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[McGarnacle]

So I have all Dominion expansions IRL but Intrigue, Alchemy and Empires. I was planning on getting Alchemy next, but the people I play with don't think they will like it. So how good is Alchemy? Is it worth getting before Intrigue and Empires, after, or not at all?

[AdrianHealey]

After Intrigur and Empires would be my guess.

Also: Alchemy is a bit meh imp, but there are some cool fancards that use potions that I'd
Recommend!

[schoeggu]

Since you will get all expansions eventually it doesn't really matter which you get next. 

I think the problem most people have with Alchemy is the potion cost. The cards are cool. But it's often difficult to know wheter buying a potion is justified if there there are only one or two potion-cost cards.

[Tables]

Personally, I really like Alchemy, but the fact it's a small expansion puts me off a bit due to the value efficiency. I'd rather buy another £30 expansion with ~25 cards than a £20 expansion with 12. IIRC Alchemy is now in a big box with Guilds, but that doesn't help you I don't think.

I would probably get Empires and Intrigue first, and leave Alchemy for last.

[Chris is me]

I would get it last. Alchemy is a small set with some great cards and a few terrible cards, and considering how small the set is, you're looking at just not that many great cards for the price. Also some people just really don't like the Potion mechanic even though it is totally fine.

Best Cards ("fun" not power): Vineyard, Scrying Poop, Alchemist, Apothecary, Apprentice
Okay Cards: Golem, University, Familiar
Trash: Transmute, Herbalist, Possession, Philosophers' Stone

I'm sure some will disagree with me but Possession is just very difficult to play with in a real game of physical card Dominion. It gets confusing, you have to constantly hand cards around or move around the table, and the game ends up generally being kind of shit.

Overall it has some great and powerful cards but I wouldn't hesitate to get every other expansion first.

[McGarnacle]

Best Cards ("fun" not power): Vineyard, Scrying Poop Pool, Alchemist, Apothecary, Apprentice

FTFY

[Chris is me]

Best Cards ("fun" not power): Vineyard, Scrying Poop Pool, Alchemist, Apothecary, Apprentice

FTFY

It was right the first time. 

[Limetime]

Definitely get empires first.
Alchemy is OK before intrigue just because intrigue has so many unfun(Imo) and lackluster cards like swindler, torturer, scout, and sabatuer.

[Infthitbox]

Alchemy is a pretty good set, but its not as fun or rewarding as Empires. Both are better than Intrigue.

[eHalcyon]

If Alchemy is now bundled with another expansion and you already have the other one, it may be prudent to buy Alchemy sooner rather than later if you can still find stand-alone copies.

But I'm pretty sure Tables is mistaken. Guilds and Cornucopia are bundled, not Alchemy. Alchemy is in the big box with base and Prosperity, but that's been sold alongside the normal boxes for a long time.

[Roadrunner7671]

If you go on BGG and purchase Scout for $3.00, you can probably skip Intrigue. If you don't do that, you should go Intrigue -> Empires -> Alchemy

[Limetime]

If you go on BGG and purchase Scout for $3.00, you can probably skip Intrigue. If you don't do that, you should go Intrigue -> Empires -> Alchemy

Wait I can buy scout for 3 instead of 4???

[drsteelhammer]

Tables is not mistaken, he's just not American (I think). In Germany it's bundled with Cornucopia

[Asper]

I think Alchemy is underestimated, but has indeed some flaws. Some people don't like the potion mechanic, but i think it's refreshing and i know people who love it. However, many of the alchemy cards show that the set was rushed. It's infamous for slow to resolve cards like Scrying Pool, and total losers like Transmute hurt more in a small set. And then it has one of the most hated cards in the game, Possession. I personally like most of the remaining cards, but you only get so much for your money. Either way, i think Dominion without Alchemy isn't complete.

[mameluke]

Apothecary and Apprentice are very cool, and Golem seems correctly priced for its power. Alchemist is fine. But the rest of the cards range from not-fun-at-all to why-buy-this.

[funkdoc]

yea, alchemy is the most "better online than IRL" set by a mile.  easily explains why it gets the worst reviews on BGG and the like

[Beyond Awesome]

Online Alchemy is fine minus Transmute and Possession.

