Alchemy perks feel completely dead—is there a build that uses them?

[RiftenWanderer]

I'm on my third playthrough and I keep ignoring alchemy entirely, but I've got a character stuck at level 32 and honestly have spare perk points. Picked up Alchemist and Physician out of desperation, but the potions I'm making feel like they barely matter compared to just... not getting hit. Are there actually perks worth grabbing, or is alchemy just a gold-farming skill? Does anyone actually build around poisons or am I wasting time?

 

[WhiterunModder]

Alchemy's actually way more viable than people think, but vanilla Skyrim really does a terrible job selling it to you. The problem is that most players never get far enough into the tree to hit the perks that matter.

You want Concentrated Poison (I think that's the name - the one that lets poisons affect multiple targets). That changes the game because suddenly you're poisoning arrows or weapons and hitting groups. Pair that with a poison that does damage health or paralysis and you're actually controlling fights instead of just tanking.

The other thing nobody talks about is that crafting potions with the right perks - especially stuff that boosts your restoration or magicka regen - genuinely lets you cheese through content if you're not getting hit. I've seen people stack Fortify Restoration potions and suddenly their Magicka pool goes nuts. It's a whole separate build path that most players skip because they think alchemy is just "make healing potions, sell for gold."

If you want to actually commit to it, look at mods like Ordinator (PC only, obviously) which completely overhauls the alchemy tree and makes it way more interesting. Vanilla alchemy perks are honestly just... not good enough to justify the investment on their own. But with the right build and some actual investment in the tree, you can make it work.

What's your character doing right now? Melee, magic, stealth? That changes which poisons are actually worth your time.