I'm at max alchemy and I just made a tri-restoration potion using Lorkhan's Tears with Columbine, Bugloss and Mountain flower. It restores 8369 health and 7582 magicka and stamina, and also increases recovery of those stats by 20% for 52.8, 47.6 and 47.6 seconds, respectively.
These are literally the exact same stats and effects as the Crown version.
So tell me, what's the point of grinding alchemy to level 50? I've just been logging on and collecting these free potions forever, I still have over 200 of them even though I use them on a regular basis. Never bothered with alchemy before because of these potions and elixirs I always got for free.
Just for kicks I decided to make some potions for myself, because I figured, logically, that a max level alchemist could blow away any paltry offerings these FREE items could provide.
To my dismay they are... identical? What the hell? This is inexcusable. I thought the Crown Store was supposed to be for cosmetics and quality of life crap only?
What is the point of alchemy in this game? Did I miss something?