Alchemy Guide by Ctownwoody

Alchemy Guide 1.1 0-100 By Ctownwoody Asura Server, Sons of Valkrum Linkshell Disclaimer: I did my research using ffxiah.com and have taken most of my crafts up to level 60+ and am in the process of taking an Alchemy mule up to 100. Prices and availability varies by server, but I tend to focus on easy-to-farm items or ones you can buy from NPCs for mass-producing.

Alchemy Tips
1. Ingredients for Alchemy fall into 3 general categories--Farmable Items, Cheap Groceries/Herbs, and Fish.


 * Farmable Items: range from easy to difficult to farm (unless you have a 75 THF), but all can be bought at AH.


 * Fish: are easy to catch and you can buy them at Fishing Guilds, including Windy, Selbina and Bibiki Bay. Learn what the price range at guilds are for maximize value.


 * Groceries/Herbs: are bought from Raimbroy’s Grocery in South Sandy or from Regional Vendors, so watch Conquest results.

2. One general formula is Ingredients -> Powder/Dust -> Potion -> Weapon or Boltheads. Most of your Guild Points will be made through the end result weapons and getting up to 3 separate synths for one item is a great way to skill-up without busting your bank or clogging your inventory.

3. The first time I started Alchemy I had a Goldsmithing 41 and a Smithing 39, which makes it a lot easier. There are some recipes that take Goldsmithing up to 24 and Smithing up to 15, and they make the process easier. The second time, I started from the ground up, but Smithing 14 and Goldsmithing 20 are your first benchmarks and are easy to get. (If you aren't a Bastok citizen, you should consider basing your operations out of Bastok for a bit anyway.)

4. Work in Bastok, Sell in Jeuno. Aside from stuff to buy from Raimbroy’s or Regional Vendors, you can farm or buy what you need in Bastok as cheaply as in Jeuno, which is great because of synth support. Double-check on ffxiah.com though.

5. Bullets and boltheads can make your life easier. Bullets can be “pouched” (quivered) for 36 synths in one stack and with boltheads, you can either make into tons of bolts for sale or stacks of 99 heads, at 6 heads a synth.

6. Boltheads are good, but bolts are better. Boltheads sell okay, but Bolts can be quivered (36 synths in one stack) and made cheaply and easily (Woodworking 15) and sell so much more quickly than the boltheads alone.

0-10

 * Tsurara (6)-Ice Crystal, Distilled Water x2, Rock Salt--Get the salt at Raimbroy’s, mass-produce the Tsurara until you hit the cap, and either sell them cheaply at Jeuno’s AH (under Ninja Tools), use them with your NIN or NPC them. Quick and easy.


 * Deodorizer (10)-Wind Crystal, Sage, Chamomile, Olive Oil--The sage is at Raimbroy’s and the Chamomile is either at the Jeuno Flowershop in Upper Jeuno or from Vollbow RV. These are really cheap, and, between these and Poison Dust, you want to cap out with Poison Dust.

TEST ITEM: Animal Glue: Fire Crystal, Distilled Water, Rabbit Hide, Bone Chip x2: Get used to making this recipe, especially at high levels and if you intend to take Alchemy beyond 60, because this is a crucial ingredient for applying various potions to weapons. You will often make your own once you can reliably HQ2+ these (51+ above cap)

11-20

 * Poison Dust (12)-Lightning Crystal, Yellow Globe x2--Yellow Globes are fish caught in various areas, especially in the Sandy and Kazham airship waiting areas in Port Jeuno or Mhaura. You want to make enough poison dust, at least 2 stacks, for poison potions later.


 * Mercury (16)-Lightning Crystal, Cobalt Jellyfish x4--Caught in almost any saltwater area, they sell at Windy, Bastok and Jeuno AHs, plus Alchemy and Fishing Guilds. Make as many as you made Poison Dust.


 * Poison Potion (18)-Water Crystal, Mercury, Poison Dust--Use the dust and mercury you made to make a stack or two. These are your TEST ITEM as well. They sell very well at the Jeuno AH because 1 HP/tic Poison negates both more powerful poison effects, generally, and cancels out Sleepga spells and effects from mobs (Diabolos anyone?). Use up all your Poison Dust.  If you fish your own Yellow Globes and Jellyfish, this can be very profitable, but it takes a lot of fishing, especially for Jellyfish.

