Neverwinter Nights 2 Hints

Essence Info

• There are four strengths (faint, weak, glowing, radiant) of five different magic essence types (air, earth, fire, water, power) that are used in enchanting magic items and creating new magic items. They can be found and bought in various places throughout the game.
  
  Also, someone who has the Craft Alchemy skill (either you or a companion) can use a Mortar and Pestle item to distill various crafting ingredients into essences. To do this, put the Mortar and Pestle plus whatever you're wanting to distill into the inventory of someone with a high Craft Alchemy skill. Right-click on the Mortar and Pestle in his inventory, click on "Activate Item (Touch)," then click on the item you want him to try to distill into essences. If the item is distillable and your guy's skill is high enough, it'll work.
  
  Note that you can always examine an item to see if it's distillable. If it is, it'll say what level of Craft Alchemy is required to distill it, and what type of essence(s) will be created.
  
  Besides that, it's possible to distill an essence down a notch. For example, let's say you have a Glowing Power Essence, but you need a Faint Power Essence for what you're wanting to craft right now. It's a shame to waste the Glowing Power Essence, but you can have your alchemist use the Mortar and Pestle on it to turn it into a Weak Power Essence, and then have him use the Mortar and Pestle on that to turn it into a Faint Power Essence. It's a "lossy" process, but it can come in handy on occasion.
  
  I've heard that you can also combine identical essences into more powerful ones using an alchemist's workbench. Supposedly, you can put in two identical essences (such as two Faint Fire Essences) and have your alchemist use the Mortar and Pestle on the workbench to get a single essence of the next power level (such as one Weak Fire Essence). However, I was never able to get that to work -- it always said something about not being a valid recipe.
  

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