trainer in Alchemy |
| Milore Ienth | Raven Rock in Dragonborn DLC | Expert trainer in Alchemy |
| Murbul | Dushnikh Yal Stronghold in Markarth | |
| Nurelion / Quintus Navale | The White Phial in Windhelm | |
| Zaria | Grave Concoctions in Falkreath |
Method 2: Khajit Caravans
The majority of the new items found in the Rare Curios creation can be bought from Khajiit Caravans throughout Skyrim. Otherwise, they mostly sell general goods alongside Moong Sugar and Skooma.
There are three caravans across Skyrim:
- Ri’saad’s Caravan: their trading route goes between Whiterun and Markarth
- Ahkari’s Caravan: their trading route goes between Riften and Dawnstar
- Ma’dran’s Caravan: their trading route goes between Windhelm and Solitude
Method 3: Homestead Garden
Another way in which players can gather ingredients is by purchasing any homestead and building a Greenhouse in the West wing to grow plants and vegetables. This technique is particularly useful to have a supply of rare ingredients. The player can also build a garden in the exterior area to plant any plant and fungi on a smaller scale.
What is the Best Ingredient in Skyrim?
Before the Anniversary Update, the ingredient yielding the most profitable potions was the Giant’s Toe, since combining it with Creep Cluster or Wheat the resulting Potion of Fortify Health will always have a minimum value of 588 gold.
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