Provisioning for the Non-Provisioner

Catches_the_Sun

It occurs to me that people that don't participate in Provisioning don't understand the intricacies very well & as a result, aren't able to take advantage of some things, such as where to loot, what to loot, when to start using food & drink, etc. The intention of this guide is to inform those that do not partake in cooking as to the benefits of food vs drink, the rarity of provisioning ingredients, what ingredients to keep & where to find them.

1. Food vs Drink Buffs - First, the basics. Food buffs your attributes, health, magicka, and/or stamina, while Drinks buff the regeneration of those attributes. Food & Drink buffs do not stack, so you have to choose whether to run around with increased stat or increased stat regen. Since most people run around with their regeneration stat of choice already softcapped, Drink buffs just aren't used very much.
2. Recipe Levels - Recipes begin at level 1, then go up every 5 levels, to 5, 10, 15, etc, until you get into VR content. Then you have Level 50 recipes, and the current cap of VR5. I am often asked for VR3 foods, which is why I felt this is important to share.
3. Why do I Want Food? - For those that haven't used food yet, they give a substantial buff to your stats. For example, I'm in Veteran content right now & use Fortified Mud Crab Cakes, which buffs my health & magicka by 283 per stat! That is a significant increase. Prior to VR content, I would use buffs only on harder Singleplayer content, Dungeons & Cyrodiil. Once I hit VR, I use Blue foods nonstop.
4. Quality - Green/Blue/Purple
   Green - Buffs One Stat - Highest Buff - 35 mins
   Blue - Buffs Two Stats - Slightly Lower Buff - 1 hr
   Enriched - Health/Stamina
   Fortified - Health/Magicka
   Invigorated - Magicka/Stamina
   Purple - Buffs All Stats - Slightly Lower Buff - 1 hrs
5. Cooking/Brewing - All recipes start with a base ingredient, let's say Plump Worms, for example. Adding 1 of 3 different types of "Medium Ingredients", such as Meal, Drippings, or Thin Broth determines which of the 3 stats you get as a result. When you add Blue into the mix, a 3rd Ingredient is needed, and when you cook Purple, a 4th & 5th Ingredient are needed on top of the 3rd. This is important because, while the base & medium ingredients are tier specific, the blue & purple upgrade ingredients are not. This means that your level 3 character that just popped in to Davon's Watch has the capability to loot some of the rarest ingredients in the game from the moment you step out of the building. I found Pepper in Davon's Watch just last night on an alt. We'll talk about which ones they are next, then where to find them.
6. What to Keep - So you've been in Tamriel a while & it hasn't taken you long to figure out that there are a TON of ingredients that you can get in crates/barrels/sacks, etc. Since you're not a Provisioner & you're tight on space, this is overwhelming, & you end up keeping NO ingredients. It's time to start keeping ONLY the right ingredients that will make you some coin. We will table beverage ingredients for now & focus only on Food ingredients until some balance change with drinks. For foods, the most rare ingredient is Pepper, followed by Red Wheat, Salt, Onion, Garlic, Potato & Barley. Pepper is the most rare of these, and is the ONLY ingredient dropping in the world that can be used to complete a Purple food recipe. The other 2 (tomatoes & oats) are only found in Provisioner Hireling 2 & 3 bags. Red Wheat is used in Fortified recipes, which is the most popular, since it upgrades health & magicka. Red Wheat would be followed by Onions in popularity, & finally by Salt.
7. Where to Look - Any ingredient, even Pepper, can be found in crates/sacks/barrels & normal containers. However, the odds for blue/purple upgrade ingredients increase dramatically in Produce baskets. This is not necessarily true in the starter area, but after that, unless you pull out Stale Radish, you're getting one of the upgrade components listed above or one of the ones for Drinks. Those grocer buildings that have 6 Produce baskets...hit them hard. After Produce baskets, the best place to look for the upgrade ingredients is in the same places you're already looking for Motifs. Dressers, Nightstands, Cupboards, Trunks, etc etc., all have a chance of dropping one of these ingredients. The last thing to keep in mind is that Ingredient drops are "zone specific", whereas recipe drops according to your current level. The only exception to this rule is the current VR content bug, where we're getting lower level ingredients instead of Tier 5.
8. Current VR Content Bug & How You Can Profit - Sounds like an infomercial. So right now, all Provisioning ingredient drops in VR content are bugged. For example, when an EP member goes to Glenumbra in DC lands, the ingredients he finds are no longer Tier 5 ingredients, which are used in VR content recipes. Instead, he finds Tier 1 ingredients used in DC recipes. He'll still find upgrade components, since they drop anywhere, but the base ingredients & medium ingredients don't drop. The Provisioner will have to purchase the medium ingredients from vendors, but what about the base ingredients? Things such as Mudcrab Meat & Honey Comb are at a premium to the VR Provisioner, but are as common as rain to the Level 40-50 adventurer that has yet to leave Coldharbour. By stacking up all the Mudcrab Meat & Honey Comb you find until this issue is fixed, you can make some decent coin. I recently paid a guy 10k for 200 mudcrab meat, which drops everywhere in the content he plays in. When the issue is fixed, this gravy train will end, but for now, farm them up.
9. Helpful Addons
   Sous Chef - For farming ingredients, this Addon is incredible, marking the upgrade ingredients for you so you don't have to remember them all.
   Guild Store Search Extended - This is for the food connoisseur that wants to seek out their food of choice. Search your Guild Stores, then search for "Enriched", "Fortified", or "Invigorated" to find your food of choice.

