5. Testing
When I am testing I always use a resulting 10 Potion Units (PU) in a bottle, which when consumed will exhaust 10 thirst. The formula that I used when I began testing is 100B + 1X = ?HP/10PU. This allows the Alchemist to manipulate the numbers more easily when it comes time to create potion kegs. By no means do you have to use this formula, it just made it easier for me to test with. However, the smaller amount of PU that you test with, the harder it becomes to identify certain properties of certain materials.
Bases:
All bases consist of a basic formula of 10B+1X=1PU. A potion of 9PU can be acquired by merely modifying this formula. For example, 91-100 material (expressed in the formulas 90B+1X=91 material up to 90B+10X=100 material) and a potion of 10 PU will require 101-110 material (expressed in the formulas 100B+1X=101 material up to 100B+10X=110 material).
A few examples of Direct Healing Base materials: Red Jamburra Juice, Malus Juice, Common Vitis Juice, Salvia, Salvia Carpels, Salvia Oil, Sea Dew, and Sea Dew Leaves.
Volumizers:
Volumizers will manipulate a formula so that (for example) 90B+11V=10PU will be possible given the correct Active Ingredient (X) while retaining the properties (often DH) of the original Base. We see here that the volumizer in this formula reduced the required base by a factor of 10%, yet still allowed for the resulting PU to remain the same. To identify a volumizer simply use the formula 100B+1V, and if the result is 10PU then it volumized the base material. However, there is the second qualifying factor for a material to be considered a Volumizer. The material must also allow for retention of the properties for a given Base (DH for example). Therefore, if the resulting DH in our original formula was the same as the DH for the pure Base, then (and only then) do we have a volumizer.
There has been some controversy over volumizers in the past regarding what they are and how they work. The effect that we just covered is really just a result of a multiplier adding volume (at a given ratio for an effect to occur). However, I make a distinction between Multipliers and Volumizers because they work in two distinct ways and allow for ease of formulaic manipulation.
A good example of this is 85 Salvia + 16 Muse Fruit = 18 HP/ 10 PU and 100 Salvia + 1 Salvia = 18HP / 10 PU.
A few examples of good Volumizers that all work at the ratios of 10% to 18.2%: Pirum Juice, Green Jamburra Juice, and Muse Fruit.
Neutralizers:
There are a few materials that are Neutralizers. These materials negate or reduce the amount of a given effect. For example, some Neutralizers may negate DP, while others may negate PoT. Certain Alchemical Dissolvents neutralize effects for Cooking and Alchemy. For example, the Alchemical Dissolvent Bor removes a certain amount of DP.
Multipliers:
There are a few materials that when combined with a base serve to magnify its effect and Basileus is one such example. We already know Basileus was not a Volumizer, but is it a Multiplier? If we take the formula; 100 Salvia + 1 Basileus = 18.5 HP / 10 PU we see that it is in fact a Multiplier because as seen previously 100 Salvia + 1 Salvia = 18 HP / 10 PU.
Multipliers also work on a bell curve effect. This means that a material may multiply at 100B+1M=18, then result at 100B+3M=20, then result in 100B+5M=18. Therefore, to increase a DH of a potion more multipliers at varying amounts will be necessary.
A few examples of Multipliers : Basileus, Gold, and Nitre Queen Carcass.