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====== Alchemy Guide ======

Platinum is a lovely thing to have in Crossfire. It won’t get you everything, but it sure helps. You can use it to buy anything the shops are willing to sell—and often, whatever other players are selling too. Platinum also lets you enhance many aspects of your character. It’s not everything, but the more you have, the better.

Your first few levels in Crossfire will follow the classic kill-loot-sell loop. You clear a newbie dungeon, then make tedious trips hauling your loot to the nearest shop. You’ll start thinking: //There must be an easier way!//

There is.

**Alchemy!**

It’s a word that inspires fear—perhaps because the Evil Masters might be summoned again. Perhaps because the powers of chaotic magical energy could once again be unleashed upon the world. Alchemy is both feared and revered. To outsiders, it holds a mystique—a sense of power, maybe too much of it.

But to those within the inner circle, the possibilities are limitless…

True alchemy is not for the faint of heart. But even beginners can benefit from its simpler aspects.

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===== Getting Started =====

Alchemy began as the art of turning base metals into gold—or better yet, platinum. Early alchemists became incredibly wealthy, but that wasn’t enough. The peasants only had so much to offer. The alchemists wanted more.

So they branched out. They began crafting potions and powerful items. But power has a price, and the horrors they unleashed never truly faded.

(I'm skipping the story, saving it for later, and going on to the actual guide.)

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===== What You Need =====

Alchemy is a relatively easy skill to get started with. You’ll need:

  * **The alchemy skill**: This is incredibly useful for making money and eventually making yourself nearly invulnerable. Some characters start with it—type //skills// to check if you have it. If not, you’ll need to learn it from a skill scroll, which can usually be bought in alchemy shops. Apply the scroll to learn the skill, though be prepared to visit multiple shops before finding one.

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===== Becoming Proficient =====

Now that you have the alchemy skill, it’s time to level it up. You may feel like a superhero, but in alchemy terms, you’re a complete novice. If you try to craft something now, chances are high it will fail—and the failure could be disturbing.

Before crafting, you need to familiarize yourself with ingredients. Use the alchemy skill to identify items you think might be usable. For example, if you have an unknown item, type //use_skill alchemy// to attempt to identify it. If successful, you’ll gain a bit of alchemy experience.

Tip: Bind //use_skill alchemy// to a hotkey—it’ll save you a lot of typing.

Keep identifying ingredients until your alchemy skill reaches level 10. This can take time, so it’s often best to treat alchemy as a secondary skill while training something else, like one-handed combat or sorcery. Alternatively, you can buy unidentified ingredients in bulk from alchemy shops—but this is expensive, so unless you're already wealthy, it might not be a viable path.

Once identified, hold onto those ingredients—they may become useful in later formulas.

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===== Making Your First Item =====

Once you hit alchemy level 10, you can try crafting simple items. Be warned: these early recipes probably won’t yield anything useful—aside from a bit of cash.

To begin crafting, you’ll need:

  * **A recipe**: Look for shop items labeled “recipe:…”, “cookbook:…”, “lab book:…”, or something similar.
  * **Ingredients**: Early recipes often require only one component, which you can usually buy in a shop.
  * **A cauldron**: Alchemists typically own one. If you don’t, you can use a public cauldron found in labs—usually attached to alchemy shops.

Crafting steps:

  - Place the cauldron on the ground beneath you and open it.
  - Drop in the ingredients. Make sure identical ingredients stack correctly (e.g., old and new mineral oil won’t combine—this will ruin your attempt).
  - Stand over the cauldron and use the alchemy skill.

If successful, your item will appear in the cauldron. If you get slag—or the ingredients vanish—you either did something wrong or got unlucky. Success becomes more likely as your alchemy level increases.

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===== A Word of Warning =====

If you’re using your own cauldron, be cautious: beginner alchemists often fail, and failures can be destructive. Avoid experimenting at home—alchemy accidents there can burn your belongings or summon monsters you can’t defeat.

Always practice in a lab where precautions are in place.

To improve your success rate, increase:

  * Your **alchemy level**
  * Your **luck**
  * The **quality of your cauldron** (aim for enchanted ones—+1 to +5)

Avoid overly difficult recipes at low levels. Alchemy failures are influenced by your **Intelligence, ingredient count, how long the ingredients sit in the cauldron, and cauldron enchantments**. As the source code says: “Using a bad device is majorly stupid.” So find a Cauldron +5 if you can, boost your luck, and attune yourself to alchemy.

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===== Mid-Level Alchemy (Levels 30–50) =====

As you level up, you’ll unlock medium-tier recipes. These are rare and usually require hard-to-find components. Many alchemists never move past this stage—it’s difficult and time-consuming. But if you persevere, the rewards are worth it.

By level 100, an alchemist can create incredibly rare and powerful potions. These recipes aren’t for sale—you’ll have to find the books that contain them.

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===== The Joy of Alchemy =====

Alchemy can make you rich. It can give you powerful items. Most importantly—it’s fun!

Recipes found in books are special. There’s a vast number of them, and the items they produce are unique. The ingredients, however, can be anything you can lift and fit in a cauldron. So yes—you’re free to experiment and find your own formulas.

But beware: unsanctioned formulas won’t make you rich. The universe demands balance. Fail, and it may destroy your soul.

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===== Cauldrons and Ingredients =====

Get spares. You will set a few on fire.

Some cauldrons are enchanted and more effective. A +1 cauldron is rare—rarer than most +4 weapons or artifacts. A +2 is brag-worthy. A +3 marks you as a serious alchemist. A +4 might get you a Ring of Ruling. A +5? At that point, people start getting suspicious.

As for ingredients: expect to deal mostly with standard reagents and monster parts at the start. You won’t need much variety in the beginning.

At level 1, you’re not even safe near a cauldron. Start by using alchemy to identify ingredients. Bind a key to drop platinum on the alchemy sale table, then use //use_skill alchemy//—especially over the mineral oil table. Plan to spend a few thousand platinum.

Eventually, you’ll reach level 5.

You’re now cauldron-capable… just barely

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===== Final Tips =====

In alchemy, the numbers **7**, **3**, and **5** (in that order) hold special value.

Remember your mineral oil. Remember your magic numbers.

And most of all—experiment, stay cautious, and enjoy the ride.

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> "but why did elementals come out the cauldron when I put the wrong ingredient?", asked the boy
> "you disturbed the balance of the Food Astral Plane by combining those ingredients, obviously, replied the cook, smiling at the boy and totally undisturbed by the fight that just happened. And this unbalance drove some monsters to come here - it's all action/reaction, see?"
> the boy didn't really understand, but decided he had enough cooking for today - the elementals weren't too hard to dispose of, but still, he didn't want to risk having some later on
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