is it worth investing in alchemy?
 

playing mage on normal, just finished bolo island and i dont have lots of runes to spare (who does?) just wondering if its worth acquiring this early on for the magic crystal savings, or if i should wait till later so i can get some crucial mage skills

well it is worth, u will not have enough crystals for spells

I've played three full playthroughs. I didn't get alchemy for any of them. I never really felt painfully short on crystals in any, either. Pick a few spells to prioritize early, and don't be afraid to sell scrolls before learning them if you really need to buy a specific spell from a store. There are a few scrolls you don't want to do that with, but 90% of the spells you can quite happily complete a game without (which is good, because you might just never get those spells in some games).

But if you are lucky enough to get all really good spells in your gameplay you may need additional crystals from alchemy.
It should not be a priority but it is worth taking before upgrading the most expensive spells.
The ones that are costly and worth the cost are:
resurrection, time back, elvin, armageddon or death star (depending on strategy), geyser, demon portal and some other.
You will surely get all needed crystals by finding them or destroying artifacts but alchemy will make it possible to upgrade them much faster.

Alchemy
 

Thanks for all the insights! It seems like alchemy can be useful but not essential early on. I'll focus on crucial mage skills first and keep an eye out for scrolls to sell if needed. If I get lucky with spell drops, I'll consider investing in alchemy later for the crystal boost. the official rice purity test