[Top 10] ESO Best Potions and How to Get Them

ESO Best Potions, elder scrolls online best potions

Updated:

28 Jul 2021

Have you ever used a simple Health Potion and thought it’ll save you from all the danger on top of you? But instead, you died - either because a World Boss smacked you too hard or because a Nightblade knew where to look for you?

Well, it’s not their fault, or yours - it’s the potion! Something as simple and dull as a Health Potion won’t cut it when it comes to high-level high-octane gameplay! You need much more than just health to be able to survive the harsh and ruthless world of CP 100 and beyond!

Luckily, we have just the thing for you! A highly curated list of the ten best potions in Elder Scrolls Online, tested by yours truly, the Alchemy Master (when he’ll recover, he may try poison testing as well, who knows?).

10. Essence of Weapon Critical

“Is my blade sharp enough for this fight?”

The Essence of Weapon Critical is essential for those classes that thrive off raw power and need an edge to turn a battle in their favor - yes, we’re looking at the sneaky Nightblades right now!

But it’s not all just about the crits! Weapon Critical is specially designed for classes with high bursts but with rather low survivability, as it gives a considerate chunk of Health to the user, as well as Stamina. Some could say that this potion is the ideal replacement for a Tri-Stat when one really doesn’t need Magicka!

Obviously, the Nightblades have the best use for the Essence of Weapon Critical, as it’s Major Savagery buff can be paired with the Minor Savagery from Hemorrhage. The result is the massive almost 2.2k critical with a neat extra 3% on the sides.

Potion Stats

Grants Major Savagery (2191 extra Weapon Critical Rating for 47.6 seconds).
Restores 8369 Healths immediately. Also grants Major Fortitude (20% more Health Recovery for 47.6 seconds).
Restores 7582 Stamina immediately. Also grants Major Endurance (20% more Stamina Recovery for 47.6 seconds).
Has a cooldown of 45 seconds.

Why Essence of Weapon Critical Is Great

You get three Major buffs with a single potion.
Due to the long duration of those buffs and the short cooldown of the potion, you can keep the buffs up and running almost permanently! Or until you run out of gold or reagents - better hurry and pick up some flowers before the farmers log in!
Nightblades can reap the benefits of both Major and Minor Savagery.
Templars enjoy 30% more Health Recovery as they can bask in the light of the Restoring Aura (grants Minor Fortitude).
Nightblades, Templars, as well as Wardens, can increase their Stamina Recovery up to 30% thanks to Relentless Focus, Restoring Aura, and Enchanted Growth (all grant Minor Endurance).

How to Get Essence of Weapon Critical: https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Potions

9. Essence of Weapon Power

“What are giants next to some raw weapon power?!”

Unlike the previous potion, Essence of Weapon Power is a godsend for those classes and builds that have just too much crit but lack raw, unrelenting power - or, in short, damage.

Even though it comes in three variations, only one of them implies the player character not hurting themselves in the process - or at least not decreasing their stats. While two variations apply Minor Fracture to your own character, the one crafted using Wormwood, Dragonthorn, and Blessed Thistle provides Weapon Damage, Major Savagery, and Stamina Restore.

Obviously, if you want to go cheap and see what it means to have 1320 less Physical Resistance, you can craft it using Stinkhorn and Torchbug Thorax.

Potion Stats

Grants Major Brutality (20% more Weapon Damage for 47.6 seconds).
Grants Major Savagery (2191 more Weapon Critical Rating for 47.6 Seconds).
Restores 7582 Stamina immediately. Also grants Major Endurance (20% more Stamina Recovery for 47.6 seconds).

Why Essence of Weapon Power Is Great

It can be regarded as an Essence of Weapon Critical on steroids, if I may say so. Why?
Because besides the same Critical Rating it also provides Weapon Damage.
On the downside, the user enjoys only one type of restoration - namely, Stamina.
Ideal for classes/builds that have reached the Health/Resistance soft cap and are looking only for more damage.
If you’re a Dragonknight, then this potion would help you reach 30% more Weapon Damage - which most of us know is already too much!

How to Get Essence of Weapon Power: https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Potions

8. Essence of Spell Critical

“Spells crit so hard they make me go blind - I hope the enemies too!”

Let’s show some love to Magicka users as well! After all, the feeling of sniping an entire enemy team in Battlegrounds as a Sorcerer is amazing - and we can’t achieve that without a dash of Spell Critical.

This particular potion is, without any doubt, designed beautifully for Magicka users that, to be honest, don’t wear the best armor possible. The potion restores both Health and Magicka, increasing the recovery of both stats for almost 50 seconds as well.

As with the previous Critical potion, this one is ideal for builds that are not yet complete and lack survivability. Keep in mind that raw power does come in second if you die from two enemy crits!

