Alchemy is the ability to turn herbs and other plant based materials into potions, elixirs and oils which can augment any characters’ abilities or replenish health, mana and energy reserves. Some are needed in order to complete certain quests and others are required reagents for other professions (a money making opportunity).

Alchemy is a Primary Production Profession and therefore counts towards your 2 primary profession limit.
How do I become an Alchemist?
You can train to four levels of proficiency and each has certain prerequisites that you need to meet before you are able to progress to the next rank of proficiency. You need to be character level five or above to begin your training as an Alchemist. Below is a list of locations with links to maps which pinpoint exactly where the Trainer can be found.

Trainer
Rank Horde Alliance Neutral

Journeyman
Trains you to Apprentice Miao’Zan, Sen’Jin Village, Durotar

Whuut, 23, The Drag, Orgrimmar

Kray, 25, Elevation 2, Thunder Bluff

Carolai Anise, 25, Brill, Tirisfal Glades

Doctor Martin Felben, 25, Apothecarium, Undercity
Milla Fairancora, 24, Craftmen’s Terrace, Darnassus

Alchemist Mallory, right hand side of entrance to Stormwind up small valley in the hills, Elwynn Forest

Vosur Brakthel, 30, Tinker Town, Ironforge

Ghak Healtouch, Thelsamar, Loch Modan

Tel’Athir, 31, Mage Quarter, Stormwind

Cyndra Kindwhisper, 28, Dolanaar, Teldrassil

Expert
Trains you to Journeyman Serge Hinott, 32, Tarren Mill, Hillsbrad Foothills

Yelmak, 35, The Drag, Orgrimmar

Bena Winterhoof, 35, Elevation 2, Thunder Bluff

Doctor Marsh, 35, Apothecarium, Undercity
Sylvanna Forestmoon, 32, Craftmen’s Terrace, Darnassus

Tally Berryfizz, 35, Tinker Town, Ironforge

Lilyssia Nightbreeze, 35, Mage Quarter, Stormwind
Jaxin Chong, 46, Booty Bay, Strangelthorn
Artisan
Trains you to Expert
Doctor Herbert Halsey, 50, Apothecarium, Undercity Ainethil, 46, Craftmen’s Terrace, Darnassus
Master
Trians you to Artisan Rogvar, Stonard, Swamp of Sorrows Kylanna Windwhisper, 52, Feathermoon Stronghold, Feralas
Supplies
Sells you stoof Bronk, 49, Camp Mojache, Feralas

Kor’geld, 30, The Drag, Orgrimmar

Mani Winterhoof, 30, Elevation 2, Thunder Bluff

Selina Weston, 12, Brill, Tirisfal Glades

Algernon, 30, Apothecarium, Undercity
Ulthir, 30, Craftmen’s Terrace, Darnassus

Soolie Berryfizz, 30, Tinker Town, Ironforge

Maria Lumere, 30, Mage Quarter, Stromwind
Bro’kin, 49 Ruins of Alterac, Alterac Mountains

Glyx Brewright, 45, Booty Bay, Stranglethorn

Ratar, 45, Stonard, Swamp of Sorrows

Alchemist Pestlezugg, 45, Gadgetzan, Tanaris

The table below details the specific requirements for training to each rank within Alchemy.

To Train to rank of: Cost Required Create/find items from/to skill level
Char Lvl Prof Skill Lvl
Apprentice 10c 5 - 75
Journeyman 5s 10 50 50 - 150
Expert 50s 20 125 125 - 225
Artisan 5g 35 200 200 - 300

Be aware that Training costs are reduced by 10% in cities you have an ‘Honored’ Reputation.

How do I get the supplies I need?
You will be best to use the Herbalism gathering skill which you can train in also. This will allow you to find plants for yourself in the wilderness and gather them.
Some ingredients are found while fishing and as that skill is a Secondary Profession it does not count towards your 2 primary profession limit.
Other components can be brought from a Herbalist Supplier.
You can also trade with other players for ingredients.
What things can I create with Alchemy?
Lots. You can create potions for yourself to use, also reagents that are needed with other trade skills that, again, you can use yourself or you can trade with others. For example Alchemists can make Fire Oil and that is a required ingredient in 1 Enchanting and 3 Tailoring patterns, this means you can market this oil to characters specializing in those trades and make a tidy profit for yourself.

