One of the many accurate truisms about Bethesda Game studios is that they have released their magnum opus, Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, about 6 times since it first debuted in 2011. Who can blame them? Well, their devoted fan base sure will try. As a digital sandbox where players are pushed to insert their own imaginations, these romping roleplays have a byproduct of instigating players to imagine beyond what is actually doable in game. Indignant, entitled, and insatiable, yet the effusive list of could-have-beens players yearn for is a testament to how magnificent Skyrim truly is. It’s also a testament to how the art of game design nurtures appreciation for creation and making.
Let’s continue that time honored tradition, and talk about how Skyrim could have been so much better.
A second accurate truism about Bethesda’s work is that Skyrim favors Warrior play styles over the archetypes of Thieves and Mages. This piece exists to articulate how that unbalance could have been remedied, operating from the speculative position of a consultant submitting triage proposals just before the release of the original game. Part of that speculative position requires profound degrees of presumption, but is informed by the making of documentary the studio has made freely available. Reflective of the developmental information referenced, this document stresses frugality, specifically catering to repurposing digital assets, animations, and mechanics already in the game wherever possible. With speculative insider knowledge, this document will also presume foresight into where the DLC’s and Special Editions would take the game’s progress in subsequent years. That means there will be no attempts to remedy what DLC’s went on to fix. This consultant’s perspective is utilized to contrast how add-ons and Creation Club microtransactions feel separate from the core canon of the original release. The suggestions are submitted as necessary to imbue in every Player’s experience. Furthermore, these adjustments are not to make any playstyle more powerful damage wise. Exploits can be found in any playstyle to game the system. Rather, this feedback addresses what it considers glaring omissions, oversights in fleshing out the world of Skyrim beyond its prototypical Nordic Warrior. Prioritizing efficiency, this article is formatted to begin with recommendations that will yield the best impact for minimal labor required, and then drilling further and further down into finer capacities of expansion.
This document submits that roleplay styles in Skyrim could be improved by targeting the Skill Tree that sits between the Thief and the Mage Skills- the Skill of Alchemy. Reigning over both potions and poisons, this talent is useful in its broad capacities for application. There’s a major irony here- Alchemy is way, way too powerful in Skyrim. Over the years it’s become clear that players can mantle godhood through the exponential exploits available through stacking the effects of potions and enchanted objects. Alchemy doesn’t need to be more powerful, Alchemists need better in-world visibility. For a third and final truism about this game’s development, it must be acknowledged what while the sovereign state of Skyrim caters to the lifestyle of a Warrior, the way in which a character accesses experience points (required to level up) often means that Characters are almost destined to ‘devolve’ into Stealth Archer builds. Put another way- if you make a warrior character, you will eventually max out the Warrior Skills, and if you want to keep playing as that character, you will likely resort to using Skills like Bows, Sneak, and One Handed just to gain experience points. While these ‘inevitable’ stealth builds might give the impression that Alchemy isn’t lacking for representation, the fact that those builds are never described as “playing as an Alchemist”, but rather playing as a “Stealth Archer”, indicates it is the Skills of Archery and Sneak are what the Players are most consciously appreciating. A Player, through knowing the exploitative mechanics of Alchemy, respects Alchemy. But Characters, both those playable and not, need to be given inextricable and explicit reasons to respect Alchemy too.
For reference, the 5 Tiers of suggestions will be structured as follows
Tier 1
Issue Identified - Alchemy is not seen enough in the overworld.
Solution Identified - Utilizing Smoke, Clouds, and Particle Overworld Animations to the Fullest.
Tier 2
Issue Identified - Access to interacting with Alchemy is limited.
Solution Identified - Additional styles of crafting tables for niche or simply more frequent access to Alchemy.
Tier 3
Issue Identified - Alchemists can only be seen in the role of Potion Shopkeepers.
Solution Identified - Increasing the breadth of alchemical applications in regard to the in-game lore.
Tier 4
Issue Identified - Alchemy does not present a threat in the overworld.
Solution Identified - Increasing the visibility and amount of NPCs who are a threat because of their Alchemical prowess
Tier 5
Issue Identified - There is a lack of items oriented as outlets for Alchemy.
Solution Identified - Utilizing the preexisting assets of Darts, Transmutation, Traps, etc, as ideal for becoming alchemical instruments.