Potion Stats

Grants Major Prophecy (2191 more Spell Critical Rating for 47.6 seconds).
Restores 8369 Health immediately. Also grants Major Fortitude (20% more Health Recovery for 47.6 seconds).
Restores 7582 Magicka immediately. Also grants Major Intellect (20% more Magicka Recovery for 47.6 seconds).

Why Essence of Spell Critical Is Great

The majority of Magicka classes/builds come with rotations that require them to get right in the middle of the action for a final multi-hit. This potion ensures maximum damage, as well as increased survivability due to Health restoration.
As getting in the action can cost Magicka classes quite some resources, the Magicka restoration comes in extremely handy.
Naturally, Sorcerers enjoy 6% more Spell Critical provided by Exploitation’s Minor Prophecy. Paired with the Essence of Spell Critical, it’s no wonder why a Sorcerer makes for both the best cannon and cannonball.

How to Get Essence of Spell Critical: https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Potions

7. Essence of Spell Power

“Stronger zappy-zaps are always better than more zappy-zaps!”

Sometimes, Critical Rating is not enough to get that kill. Actually, most of the time we’ve hit our crit soft-cap and we don’t really need any more. In such a case, using Essence of Spell Critical would be a complete waste - of both gold, reagents, and survivability.

This is where Essence of Spell Power comes into play! Beware, however - 3 of its variations hurt you! As accustomed by ESO’s Alchemy system, if you go cheap with one of the ingredients, you get punished. For this potion, Violet Coprinus and Beetle Scuttle will apply Minor Breach to your character.

Note: in fact, it’s not you going cheap, it’s you using Poison materials when making Potions. You shouldn’t do that!

The best iteration of Essence of Spell Power grants you juicy Spell Damage, Major Prophecy, and restores Magicka immediately. Once again - Critical on steroids. It is ideal for builds with enough survivability that can take a beating or two and still have enough Health in their bar.

Potion Stats

Grants Major Sorcery (20% more Spell Damage for 47.6 seconds).
Grants Major Prophecy (2191 more Spell Critical Rating for 47.6 seconds).
Restores 7582 Magicka immediately. Also grants Major Intellect (20% more Magicka Recovery for 47.6 seconds).

Why Essence of Spell Power Is Great

This potion is perfect for those Magicka builds that can stay away from a fight and snipe people. Obviously, when doing so, the only thing they need is more Magicka.
The mix of Major Sorcery and Prophecy is also ideal for Kamikaze builds - particularly for the infamous Bomber.
Even though Cornflower can get expensive at times, it’s still worth it to craft and use or sell this potion, given the stats.
Sorcerers, Templars, and Wardens can enjoy a total of 30% Magicka Recovery with this potion (including the previous one) if they use Empowered Ward, Restoring Aura, and Fungal Growth respectively.

How to Get Essence of Spell Power: https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Potions

6. Essence of Detection

“If I have three eyes, that means I can see more - obviously!”

Now, now - let’s move out of the damage area and see which the real best potions of ESO are. After all, everyone gets accustomed to Power and Critical by the time they reach level 50.

What they may not know are the following potions and their extremely helpful effects!

We’ll start with Essence of Detection, which is a must for groups roaming around Cyrodiil - not to mention the small, enclosed Battlegrounds.

If you’re comfortable with your Spell/Weapon Damage and Critical Rating stats (or you’re a tank) then you should consider this particular potion. It will help you find more Nightblades that you can fit in your pocket and, let’s be honest, you really want to find them!

Potion Stats

Increases Stealth Detection by 20 meters for 15.7 seconds.
Grants Major Sorcery (20% more Spell Damage for 47.6 seconds).
Restores 7582 Magicka immediately. Also grants Major Intellect (20% more Magicka Recovery for 47.6 seconds).

Why Essence of Detection Is Great

Obviously, Detection is great because it keeps you and your group safe. Only one person needs to use it in a dangerous scenario and you can see the 5 Nightblades in your vicinity (good luck!).
It is also a great replacement for Essence of Spell Power/Critical if you’re worried more about getting ambushed. Nightblades may make the best scouts, but blinking Sorcerers with this potion active are the bane of those scouts!
Relatively cheap to make as it needs only Wormwood, Lady’s Smock, and Bugloss.

How to Get Essence of Detection: https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Potions

5. Essence of Immovability

“If I stand completely still - does that mean I’m stunned or immovable?”

This potion is easily the equivalent of the tri-pot in terms of features/functionality. It has a total of 7 variations and, the best part, none of them hurt you!

Its main treat is the fact that it makes you immune to any knockback or disabling effects for 10.4 seconds. When do people use it? When they siege a castle and, as per ordinary, Cyrodiil turns into a lagfest where you have no idea what your character is doing at the moment. That’s when!

