Alchemy Guide by Spiffly 1-60

So you want to level up the craft Alchemy? You've come to the right guide. At least if you only plan to level it to 60 anyway. Firstly i should add that this guide is a work in progress. The work being me actually finishing writing it. The crafting to level 60 side of things, i've already done.
First question: why should you level Alchemy? There's some gil to be made in it, if you research hard enough. Whether you can consider it a lot of gil, i'm not sure. Alchemy is typically about mass producing to make any gil, unlike Smithing for example where crafters there are always chasing that HQ for the big bucks. If you aren't in it for the gil then you'll be leveling it as a sub-craft to another craft.
Here's what i recommend you do:
*Go farm: And i don't just mean kill things. Fishing is an incredibly useful accompanying craft to have when you're trying to level Alchemy. Alteratively, make as much use of vendors as possible. Especially the Alchemy guild.
*Level your sub-crafts: Smithing to 14 as a minimum. You will regret not doing.
*Make use of adv. synth support: This applies to all crafts really. You will need it.
== Level 1-10 ==
(4) Black Ink x 2: Fish up your Nebimonites.. Buy tea leaves from the Sarutabaruta regional vendor. Black Ink sells well
on the AH as it's used to make Shihei. You should make a profit here.
*Dark Crystal
*Distilled Water
*Nebimonite
*Windurstian Tea Leaves x 2
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(6) Tsurara x 10: The easier option to begin your Alchemy journey. rock salt and distilled water can bought be cheaply bought from many different
vendors. Depending on the price of ice crystals, you will either operate at a small loss or profit.
*Ice Crystal
*Distilled Water x 2
*Rock Salt
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(7) Animal Glue - This can be a proftiable synth if AH prices are in your favour. Other than the distilled water, buy everything from the AH.
Remember to save one for your test item at level 10.
*Fire Crystal
*Bone Chip x 2
*Distilled Water
*Rabbit Hide
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(9) Cornstarch: Purely a gil sink synth but worth a mention. Simple recipe. Vendor sells your millicorn.
*Lightning Crystal
*Millioncorn x 2
===Test Item===
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:Animal Glue: Hopefully you saved one earlier on but if not, these will usually be stocked on the AH.
== Level 11-20 ==
(12) Poison Dust: Poison Dust is the start of a 3 step progression synth, the next two steps being Mercury and Poison Potion. Fish up
Yellow Globes in Buburimu Peninsula. They are usually well stocked at the AH also. Craft as much dust as necessary to move on to the next synth, mercury.
*Lightning Crystal
*Yellow Globe x 2
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(16) Mercury: The cobalt jellyfish you need here are either stocked at the alchemy guild or readily available on the AH. If the guild hasn't been recently
cleaned out, it's always cheaper than AH. Again, craft as many as necessary to move on to posion potions.
*Lightning Crystal
*Cobalt Jellyfish x 4
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(18) Poison Potion - Step 3 of 3. Use up all of the poison dust and mercury from the last 2 synths. If you bought all of your mats, you may be able to AH
these at break even, depending on the going price. Remember to save one for the test item at level 20.
*Water Crystal
*Poison Dust
*Mercury
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(20) Echo Drops: These are included as a bridge recipe. The next synth usually comes in at a loss until you can HQ. Echo drops can usualy be crafted quite
cheaply and sell well on the AH. Honey can be bought on the AH, the water and sage from vendor.
*Water Crystal
*Distilled Water
*Honey
*Sage
===Test Item===
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:Poison Potion: Same as the previous test item. Save one or buy one from the AH.
== Level 21-30 ==
(24) Silent Oil x 4: As said earlier, these are a gil sink when levling alchemy. Unfortunately, there aren't many alternatives. Craft as many of these as
necessary and then move on to the next synth. I would look to progress to blinding potions by level 20/21. A way to keep costs down is to farm beehive Chips and
craft your own beeswax. Sell the oils on the AH.
*Water Crystal
*Beeswax x 2
*Slime Oil
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(27/28) Blinding Potion: There's 2 recipes you can use here. The first is level 27, the second level 28. If you're happy to go fish, take the nebimonite route.