Singular

Thank you for this amazing guide!

I have a question: If I don't level up provisioning as I go, will I lose access to low level ingredients and not be able to level it up later?

Catches_the_Sun

Singular wrote: »

Thank you for this amazing guide!

I have a question: If I don't level up provisioning as I go, will I lose access to low level ingredients and not be able to level it up later?

Ingredient drops based on area, so you can always go back to your starting area & gather the starter ingredients. Recipes are where you might have an issue. They drop according to your character level. So if you're VR12, you'll find VR5 (max level recipes) in every zone you loot.

I don't think people have caught on yet that the lower level blue recipes are actually the most rare...people simply level out of that range too fast to loot very many of them. Just look at any guild store and they'll be loaded with VR5 blue recipes because people have many weeks of looting those. Just wait another 6 months, the max level blue recipes won't sell for much at all.

thelonghop

Can you provide or point to a list of what drops are in each zone?

Catches_the_Sun

thelonghop wrote: »

Can you provide or point to a list of what drops are in each zone?

I'll like the TJ Ingredient Guide below. The appropriate locations are listed below using their ingredient guide. This is to the best of my recollection.

Levels 1-15: Stonefalls, Glenumbra, Auridon
Levels 20-25: Deshaan, Stormhaven, Grahtwood
Levels 30-35: Shadowfen, Rivenspire, Greenshade
Levels 40-45: Eastmarch, Alik'r Desert, Malabal Tor
Levels 40-50: The Rift, Bankoria, Reaper's March, Coldharbour
VR5: Bugged...does not drop anywhere, can only be purchased from Grocers

Tamriel Journal Ingredient Guide

Moonscythe

I have a question, as well. I assume I need the recipes for all of this so is there any special place to look for recipes and and particular recipes I should look out for?

Catches_the_Sun

Moonscythe wrote: »

I have a question, as well. I assume I need the recipes for all of this so is there any special place to look for recipes and and particular recipes I should look out for?

Recipes can be looted from mobs, but are most often found in dressers, nightstands, trunks & similar type containers. You'll want to learn every recipe you find. When it comes to food that you can sell, you'll want blue Fortified recipes whenever you can get them. Purple recipes are nearly impossible to find in Veteran levels.

darkstar2084

oh another bug great, so that is why i cant find any damn honey comb in vet areas lol