If you feel overwhelmed by what’s happening on the screen but you still want to complete your rotation, pop this potion once you jump into battle!

As for its other effects, it can restore either Health and Magicka, Health and Stamina, restore Health and Vanish your character, Restore Magicka and increase Stealth Detection, Restore Magicka and grant Major Prophecy, Restore Stamina and grant Major Expedition, or Restore Stamina and grant Major Savagery.

Potion Stats

Grants Immunity to knockback and disabling effects for 10.4 seconds.
Restores Health + Magicka and grants their respective Majors.
Or Restores Health and Stamina and grants their respective Majors.
Or Restores Health, grants its Major, and Vanish for 15.7 seconds.
Or Restores Magicka, grants its Major, and 20 more meters of Stealth Detection for 15.7 seconds.
Or Restores Magicka, grants its Major, as well as Major Prophecy.
Or Restores Stamina, grants its Major, as well as Major Expedition.
Or (finally) Restores Stamina, grants its Major, as well as Major Savagery.

Why Essence of Immovability Is Great

Essence of Immovability is part of many player kits due to its versatility. Major Savagery and Brutality are provided by quite a lot of spells and, in this case, some players would prefer to Vanish for example.
Each variation comes with its own scenario. This means that you could fill your Quickslot Wheel with each type of Immovability Potion and prepare your character for almost every scenario possible.
If you’re almost killing a Nightblade and he vanishes (or any other character uses a Vanish/Invisibility potion), you can quickly increase your Stealth Detection and prevent being stunned at the same time - the result is an easy kill!

How to Get Essence of Immovability: https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Potions

4. Essence of Speed

“Coward’s Gear, Channeled Acceleration and I’m the Barry Allen of Tamriel!”

The next potion on our list is not particularly made to help you run away from fights. In fact, if you decide to use it, you’ll soon find that it is the best gadget to catch Tamriel’s fastest. That is applicable unless, you know, overpowered builds step in and the only way to catch someone is to teleport to a Shrine.

Besides granting Major Expedition, this potion comes with major Brutality and Stamina Restore as well. This means you’ll get to your target faster, restore the Stamina you’ve used so far or build up your pool for a deadly attack, and have enough Weapon Damage for a quick and fancy kill.

For Nightblades, Essence of Speed may never be a personal choice, but for slower classes or Tanks, it can be more than helpful!

Potion Stats

Grants Major Expedition (30% more Movement Speed for 47.6 seconds).
Grants Major Brutality (20% more Weapon Damage for 47.6 seconds).
Restores 7582 Stamina immediately. Also grants Major Endurance (20% more Stamina Recovery for 47.6 seconds).

Why Essence of Speed is Great

This potion is amazing and should be the main choice for many gankers because it gives more than just speed.
Unlike Vanish and Stealth Detection, which last roughly 60 seconds, Essence of Speed comes with a main buff that lasts almost 50 seconds. If you’re not mounted and cannot mount currently, it’s the best way to keep up with what’s happening around you.
On top of that, Sorcerers, Vampires, Templars, and users of Charging Maneuver can enjoy a total of up to 40% more Speed via Minor Expedition.

How to Get Essence of Speed: https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Potions

3. Essence of Spell Protection

“If blocking blocks a spell - blocking works just right!”

There’s a reason why you see only Essence of Spell Protection here - and not an Armor potion as well. The reason is that you always see if an enemy player is on top of you - or, at least, you should see that. As such, you can always pop your defensive skills and get away from them.

But, if you’re targeted by a cannon Sorcerer and you don’t see it, you’re pretty much back to your respawn point. This is why, for many players, Essence of Spell Protection is a must-have in the quickslot instead of Armor potions.

In short, it’s harder to run away from telegraphed hits and skills!

Potion Stats

Grants Major Ward (5280 more Spell Resistance for 47.6 seconds).
Grants Minor Protection (damage taken is reduced by 8% for 15.7 seconds).
Grants Minor Defile (healing taken reduced by 15% for 0 seconds).

Why Essence of Spell Protection Is Great

This potion paired with certain Dragonknight, Nightblade, Sorcerer, and Templar abilities, as well as with a Heavy Armour passive and an Assault skill, grants a total of 6600 Spell Resistance. According to some complex calculus and formulae, this amounts to 10% less Spell Damage taken.
Nightblades, Templars, Wardens, and users of Deliberation can easily mitigate a lot of the damage they take from both Physical and Magical sources, thanks to some of their abilities that offer Major Protection. The total would be 38% less damage taken.
Minor Defile is not to be taken too seriously into account - just don’t use your massive heals the same time you pop the potion.
Overall, it is a great defense against Magicka classes and also gives the squishy Nighblades a way to avoid a gank of 2-3 people.

