is it worth investing in alchemy?

[MaroonMaurader]

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).