How do I make potions?
Once you have learnt your first level (Apprentice) of alchemy you will find the icon on the right in your Skills & Abilities book (hotkey P) which when clicked on will open your Alchemy recipe book. To become the ultimate Alchemist you will need to obtain recipes from a Trainer, find recipes from quests, killing monsters or trading with other players.

If you have all the required ingredients to carry out the recipe you will not fail (as is the case in some other games). However, depending on the level of recipe you may or may not increase in a level in alchemy. Your skill can only increase if you work on green, yellow or orange recipes. If you work on any of the trivial recipes (Grey ones) you won’t go up in skill at all.

Recipes will be one of four different colours which indicate the likelihood of your skill in Alchemy increasing when you create it:

Grey = Will not receive a skill point in Alchemy when creating.
Green = Rarely will you gain a skill point in Alchemy when creating.
Yellow = Probably gain a skill point in Alchemy when creating.
Orange = Always gain a skill point in Alchemy when creating.
Red = Not high enough level in Alchemy to create.

The Alchemy recipe book displays the ingredients you have and the next figure is the quantity you require to make that potion. If any of the reagents icons are greyed out it’s because you do not have any of them. If you have all the reagents simply click ‘create’ and it will automatically create the potion and move it to your backpack. If you have one of the same potion already in your backpack it will stack the new item on top of it if there is room (most potions stack to a max of 5). Vials (empty, leaded, crystal) can be purchased from an Alchemy supplier.

Having trained as an Apprentice Alchemist you start with three recipes in your Alchemy recipe book ready to follow. From there on down the list you need to be a higher level Alchemist to create the better potions. The more potions you make the higher your level of proficiency in Alchemy will rise so to start off with you’re going to be making lots of these three potions but as you can give them to your friends it’ll at least give you a chance to win friends and influence people.

As your Alchemy skill increases, more recipes will become available to learn at an Alchemist Trainer. If you go back to a town there’s more than likely an Alchemist Trainer there who will teach you recipes in return for money. Some potions recipes can be awarded after completing a quest, dropped by monsters or for sale at a regular NPC trader. When your Alchemy skill is the right level simply right click on the recipe scroll to learn and it’ll be added to your Alchemy recipe book. If you’ve already learned that recipe it will say ‘Already Known’ and you can trade the scroll with another player (best option) or sell it to a vendor (worst option because vendors pay very poorly).

Whilst making potions you can still do certain things such as organising your inventory or assigning talent points or chat. Each potion only takes a few seconds to produce but if you’re creating a whole bunch you can at least occupy yourself whilst that’s being done. You can’t move or be in any kind of combat whilst creating either, if you are attacked it will interrupt you too.

You can’t create whilst flying either.
Which potions can I make that other Professions need?
Making potions and reagents that other professions require is no doubt a great way to make some cash on the side. You can of course sell your other potions that give bonuses to player attributes but if you’re the best source of a reagent that stands in the way of another player making an item with their profession you can make some serious cash. The table below lists all the things an Alchemist can make (when they’ve learnt the recipe) that fall into this category. Also listed are any potions required for the completion of a quest, another possible income revenue.

