Alchemical Formulas
From Oblivion Mod Wiki
| Author: | haama |
| Thread(s): | Bethesda Forums |
| Version: | Beta v.6d |
| Last Updated: | October 18th, 2007 |
| Requires: | OBSE v.12, Oblivion patch v1.1.0511 |
| Download(s): | TES Nexus, PES |
Information
No more pen and paper! Now, when you create a potion you can also choose to 'write' the formula unto a scroll. Open this scroll to see the formula (required ingredients and resultant potion) and, with a click of a button, recreate the potion. The Basic Equipment set features other goodies: a Mark Stone so you can automatically use ingredients from your favorite ingredient storage container, special Formula Writers to control when you write formulas, pre-made powerful Formulas for you to gain the upper-hand in battle, and Boosts which greatly increase your potions' potency.
This is also meant to be a modder's resource which will allow anyone to easily add their own formulas and boosts. You can use the ones in the Basic Equipment plug-in as guidelines, but please be aware that this part of the mod is still undergoing changes, and you may have to rewrite any scripts for the release version of this mod.
Beta: To users of the mod, this should be considered a full release - all of the problems have been fixed and you won't have to worry about rewriting formulas. To modders who want to add their own formulas, boosts, etc. this is still a beta. Also, the next version of Alchemical Formulas will be quite a bit different, as the formulas will automatically update with your skill level and equipment, and you will be able to create potions with a click of the button, rather than opening the list. See the thread for more details.
[edit] Writing and Using Formulas
To write a formula, open the alchemy menu and create a potion. A menu will pop-up (it may take one second) asking if you want to write down the formula. If you select 'Yes', a new scroll will be added to your inventory, called "Alchemical Formula". If you only install the main "Alchemical Fomrulas.esm" file, you the menu will appear whenever you've created a potion (there is an option to not write any formulas until the next time you open the alchemy menu). The "Basic Equipment.esp" add-on gives you several ways to write formulas, mentioned in the "Getting Started" section.
Open the scroll by equipping it. The formula list will pop-up showing the required ingredients, the potion they create, and a few options. You can select an option by clicking on it (you may notice that the formula list is really a container menu, however, everything has been setup to act like a list - you can't take or add ingredients or potions, and the options won't stay in your inventory). There are 2 basic ways to recreate the potion. Click on the option "(Auto)Brew Potion" or "Brew Potion".
(Auto)Brew Potion - This will automatically use the required ingredients and create the potion (if you have the ingredients). As of now, there are two drawbacks to using this method: your alchemy skill won't increase, and the created potion will be the one in the formula list (instead of the one that you would normally have created). The first issue will be fixed with a later version of the mod. The second requires using the option "Update Potion" to update which potion is in the formula list. I wouldn't suggest using (Auto)Brew Potion until you're an Apprentice alchemists for this reason.
Brew Potion - This will appear to remove any unnecessary ingredients and open up the alchemy menu. That way, you only have to select the ingredients that are shown to recreate the potion. When you close the alchemy menu, your ingredients will be returned to normal and you'll be able to use them in the alchemy menu again (this works by temporarily changing the unnecessary ingredients into quest items).
[edit] Getting Started (with "Basic Equipment")
There are now a variety of alchemy dealers who will sell you formula equipment. Word is, Sinderion takes special delight in helping budding alchemists.
He has a special "Alch. Form. Basic Equipment Set" that will get you started, as well as many other goodies! In particular, the book "Alch. Formulas - A Primer" will teach you through everything you need to know about writing and using formulas.
If you need a quick reminder, you can enter Help Mode while using a formula. In Help Mode, any option you select will bring up a message to explain it's function.
Other helpful items - Boosts and the Mark Stone. There are 3 types of boosts: Formula Water, Salts, and Catalysts. Use these instead of (Auto)Brew Potion to create a more powerful version of the potion. The Waters will dilute your potion, making them less potent but longer lasting. Salts will concentrate your potion so you'll get most of it's potency in less time. Catalysts will increase both the potency and length of time of the potion, but these take 6 hours to complete. Also, due to their explosive nature, your skill limits how many you can make at once (1-5 at a time). Once you reach Journeyman level, you can tell the exact effects of each boost. The magnitude and duration of the Fortify Alchemy effect match the effictiveness of the boost. For instance, using a boost with a Fortify Alchemy effect that lasts 90 seconds at 125 magnitude will decrease your potion's effects' duation by 10% (duration * 90%) and increase the magnitude by 25% (magnitude * 125%).
Mark Stone: Marks a container as your ingredient storage container. From then on, the ingredients from that container will be added to your inventory when you write or use a formula (and moved back when you're done). To change containers, just add a mark stone to another container, and follow the instructions in the menu. Please note, due to limitations with the Oblivion system, some containers may only work in nearby cells. The best bet is with mod-added containers, or any "safe" container (won't respawn and destroy the contents of the container). To check, add the mark stone to the container, fast-travel somewhere, and try to write or use a formula. If you only see the ingredients currently on the player, you should find another container (though it will still work when you go back to the area with the marked container).
Tome of lost formulas: Read this if you've lost a formula and can't find it.
Alchemist's Quill and Formula Outline - These are your Formula Writers. Each one will enter Writing mode in a different way. If you want to write formulas whenever you enter the alchemy menu, purchase and keep an Alchemist's Quill with you (there will be an option to not write any more formulas until you open the alchemy menu again). To choose when you want to enter Writing mode, purchase a Formula Outline, and use it to enter Writing mode. Both have a book version and an apparatus version. Either will open the alchemy menu, so there's no functional difference.