21-30

 * Silent Oil (24)-Water Crystal, Beeswax x2, Slime Oil--If you farm your own beehive chips or have a high level crafter (60+) make it for you, you can almost pull even on these. However, on most servers, high-level Alchemists (there is a difference between crafting mules and gil-sellers; most people who crowd out crafts aren't necessarily the latter, but are usually the former) use this to make gil.  A good bridge if you have to.  Sells extremely fast, fortunately.


 * Blinding Potion (27)-Water Crystal, Sleepshroom, Poison Flour, Crying Mustard--Crying Mustard at Raimbroy’s, Poison Flour from the Gobbie shop in Jeuno and Sleepshrooms from the AH. Since the flour doesn’t stack, I made these in Jeuno. Make as many as you can and save them, with one as a TEST ITEM. It is a 9-level jump from Poison Potions, so be careful and expect a lot of breaks.

31-40

 * Blind Bolt Heads (31)-Wind Crystal, Animal Glue, Blinding Potion, Bronze Ingot--This requires Smithing 14, which is easy enough to get. Make a ton and sell them at Jeuno AH. Make sure you get to at least 30 with them. The next big recipe is at 40. (You can make bolts, which sell much more quickly but that takes a lot longer as you will have made between 3-4 stacks of boltheads; that made around 300 stacks with a Woodworking of 75+2.)


 * Artificial Lens (34)-Fire Crystal, Glass Fiber x2--This doesn't stack and is only for people worried about the 9 level jump. They may not stack but mixed with a Light Crystal and two more Glass Fiber at level 41, they make Prism Powder, a HIGHLY profitable and fast selling synth.  Make what you feel comfortable with, both skill and invenory-wise, and save for later.


 * Firesand (40)-Earth Crystal, Bomb Ash x2, Sulfur--Check the AHs for these items first, as they are usually cheaper there, but in a pinch: Bomb Ash in the Metalworks area of Bastok and Sulfur from the Gustaberg RV in Port Bastok. Tandem with Bullets to work your way closer to 35-36.  Also a TEST ITEM.  I'd advise selecting either this or the Artifical Lens/Prism Powder path and sticking to it as much as possible.

41-50

 * Bullet (41)-Fire Crystal, Firesand, Brass Ingot--Goldsmithing 18 as a sub-craft. These sell pretty well in stacks but bullet-production has largely been usurped by professional mules.  However, if you made Firesand, this is a good way to get rid of it.


 * Prism Powder (41)-Light Crystal, Artificial Lens, Glass Fiber x2--These are profitable, easy to make (4 glass fiber, 1 fire and 1 light crystal), and sell extremely rapidly. They are also made in by the ton for gil by higher-level Alchemists because of the profitability.  You'll have to undercut prices a little, but even then, you should be able to make good profits.


 * Vitriol (43)-Water Crystal, Treant Bulb x2--Make up to the cap of this stuff, especially if you want to make a ton of gil later on making Acid Bolts. Treant Bulbs are very farmable and you can farm grain seeds (worth 7k/stack on Asura) at the same time.


 * Acid Bolt Heads (45)-Wind Crystal, Animal Glue, Vitriol, Bronze Ingot--These sell so much better (as more gil-per-synth and as return on investment) as Bolts than as Boltheads, so I suggest making these into Bolts, Quiver them, and sell them while twirling your mustache in glee. I took this to cap because I made a lot of vitriol and because I had a Woodworking at 69+2 at the time. I recommend it as well.


 * Shrimp Lure (48)-Fire Crystal, Silver Ingot, Crayfish, Glass Fiber--These are little profit-monkeys just sitting there, waiting to be mass-produced...except they don't stack. Extremely competitve to sell, so don't try to get more than a level or two of skill.  Be careful of flooding the market and also, these require Goldsmithing 21 to make.