Potions required for other Professions & Quests
Potion Icon Required For
Blackmouth Oil Enchant Fishing Gloves (Enchanting)
Catseye Elixir Catseye Ultra Goggles (Engineering)
Elixir of Agility Quickdraw Quiver (Leatherworking)
Elixir of Defense Toughened Leather Gloves (Leatherworking)
Elixir of Demonslaying Enchant Weapon - Demonslaying (Enchanting)
Elixir of Fortitude A Short Incubation (Quest A)
Elixir of Greater Defense Thick Leather Ammo Pouch (Leatherworking)
Elixir of Lesser Agility Dark Leather Shoulders (Leatherworking)
Elixir of Minor Agility Nimble Leather Gloves (Leatherworking)
Elixir of Minor Fortitude Ineptitude + Chemicals = Fun (Quest A)
Elixir of Ogre’s Strength Mighty Iron Hammer (Blacksmithing)
Elixir of Shadow Power Bell of Dethmoora (Quest Warlock)
Elixir of Wisdom Hillman’s Belt (Leatherworking)
Gloves of Meditation (Tailoring)
Fire Oil Crimson Silk Cloak (Tailoring)
Crimson Silk Gloves (Tailoring)
Crimson Silk Shoulders (Tailoring)
Enchant Cloak - Lesser Fire Resistance (Enchanting)

Frost Oil Edge of Winter (Blacksmithing)
Frost Tiger Blade (Blacksmithing)
Gyrofreeze Ice Deflector (Engineering)
Ice Deflector (Engineering)
SnowMaster 9000 (Engineering)
Icy Cloak (Tailoring)
Enchant Shield - Frost Resistance (Enchanting)
A Broken Trap (Quest H/A)
Coolant Heads Prevail (Quest H/A)

Ghost Dye Belt of the Archmage (Tailoring)
Gloves of Spell Mastery (Tailoring)
Truefaith Vestments (Tailoring)
Ghostweave Belt (Tailoring)
Ghostweave Pants (Tailoring)
Ghostweave Vest (Tailoring)

Goblin Rocket Fuel
Engineer makes recipe for you to learn Goblin Dragon Gun (Engineering)
Goblin Rocket Boots (Engineering)
Goblin Rocket Helmet (Engineering)
Mithril Mechanical Dragonling (Engineering)
The Big One (Engineering)

Great Rage Potion Barbaric Belt (Leatherworking)
Healing Potion Truefaith Gloves (Tailoring)
Liquid Stone (Quest H/A)
Lesser Invisibility Potion Phantom Blade (Blacksmithing)
Liquid Stone (Quest H/A)

Mana Potion Crimson Silk Robe (Tailoring)
Long Silken Cloak (Tailoring)
Replacement Phial (Quest A)
Minor Mana Potion Ineptitude + Chemicals = Fun (Quest A)
Shadow Oil Shadow Crescent Axe (Blacksmithing)
Dusky Boots (Leatherworking)
Dusky Leather Armor (Leatherworking)
Guardian Armor (Leatherworking)
Shadow Hood (Tailoring)

Shadow Protection Potion Boots of Darkness (Tailoring)
Hands of Darkness (Tailoring)
Enchant Cloak - Lesser Shadow Resistance (Enchanting)
Strong Troll’s Blood Elixir of Agony (Quest H/A)
Swiftness Potion Deadly Bronze Poniard (Blacksmithing)
Swift Boots (Leatherworking)
Source: WWNData

A list of all potions/elixirs/oils an Alchemist can make can be found here.

Which metals can I transmute and how?

The Philosopher’s Stone (formerly the Alchemist’s Stone) is the tool required to transmute elements and metals into higher quality materials. Alchemists need only one because the stone doesn’t disappear when used. It is soulbound once made so you can’t make them to sell onto other Alchemists. Another caveat is that they have a huge cooldown period in between transmutations, 24 hours in most cases and 48 hours in a couple. You can not get around this by creating more than one stone and performing a transmutation with each. You need to keep the stone in your backpack to use and you need not be anywhere special to perform a transmutation. Below are details of all the transmutations available to the Alchemist.

