The Witcher 3: Practicum in Advanced Alchemy Walkthrough and Rewards

Practicum in Advanced Alchemy is a secondary quest in Skellige that turns Gremist, a cranky druid, into one of the most useful merchants in the base game. Before he hands over master-level formulas, he makes Geralt run three errands: fetch a pimpernel, distill a bottle of spirit, and talk a weather druid into helping with a ritual. The suggested level is 24, and none of it can be failed.

Quick answer: Accept Gremist’s three tasks near Gedyneith, finish them in any order, then return and meditate a full 24 hours. The drunk ritual scene completes the quest and opens his alchemy shop.

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How to start Practicum in Advanced Alchemy

You’ll find Gremist by his cave workshop on Ard Skellig, north of Gedyneith. The sacred oak and the druids’ meeting grounds are nearby. As you approach, you’ll hear a druid berating him for delaying the transfer of his knowledge. Listen to their exchange, then speak to Gremist to begin the quest.

You can also get pointed toward him by talking to Yolar, the druid merchant at Gedyneith, or Otto Bamber at the Herbalist’s Hut near Oxenfurt. Neither referral is required. Ask Gremist to teach you, and he refuses several times before relenting and assigning the three trials.

Find a pimpernel in Morskogen Forest.
Produce Skellige Spirit at the abandoned distillery on Hail Hill.
Convince Fritjof in Blandare to perform the rite.

All three appear at once and can be done in any order. You do not need to report back between them. A clean loop is pimpernel, then the distillery, then Blandare, before heading back to Gremist.

The three trials

Task	Location	Key enemy	Reward
Find pimpernel	Morskogen Forest	Succubus (optional)	80 XP
Produce spirit	Distillery, Hail Hill	Cyclops	80 XP
Recruit Fritjof	Blandare	Foglets	80 XP

Find the pimpernel and decide the succubus’s fate

Travel to the quest’s search zone in Morskogen Forest, south of the Druids’ Camp, and use your Witcher Senses. Someone has already picked the pimpernel blooms. A druid comes over and says Gremist has repeatedly sent apprentices to gather them, but each returns exhausted and quiet. Ramund was the last to go, and he never came back; the druid joins you to hunt down whatever took him.

Follow the tracks through a pack of white wolves until the trail splits. Take the lower path first if you want the grave of Jorre the White, guarded by an Armored Arachas you can skip.

Return uphill and follow the other trail to find Ramund alive, sitting with a succubus. She explains that the druids sought her out on their own and that Jorre, elderly and weak-hearted, kept coming back until he died, so she buried him.

Choose to spare or kill her. If you spare her, the older druid storms off and she leads you to her lair, where you pick the pimpernel. If you kill her, fight her off, then follow her scent trail to the same cave and take the flower. Either way you earn 80 XP.

Killing her drops a Succubus mutagen. The base game only offers two chances at one, the other being Salma in Contract: Deadly Delights. If you already have a mutagen or spared Salma, the compassionate route costs you nothing here.

Distill Skellige Spirit at the abandoned distillery

Travel to the distillery on Hail Hill. Alghouls may block the snowy path outside, and their defensive spikes retract if you hit them with Axii. Inside the cave, a Cyclops guards the machinery. Keep close, circle behind it, and attack after its slow overhead slams. Roll clear if it leaps for a stomp.

After the Cyclops is dead, enter the small shack on the right and read both the Distiller’s Log and the Distiller’s Letter. Reading them activates the machine interactions, so do not skip this.

Get the mash from the wooden scaffolding to the left of the machinery by climbing its ladder.

Place the mash in the evaporator, the central vat, and light the fire underneath it with Igni.

When Geralt remarks that the mixture must cool, go to the pair of side levers. Activate the right lever first, then the left. Take the completed Skellige Spirit from the barrel to earn another 80 XP.

If the vat refuses the mash, confirm Practicum in Advanced Alchemy is your active quest and that both documents have been read. Leaving and re-entering the building usually fixes it.

Help Fritjof finish the rain ritual

Go to Blandare and speak with Fritjof, a vaedermakar druid trying to summon rain for the drought-stricken village. He agrees to see Gremist only if you protect him during the rite. Follow him to the altar and defend him.

Foglets attack in waves once the ritual begins, usually starting with a couple and building up. Aard knocks them out of their fog form and sets up one-hit executions, and a silver sword handles the rest. Fritjof’s wolf fights alongside you and cannot be permanently killed, so stay near the altar and clear each wave. When the rain falls, Fritjof agrees to meet Gremist, and you earn 80 XP.

Return to Gremist, wait, and claim your rewards

Return to Gremist’s house carrying the spirit and the flower. He confirms that Fritjof came by and says the ritual requires a full day. Go outside, meditate for exactly 24 hours, and then head back in. Gremist and the other druid will be thoroughly intoxicated: the grand ritual consisted of the pair drinking the spirit throughout the day.

Once that conversation ends, the quest completes and the rewards land in your inventory.

Reward	Amount
Experience	80 XP (320 total across tasks)
Sulfur	5
Alcohest	5
Han fiber	5
Saltpeter	5

You know it worked when the quest marks complete and Gremist stops brushing you off. Speak to him again and his shop opens with master-level formulas, mastercrafting recipes, alcohol, rare herbs, and the Potion of Clearance for respeccing. He also becomes available for a game of Gwent, which is the only way to play him for the Mysterious Elf card. Completing this quest is a requirement for that match, so it is worth the island loop even if the alchemy materials feel modest on their own.