Botanist

Botanist
Type	Utility Trait
Fields	PerQuest, Rupee
Cost	variable rupees

Botany is the art of creating specialized items from seeds and plants, to create potions, poisons, bombs, and other items which are consumed or used to create a temporary effect. One who practices this art is known as Botanist. It is one of several crafts which utilize materials to create new items. The other common crafts are Weaponsmithing and Outfitting, which respectively focus on crafting weapons and crafting armor.

Gaining Levels

Botanists are not rare in Hyrule, but becoming one does nonetheless requires training. Your skill in Botany is represented by a level, as is the case with any craft. A novice is vastly different than a master who creates legendary potions, but even a novice can be useful. The cost to gain the first level of Botanist is always 30 rupees. To gain additional levels, the rupee cost is equal to the next level multiplied by 10. So, getting to level 2 would cost 20 rupees, level 3 would cost another 30 rupees, etc. There is no defined maximum level for Botanist, but it becomes increasingly difficult to gain levels the higher you reach.

Normally, becoming skilled in a craft in the first place required a good amount of talent and motivation. As such, if a character pursues a second or third craft beyond his first, such as Weaponsmith or Outfitter, all levels for these additional crafts cost twice the normal amount.

The Business universal racial perk can make it easier for a newly created character to excel in a craft, such as Botany.

Botanist Crafting

Botanists primarily cultivate plants using a garden or farmland, and use what results from these plants. What separates them from mere farmers, however, is the ability to combine the effects of different seeds to create entirely unique plants--and to utilize the products of their own plants to create unusual effects, including various potions and poisons. In effect, Botanists use various different types of Seeds as their materials. Combining these seeds in different quantities and in different ways allows them to make either a Supply of Seeds which can be used repeatedly, or more powerful PerQuest Potions which have limited uses. The amount of seeds (or other materials) you can use to craft an item is directly proportional to your Botanist level. Remember, each material has a specific rupee cost. The total rupee cost of the materials cannot exceed 10 times your Botanist level. (For example, a Botanist at level 3 can use up to 30 rupees worth of materials to craft an item.)

Seed Effects

Items in a Supply tend to be relatively weak, but are usually a form of special seeds or fruits that can be consumed or destroyed to produce spectacular effects. Supplies are useful because they contain many items that can be used repeatedly. A single Supply is treated as one treasure which can be traded, defined as an amount just large enough that the user will never run out of the items contained in the supply so long as these items are used sparingly. Having multiple Supplies of the same item imposes no benefit.

To construct a seed supply, the Botanist of course always uses seeds as her materials. On the most basic level, she can use 4 identical seeds to create a full supply of those seeds. For example, by combining four potent Ember Seeds, the Botanist can create a Ember Seed Supply. This is, assuming her level is at least 2, since the material cost for this crafting process is 12 rupees. Every Botanist seed can be similarly duplicated by four to create a full supply. (The sole exception comes in Gale Seeds, which instead require 8 to make a full supply.) Notably, the individual seed materials are much more pure and potent, and sufficient for use as materials, as opposed to the supplies which are created from them. This is why the seeds in supplies cannot be used as materials. Notably, every seed material costs 3 rupees, and most seed supplies cost 20 rupees.

Instead of creating a basic supply, a more skilled Botanist is able to create seed supplies with original effects, or even combined effects. To do this, the Botanist must combine seeds in multiples of 3, with a minimum of at least 6 seeds. For every 3 seeds of the same type, the Botanist can imbue the resulting supply with an additional effect. For instance, combining 3 Ember Seeds and 3 Crackle Seeds would enable the Botanist to create a seed supply that both bursts into fire and bursts with electricity on impact. When creating original supplies in this way, the Botanist can substitute normal seed effects for alternative seed effects, listed on each seed's page.

In the previous example of 3 Ember Seeds and 3 Crackle Seeds, the Botanist instead could have used the "Hearth" and "Stimulate" effects of each seed, instead of their default effects. This would have created a seed which, when held, causes the holder to feel both warm and alert. If the Botanist was sufficiently skilled, he could even add another 3 seeds, for a total of 9 seeds, to imbue a single supply with 3 different effects.

Coincidentally, 6 or more seeds of the same type can be added to one supply to give it multiple different effects from the same seed type. A total of 6 Ember Seeds could be used to create a supply with both the "Fire Punch" and "Scorching Step" effects, for instance.

Elixir Effects

By contrast, a PerQuest item is usually more powerful. As its name implies, however, such an item can only be used once per quest, or once per dungeon. Most of these items are potions or poisons with extraordinary effects, such as healing grave injuries or temporarily enabling flight. Unlike Supplies, having multiple PerQuest items does have a benefit. For each additional copy of a PerQuest item you have, you can effectively use that item one additional time per quest.

Unlike Seeds Effects, all Elixir Effects are predefined. Generally, combining a specific number of one seed type combines with an equal number of another seed type to create the Elixir. For example, combining 4 Chill Seeds with 4 Breath Seeds creates an "Ice Breath Potion." This elixir's recipe, and its effects, can be seen on the page for both Chill Seed and Breath Seed.

A handful of seeds can also be used to create items which are neither Seed Supplies nor PerQuest Potions. Bomb Seeds are commonly used to create treasures like Bomb Bags, and a Scoot Fruit Supply can be created using seeds.

Bonus Rupees

In addition to being able to craft and cultivate items, Botanists gains another benefit. A Botanist can earn bonus rupees. Whenever a Botanist finishes a quest, he can gain an additional amount of rupees equal to double his Botanist level. (A Botanist of level 4 would earn 8 extra rupees in every quest or dungeon he completes.) Generally, this represents the Botanist selling his services to non-player characters, but that aspect need not be specifically role-played. In place of some or all of these bonus rupees, the Botanist can gain seeds. For every 2 bonus rupees he forgoes, he may instead gain a free Botanist Seed.