[tripwire]

Why does everybody hate possession so much? I think it can be a ton of fun. I even like the sloggy games where both players stop improving their decks out of fear of helping the other player.

[Asper]

Why does everybody hate possession so much? I think it can be a ton of fun. I even like the sloggy games where both players stop improving their decks out of fear of helping the other player.

I guess it's the whole "stealing my stuff" aspect. But it's also slow, as each takes a full turn, and it has weird rules. The worst part in my opinion is that it comes close to being an attack you can't defend against and which only hits one player. One of those cards that make Possession feel like an attack, Alchemist, is even in the same set.

[Limetime]

Why does everybody hate possession so much? I think it can be a ton of fun. I even like the sloggy games where both players stop improving their decks out of fear of helping the other player.

I guess it's the whole "stealing my stuff" aspect. But it's also slow, as each takes a full turn, and it has weird rules. The worst part in my opinion is that it comes close to being an attack you can't defend against and which only hits one player. One of those cards that make Possession feel like an attack, Alchemist, is even in the same set.

Another also in the same set is apothecary.
Also trash for benefit gets insanely unbalanced(apprentice)

[mameluke]

One of the more frustrating things about Possession is that it's ridiculous with Throne Room/King's Court, etc. There is no card that lets you take more than one turn in a row with your own deck without severe limitations, and never do you get more than two, and yet if you King's Court a Possession you get to take four turns in a row.

Even without TR or KC it's extremely frustrating if someone buys more than one and there are villages involved.

[Chris is me]

Why does everybody hate possession so much? I think it can be a ton of fun. I even like the sloggy games where both players stop improving their decks out of fear of helping the other player.

It's already annoying in the simulator, but it's even more frustrating trying to juggle multiple hands and multiple decks in person. Since this is asking about in person expansions, this colored my opinion appropriately. Also, those sloggy games take "literally forever" in person.

[drsteelhammer]

Alchemy cards are really cool. Since Potions have such a great opportunity cost, you want generally more than 1-2 of them. This is why they are so many fun nonterminals in there. Possession is also fine, you just need to get over the fact that it's not "your" and "their" deck anymore. Stop being so possessive, guys.

The only problem is that there are three garbage cards in a small expansion. Philo Stone and Herbalist are kind of cute ideas but they rarely work. And if Pstone works it's not even that fun. Unfortunately, Transmute is just pure garbage that I refuse to believe was ever playtested.

So the big problem is that you get like nine kingdom cards which is a lot compared to the other expansions if it actually costs 20 bucks. But Apothecary, Alchemist, Vineyard, Golem, University and Possession are definitely among the greatest Dominion cards you'll definitely want to get at some point.

To anyone who doesn't want to play with one Potion card at a time: Please challenge me or anyone else that is Iso level 20+ to a match where only I get to buy a Potion, and see what those cards are able to do on their own.

[trivialknot]

My boyfriend and I usually ban Alchemy, and always ban Possession.  The problem is that the theme is chaining actions, but chaining actions is slow to resolve.  Apothecary, Alchemist, Golem, Scrying Pool, they're all slow.  Philosopher's Stone is slow too because you have to count your deck.  Back when we played with Alchemy, I found it particularly frustrating because I was newer to Dominion than my boyfriend and one-sided slow games are the worst.

Lately I've been watching Twitch streams, and they've given me a new appreciation for Alchemy, and I wouldn't mind playing a few more games with them IRL.  However, I've observed that Possession leads to more resignations than basically any other card.  It seems that Possession is too slow even online.

[theJester]

It's the only expansion I haven't bought for Online Dominion, and for a good reason: good part of its cards are plainly unfun to play with. Scyring Pool turns take forever to resolve, Possession breaks several fundamental DOminion concepts and is one of most hated cards, Familiar is way to swingy compared to how powerful it is (if you fail to connect 3$+P on your 2nd shuffle and your opponent does, it's basically gg already), Transmute is just plain bad most of the time.

If there was any way to buy cards individually rather than buying the whole set, I would have been happy to purchase only Vineyard, Appretnice and maybe a few others and be done with it.