Transmute Reagents Req. Level Times Product is used in Trades
24 hours cooldown
Iron to Gold 1 Iron Bar 225 15 Blacksmithing
1 Engineering
4 Tailoring
Air to Fire 1 Essence of Air 275 3 Blacksmithing
3 Enchanting
2 Engineering
6 Leatherworking
11 Tailoring
Earth to Life 1 Essence of Earth 275 4 Blacksmithing
3 Engineering
10 Leatherworking
2 Tailoring
3 Enchanting
Earth to Water 1 Essence of Earth 275 5 Blacksmithing
1 Engineering
5 Leatherworking
5 Tailoring
4 Enchanting
Fire to Earth 1 Essence of Fire 275 8 Blacksmithing
3 Engineering
3 Leatherworking
3 Tailoring
1 Enchanting
Life to Earth 1 Living Essence 275 8 Blacksmithing
3 Engineering
3 Leatherworking
3 Tailoring
1 Enchanting
Undeath to Water 1 Essence of Undeath 275 5 Blacksmithing
1 Engineering
5 Leatherworking
5 Tailoring
4 Enchanting
Water to Undead 1 Essence of Water 275 2 Blacksmithing
2 Engineering
3 Tailoring
2 Enchanting
Water to Air 1 Essence of Water 275 1 Engineering
5 Leatherworking
1 Tailoring
3 Enchanting
48 hours cooldown
Mithril to Truesilver 1 Mithril Bar 225 26 Blacksmithing
11 Engineering
1 Tailoring
1 Enchanting
Arcanite
(only way to obtain Arcanite so good trade ops) 1 Thorium Bar
1 Arcane Crystal 275 31 Blacksmithing
4 Engineering
1 Tailoring

The recipe to create a Philosopher’s Stone can be purchased from in Gadgetzan in Tanaris and you need to be an Alchemist level of 225 before you can create a it.

Is there anything else I should know about Alchemy?
Character Levels - As with nearly everything in World of Warcraft potions come with a minimum character level requirement. For example, the Elixir of Ogre’s Strength which increases strength by 8 for 1 hour can only be consumed by characters level 20 or above. Or Fire Oil, which is used in other Alchemy recipes as well as some Tailoring patterns can be used by characters level 25 and above.

Cool Downs - There is a cool down period for most skills and spells and that applies to potions too. That is the period of time between one potion being consumed and another and can range from 1 second to 10 minutes depending on the potion. This is not the same as duration, that’s how long the effects of a potion will last.

Auto-Loading - If you move your potions to your action bar it will tally the total number of them you have in your bags (not in your bank) and so when you use a potion via the action bar it will take them out the stacks in your bags until you have no more. You do not need to keep shifting another stack of five into your action bar. Furthermore, the action bar will remember the last potion you had in a slot and when you run out it will darken the icon (as you can see with red potions on the left) so as soon as you place another of that potion in your bags it’ll automatically be loaded in your action bar.

Drinking - You can drink all potions and flasks whilst fighting, casting spells, running, sitting or flying. If you drink during summoning however it’ll interrupt the summon, likewise gathering any herbs.

Stacking Effects - Effects of the same type can not be stacked. So if you have an Elixir of Ogre’s Strength and a scroll of Strength you can’t drink the potion and cast the scroll on yourself and have the two strength bonuses stack. This applies to skills and spells also. The potion will either replace the existing buff if it’s better than it and if not it’ll give you a message telling you a more powerful effect is already active.

Flasks - These are the highest level items the Alchemist can create and all the recipes come from MoB drops. You need to have a skill level of 300 and be in an Alchemist’s Lab by Ras Frostwhisper in Scholmance and Blackwing Lair to create any. Thankfully, unlike potions, the effects of Flasks persists through death.

All Flasks an Alchemist can make
Name Icon Effect
Only 1 flask can be in effect at a time Recipe
Drop Details
Flask of Chromatic Resistance +25 to resist all schools of magic for 2 hours Drop
Flask of Distilled Wisdom +2000 to max mana for 2 hours Drop
Flask of Petrification Turns you to stone, protecting you from all physical attacks & spells for 1 minute. Can not attack, move or cast spells while transformed Drop
Flask of Supreme Power Increase damage done by magical spells & effects by up to 150 for 2 hours Drop
Flask of Titans +1200 to max helath for 2 hours Drop
Source: WWNData

Can I unlearn Alchemy?
Yes. You can unlearn professions for free any number of times. Go to your skills panel (press K). Click on the Profession you wish to unlearn and a small icon will appear next to it and clicking on this will unlearn the skill. Be aware you will lose all associated recipes and support skills too and if you wish you hadn’t unlearnt it (eek!) you will have to start your training again at Apprentice level and work you way up again. Click the image on the right for a fully captioned shot. Use this feature with caution, Blizzard will not undo a mistake of this nature.