How to Get Essence of Spell Protection: https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Potions

2. Essence of Health

“Always eat your veggies before a fight - and pack a tri-pot or two.”

You can’t have a top of the best potions in ESO without mentioning the almighty tri-pot, right? With this funky vial right here, you get more than just a bit of every main stat in the game. You get Health to stay alive, Stamina to run faster, and Magicka to cast spells - flee or re-engage in delightful combat!

However, this potion comes with variations as well; five variations, to be exact. Only one of them grants the three main stats, while the others grant resistances. While the main tri-stat variation is the most commonly used potion in the game, both when leveling up and when being poor, it is not always the best choice in slot, so to say.

Basically, while Magicka, Stamina, and Health at the same time are a good call, this potion can be more helpful than that!

Potion Stats

Restores 8369 Health immediately and also grants Major Fortitude for 52.8 seconds. All variations have this effect.
Restores 7582 Magicka immediately and also grants Major Intellect for 47.6 seconds.
Restores 7582 Stamina immediately and also grants Major Endurance for 47.6 seconds.
Or, instead of the last two - grants Major Ward (5280 more Spell Resistance) and Major Resolve (5280 more Physical Resistance) for 47.6 seconds.
Or - grants Major Resolve and Major Vitality (30% more healing taken for 15.7 seconds).
Or - restores 7582 Magicka immediately (grants Major Intellect) and grants Major Ward for 47.6 seconds.
Or - restores 7582 Stamina immediately (grants Major Endurance) and grants Major Resolve for 47.6 seconds.

Why Essence of Health Is Great

It is incredibly versatile and, with the help of one or two reagent changes, can become your potion to-go for both offense and defense.
Even though it doesn’t grant any Minor Protection, the Spell and Physical Resistance it may give are enough to help you avoid a deadly combo or an ambush.
If teamed with a healer in PvP, you can easily re-engage a Physical Damage Dealer and not worry about your health due to the 30% more healing taken.
Ideal for Tanks, without any doubt.

How to Get Essence of Health: https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Potions

1. Essence of Invisibility

“If you’re invisible they can’t see how many you kill - or how you run away in fear…”

Most tops would place the tri-pot on the first place as one of the best and most versatile potions in ESO (even though the Immovability potion may be just a tad better). However, in terms of versatility, the Essence of Invisibility may be a life-saver in many situations.

It is regarded mainly as an escape potion due to the fact that it increases Ultimate cost but, if you’re not running a build that’s Ultimate-dependable, this potion can easily be used for re-positioning. But it’s not the only variation of the potion!

As we know, the ability to re-position is not provided to that many classes or builds. A Dragonknight or Warden may have a difficult time reconsidering their initial plans once they’re engaged in a fight. This potion, however, could even the odds in comparison to Nightblades.

Potion Stats

Vanish for 15.7 seconds (provided by all variations).
Applies Minor Cowardice to self (Ultimate cost increased by 60% for 0 seconds).
Restores 8369 Health immediately. Grants Major Fortitude (20% more Health Recovery for 47.6 seconds).
Or, instead of the last two - grants Major Prophecy and Restores Health.
Or - Restores Health and Restores 898 Health per second for 48.6 seconds.
Or - applies Minor Uncertainty to self (reduced critical rating) and Restores 898 Health per second for 48.6 seconds.

Why Essence of Invisibility Is Great

The best iteration of the potion, the one that grants Major Prophecy, is ideal for Magicka classes/builds that need a breather to prepare their killer combo.
Still, the last two variations are great at reducing the damage taken from bleeds or poisons, if affected by any. A bad fight engage that resulted in you getting a lot of cuts can be quickly replanned with this potion.
Last but not least, it’s simply the perfect way to say goodbye to a place where you really don’t want to be!

How to Get Essence of Invisibility: https://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Potions

The Bottom Line of ESO’s Best Potions

While each best potion list that you’ll read will probably be different, it’s safe to say that they all explain what ESO’s potions do in the best way possible. On top of that, a potion analysis viewed through different eyes can always give you new ideas on how to use potions in more effective ways!

Moreover, even if you fancy just 1 or 2 potions from the list, always prepare for the unexpected. Two or three defensive-type potions in your arsenal will make you perform better in PvE and PvP.

After all, it’s really useless to pop a tri-pot when you’re full Health, Magicka, and Stamina but you want to get out of a stun or immobilize!

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Robert B.

As the keeper of the forbidden tomes, I hold every secret - from Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start to the best way to cook a Cyrodilic Field Tack. I am gamer!

Gamer Since:

2008

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Rust

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Mount & Blade: Warband, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition

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