Best Potions in Skyrim – Skyrim Potions Guide – Includes Alchemy Recipes 

Alchemy is one of the most useful but overlooked skills in Skyrim. Hacking and slashing or blasting your way through Skyrim can be made infinitely easier by utilizing certain potions.

Potions in Skyrim, especially at lower levels, can really help you out of a difficult jam, especially when tackling harder quests or some of the challenging bosses. Potions are also a great way of making money in Skyrim.

Below are some of the best potions in Skyrim. To help you out this potion guide also includes all of the alchemy recipes needed to create these really useful potions.

It’s also worth noting that alchemy and creating potions is a really great way of making money in Skyrim.

The Five Effect Poison

This is a unique poison that can only be made once. If you’re following The Dark Brotherhood questline you’ll be given a Jarrin Root for one of the missions.

This poison will cause 5 different kinds of poison damage that would be very hard for anyone to survive.

Potion Effects:

• Damage Health
• Damage Magicka
• Damage Magicka Regen
• Damage Stamina
• Frenzy

Potion Recipe:

• Jarrin Root + Blisterwort + Human Heart

The Four Effect Poison

If you’ve already blown your Five Effect Poison or haven’t got round to acquiring the Jarrin Root yet, there is an equally as damaging poison that can wreak havoc on your enemies. This is literally one killer alchemy recipe.

Potion Effects:

• Damage Health
• Damage Magicka
• Damage Magicka Regen
• Damage Stamina

Potion Recipe:

• Blue Butterfly Wing + Human Heart + Jarrin Root

Mage War Potion

This is my own name for this Skyrim potion but as the name suggest it’s a four effect potion that is great for mages who likes to do battle with other mages.

Potion Effects:

• Regenerate Magicka
• Resist Fire
• Resist Frost
• Restore Magicka

Potion Recipe:

• Fire Salts + Moon Sugar + Snowberries

Fortify Health Potion

This potion will boost your maximum health points for a limited time. This is the kind of potion that you want to take before a big boss fight and is easily one of the best potions.

Fortify Health can be made by combining any of the two following ingredients:

• Bear Claws
• Blue Mountain Flower
• Boar Tusk
• Giant’s Toe
• Glowing Mushroom
• Hanging Moss
• Wheat
• Yellow Mountain Flower

The best Fortify Health potion can give you both Fortify Health and Restore Health.

Potion Effects:

• Fortify Health (300 Seconds) + Restore Health

Potion Recipe:

• Blue Mountain Flower + Giant’s Toe + Imp Stool

Destruction Magic Defensive Potion

If you’re going against an enemy who uses destruction magic than this will be the potion for you.

It is a really useful potion as will have you covered against whatever destruction magic they use against you.

Potion Effects:

• Resist Fire
• Resist Frost
• Resist Shock

Potion Recipe:

• Fly Amanita + Hawk Beak + Snowberries

Fortify Enchanting Potion

Taking this potion before you do any enchanting will increase the strength of the enchantments you can put on weapons and apparel.

By taking this potion you’ll be able to place enchantments that are stronger than what you would be able to at Enchanting Level 100.

Potion Effects:

• Increases the strength of enchantments

Potion Recipes:

Combine any two of the following.

• Ancestor Moth Wing
• Blue Butterfly Wing
• Chaurus Hunter Antennae
• Hagraven Claw
• Snowberries
• Spawn Ash
• Spriggan Sap

Fortify Smithing Potion

Along with the Fortify Enchanting Potion the Fortify Smithing Potion is one of the greatest potions that you can create.

Smithing your own weapons and armour should be high on your list of things to do in Skyrim if you want to be as strong as you can be.

Taking one of these potions means weapon and armor can be improved further on workbenches and grindstones.

Potion Effects:

• For limited duration in seconds, weapon and armour can be improved a certain percentage.

Potion Recipes:

Combine any two of the following.

• Blisterwort
• Glowing Mushroom
• Sabre Cat Tooth
• Spriggan Sap

Fortify Barter Potion

This potion is particularly useful if you are trying to maximize the amount of gold you make from selling items or getting a better deal when buying items.

Potion Effects:

• Improves prices for a limited duration in seconds.

Potion Recipes:

Combine any two of the following.

• Butterfly Wing
• Dragon’s Tongue
• Hagraven Claw
• Tundra Cotton

Invisibility Potion

Becoming invisible is a fun way to cause all kinds of trouble in the world of Skyrim.

Taking an invisibility potion means you will become completely invisible for the duration of the spell length. Invisibility is also possible through the use of illusion magic.

Invisibility will cancel early if:

• You interact with an item like a lever, door, chests or a wheel of cheese.
• Use magic such as a spell, scrolls, or another potion.
• You interact with a person either by speaking, attacking or pickpocket.

Potion Effects:

• Invisible for a limited time in seconds.

Potion Recipes:

Combine any two of the following.

• Ash Creep Cluster
• Chaurus Eggs
• Crimson Nirnroot
• Ice Wraith Teeth
• Luna Moth Wing
• Nirnroot
• Vampire Dust

Cure Disease Potion

It’s always useful to have a few of these potions on hand. There are 9 different diseases that have detrimental effects.

You can pick up two of the most common diseases Ataxia (from Skeevers) and Sanguinare Vampiris (vampires) quite easily from doing quests so having a potion on hand to sort you out is important.

Just remember that the Cure Disease won’t cure vampirism. You’ll have three days from the initial infection to take a Cure Disease potion to rid yourself of Sanguinare Vampiris.

After the three days is up you’ll need to find another way to cure yourself. Try our on how to cure vampirism in Skyrim.

Potion Effects:

• Cures all diseases including Sanguinare Vampiris (must be taken within 3 days of the initial infection)

Potion Recipes:

Combine any two of the following.

• Charred Skeever Hide
• Felsaad Tern FeathersDB
• Hawk Feathers
• Mudcrab Chitin
• Scrib JellyCC
• Vampire Dust

What did you think of our alchemy guide? Do you think there are any Skyrim Potions we missed that should have made our list?

FAQ