To recap on the Alchemy basics:
Training costs money
Recipes cost money
Recipes come in grades. Grey = trivial, green = average, yellow = above average and orange the hardest.
Following trivial recipes will not improve your skill level, following the others you either have a chance or are guaranteed to skill up.
Potions have a cool down after consumption.
Can give potions to friends or trade, they are not soulbound
Potions stack to a max of five
Alchemists can transmute metals
You can not give recipes to players once they’re in your Alchemy recipe book.
Potion effects will not stack with themselves but will stack with class buffs.
Only one Flask in effect at a time.
Potions have a minimum character level.
All Flasks require a skill level of 300 & an Alchemist’s Lab.
Potion effects do not persist through death, Flask effects do. Potions and Flask timers will not count down whilst logged off, their duration is actual on-line time.
Further Alchemy Reading & Resources
List of Alchemy Recipes/Potions
List of Alchemy Trainers
List of Alchemy Suppliers
Alchemy Quests
Professions Forum
Profession UIs/Mods
WWN Data

Patch Changes to Alchemy
Patch 1.9.1 (10 January 2006)
Elixir of Poison Resistance now removes up to 4 poison effects up to level 60. The immunity effect has been removed.
Patch 1.9.0 (3 January 2006)
An Alchemy recipe to Transmute Heart of Fire into three Elemental Fires has been added at the Friendly level of the Thorium Brotherhood.
Patch 1.8.0 (11 October 2005)
There are now alchemy labs that are needed by alchemists to make flasks inside of Blackwing Lair.
Water Breathing potions will no longer be overwritten by Shaman and Warlock Water Breathing spells if the potion has a longer duration.
Expert Alchemy requires 125 skill now instead of 100 skill.
Free Action Potion text changed to clearly indicate that the potion is not retroactive. No actual change was made other than the text.
Patch 1.7.0 (13 September 2005)
The Effects of Flasks will now persist through death.
Free Action potions can now be dispelled.
Wildvine potions have been improved.
Dreamless Sleep potions now take full effect in 12 seconds instead of 15.
Timbermaw Reputation Recipes are no longer sold in limited quanities with a restock time. If you have the reputation, you will always be able to buy the recipe.
Patch 1.5.0 (7 June 2005)
Restorative Elixir name changed to Restorative Potion with potion cool down timer. Functionality has been changed so it should be more effective as it now dispels one harmful effect every 5 seconds for 30 seconds.
Patch 1.2.0 - 17 December 2004
Alchemists’ Stone effects have been changed.
Patch 1.1.0 - 7 November 2004
Elixirs no longer stack with player spells that improve the same attribute
Limited Invulnerability Potion Re-added to Alchemy, but at a higher level than it was previously.
Elixirs effects reduced somewhat for the higher level elixirs.
Catseye Elixir reduced in effectiveness.
Beta Patch 0.12.0 - 10 October 2004
The herbs needed to support high end alchemy have been added to the world.
Beta Patch 0.11.0 - 28 September 2004
New alchemy recipes are in the game, but you will not be able to make most of these recipes until the high-level herbs are added in a future patch.
Beta Patch - 19 September 2004
Alchemist’s Stone has become Philosophers’ Stone.
Stoneshield potion significantly improved.
Dreamless Sleep potion added to alchemy.
Reagents required for some alchemy potions changed.
Alchemists can now transmute thorium and arcane crystals into arcanite. This is the only way to acquire this rare material.
Beta Patch 0.9.0 - 15 August 2004
Effect of Stoneskin potion improved.
Transmute gold and truesilver had level requirements removed.
Beta Patch 0.8.0 - 7th July 2004
Free Action potions now have a 30 second duration.
Healing & Mana potions have improved.
Rage potions have been made slightly weaker.
Transmute abilities are now cancelled by movement.
Transmute Mithril to Truesilver now has a two-day cool down.