Guide:Thrileon's Guide to Double alchemy crafts

How to get a 99.75% chance to craft x2 potions per craft (Alchemy Guide)

In this guide I will show how you can reach a 99.75% chance to craft two potions per craft when using alchemy.

You need a level 10 character to reach the maximum success rate, although you will have good chances before that.

(English is not my native language, sorry for any mistakes.)

We first need a character for crafting. I recommend using a hireling, because this character will stay in camp and is not intended for combat.

Below is the level progression with the important choices.

• Level 1 - Wizard lvl 1 - 16 Wisdom + Medicine proficiency
• Level 2 - Wizard lvl 2 - Subclass: Transmutation
• Level 3 - Cleric lvl 1 - Guidance cantrip
• Level 4 - Cleric lvl 2
• Level 5 - Cleric lvl 3 - Spell: Enhance Ability
• Level 6 - Cleric lvl 4 - Feat -> Ability Score Improvement -> +2 Wisdom
• Level 7 - Bard lvl 1
• Level 8 - Bard lvl 2
• Level 9 - Bard lvl 3 - Expertise in Medicine
• Level 10 - Bard lvl 4 - Feat -> Ability Score Improvement -> +2 Wisdom

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How it works

The Transmutation Wizard subclass gains the feature Experimental Alchemy at level 2.

This allows you to brew two alchemical solutions instead of one when combining extracts if you succeed on a DC 15 Medicine check (Wisdom).

The rest of the build focuses on increasing the bonus to this roll and improving the probability of success.

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Step 1: Wizard levels

We start with 2 levels of Wizard to unlock Experimental Alchemy.

At this point the bonuses are:

• +2 Medicine proficiency
• +3 Wisdom modifier

Because the check is DC 15, you need to roll 10 or higher on 1d20.

This results in approximately 55% success chance.

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Step 2: Cleric levels

Next we multiclass into Cleric for 4 levels.

• Cleric lvl 1 gives the Guidance cantrip, which adds 1d4 to ability checks.
• Cleric lvl 3 grants the Enhance Ability spell.

Use Enhance Ability -> Owl's Wisdom on yourself to gain advantage on Wisdom checks.

Advantage means rolling two d20 and taking the higher result, which is generally better than the +1d4 from Guidance. Because both spells require concentration, you normally use Owl's Wisdom instead of Guidance.

(If another character casts Guidance on your crafter, you can benefit from both.)

At Cleric lvl 4, take:

• Feat -> Ability Score Improvement -> +2 Wisdom

At this stage your bonuses are:

• +3 Medicine
• +4 Wisdom
• Advantage on the roll

This means you now need to roll 8 or higher on the dice.

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Step 3: Bard levels

Finally we multiclass into Bard for 4 levels.

The first two Bard levels do not provide important bonuses for this build.

At Bard lvl 3 select:

• Expertise: Medicine

This doubles your proficiency bonus for Medicine checks.

At Bard lvl 4 take:

• Feat -> Ability Score Improvement -> +2 Wisdom

Final bonuses:

• +5 Wisdom
• +8 Medicine
• Advantage on the roll

This gives a total bonus of +13.

Because the check is DC 15, any roll of 2 or higher succeeds.

However, a natural 1 always fails. With advantage, the only way to fail is rolling 1 on both dice.

Failure chance:

• 1/20 x 1/20 = 0.25%

Success chance:

• 99.75%

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Alternative build (Halfling)

Another possible build uses a Halfling hireling, which has the Halfling Luck feature (reroll natural 1s on ability checks).

• Level 1 - Wizard lvl 1 - 16 Wisdom + Medicine proficiency
• Level 2 - Wizard lvl 2 - Subclass: Transmutation (57.75% success chance)
• Level 3 - Rogue lvl 1 - Expertise: Medicine (68.25% success chance)
• Level 4 - Wizard lvl 3
• Level 5 - Wizard lvl 4 - Feat -> Ability Score Improvement -> +2 Wisdom (84% success chance)
• Level 6 - Rogue lvl 2
• Level 7 - Rogue lvl 3
• Level 8 - Rogue lvl 4 - Feat -> Ability Score Improvement -> +2 Wisdom (89.25% success chance)
• Level 9 - Any class - Bonus proficiency (99.75% success chance)

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Success chance

Build	lvl 1	lvl 2	lvl 3	lvl 4	lvl 5	lvl 6	lvl 7	lvl 8	lvl 9	lvl 10
First build		55	67.5	67.5	84	87.75	87.75	87.75	99	99.75
Second build		57.75	68.25	68.25	84	84	84	89.25	99.75	99.75

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Both success rates can be improved further if another character casts Guidance.

To get the best results you can:

• Select a Halfling hireling
• Follow the second build early
• Respec later into the first build as your level increases

You can also hire two support hirelings:

• One casts Enhance Ability
• One casts Guidance

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Additional ideas

A Githyanki character using Astral Knowledge (Wisdom) can gain proficiency in:

• Animal Handling
• Insight
• Medicine
• Perception
• Survival

There is also a Gith monk hireling that can be respecced with Withers into Wizard 2 / Cleric X, which works well for potion crafting.

Some players keep several Cleric hirelings in camp to maintain long-duration buffs such as:

• Warding Bond
• Protection from Poison
• Death Ward
• Daylight
• Aid

This can greatly reduce the need for resting and improve overall party durability.