Alchemy

Alchemy is part of the Cooking and Herbalism craft. Alchemical elixirs, tinctures, brews and potions provide significant buffs when used correctly. When used incorrectly, their effects appear very insignificant to the untrained eye.

Buff Slots and Dosage

Each alchemy item uses 1 of 3 buff slots, and each item's effect is minor until it is dosed correctly. All 3 slots may be used simultaneously. Using 2 different items that use the same slot will overwrite the currently active buff. Failure to properly dose results in very low and insignificant buffs. Correct dosages can result in strong buffs which last around 6 hours. Discovering the correct dosage and which buff slot an item uses is a matter of trial and error in game.

The three slots are:
Tincture
Alcohol
Potion

Linked here is a full list of all current alchemical items, effects, and optimal dosages. Warning: This chart contains significant spoiler information about the system.

Ultimate Buff

It is possible to use the formula of: Full Dose+(Full Dose-1)=ultimate buff. An ultimate buff boosts the maximum effect of the buff in that slot by a few percentage points. It is not necessary or common to do this, but it is possible and usually reserved for State of War because this is highly resource intensive for a minor additional effect.

For example, a normal full dose of the Protection Tincture item results in 10% damage reduction. However, using the above formula, one can achieve its Ultimate Buff:

7 Protection tinctures + 6 protection Tinctures = 16% damage reduction.