Tier 1
Smoke, mist, fog, and other airborne clouds appear throughout the base game. The most notable examples include the Ebony Mail, the swirling leaves around Spriggans, and the animation of elemental cloaking spells, not to mention the environmental gasses that can be seen wafting through the average dungeons. All this is to say there’s a host of digital assets in the game that are gaseous clouds and do damage. Increasing the presence of smoke clouds is fundamental to this proposal as it is generally underutilized.
To prevent having to create a new item asset or weapon category to activate a smoke cloud, a straightforward option would be to implement a spell or power, or as they can be called in Skyrim a Shout. Words of Power in the dragon tongue, something like “Stench of Pestilence” could fill a room with a fog that ticked down the health of all enemies. This power could be linked to the skill of Alchemy by explicitly theming the location in which it is placed with all the furnishings of an expert ancient alchemist Dragon Priest, maybe even having the potential to function as a rundown player home. Perhaps the way this Shout inflicts damage is by infecting all enemies with a specific or randomized Disease, of which eight are already found in game. The animation of this Shout could be a reskinned version of the cloud of mystic energy the Expert Calm spell radiates in the user’s vicinity.
But still, the activation of a Shout doesn’t really let the playing sink into the experimentation of this craft. So how could Alchemy’s skill tree be updated? Well given that Detect Life spells exist in the game for stealthy combat, a Detect Ingredient spell available through the Alchemy’s skill tree would make harvesting a little less laborious. Perhaps a Skill could be created called ‘Alchemist’s Aura’, where anytime a user casts an Illusion, Restoration, or Alteration Spell, their vision is improved to see in darkness and identifies all items tagged as Ingredients as they radiate a distinct glow. And to contrast and compliment the offensive aspect of the Stench of Pestilence, Alchemist’s Aura could immunize allies from being poisoned or disease. This could be achieved by having Alchemist’s Aura have multiple iterations of itself, the final of which would fill a room with a mist that offered protection to the user’s team. Seeing enemies activate the Shout or Aura themselves functions to increase Alchemy’s visibility even if the Player does not choose it for their Character.
A rolling fog for attack, an ephemeral mist for protection- how could a stealthy approach benefit from utilizing smoke? Can creating a new asset and repeating ‘power’ based activation in the two previous examples both be avoided? Given that the quest reward of the White Phial (a bottle that magically refills based on the Holy Grail) is only usable once daily, it comes to function as a Lesser Power that is found in the Items category. This means that if we were to replicate that concept, and avoided the item existing in the overworld by only making it accessible by an NPC gifting it to the player’s inventory directly, all desired factors could be achieved. However this object should differentiate itself from the Phial both theoretically and aesthetically. The Glenmoril Witch coven has a limited presence in the game, perhaps they could receive a camp or cottage to offer quests from. The witches have their own mysterious intentions and wouldn't hesitate to work with a magic that enables crime. After completing a quest involving alchemical themes, this coven could offer a bundle of herbs (let’s call it Rot Smudge) that functioned as an ingame Torch, turning the user invisible when equipped, and fortify their own vision while impairing that of their enemies’. This item could avoid exploitation through usage and time limits. A Torch was also chosen for this artifact because no unique Torch exists in the game, so any addition would be instantly memorable.
This closes the most succinct approach to embellish the Alchemy skill’s overworld visibility through the embrace of smoke. Stench of Prestilience would require three Word Walls being added in order to unlock the shout’s full potential. Alchemist’s Aura would be accessed through practicing with the skill and spending Skill Points to unlock it in the Alchemy Skill Tree. The Rot Smudge Torch would be a gifted quest reward. Important to note- the means that these three adjustments could be implemented was conscious of the fact that requiring verbal dialogue would be a major undertaking due to voice recording. A World Wall and a Skill Perk requires no character to narrate it to you. The Coven who administers quests to you could utilize the fact that Hagraven can speak in a jumble of squawks, and have those noises subtitled for the Player to make sense of.