As before, mercury can be crafted by fishing or purchasing cobalt jellyfish from the guild vendor. The alternative is to buy everything from vendor/AH which
unfortunately is quite an expensive gil sink but hey, if that's your flex... Whichever route you take, save your blinding potions as they're useful later on.
Remember to save one for the level 30 test item.
*Water Crystal
*Crying Mustard
*Poison Flour
*Sleepshroom
OR
*Lightning Crystal
*Mercury
*Nebimonite
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(29) Silent Oil x 2: An alternative recipe if you prefer to take an alternative path. If you're happy to sink gil, this is an easy synth to go with. Olive oil is readily available with standard vendors. Sell the oils on the AH.
*Water Crystal
*Beeswax x 2
*Olive Oil
===Test Item===
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:Blinding Potion: Hopefully you saved one earlier on. Alternatively, they *may* be stocked on the AH or available at a vendor in Rabao.
== Level 31-40 ==
At this stage in your alchemy journey, i recommend that you take a break from alchemy to level Smithing to level 14. It's a useful sub-craft which comes into use at alchemy (31) and the very next recipe in this guide. It will also be used in at least 1 other recipe later on. Unfortunately i have written no guide as of yet
to assist. From my own personal experience, it's quite easy to get smithing to 14. The reputation it has for being expensive only kicks in later on.
If you decide agaist smithing, i have tried to include alternative recipes but do bear in mind, these may not always be as viable and cost effective to use.
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(31/Smithing 14) Blind Bolt Heads x 6: One use of the previously crafted Blinding Potions. You can craft your own Animal Glue or maybe you were smart and saved
some? Try to pick up Bronze Ingots from the Smithing guild to save gil. Blind bolt heads usually sell well enough on the AH to cover costs and maybe even
make a profit.
*Wind Crystal
*Animal Glue
*Blinding Potion
*Bronze Ingot
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(32) Blind Dagger: A similar but alternative recipe to blind bolt heads. Uses similar ingredients, including the previously crafted blinding potions. Bronze
daggers can be bought from several vendors. Blind daggers will sell slowly on the AH so you will likely end up vendoring your end product, at a loss.
*Water Crystal
*Animal Glue
*Blinding Potion
*Bronze Dagger
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(34) Blind Knife: I used this recipe as a bridge to Potions at 40. Your aim is to hit level 32 and then move on. Again, similar ingredients to
blind bolt heads and the knives can be purchased from vendors. Blind knives will sell slowly on the AH so you will likely end up vendoring your end product, at a loss.
*Water Crystal
*Animal Glue
*Blinding Potion
*Bronze Knife
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(38/Smithing 13) Bronze Bullet x 33: This recipe can be part of a two step skill up path. Step one: Skill-up on Firesand, 40 cap. Then use the firesand in this recipe to skill up further. Bear in mind that bullets cap out at 38, earlier than the firesand. Alternatively, skip straight to firesand. This does have the potential to turn a profit however.
*Fire Crystal
*Bronze Ingot
*Firesand
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(40) Potion: Finally, a simple skill-up recipe. Lizard tails can generally be found on the AH dirt cheap. Everything else can be bought from vendors quite
cheaply. Re-sell your potions back to a vendor. You will not turn a profit on this recipe but you won't care.
*Water Crystal
*Distilled Water
*Lizard Tail
*Sage
----
(40) Firesand: Both ingredients can be bought from the guild vendors however, i would recomend checking the auction house as it can be cheaper. Vendors also have limited stock. Firesand can be sold on the auction house and has the potential to be profitable, depending on the cost of your ingredients. Save one for the test item.
*Earth Crystal
*Bomb Ash x 2
*Sulfur
===Test Item===
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:Firesand: Hopefully you saved one from skilling up but otherwise, check the auction as you can pick up singles relatively cheaply.
== 41-50 ==
(41/Goldsmithing 18) Bullets: Again this recipe can be used in conjunction with crafting firesand. The brass ingots can be self crafted at 18 goldsmithing or they can be bought diectly from the auction house. Bullets have the potential to be a proftiable skill-up synth.
