OK I'm scared to death now as I just reached Act 2.

Could someone CAREFULLY EXPLAIN what causes this bug? I've been in the Alchemist's house and run quests from it... does that break it? Or does going into the Shaman's hut and taking the "Alchemy Materials" before talking to the Alchemist break it? Or is it something else entirely.

This is really, really critical. If it's something I've already done, I need to start finding an old save fast.