Tier 2
The next tier of suggestions focuses on the in-world relevance of the Alchemy craft. Again, part of that respect comes through visibility in the visual medium of game design. Alchemy as a skill is not very directly accessible in the over world because as opposed to past games, Alchemy cannot be conducted at any time, but only at an Alchemy Table. A singular portable potion kit, Tolfdir’s Alembic, exists in the game. This asset might tempt a designer to repurpose it as an asset that allows players to use it for portable potion making, but given that Enchanting and Smithing (the other two ‘Crafting’ Skills) both require their respective making stations to access, granting portable usage to Alchemy alone seems an unfair advantage. However, only Smithing has multiple crafting tables- Smelters, Tanning Rocks, Forges, Workbenches, and Grindstones, each with niche functions. Yes, Smithing has five stations and Alchemy only has one. Furthermore, Enchanting and Smithing both have higher visibility in that anything the Player’s Character wears or weapon they weald can be perpetually flaunting their progress as an elemental armorer. While weapons can be poisoned and apply up to two strikes with its effect, that temporary nature makes its application both tertiary and tedious. Like Smithing, Alchemy should get more tables to conduct specific aspects of their craft. That could be done by having Spriggans, a race of sentient tree-like forest guardians, being potentially found concocting woodland recipes in the stump of a hollow tree. A Spriggan Stump could be efficiently designed by repurposing a large tree stump and placing bits of bone, shells, stones, and other mystical ephemera on top. These Spriggan Stumps could just make potions with no distinction from regular Alchemy Tables and their existence alone would help to increase its visibility. But in the theme of utilizing smoke clouds, Spriggan Stumps could produce specialty Spriggan Salves that cover the user in the swirling leaves and sparkles Spriggans are known for, and focus their affinity for Restoration, Illusion, and Destruction magics.
Cooking is not a Skill in itself, but functionally a variation of Alchemy as both use Ingredient Items. Given Skyrim’s meade loving culture, a Brewing variation could bridge Cooking to Alchemy. Brews could be made distinct by taking longer to create, achievable by prompting players to leave ingredients to ferment and age for ideal results. The assets for these vats can be found already at ingame locations like Honningbrew Meadery and Blackbriar Meadery. Placing a handful of interactive Brewing Vats at other large farms, grand estates, and royal kitchens would justify an in-game rarity. This could create an appreciation for ‘Kitchen Witches’ and make mysticism approachably domestic (and alcoholic) for the region’s magic-averse culture.
Another variation of Alchemy could be found at Giant Camps. Famous for making cheese with the milk of their Mammoth cattle, the Mammoth Cheese players can already expect to find in Mammoth Cheese Bowls could have ingredients added to them and produce specialty spores. Perhaps these Pasteurization Pods would only accept a short list of relevant indrients (much like the spider furnace), existing only to combine empty eggs or seeds with a reaction agent and variation of other ingredients to produce smoke screens to limit enemy visibility, inflict stat changes, or instigate a Frenzy. If utilizing Giants feels too similar to utilize their forest neighbors of the Spriggans, Vampires could be exchanged for either. Their human sentience would offer a degree of artistry the others would lack, but perhaps a vampire’s Blood Bath crafting station would yield exclusively toxic results. Examples of this asset can be found in the Bloodstone Chalice.
It’s worth noting that in previous games, the variety of Alchemy was derived from how four instrument slots (Calcinator, Alembic, etc) could be combined to yield varying success. As Skyrim’s Alchemy Tables already build the alchemy system to ignore those factors, it would seem that that decision is minimally interrupted if entirely new means of Alchemy are introduced as opposed to breaking down its current functionality.
So in conclusion of Tier 2, additional Alchemy tables like Spriggan Stumps, Brewing Vats, Pasteurizing Pods, and possibly Blood Baths, could offer specialty Alchemy products, or at minimum be set to function as Alchemy Tables if only to increase their overworld frequency.
Tier 3
Tier three focuses on how the people of Skyrim could better represent the breadth of Alchemy. This tier could be expensive to implement given the voice acting it would necessitate, which is why voice acting will continue to be avoided.That will be achieved through clever consolidation.
Let’s consolidate Tiers 1 and 2 by establishing that the quests and locations developed in Tier 3 will function to be the hubs of their administration. With that, let’s introduce the Druadach Coven. The range of the Druadach Mountains is ideal for inserting a stone entrance that houses a grotto-like clearing for this contingent of witches to operate from. An invitation to this camp could be inserted by having an Alchemy Shopkeeper slip the Player Character with a special note once their Alchemy has reached level 25. Impressed with your acumen, this note hints at the underbelly of the potions industry. But reaching the entrance to the Druadach Camp would force the Player to confront its guardians who will specialize in wielding the visible powers of Alchemy the Player will soon have expedited access to, flaunting their potential. When finally reached, the Druadach Camp would house a Word Wall from which a part of Stench of Pestilence could be acquired, much like the layout of the Dark Brotherhood’s Sanctuary. As mentioned in Tier 1, communicating with the Hagravens themselves could be done through subtitles, but also a combination of divine inspiration by means of a Sigill Stone, and more notes slipped from shopkeepers in the loop. The Coven would offer a place to find the newly implemented Spriggan Trunks, Brewing Vats, and Pasteurizing Pods. If a Player lacks the ingredients to use those tables, they have access to a Root Cellar filled with materials, or they could buy specialty products directly from an expert tradeswoman. They could feature an Alchemy Skill Trainer just in case Alchemist’s Aura is yet to be unlocked, which addresses how every suggestion made thus far could be exemplified through this consolidated experience.