TEST ITEM: Fire Sword:  Earth Crystal, Iron Sword, Firesand, Slime Oil:  These swords are popular because they have better DPS that the Iron Swords, but are often made for GP or the HQ version (but DPS Sword for most jobs until 27-30 range). Buy one or make one depending on the cost of Slime Oil and Iron Swords at the AH. Don't make for skill because the market is too flooded and there aren't enough Iron Swords to support more than 1-2 of these at a time.

51-60

 * Holy Water (51)-Light Crystal, Distilled Water--Light crystals recently crashed (from 10k/stack to 4k/stack), making this a much better synth. You can save some to make Holy Bolt Heads (recepie is next just for kicks), but the real secret is that Holy Water sells to NPCs for 350-390 each, which is profitable if you got the light crystals for 4k/stack or less.  Mass-producing items and selling to NPCs for a profit is the best way to increase your skill.


 * Holy Bolt Heads (53)-Wind Crystal, Bronze Ingot, Holy Water x2--These make incredibly profitable bolts, but don't sell well as simply Boltheads. It's one way to use up your Holy Water (another is to NPC them).


 * Sleeping Potion (56)-Water Crystal, Chamomile, Sleepshroom, Poison Flour--Aside for Sleepshrooms from the AH, you can get everything for this cheap, very-fast selling and profitable synth in Jeuno! The chamomile's in Upper Jeuno's Flowershop and the Poison Flour's in Lower Jeuno’s Gobbie shop.  Save a few stacks if going past 60 for boltheads.  They sell more profitably as singles than as stacks; balance the two approaches.


 * Cermet Chunk (59)-Fire Crystal, Golem Shard x2--This was the best way to make Cermet Chunks on Asura. Alternatives include Magic Pot Shard x4 (56) or Doll Shard x2 (60), but the one is more expensive/synth and the other is harder to get the supplies for. Save a stack or two for Porcelain Flowerpots, but these sell quickly.  Use your judgement on which type to make.  Prices fluctuate.


 * Porcelain Flowerpot (61)-Fire Crystal, Cermet Chunk--Good profit, all things considered, if you made the Cermet yourself. The standard pot for gardeners (who can't afford Arcane Potx10), so there's a strong demand, if streakish, but these don't stack.  I suggest finding people (strangers and/or friends) who are starting up Gardening or setting up Gardening Mules.  If you aren't gardening yourself, I'd suggest starting up, even if it's not for Elemental Ores.

TEST ITEM: Hi-Potion: Water Crystal, Sage x2, Distilled Water, Malboro Vine: Frankly, some guides recommend making these but the competition is incredibly fierce, they don't stack, and the profit-margin is incredibly slim. However, this is a good use for any randomly-dropped Malboro Vines. Just buy one off the AH IF you plan on taking Alchemy past 60 (and to 100).

POST 60 Recepies
This is for going past 60 in Alchemy. Only do this if you want to take Alchemy to 100 (or 75 for Animas). The jump from here to 75 (Animas) is hard on the wallet and I spent a long time selling Shrimp Lures before starting it. Key Item: Anima Synthesis is a must.

61-70

 * Venom Dust (62)-Lightning Crystal, Ogre Eel x2--While you can fish for these in a variety of places, I've always disdained salt-water fishing. Find them on the AH, mostly in Jeuno but check Windy and Bastok.  You just want to make 1 level to help lay in for Venom Potions later.  Buying the Venom Dust directly is usually cheaper.


 * Sleep Bolt Heads (67)-Wind Crystal, Bronze Ingot, Animal Glue, Sleeping Potion--Smithing 14 as a sub-skill, same as the other boltheads you've made. Profitable to sell but don't expect to sell them as quickly as you can the bolts themselves.  Because it is after 50, expect to make a few stacks (x99) of the boltheads.  Find a WW friend to pawn them off on if possible, or do the several hundred synths yourself when the first place nation controls Norvallen at the same time (easy access to Quiver and Ash Lumber).


 * Venom Potion (68)-Water Crystal, Mercury, Venom Dust--By now, you should be regularly HQ1-3 on making Mercury, so it will probably be cheaper to make your own. That doesn't mean you shouldn't raid the Fishing Guilds, but it does mean this won't cost you as much.  Save these for bolt heads or for Guild Point items.


