Herbalism is a massively important skill to understand in Life is Feudal. It is a requirement to build any monument, and steel/naphtha are needed in loads of recipes. In my personal opinion Alchemy is the true endgame. If you can control poisons and potions, you can control a battle. Think of it as a utility class in other MMOs. With poisons you buff and debuff allies and enemies, and can swing the tides of many fights.
Where To Start
The very first thing you'll need is obviously a sickle. You can craft a basic one with a branch, plant fiber, and flint stone. You'll want to start leveling Nature's Lore to a minimum of 60 (although 90 is better for quality sake). Right click the ground and select "Search for Herbs". You should barely find 1-2 per search until about level 60. This is normal, just keep trucking until 60 where you'll start to find 5-10 per search. Gather as much herbs as you can, the more the better. There are a total of 66 herbs in the game, and you want as many of them as possible.
Creating Preps
There are a total of 18 effects an Herb can hold. Think of them as traits. They are:
Positives:
+Raise Willpower
+Raise Constitution
+Raise Agility
+Raise Strength
+Raise Intellect
+Restore Soft HP
+Restore Hard Stamina
+Raise Max Soft Stamina
+Antidote
Negatives:
-Lower Max Soft Stamina
-Lower Max Soft HP
-Damage Hard Stamina
-Damage Soft Stamina Regeneration
-Damage Soft HP
-Damage Hard HP
Misc:
*Flavour
*Flux
*Naphtha
Each Herb holds 3 effects, 2 Positives (or Misc) and 1 Negative.
(66 Herbs x 3 effects per Herb) ÷ 18 Different Effects
=A TOTAL OF 11 HERBS PER EFFECT
There cannot be two of the same effect on an Herb. That is, there cannot be 2 Flux effects on the same Herb, or 2 Restore Soft HP effects, or 2 Raise Int., etc.
EDIT: With the new update (1.3.4.5) Herb Effects are colored
TO START CREATING PREPS you'll need a Mortar and Pestle. With Herbalism unlocked, right click a Mortar and Pestle and select "Mix a Preparation" This will open a window that looks like this:
As you can see there are three windows on the left side under the label "Ingredients", which is where your Herbs will go. The "Result" window on the right is what will predict your outcome. That is, which prep you will craft. When you first start, you won't know any effects on any Herbs so the box will say Results are unknown. At the very beginning, you need to just put as many combos as possible into the "Ingredients" section and test them by clicking "Produce".
You will only be able to put two Herbs in until level 30. When you find a correct combination (two Herbs with at least 1 effect in common), you'll get a prep in your inventory and the effect produced will be in the "Result" box, but the text will be faded. With 2 Herbs, the Prep will come out with a POTENCY of 1.0. Potency is the number right next to the effect when you hover over the Prep. With 3 Herbs, the Potency will be 1.5. When trying to find effects on specific Herbs you should only use 2 at a time to ensure you don't waste. Remember you can't get Flux/Naphtha until level 60. If some Herbs won't combine, try them when you're level 60. One of the best early-game preps is Restore Hard Stam, as it keeps your men working longer (it's crack).
REMEMBER EVERYONE HAS DIFFERENT COMBOS. THE EFFECTS ON EACH HERB ARE NOT UNIVERSAL
Defining Potency
Potency is the number that really matters with Preps/Potions. Quality doesn't affect how fast the buff/debuff works, but Potency does. To get a higher Potency, you will need to add more ingredients with similar effects. With only Herbs, the highest Potency you can achieve is 1.5. To get it up further, you'll need CATALYSTS. (Explained further on.)
ALLOW ME TO CLARIFY: Quality will change some aspects of the Potion. Quality affects the duration. Higher Q = Longer Lasting. You should use Herbalist Gardens and good quality alcohols to boost duration as much as possible.
Objectives
The main things you want to accomplish in Herbalism is unlocking all your effects. Of course this takes an immense amount of time and testing, so there's a more practical objective you can work towards. And that is to unlock all 11 Herbs for the following effects: Flux, Naphtha, Antidote, Restore Soft HP, Damage Hard HP, Damage Soft HP. These effects create the best preps/poisons.
As soon as possible, create Herbal Gardens (Skill required is Construction). The number you build is up to you but you probably want at least 12. To plant Herbs in a Garden, you need 1 Herb, 1 Dung (at least. 6 is max for higher q, but 1 is fine), and 10 water. Put all these items in the window and plant them. After 9 IRL hours, they'll pop and be ready to harvest. The harvest should yield about 9-15 of the Herb you planted. Plant the higher ones to keep raising quality. Using Gardens will ensure you have a constant supply of Herbs for all the necessary effects.
An Herbal Garden:
Starting Alchemy
The first thing you'll need is an Alchemist's Table (Carpentry). An Alchemist's Table allows you to mix Preps as well as Cocktails (potions/poisons). You'll find the window for creating Cocktails is the same for creating Preps, as they function basically the same. The only difference is you need an Alcohol in your inventory and you'll receive a Potion. It can be any Alcohol you want, and Cider/Wine are easiest. I won't cover brewing here but a link to the wiki should help. Always remember to NEVER stack your potions (unless Potency is the same). It will average the Potencies and ruin both of the Cocktail's potentials.
https://lifeisfeudal.gamepedia.com/Brewing
The other option is to create an Alchemy Shop. This structure gives a crafting bonus to Preps and Potions, allowing you to create a higher quality. This isn't that vital, it's just a more permanent option.
Catalysts And How To Use Them
Now the Bread and Butter of Alchemy. Catalysts. These will really prove how far along you are in Alchemy. Basically Catalysts are boosters. They modify the Potency of your Cocktails. For instance, 3 Herbs of the same type = 1.5 Potency. But 3 Herbs of the same type + 1 Catalyst of the same type creates a 3.0 Potency, which is obviously twice as good. The max you can get is a 4.5 Potency, and that's with 3 Herbs and 2 Catalysts with the same effect.