This enchanted garden would also function to satiate how Skyrim fans have yearned for an alternative to the College of Winterhold- somewhere magical practices didn’t require a character to be so professionally responsible in the role of (spoiler alert) Arch-Mage. This much more casual Faction, comparable to the Namira’s Cannibal Cult or the Forsworn Camp, as it does not feature internal rank progression. This suggestion might be divisive, but given that the Companions Faction has a monopoly on Lycanthropy, yet that ability was a gift from Glennmorill Hagravens, the Druadach Coven could reward Characters with the power to become a Werewolf, if not a Briarheart.
As an option to feature rank progression and stand distinct from taboo witchcraft, Players could show off their mixing skills through the Cook’s Questline. The quest begins when a player uses the Cooking Pot of a Tavern, and inadvertently fulfills some food orders for the patrons. This laboring could be a way for players to gain gold and be recognized by higher profile clientele. Voice recording for these Cooking Quests could be minimized by delivering orders through written Letters delivered to the player. These Cooking Quests could all be connected and bring players to cook for various Jarls, or for Weddings in Solitude or Riften. As Cooks are likely to cater for celebrations, these festivities could center the 9 Divines and reward the Character with Aedric Blessings or a preemptive taste of the Feast in Sovngarde.
And finally, the breadth of alchemy could be articulated with a joke shop. Solitude has a strong historical connection to Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. A store, or at minimum a stall in the bazaar area could be added that specialized in potions with bizarre or oxymoronic side effects. They could also sell all the specialty items from Tier 2’s crafting stations, and perhaps some one of a kind gags like Greenmote Gasbags that function as immobilizing whoopie cushions, cheap Vaermina’s Vanishing Cream that offers Invisibility with lacking duration, and be a place to steal the coveted Jester’s clothing set. Lacking progress or even questlines, oriented to serve a domestic demographic, Haskill’s Hiccup Joke Shop would take the heady chemistry out of the craft and justify being a distributor of criminal accessories. This joke shop would also function to bring back the sense of absurdism and whimsy that seemed to diminish in proportion to Bethesda’s adherence to mass-appeal.
In summary of Tier 3, this breadth of a casual Coven, a narrative Cooking Questline, and a left-field Joke Shop would round out Alchemy’s spectrum of applications.
Tier 4
And as a Fourth Tier, the following suggestions share a theme of broad strokes through environmental factors. As many prior suggestions function to give more powers and abilities to the player character, these effects should be seen coming in proportional ways from other in-game sources, particularly enemy classes. This both prevents a character from feeling overpowered, as well as increases Alchemy’s profile overall. The broadest way the environment could get a similar treatment would be to make Skyrim’s frigid reputation explicit and feature Snow Squalls that effectively function as poison clouds dealing Frostbite damage overtime. A feature like this already exists in the Main Questline. Perhaps local legends allege they’re overgrown cousins of Wisp Mothers and Ice Wraiths, living weather. Brews created at Brewing Vats could have the warming properties ideal for minimizing Frostbite.
In environments too hot for these Snow Squalls, Players could instead be confronted with Mora Mushrooms that waft noxious fumes. These environmental alchemical threats would not be fatal to the average player, but rather cater to prepared Alchemist’s immunizations. For further cohesion, Nords and Argonians could resist the damage of Snow Squalls and Mora Mushrooms respectively. Many dungeons are equipped with traps that spray Poisoned Darts at adventurers who weren't remembering to keep a lookout for Trip Wires. As Beehives and Bees already exist as overworld Assets, perhaps a special class of both could fire off successions of Poison Darts when their nests are threatened. And yet, these Snow Squalls, Mora Mushrooms, and Blast Bees all cleverly guard some of the most valuable Alchemical ingredients.