 * Hi-Ether (69)-Water Crystal, Bat Wing x4, Dried Marjoram x2, Dryad Root, Distilled Water--Doesn't stack but sells quickly. Tag-team these with Remedies to get about 1-2 levels, to get closer to Animas.  The number of Bat Wings required means you'll want to start saving in advance.  Doesn't stack, so beware of doing more than 1-2 levels at a time.


 * Remedy (69)-Water Crystal, Chamomile, Sage, Wijnruit, Boyahda Moss, Mistletoe, Dried Marjoram, Distilled Water, Honey--Mistletoe is the most expensive item and the limiting factor here. Otherwise, it's a laundry list for either Regional Vendors or Jeuno's AH.  You can farm the Moss and Mistletoe if your Thief is that high-level but your time is better spent not.  Between the proceeding four items, you'll want to be at least at 68 if not 69 before starting animas.

TEST ITEM: Acid Kukri: Water Crystal, Vitriol, Animal Glue, Mythril Kukri: By now, the recipe should be so familiar you only need to know what the base weapon to be modified is. Buy on the AH, most likely, because Corrosive Kukri, the HQ version, is a THF favorite.

71-80

 * Halcyon Fishing Rod (72 & 76)-Light Crystal, Broken Halcyon Rod or Fire Crystal, Cermet Chunk, Glass Fiber x2, Carbon Fiber x4--This is the best alternative to Animas I have found. Check here and here for where to break the rod.  Suggestion : Make 12, then break and repair until you run out of rods or you hit 72 and sell the rest, plus however many it takes to hit 76, slowly at the AH.  It is profitable and you should be getting some HQs on the materials.


 * Anima Synthesis (75)-Elemental Crystal, Memory x4, Rock Salt, Sulfur, Mercury--Lots of different Memories needed, as well as Key Item: Anima Synthesis, which is still very much worth it at this point. I suggest around 80 or so of each anima for Photoanima later.  See Guildworker's Union for a start on other items you can make with these (Reraise Earring and Warp Cudgel for example).  Dance in the mountains of gil you can now make.


 * Paralyze Potion (78)-Water Crystal, Mercury, Paralysis Dust--Same recipe as all negative status potions, but these don't sell nearly as well. I had a supply of the Dust from break-fishing using Three-eyed Fish, so I used this as a bridge and am still selling them off.  Only throwing them out as an idea because it's a long way from 75 to 81...

TEST ITEM: X-Potion: Water Crystal, Sage x2, Distilled Water, Hecteyes Eye, Reishi Mushroom:  Buy on the AH. I tried making these to help bridge the gap but these aren't profitable and don't sell quite fast enough to make up for not stacking.

81-90

 * Bloody Bolt Heads (81)-Wind Crystal, Bronze Ingot, Beastman Blood, Revival Tree Root--Great synth for this high up. While the Beastman Blood and Tree Root are limiting factors, these bolts sell quickly and are very stackable for a Level 81 synth.  This is especially nice if you've gotten your Woodworking up past 47, so you can reliably HQ.  Be warned that 6 levels (or 5 if you made Halcyon Rods) will take a lot of synths.  Also, I am biased because this is based on my Alchemy Mule when my main character has a Woodworking of 81+2, but ffxiah.com does show that they are profitable.


 * Polyflan (83)-Lightning Crystal, Flan Meat, Chimera Blood--A bridge, not profitable, for those without the Animas to make it from 81-85. Get to 82 or cap with these depending on how many Animas you have; it's understandable considering the market for Water Anima is so expensive.


 * Photoanima (85)-Fire Crystal, 1 of each Anima--Get to 85 with this and no more. Shade gear has dropped somewhat in value now that Promys have become not insanely hard (they are not easy unless you decide you want to bring a full party of SMNs to help you burn the boss when you reach the Spire).


 * Gold Nugget (88)-Fire Crystal, Gold Leaf, Panacea--Pretty good profit if you can get the ingredients. Vital if you are taking your Goldsmithing from 51 to 54.


 * Holy Leather (88)-Light Crystal, Holy Water, Ram Leather--Only because all the other cool kids are doing it but this is a bridge and a source of gil-hemorrhage. However, you should be getting around 10-20% HQs from the Holy Water and if you can make your own Ram Leather (and can farm Rams), you can minimze this.  The only reason I have used it is that I was farming Ram Horns and always bring along Leather-synthing ingredients when I farm Rams.


