When playing open world RPGs such as The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, players are given seemingly endless ways to shape their unique gameplay. Some players stick to just enjoying the main story, others spend hours completing every side quest, and some obsess over collecting every single Gwent card in the game. Though The Witcher 3 has so many components to it, it can get challenging to try to utilize every single aspect of the intricate game.

RELATED: Every Reason to Play The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2021

With all the extra combat aspects like alchemy, weapon forging, and horse racing, players get even more out of the gaming experience, but not everyone knows how to utilize them. Here's everything you need to know about the important skill of alchemy that you may not have known already.

10 Types of Potions

The potions that Geralt is able to create fall under three main types. There are potions to enhance attack, to build defense, or to enhance casual abilities. The popular potion Swallow helps regenerate Geralt's health, Thunderbolt deals attack damage, and Cat helps Geralt see in the dark. Using multiple different types of potions simultaneously is the key to being the ultimate alchemist/witcher. Attack stronger, heal quicker, and use your abilities to the greatest extent with each of these types of cartable potions.

9 Leveling Up Abilities

The skill named “Refreshment” gives Geralt the ability to gain back 25% of his max Vitality each time he takes a potion. Now that's useful! The skill needs to be fully leveled up for this to happen, but once it does, players won't need to spend time and money stocking up on food to generate health.  When the skill "Acquired Tolerance” is maxed out, every known level 3 alchemical recipe increases maximum toxicity by 1, so Geralt will basically never run low on his toxicity bar. Players who love Alchemy should level up each of these skills to have more powerful bombs, quicker recovery, steadier aim, and mightier poisons.

8 Oils

Oils are applied to swords to deal an extra boost of damage in battle. There are different oils for each type of monster and opponent, so do some research before heading into a fight!

RELATED: The Witcher 3: The 10 Best Silver Swords, Ranked

There are three levels of strength in oils, the regular oil, the Enhanced version, and the most powerful Superior version. With better oils comes the need for more ingredients, so be sure to stock up on what you need before initiating a big battle.

7 Decoctions

Decoctions are not the same as regular potions. These creations are quite a bit harder to brew since they require specific monster mutagens that Geralt can collect once he's killed them. Decoctions boast a higher toxicity rate than typical potions and they last a much longer time, making them very useful. They can offer effects such as providing immunity to different types of enemy attacks and boosting Geralt's health every time he attacks a foe. Since these are harder to create, players should be wary with using too many at a time!

6 Bombs

Who doesn't love a good explosion? Geralt can craft bombs that deal heavy damage to multiple enemies at once. There are bombs that can be used for either damaging opponents, disabling them or to prevent transforming. Different bombs work better on different creatures. Moon Dust works great against werewolves and other transforming monsters while Dancing Star with light up creatures who are susceptible to fire damage. Just like oils, Geralt can craft regular bombs, Enhanced bombs, and Superior bombs.

5 Potion Overloading

There's no rule that stops Geralt from taking multiple potions at once, so chug, chug, chug! When players fully level up their Acquired Tolerance skill, there's no limit on the toxicity bar.

RELATED: The Witcher 3: 10 Combat Mods That Make It More Challenging

Geralt can fully max out his health while also increasing his strength to great degrees, plus boosting all his abilities. Might as well go into a fight as prepared as humanly possible, especially when playing on the highest difficulty.

4 Using In Battle

Before attempting to fight a strong boss, players should take a minute to do some preparation. Typically, Geralt gets a good amount of information on the enemy he'll be facing, knowing which monster it is and what he can brew to increase his chances of winning. Players need to check their monster index and create the potions, decoctions, bombs, and oils needed to come out on top. Place the most important potions in your quick slots, but no worries, you can take more potions once you're in the battle from the menu.

3 Ingredient Locations

There are ingredients all over the expansive map, some easier to find than others. While scouring the woods to stock up on herbs can save money, it's usually easier to head to a local herbalist to stock up on commonly used ingredients. Innkeepers and traveling merchants also carry different ingredients for purchase. While some ingredients are all over the world, there are some that can only be found in very specific places, such as Dark Essence from Nightwraiths and Fiend Dung. Never skip out on gathering ingredients throughout the entire gameplay, for you might find yourself needing an herb from White Orchard when you're stuck in Skellige.

2 Using Alcohest

Alcohest is the base alcohol used to replenish potions and bombs during meditation, though Geralt can use other types of alcohols like Dwarven or Mahakaman spirit. Having plenty of Alcohest on hand is important, since it refills all potions and supplies when Geralt rests.

RELATED: 10 Mistakes Everyone Makes While Playing The Witcher 3

That's right, after any battle, Geralt can meditate for an hour or more and the Alcohest will refill all of his low supplies. Alcohest can be found all over the world, so always loot when you can or buy them when they're for sale.

1 The Most Powerful Alchemy

Superior Blizzard gives Geralt more time to attack his foes, since it slows down their attacks exponentially. Petri's Philter boosts Geralt's sign intensity, making his magic much more powerful.  The Succubus Decoction grants a damage increase that gets stronger the longer the fight lasts. The Ekhidna Decoction is the most powerful decoction in the game because of how it gives vitality to Geralt each time he performs and action that consumes stamina. The more he moves, the more he heals! Though these potions and decoctions take harder to find ingredients, they're definitely worth the extra effort to have.

NEXT: 10 Secret Side Quests Everyone Missed In The Witcher 3