Editing Comprehensive guide to potion making (section)

== First steps ==
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*   First steps
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*     Starting out the skill, getting to a level where you can start serious leveling
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As with most skills, beginning a career as a potion maker can be frustrating and expensive. If you don't mind getting necessary ingredients yourself by harvesting or fighting you should fare reasonably well until you can start with the ''real potions''. Later on that attitude/organization of your playing time will of course only increase your profits.

=== Quests ===
It is highly recommended that you finish the following quests.

==== Potion quest ====
The [[Quests#NPC Quests|potion quest]] will get you almost to level 9, do it before you do anything else.

==== Wine quest ====
The [[Quests#NPC Quests|wine quest]] will enable you to buy wine at 0.75gc (20 wine for 15gc) from [[Vesine]], do it.

=== Potions for beginners ===
In the [[#Potions|potions]] section below you will find that [[Potion of Mana]] and [[Potion of Minor Healing]] are your best potions to start out, if you make them while training your attack and defense levels. Another positive side effect of this approach would be that you can stock up on animal parts while training and you can use those to make those other low level potions requiring animal items as your potion level increases.

If you consider your expenses (price for ingredients, tools, books, food and time spent) you won't be making profit at this point, but if you think of the experience gained (at least at lower to middling a/d levels you'll always be able to find something that'll drop ''something'' that you can use for making potions) and consider the drops to be free, you'll come to have enough to level a bit. So what it all comes down to again is your preferred playing style being the decisive factor here. In theory you should do fine if your level is twice as high as the recommended level or higher if you want to make start with other potions.

The nexus requirements increase as you try to make more advanced (but still easy) potions, if you stayed on Potions of Mana and Minor Healing you will have to raise your vegetal nexus to 4 once you are ready for the next step.

Some potions require that you read the book on how to make them, Potions of Mana, Minor Healing and Spirit Restoration don't, however all that do, have the books of [[Book of Biology|Biology]], [[Book of Biochemistry|Biochemistry]], [[Book of Botanics|Botanics]] and [[Book of Advanced Potions|Advanced Potions]] as prerequisites. [[Frukas]] in [[White Stone]] sells them.

=== When to start SRs ===
We'll take the [[Guides/Probability|probability]] guide to determine a good level at which to start [[#Leveling|leveling]] with Potions of Spirit Restoration depending on your playing style. There are basically two things to consider:
* real ingredients costs after critical fails
* real food costs after non-critical fails
These two determine when you break even. We take the formulas from the probability guide and calculate the following table for ingredients of 100 Potions of Spirit Restoration, giving you the choice when you think it's feasible to start with Potions of Spirit Restoration
{| style="text-align: right" border = "1" cellpadding="5"
! Level !! ''p'' !! Produced SRs !! Food usages 
|-
|1  || 0.03 || 7 || 286
|-
|5  || 0.13 || 30 || 240
|-
|10 || 0.25 || 50 || 200
|-
|15 || 0.38 || 64 || 172
|-
|20 || 0.50 || 75 || 150
|- 
|25 || 0.63 || 83 || 134
|-
|30 || 0.75 || 90 || 120
|-
|35 || 0.88 || 95 || 110
|-
|39 || 0.98 || 99 || 102
|}
Remember, these numbers are calculated from expected values and don't take [[astrology]] into account either. So be conservative in your calculations.