 * Super Ether (89)-Water Crystal, Ahriman Wing, Treant Bulb, Distilled Water, Dried Marjoram x3--These are also a bridge to consider using alongside Gold Nuggets as needed. As I plan to tag-team on Urushi with my Woodworking main, I've got a strong level 91 synth ahead, but if you don't have that possibility, I'd suggest getting to around 88 or so.

TEST ITEM: Bloody Sword: Dark Crystal, Bastard Sword, Revival Tree Root, Beastman Blood: You might be able to make this cheaper, but there's a few floating around because HP Drain on a Great Sword helps reduce a DRK's need on healing...

91-100

 * Urushi (91)-Fire Crystal, Lacquer Tree Sap x4, Iron Ore, Honey--This and Animas are what prompted me to make an Alchemy mule. These are essential for helping get Woodworking from 91 to 96 and above.  The sub-crafts are Woodworking 59 and Smithing 21.  Read that again, just to be sure.


 * Icarus Wing (93)-Wind Crystal, Giant Bird Feather x6, Beeswax x2--Giant Bird Feathers availability aside, these are incredibly cheap and easy for Level 93 synth (you should be able to kill at making Beeswax by now and you may have picked up Trituration from the Guild). Sold singly, they clear quickly and at a large profit.  Stacks don't sell as well, though, so clearing all you've made to reach 93 will take a long time.


 * Platinum Nugget (96)-Fire Crystal, Platinum Leaf, Panacea--Same as Gold Nuggets but for Platinum-level Goldsmithing at 60+. The leaves are easier to get as they are a 'failed' attempt to grow Elemental Ores.  Let your friends and LS mates know you'll take/buy them and, hopefully, once a month, you'll get a bunch.


 * Panacea (98)-Light Crystal, Philosopher's Stone, Mercury, Sulfur, Rock Salt--Great tandem synth with Platinum Nuggest starting at level 94 or so. Only 2 to go.  Getting the stone will be hard, as others snatch them up quickly from the AH and professional chocobo diggers control many of the areas you can dig them up.


 * Pro-Ether (100)-Water Crystal, Ahriman Wing x2, Treant Bulb, Dried Marjoram x3, Distilled Water, Wyvern Wing--Only level 100 item that sells well. But the Wings are the expensive part.  Farm the Ahriman wings and this can net around a 10k profit each.  As is, expect a slight loss.


 * Sun Water (100)-Light Crystal, Philosopher's Stone, Mercury, Beastman Blood, Cactuar Root--After some consideration and cajoling from friends, I included this because the Jug Pet these summon does indeed R0xx0R, but also because, end of day, these do sell singly at a profit, albeit a small one. By this point, however, you should be +3 with Moglification if not +6 with Moglification.

Restocking Gil
There are five (5) broad categories you can use for Restocking (aka getting back) your gil that may have been lost during the skill-up process. With my Cooking Guide, I did the section as higher-cost items that are profitable and sell well but not good for skilling up. Here, however, you'll find that restocking your gil will often depend on your ability to HQ. Learn what you need to HQ to make a profit and learn what you don't need to HQ, and work accordingly. I won't be listing the recipes, check them yourself, but I will try to give tips or notes on each as needed.

Medicine
The truest consumables in Alchemy; so long as people play non-WHM jobs, these will be needed.
 * Antidote: Grapes in Sandy, Winjiruits in Jeuno, cheap as anything and second-lowest Alchemy recipe, bar none.
 * Echo Drops: Beware the price of Honey, but otherwise, these are golden.
 * Silent Oil: HQ ONLY. Also, beware that this market may relatively dry up now that Ninjas have Sneak.
 * Eye Drops: NPC these. They don't sell well, but they do NPC at a profit.  HQs are just whipped cream on top.
 * Prism Powder: Watch for cheap Glass Fiber when visiting the Guild in Bastok (600 is lowest possible price and often below the going AH rate)
 * Holy Water: Good use for cheap (3k or less) Light Clusters or stacks if you NPC them, but also makable for a good profit as a ward against Curse.
 * Remedy: See above guide for the problems with Remedy ingredients being camped on the AH and in the field, but still a great way to make gil from NPCs.