*Fire Crystal
*Firesand
*Brass Ingot
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(43) Vitriol: This recipe can be used as a 2 step skill-up path. It can be sold on the auction house but you can only expect to reclaim some of your costs. The alternative is to save the vitriol and use it to skill up on Acid Boltheads, below.
*Water Crystal
*Treant Bulb x 2
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(45/Smithing 14) Acid Bolt Heads: Use your saved vitriol. Bronze ingots can be bought from the smithing vendor or bought from the auction house. You can craft your own animal glue. At this level you may just about be tier 2 HQ rate (use guild support if necessary) which means it can be crafted cheaper than it is bought from the auction house.
*Wind Crystal
*Vitriol
*Bronze Ingot
*Animal Glue
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(45) Carbon Fiber: An alternative path is to craft carbon fiber. It's a simple synth. Bomb ash can be purchased from the alchemy vendor but check the auction house first as it can be cheaper. You will possibly need more than the vendor stocks as well.
*Lightning Crystal
*Bomb Ash x 4
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(45/Smithing 22) Iron Bullets: I have listed this recipe as viable alternative but not one that i recommend. It's an expensive recipe to skill up on but a lot of this can be re-claimed by selling the iron bullets on the auction. They don't sell particularly fast however.
*Fire Crystal
*Firesand
*Iron Ingot
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Warning
:At this stage i recommend you stick to the above recipes until 43. You can then move on to the next recipe with guild support.
===Test Item===
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:Fire Sword: You may be able to simply buy one off the auction house but they may be expensive. You could craft your own to save some money but you will need 25 smithing to craft and iron sword, which is then used in the fire sword recipe. I'd just buy one personally.
== 51-60 ==
(51) Holy Water: A nice simple recipe. Many vendors sell distilled water for 10-12 gil. The holy water can be sold on the auction house and you should get most of your investment back. They can also be saved for future skill up recipes.
*Light Crystal
*Distilled Water
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(53) Holy Bolt Heads: Put those Holy Water's to good use with this next recipe. You're unlikely to make your invested gil back with this recipe but it's a more than viable recipe for a couple more levels.
*Wind Crystal
*Holy Water
*Bronze Ingot
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(56) Sleeping Potion: Sell these back on the AH and with the typical price of them, you should break even. Howeverm i would recommend saving them for the final recipe on the route to 60. Chamomile and Poison Flour can be vendor purchased but you will have to farm/AH for the mushrooms.
*Water Crystal
*Chamomile
*Poison Flour
*Sleepshroom
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(57/Bonecraft 35) Wind Arrowheads: A viable alternative recipe if you have the bonecraft sub-craft available. I would imagine you will make very little return on your investment due to the arrowheads selling poorly but the materials should be purchasable cheaply.
*Wind Crystal
*Colibri Beak
*Copper Ingot
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(60) Hi-Potion: It's simple and cheap. Hi-Potions also sell well on the AH as well. The price can fluxuate so you could make a good profit or make a small loss. Remember to save a potion for your test item if you plan on continuing past 60.
*Water Crystal
*Malboro Vine
*Sage x 2
*Distilled Water
===Test Item===
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:Hi-Potion: You may be able to simply buy one off the auction house cheaply or you should have saved one from skilling up on this recipe.
== 61-70 ==
(61) Glass Fiber: You will not want to make hi-potions right up to 60 cap as the rate of skill ups severely slows the closer to cap you reach. This recipe is really simple and inexpensive, as long as the flint stones are at their usual low.
*Fire Crystal
*Flint Stone
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(62) Venom Dust: Another simple recipe which going off the typical of venom dust, should easily see you breaking even. Fishers can fish up the eels themselves to save on some gil/turn a profit.
*Lightning Crystal
*Ogre Eel
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(67) Sleep Bolt Heads: Here it is, the last recipe you need to cap. You will realistically only be able to start these at 57, although i strongly believe in 8 below recipe cap skilling. If you followed my advice, you will have saved your sleeping potions from the earlier recipe. You should be able to craft your own animal glue at tier 3 HQ rate. Resell the boltheads, throw them away, who cares! You've hit 60! Congratulations!
*Wind Crystal
*Animal Glue
*Sleeping Potion
*Bronze Ingot
Category:Alchemy