Skyrim Alchemy: How to Brew Potions by Effect

Alchemy in Skyrim comes down to one rule: mix two ingredients that share an effect and you brew a potion of that effect. The hard part is knowing which ingredients carry the effect you want — and that's exactly what our Skyrim alchemy effect pages are for.

How to brew a potion by effect

1. Decide on the effect you want — say Restore Health or Fortify Smithing.
2. Open that effect's page in our effect list. It lists every ingredient that carries the effect.
3. Gather any two ingredients from that list. (Find each one in our ingredient list.)
4. Take them to any alchemy lab, combine them, and the shared effect is brewed into your potion.

Shortcut: spawn the ingredients

Rather than foraging, you can spawn ingredients directly. Open the console with the tilde key (~) — see the opening the console guide — then use:

• player.additem <IngredientID> <Amount> — adds that ingredient to your inventory. Copy the ID from any ingredient page.
• player.additem 00033760 10 — 10 Wheat (a common Restore Health ingredient), as an example.

For a guaranteed brew, also see our item codes guide for spawning anything by ID.

Notes & tips

• A higher Alchemy skill and the right perks make every potion stronger — two ingredients that share several effects brew them all at once.
• You can only deliberately brew an effect once you've discovered it on both ingredients (usually by eating them). Spawning a stack and tasting a few reveals effects quickly.
• Matching a harmful effect (like Damage Health) produces a poison instead of a potion — handy for coating weapons.

Frequently asked questions