Base Components
The building blocks for so many recipes in all crafts.
 * Black Ink: My preferred way to deal with Cone Calamary that I catch, but any Cephlapod you catch is good for these, except maybe Gigant Squid and Grimmonite, which are better used in Cooking.
 * Beeswax: I often mega-farm (kill everything that moves) in Konschtat Highlands and get lots of these. Other people farm these as part of their gil sources, so go nuts.  On Asura at the moment, each HQ is worth 1k/extra block of wax.
 * Animal Glue: Both the Bone Chips and the Rabbit Hides are cheap and usually plentiful as a low-level drop and higher level Alchemists need them for Guild Point items. Enjoy playing middle-man.
 * Mercury: One of the fastest selling components, used in well over 100+ recipes. Raiding the odd Fishing Guild may help or just keep them from random fishing trips.
 * Bast Parchment: This is actually a Woodworking 45 synth, but a lot of Alchemy items, Fireworks and Ninja Tools, require these as the base component...
 * Firesand: The sulfur and bomb ash is best bought on the AH, but enough people buy these for bullets and adding flames to weapons that there is a good market. Don't count on HQs unless you are truly leet, though.
 * Carbon Fiber: Bomb ash from the AH again, but healthy profits if the sales rate isn't as stable as you'd like, but these are used in enough other recipes that there is at least a few stacks sold a day.

Fishing Gear
Or, God Bless Fishing Bots. Seriously, they exist for a while, buying tons of your materials, sell fish cheap, then periodically get reset, only to repeat the cycle. Sucks if you are fishing for income, though.
 * Shrimp Lure: The market for selling these gil-puppies is highly competitive, but if you can get cheap silver ingots and glass fibers, you can fight hard to sell lots of these at a profit of 2k+ each.
 * Halcyon Rod: Alchemy 76 is up there for a restocking item but these sell around 5-10/day and are profitable in the extreme as the rod of choice for anyone not fishing up large fish or possessing Lu Shangs.

Ninjas
They are your best friends, non-WHMs in Sky aside.
 * HQ Katanas: A variety of status-effect potions can be added to Katanas by the formula Water Crystal + Animal Glue + Shinobi-Gatana + Status Potion. The HQs are highly desired by NINs of all levels.  Cheap and plentiful Shinobi-Gs are bought from the Tenshodo.
 * Tsurara: Cheap and easy to make but for some reason, people will buy them from the AH instead of making them for themselves. When you take 300 worth of items and crystals and make a 2k stack in one synth, you'll be wowed.
 * Kodoku: Not the best seller but highly-profitable if the frogs are for sale cheap (or at all). Taking 20k, making 12 stacks of tools that sell for 50k and selling them over the course of a week or two keeps the gil rolling in, if not quickly.
 * Sairui-Ran: Bast Parchment, Bomb Ash and then a bunch of items sold cheaply by NPCs. Gotta love it, especially if you HQ these.  Ninjas just love Blind when trying to tank.
 * Jusatsu: Confession: These are incredible but the market is occassionally saturated and usually competitive with high-level crafters, but each HQ can make you a 1-2k+.

Miscellaneous
What the name implies; they don't fit in with the others
 * HQ Guild Point Items: A major component of GP Items is weapons; see Tip#2 at the top. The HQ versions will often sell for a good profit and much more quickly than the NQ version, Katanas and Daggers especially.
 * Poison Potion: You can HQ the two basic components, Poison Dust and Mercury, before you can HQ these (HQs have no effect on the # of potions), so these can be even cheaper to make for profit than they were for skill.
 * Sleeping Potion: HQs will be rare for a 56-level synth, but they sell well and HQs create extra potions. A good use for cheap Sleepshrooms.
 * Bullets: RNG and COR will use these in large quanities and HQing them will make you a lot of money.  Brass, Iron, and Silver Bullets are known profit-monkeys and popular.  Check your server for any extras like Steel, Spartan, etc...

If you have any other suggestions or ideas, feel free to add to the Discussion Page or add into the above section (just make sure to sign your addition). Enjoy!