Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Help Tips & Tricks Alchemy feasibility question!

I have been waiting to make my own potions till I needed them. Well now I’m not sure it looks feasible to be able to collect enough ingredients. First question is do ingredients respawn and second question can you be self sufficient in potions?

Ingredients never respawn. Merchants do sell them so Astarion can steal them

Best method to do your own potions:
1. Hire Brinna Brightsong as a hireling
2. Respec her to a Transmuter Wizard with max Wisdom
3. Max her Medicine proficiency.
4. Leave her in camp, saving your ingredients as you adventure.
5. Swap her into the group, giving her all of the ingredients you have been saving and let her go at it creating everything.
6. Everything she creates a potion, elixir, grenade, etc. she makes a roll on medicine, if she succeeds, she creates 2.
Because she is a halfling, she is Lucky, so has a better chance to succeed at her Medicine check.
7. After a Long Rest, she can cast Longstrider, Mage Armor, & Dark Vision, plus she can create a Transmuter Stone for someone to carry. So none of the Companions have to worry about casting those spells.

She never leaves camp, but she is a really great support character.

Thank you for the quick reply! I will try this seems a great place to start!

Whether you can be self-sufficient in potions depends on how many potions use and how quickly you go through them. Personally only really use health potions and sometimes weapon coatings.
Yes you can piss about trying to pickpocket ingredients which are dirt cheap anyway or arse about to make the hireling a master potion maker but to me life is too short. Money is never in short supply, the ingredients and potions are cheap enough and you pick up potions continually.

You're right that except for healing potions, the others are pretty much optional. But they are useful at times, and sometimes they are really helpful. Especially things like Haste or Invisibility. They give you more options on progressing through the game, both in and out of combat. And having a hireling devoted to casting Longstrider at the beginning of the the day is a worthwhile thing on its own. That extra movement in combat is a godsend at times.