As you make your way through the vast world of Tamriel from The Elder Scrolls Saga you will eventually be faced with your characters need for a solid diet. This need is best solved by honing your skills of provisioning.
Provisioning will allow you to craft some – virtually – delicious meals and various brews that can benefit your character stats for a limited time. By carefully selecting your diet plan you can enhance your killing machine’s stats, as well as regeneration rates, for extended periods of time.
These effects last a lot longer than the effects gleaned from alchemy, often clear over an hour. This is extremely effective for boosting stats that may be insufficient. Additionally, the effects from a healthy diet persist through death. (A concept I can’t get enough of)
Profitability: Very High
Gathering
Any good meal begins with gathering the materials you will need, unlike other professions the materials you will need will not be available in nodes at various locations. So how do you find the materials you will need?
This is best done by shamelessly pillaging the surrounding countryside, entering homes and villages with the sole intent of rooting through drawers, baskets, boxes, crates and anywhere else the good residents of Tamriel might be keeping their munchies.
Anything that belongs to an NPC and can be opened with probably has something good to eat. Hirelings won’t sit out on the action either and will faithfully deliver a few choice food items into your inventory twice a day.
Finding a Station
Provisioning stations will also periodically show up on the map under what appears to be an oven icon. These are most often found around taverns and other village eateries. These are actually found all over the place, sometimes a provisioning station may be indicated by a pot over a fire or meat roasting on a spit.
Simply approach the provisioning station and hit the interact action to begin experimenting with the interface.
Creation
Provisioning is the only system in this game that is based on the combination of specific recipes to craft a particular product. The recipes you will need can be found in various places in Tamriel, again your skills of pillaging the region will come in most handy at collecting the apparently random recipes.
The food items you are able to produce will be affected by the recipes you collect. Higher level or higher quality recipes will provide you with more inspiration as the food items you create will not be deconstructed. Creation is the only way you will get inspiration to further your provisioning.
Skills
Recipe quality and recipe improvement are the skills that can place points into to increase provisioning skills. The only skill “required” to raise your provisioning skills to maximum is recipe improvement. Once maxed up you can create any food stuff or drink available. Although, there are other skills that can enhance your provisioning skills.
If you would like to begin crafting beneficial food stuffs as early in your leveling as possible, following are some necessary skills to kick start your life as an Provisioner. After allotting your survival skills, place points into the following slots.
Hireling
- Rank 1: When you go offline, a hireling will find Food or Drink ingredients for you. Your hireling can be used every 24 hours.
- Rank 2: When you go offline, a hireling will find Food or Drink ingredients for you. Your hireling has a higher chance of returning Spices or Flavorings. Your hireling can be used every 24 hours.
- Rank 3: When you go offline, a hireling will find Food or Drink ingredients for you. Your hireling has a higher chance of returning Spices or Flavorings. Your hireling can be used every 12 hours.
Solvent Proficiency
- Rank 1: Allows the making of up to level 19 Recipes.
- Rank 2: Allows the making of up to level 29 Recipes.
- Rank 3: Allows the making of up to level 39 Recipes.
- Rank 4: Allows the making of up to level 49 Recipes.
- Rank 5: Allows the making of up to level 50 Recipes.
- Rank 6: Allows the making of up to level Veteran Recipes.
Recipe Quality
- Rank 1: Allows the use of Standard (white) Recipes.
- Rank 2: Allows the use of Difficult (blue) Recipes.
- Rank 2: Allows the use of Complex (purple) Recipes.
Gourmand
- Rank 1: Adds 5 minutes to the duration of any eaten food.
- Rank 2: Adds 10 minutes to the duration of any eaten food.
- Rank 3: Adds 20 minutes to the duration of any eaten food.
Connoisseur
- Rank 1: Adds 5 minutes to the duration of any consumed drink.
- Rank 2: Adds 10 minutes to the duration of any consumed drink.
- Rank 3: Adds 20 minutes to the duration of any consumed drink.
Chef
- Rank 1: Creates 1 extra serving for each food recipe made.
- Rank 2: Creates 1 extra serving for each food recipe made.
- Rank 3: Creates 1 extra serving for each food recipe made.
Brewer
- Rank 1: Creates 1 extra serving for each drink recipe made.
- Rank 2: Creates 1 extra serving for each drink recipe made.
- Rank 3: Creates 1 extra serving for each drink recipe made.
Loot Loot LOOT!! If it isn’t nailed down swipe it, the necessary materials and ingredients to your recipes are made available in the boxes, crates and receptacles in Tamriel, so go out and get some!