There are 2 types of Catalyst. Organic and Mineral. You unlock the ability to craft with Mineral first, but Organic are easier to obtain so I'd say wait on Catalysts until Alchemy is 90. Again like with Herbs, you should gather as many as possible before using them. The real annoying thing with Catalysts is that even if a Catalyst doesn't match, it will be consumed. This is obviously different from Herbalism where mismatching Herbs will not be accepted.
Mineral Catalysts are obtained from mining ores. Organic Catalysts are obtained from slaughtering animals and hunting. Many confuse Mineral Catalysts for gems, however you can tell them apart because they have 2 effect slots below the name and quality. You'll notice Catalysts are different from Herbs in that there are only 2 effects instead of 3. That means each catalyst holds a positive and negative effect. There are 12 Mineral and 12 Organic Catalysts. 1 Mineral Catalyst for each Positive effect and 1 Organic for each Positive effect. 2 Mineral for each Negative and 2 Organic for each Negative.
When finding their effects, you want to make educated guesses. Because they are consumed no matter what you want to be right as often as possible to minimize waste of materials. Keeping a list of them helps, but it isn't necessary.
How To Use Cocktails
To use a Positive Cocktail, you just double-click it to consume. Keep in mind it is still an Alcohol, and will give you the same drunken effect. Bearing that in mind, I wouldn't use more than one at once. The only Positive Cocktails worth anything are Restore Soft HP (popping one of these in combat against someone with a blunt weapon will keep you in the fight much longer), and Antidote (counters poisons). You don't have to bother with the others whatsoever.
To use a Poison (Negative Cocktail), you'll need a one-handed bladed weapon (Sword or 1H Axe) and the skill Weapons Maintain leveled to 90 (a grind ik). Have the weapon equipped and right click the Poison and select "Apply a Poison". It will create a crafting animation with your blade out and then you'll be good to go. The Poison lasts for a while. I don't think there's any specified time but I've gone up to an hour with it still on the blade. Un-equipping the weapon or Disconnecting will ruin the Poison, and hitting someone with the blade will take it off as well (it will be applied to the enemy). The higher the Potency, the faster it works, and the higher the quality, the longer it works. A 4.5 Damage Hard HP can take someone to death in 10 seconds if it isn't negated. The only Poisons worth anything are Damage Hard HP and Damage Soft HP (for obvious reasons). You must hit the enemy with your blade. This means that handle hits won't apply the poison to the target (it won't remove it from the weapon either though).
How Antidotes Work
When you are hit by a Poison, a debuff appears at the top of your screen with a Magnitude of whatever Potency you were hit with. Think of this as a line graph. You start at 0, getting hit with a 3.0 will take you to a -3.0. When you use an Antidote, you move back up positively. So lets say you're hit with a 3.0 Damage Hard HP (you are now on the negative side of the line graph), but you use an Antidote with a Potency of 2. Now you would still have the Damage Hard HP debuff, only it will be much less Potent than before. Now you will have a Magnitude of 1, because -3 + 2 = -1. You are still being hurt, it just wont last as long or be as strong. Now if you were to be hit by a 3.0 Damage Soft HP, and you counter if with a 4.5 Antidote, you are now back at 0 and the effect is completely gone. For this reason, it is vital to keep your Antidotes at a high potency, to ensure you can negate a poison that is put on you or your men.
How To Counter Poisons
The easiest way to make sure you don't get killed with Poisons is level your 2H combat line. At level 60 in Berserk, you'll be able to shout off Poisons with the "Argh!" shout. This is obviously great because with the click of a button you can negate all their hours of work and training, as well as waste their mats. Also, wearing plate armor now gives a buff called "Tight Fitting" that reduces the chance a Poison will proc. That is, you may be hit but it has a chance to remove the Poison from the weapon without applying it to you. It seems that the Devs want the 2H Plate role to be the most Poison resistant, which makes sense as they would be the main targets of Poisons. Remember to keep Antidotes on you so you can use them when needed.
Extra Tips/Tricks
-Creating an Alchemist's Outfit will increase the quality of Poisons and Preps you make. They also look dope.
-Go through your Organic Catalysts first. It will make Mineral easier and they are also much much more common and easier to acquire.
-Check the results before mixing Cocktails. You don't want to make an Antidote Potion that also Damages Hard HP when you drink it. Make sure it will be one effect only (unless you want to make some super-buffing potions).
-Carrying two weapons and trying to apply poisons on both wont work. You can only have one on at a time. Keep multiple Poisons on you so you can reapply and drop more people.
-Using an Alchemist's Table or Shop, you can create more than one Flux/Naphtha at a time. 3 Flux Herbs and a Flux Catalyst will grant 3 Flux for about half the cost.
-With 100 Alchemy skill you can try to trans-mutate Iron Lumps to Gold Lumps. This is obviously a more narrative thing than a useful thing, but if you trans-mutate high Q iron you will get high Q gold. Can be useful for Jewelry.
-One great way to get yourself hated and to cheese enemies is to act like you're hiding your horse when you apply a poison. Ride up to a fight, dismount, face your horse and apply the poison. It will appear as if you're hiding the horse into your bag because the weapon will be glitched into the horse.
Warning: You will get called certain unsavory names.
Herbalist-Chemist
You probably know of this achievement. It's one of the most time consuming and trying achievements in the game. To unlock it, you must know all the effects of every Herb for your character, as well as all the effects of ever catalyst. As you can imagine, this takes a lot of trial and error, but it is a good goal to work toward.
A Little Something Extra (Spoiler)
Spoiler