Skyrim uses swimming and Water Breathing less than its previous counterparts. Underwater jelly mushrooms, or pockets of sunken ice chambers, could house a wealth of rare ingredients to the well prepared explorer. These excursions could be threatened by schools of Slaughterfish, or hordes of Falmer ready to emit cloudy swirls of Shock Damage in reference to deep sea bioelectricity.
These distinctly environmental occurrences in the Overworld ensure that every playstyle will brush with challenges made challenging through Alchemy. It also functions to reward Alchemist roleplays with success as they will frequent the quests most likely to feature them.
Tier 5
The fifth and final tier of suggestions in this thought experiment is a collection of mechanics and in-game items that admittedly might take more work than they’re worth. Tier One opened with stressing a utilization of Smoke Clouds, but the Poisoned Darts referenced in Tier Four had the potential to rival smoke’s utility to Alchemists. There are more kinds of smoke and aura animations available to repurpose which is why they beat out darts. If time was a luxury, however, the rogues, thieves, and assassins of Skyrim would profoundly benefit from having access to the use of darts. They almost did have that access. Looking through the game files, fans of Skyrim have discovered the spell Spectral Arrow, even though that spell never made it into the final game. Spectral Arrow functioned like a Bound Bow, but shot one arrow out, silently. Additionally, upon the release of the Dawnguard DLC expansion, player characters were granted access to cross bows, and Dwemer Ballistas were added to enemy forces. The Spectral Arrow, the Cross Bows, and the Poisoned Darts all offer assets and animations that would improve the experience of stealthy play styles. This is because a dart alone doesn't do much damage- it’s a weapon focused on delivering a dose of chemicals discreetly. It’s a weapon that explicitly centers Alchemy. Access to darts could be made available through the Dark Brotherhood and/or Thieves Guild questlines, perhaps with each Faction offering lethal and non-lethal darts respectively. It could be as simple as a Reed Tube classified as a Bow in the Key Items category, and once acquired it can dispense Arrows marked as Darts.
Often mentioned along with the Spectral Arrow spell is the Skeever (a rat like creature) Transmutation spell as both came so close to being in the game’s release. Players who found the files for the spell report that it’s functionally unusable, as the viewing perspective available when activated is horrendous, not to mention that the player can’t use their inventory, activate any item, or communicate with an NPC while a Skeever. The power to transform into an animal might thematically fall under the Alteration Skill, but both Alteration and Alchemy could benefit from transformations even if they are granted different means of access to it. Firstly, the poor viewing perspective could be remedied by having players transform into creatures that maintain a human character’s eye level- a butterfly. A Butterfly could be animated as if it's fluttering through the air, but occupies the area a player’s head would be, treating the neck down like the Invisibility Spell was applied. This Butterfly Transmutation spell would still limit a player’s capacity to interact with the world like a human would, but the stealthy potential this disguise offers would be infinitely useful to sneaking around. Butterfly Transmutation could be available as a Cook for a Festival of Mara, a Spriggan secret from the Druadach Coven, or a scroll based prank for purchase at Haskill’s Hiccup.
It’s worth noting that Trip Wires are also unavailable to Players. As Elemental Runes function as pressure plate landmines, we know that the game has the capacity for Players to set traps. It’s odd that because Runes are Destruction Spells, their magic cost favors mages above rogues. Roques should have access to the Nightingale’s Trip Wire, allowing them to set up one trap at a time. They would have to be at the location to set it up, but they could get a lot of distance and the trap would remain active. Or perhaps to avoid a new weapons system, Blast Beehives could be detonated to target where a swarm of dart-like insects would be advantageous. Or, Players could wait a year for 2012’s Dragonborn DLC that introduced the Poison Rune Spell into the game.
Closing
That’s what Alchemy could have been. That’s how Mages and Rogues could have felt Skyrim was for them too. That’s what the invitation to the north of Tamriel should have made clear.
In November of 2021 Bethesda Game Studio released Skyrim’s Tenth Anniversary Edition. In the decade since, Alchemy has been built up, perhaps most significantly through the Hearthfire DLC and its introduction of a Greenhouse. In a subsequent document, we’ll review what those iterations of updates have meant for the game. But in closing of this piece, reiterate once more
Tier 1 - Utilizing smoke, clouds, and particle overworld animations to the fullest.
Tier 2 - Additional crafting tables for niche Alchemy or just more access to it.
Tier 3 - Increasing the breadth of alchemists.
Tier 4 - Increasing the environmental visibility and threat of Alchemy.
Tier 5 - Implementing new items as instruments of Alchemy.
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