To buy or to make

[Ommamar]

D

[pango]

I think I used the potion maker once to check how it works...
I haven't checked if it's actually cheaper to buy all the ingredients and go to a potion maker, or if it's only cheaper if you find the ingredients around. In any case it's so cumbersome that it doesn't feel worth the effort.
It could have some more value if you could brew potions on the field?

[Hazelnut]

I brew potions a lot with my playtest character. It's as simple as having the ingredients in wagon + recipes. Then open potion maker, select recipe and press mix button. Repeat.

So, what is it that is a pain? The location? The interface? Having enough ingredients?

I have basically grabbed ingredients in all the dungeon delving and the wagon is mostly full of them. I knew I wanted to test potions properly and would need the ingredients.

[pango]

If I remember correctly, the interface is okay; Once you have a recipe, brewing a potion is basically automatic, and it seems appropriate that having recipes is almost necessary.

So yes, ingredients and location. Also, somewhat lackluster gameplay, but the fact some ingredients can be used for several potions changed my mind (see added comments between parens).

• To brew a potion you need all the required ingredients, usually 3 or 4 from what I've seen. Given you find ingredients randomly, and that they're a lot of different ingredients, it may take a while before you have all the ingredients for the specific potions you want. Or eventually buy the ones you didn't manage to find; Again, I haven't checked if that's worth it, but I remember the ingredients to be quite expensive.
• no special benefits. As far as I know, you can create spells that have the same effects as the potions you can buy so they're a big deal only for non-casters; and you can't brew potions you can't also buy. Ommamar talk above of the possibility to brew more potent potions, I don't know if such thing exists.
• You have to go back to a potion maker to brew potions, so beside the inconvenience, ingredients you collected will never save your ass in the dungeon you're in, only indirectly in the next dungeons. They lack in drama. (but given you have to decide what to brew before dungeon delving, it has some gameplay elements to it)
• You can't sell unused potions, only unused ingredients, so alchemy is not a source of income either; only useful for your own personal potion needs. (okay, it could prevent players from brewing potions they don't plan to use, again it has some gameplay value)
• Each ingredient is only useful for one recipe. So even if the two bullets above were fixed, there would be no reason not to brew potions as soon as you have all the required ingredients. If at least some ingredients were useful for several potions, then crafting would be somewhat interesting. Right now it's only another thing you must not forget to do while you're in town. (Nectar, Fig, Red berries, Pine branch, Diamond, Ectoplasm, Pure water, Rain water, Ichor and Elixir Vitae... ingredients are used in several potions. UESP page is lacking, what's a good source about recipes?)

[Jaiysaun]

Daggerfall could really use a mod that adds in new recipes or gives ingredients a new purpose. I always seem to end up with a bunch of ingredients and a bunch of recipes, but rarely do they match up, so I'm always carrying piles of useless ingredients I'm hesitant to sell because "What if they're useful?" Unlike alchemy in future games though, experimenting with different formulas has never yielded results.

[Firebrand]

Also, it's really, really strange that nobody in the Iliac Bay is interested in buying potions from you, considering how difficult it is to buy them from the guilds

If you could sell potions for a price superior to the ingredients (like in the following entries of the Elder Scrolls), at least brewing potions could become a source of income. A kind of job that not involve killing anyone

[Ommamar]

Daggerfall could really use a mod that adds in new recipes or gives ingredients a new purpose. I always seem to end up with a bunch of ingredients and a bunch of recipes, but rarely do they match up, so I'm always carrying piles of useless ingredients I'm hesitant to sell because "What if they're useful?" Unlike alchemy in future games though, experimenting with different formulas has never yielded results.

[Madae]

Daggerfall could really use a mod that adds in new recipes

What would you even add that isn't already there? We're not talking about a robust game here with a lot of stretching room with an abundance of different effects. You'd basically have to add all new spells, if you could even come up with anything that isn't already touched on. It's not just a simple process of more stuff. And then you gotta worry about balancing, and maybe change other things that are linked to it in a relevant way.

[Ommamar]

D

[Firebrand]

Lots of good ideas