Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 alchemy: potion recipes and how to brew them

Alchemy in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is hands-on work at a table: you pick a base, add ingredients in the right order, grind them in a mortar and keep time with an hourglass. This guide explains how brewing works, where to get recipes, and gives you a table of 17 potions with ingredients and step-by-step instructions, from Saviour Schnapps for saving to poisons for your blade. Information is current as of 19 October 2026.

How alchemy works

You can only brew potions at an Alchemy Table. You will find one at apothecaries and herbalists, among other places. The bases (water, wine, oil and spirits) are free and unlimited at the table, so you only buy or gather herbs and other ingredients.

Every recipe follows the same skeleton:

1. Pour the base from the recipe into the cauldron.
2. Add ingredients exactly in the order the recipe gives. Some go in whole, others you grind in the mortar first.
3. Boil for as many hourglass turns as the recipe asks. One “turn” in the table below means one turn of the hourglass. Some recipes also use the bellows.
4. Finish by either pouring or distilling the potion.

Quality depends on how precisely you follow the steps and on how fresh your ingredients are. Potions come in four grades: weak, standard, strong and the best, Henry’s. A mistake does not always ruin the batch: you often get a weaker but working potion, and Henry comments on the slip.

Where to get recipes

Most recipes are sold by apothecaries and herbalists. You get the Saviour Schnapps recipe automatically from Pavlena early in the game, so you can save right from the start. Nettles and belladonna are sold by the apothecary in Troskowitz, and you can brew the schnapps at the table outside.

The second recipe worth buying straight away is Marigold Decoction for healing. The apothecary in Troskowitz sells it for around 150 groschen, and haggling brings the price down. What else to do in the first hours is covered in our beginner’s guide.

Recipes with step-by-step instructions

The table lists recipes where PCGamesN and IGN agree on the base, the ingredients and the steps. The three most useful potions come first, poisons are at the end.

Potion	What it does	Base	Ingredients	Steps
Saviour Schnapps	saves the game; higher quality also boosts Strength, Vitality and Agility	wine	1× nettle, 2× belladonna	boil nettle for 2 turns → grind and add belladonna → boil for 1 turn → pour
Marigold Decoction	heals gradually, helps with hangovers	water	1× nettle, 2× marigold	boil nettle for 2 turns → grind and add marigold → pour
Digestive Potion	cures food poisoning; higher quality cures any poisoning and boosts Vitality	water	2× thistle, 1× nettle, 1× charcoal	boil thistle for 2 turns → grind and add nettle → boil for 1 turn → grind and add charcoal → pour
Aqua Vitalis	reduces health loss, slows bleeding	water	2× dandelion, 1× marigold	boil dandelions for 1 turn → grind and add marigold → boil for 2 turns → finish as the in-game recipe says (sources differ on pour or distil)
Bowman’s Brew	better archery	spirits	2× eyebright, 1× St. John’s wort	boil eyebright for 3 turns → grind and add St. John’s wort → boil for 1 turn with the bellows → distil
Cockerel	restores energy against fatigue	spirits	2× mint, 1× valerian	grind and add mint → boil for 1 turn → add valerian and boil for 2 turns → distil
Embrocation	boosts Agility	oil	1× each eyebright, poppy, valerian, boar’s tusk	boil poppy and valerian for 2 turns → grind and add eyebright → add tusk and boil for 1 turn → pour
Fever Tonic	reduces fever (quest potion)	wine	3× feverfew, 2× ginger, 1× elderberry leaf	boil feverfew for 2 turns → grind and add elderberry leaf → add ginger → distil
Fox	better Speech, faster reading	oil	1× each nettle, St. John’s wort, belladonna, charcoal	grind St. John’s wort and nettle, add and boil for 2 turns → grind and add charcoal → add belladonna and boil for 1 turn → pour
Hair o’ the Dog	reduces drunkenness	water	1× each sage, St. John’s wort, mint	boil sage and St. John’s wort for 3 turns → grind and add mint → pour
Lethean Water	refunds all perk points	spirits	2× wormwood, 1× belladonna, 1× henbane	grind and add wormwood → add belladonna and boil for 3 turns → add henbane → distil
Mintha Perfume	weaker but longer-lasting perfume for Charisma	wine	3× dandelion, 1× mint, 1× marigold	grind and add dandelions and mint → boil for 2 turns → add marigold and boil for 1 turn with the bellows → distil
Nighthawk	better night vision, slower energy drain	water	2× eyebright, 1× belladonna, 1× chamomile	grind and add eyebright → add belladonna and boil for 3 turns → grind and add chamomile → pour
Painkiller Brew	eases the effects of injuries	spirits	3× poppy, 1× comfrey, 1× marigold	grind and add poppy → add marigold and boil for 1 turn with the bellows → add comfrey and boil for 2 turns → distil
Quickfinger	boosts Thievery and Craftsmanship	water	2× eyebright, 2× valerian, 1× cobweb	boil cobweb and eyebright for 3 turns → grind and add valerian → boil for 1 turn → pour
Dollmaker (poison)	prevents running and lowers combat skills; for weapons	spirits	2× herb paris, 1× valerian	boil herb paris for 3 turns → grind and add valerian → boil for 2 turns → distil
Lullaby (poison)	drains energy to zero; for weapons and cooking pots	oil	1× each poppy, thistle, herb paris	boil poppy for 1 turn → add thistle and boil for 1 turn → grind and add herb paris → pour

Recipes with ingredients only

For five more potions, the sources agree on the base and ingredients but give different steps. That is why we leave the steps out here: follow the recipe in your in-game alchemy book.

Potion	What it does	Base	Ingredients
Aesop	horse riding and houndmastery	spirits	1× belladonna, 2× comfrey, 1× boar’s tusk
Artemisia	temporarily boosts Strength	spirits	2× wormwood, 1× sage
Buck’s Blood	stamina	oil	1× each St. John’s wort, dandelion, comfrey
Chamomile Decoction	healing through sleep	wine	2× chamomile, 1× sage
Bane (poison)	deadly poison for cooking pots	wine	1× wormwood, 2× belladonna, 1× fly agaric

Tips for the key potions

Saviour Schnapps: saving

Saviour Schnapps saves the game, and higher quality also briefly raises Strength, Vitality and Agility. Brew a stock so you can save before a risky fight or a theft. On PC you can also bypass the potion with the console; the command is in our console commands guide.

Marigold Decoction: healing

Marigold Decoction does not heal instantly but gradually, over roughly one minute. How much it restores depends on quality. Drink it a moment before you really need the health, not in the last second of a fight.

Lethean Water: perk reset

Lethean Water refunds all your perk points so you can spend them again. The reset cannot be undone, so decide what you want to change before drinking it. Unlike other potions, it has no quality grades.

Digestive Potion and Quickfinger

Digestive Potion cures food poisoning, and the better version cures any poisoning. Quickfinger temporarily raises Thievery and Craftsmanship, which makes it useful before a tough lock. How lockpicking works is explained in our lockpicking guide.

New potions from DLC

The Mysteria Ecclesiae expansion adds new potions along with books, clothing and a weapon, according to the Warhorse announcement. What each expansion contains is covered in our KCD2 DLC guide.

Join our Discord to share the recipes that give you trouble or help other players with theirs: GamersTogether Discord.

FAQ

Information verified on 19 October 2026. Find more guides in our KCD2 guides section.