Skyrim talk:Wisp Wrappings

Purchasing

This comment was posted in an edit summary:

I bought one of these from Arcadia in Whiterun. Are we sure that they cannot be bought from alchemy merchants?

Are you sure you bought Wisp Wrappings and not Glow Dust (or Ectoplasm)? Or have you done anything that might have altered Arcadia's default merchant settings (for example, using console commands to marry her)?

What I know for sure is that they do not have the VendorItemIngredient keyword. I've tested with multiple other items that are missing that keyword and I was definitely not able to sell any such items to apothecary merchants -- only to general goods merchants. Furthermore, since compiling this information I've been keeping track of what I've been able to purchase, and I have never been able to purchase any of the bugged items. Arcadia is one of the merchants I've tested the most frequently. Given that many of the items on the bugged list have a 36% chance of appearing in a merchant's inventory, the chances of never finding any of the 19 bugged items are astronomically small, unless they are indeed impossible to buy.

Also, these are not just my findings. This discussion is the first place where the problem was reported, and I know of other editors who've done tests on various platforms and found the same results.

One final test that a PC user could do is to check the contents of an apothecary merchant's chest and confirm whether items are appearing in the chest but not showing up in the merchant's buyable items. But frankly I think that would be overkill, because everything I can find confirms that in the vanilla game these items cannot be bought. So if you're seeing something different, it seems likely that you have done something that alters the default game behaviour. --Nephele^Talk 21:05, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Well, no Wisp Wrapping this time around, but I could find a Honeycomb in Arcadia's merchant chest, but not in her sale's dialogue. Putting both an Abecean Longfin and a Wisp Wrapping into her chest (both new) I could later buy the Longfin, but not the Wisp Wrapping (PC version 1.3.10 if that matters). --Alfwyn 22:09, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Really? I've noticed their rarity, but I've definitely bought Wisp Wrappings from Angeline Morraud of Angeline's Aromatics in Solitude, and I'm pretty sure I also bought one from Elgrim's Elixirs in Riften. I never visit Arcadia, so maybe she's a problem merchant. Xbox version 1.1 Jak Atackka 22:46, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

I just did a round of tests with both Angeline and Elgrim and was not able to buy any of the bugged ingredients from either of them in a half-dozen tries. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to throw out all of the other findings based upon a memory that you might have bought these items -- unless you're explicitly paying attention to where you obtained an item, the fact that you had some your inventory does not prove that it came from a merchant.

This is not a bug with specific merchants -- it's a bug with specific ingredients. All apothecary merchants are set up the same way. What they can buy/sell is dictated by their faction's mercantile list, which is VendorItemsApothecary for all apothecary merchants. That list says that they can buy/sell only items with the keyword categories VendorItemRecipe, VendorItemFoodRaw, VendorItemPotion, VendorItemPoison, VendorItemIngredientVendorItemFood, and VendorItemAnimalPart. The bugged items are not in any of those categories, therefore they cannot be traded. The same mechanism is used by every merchant in the game to control what they trade.

General goods merchants are the only merchants who work differently -- they can buy/sell everything except for goods in a couple of categories (VendorItemKey and VendorNoSale). However, general goods merchants do not stock ingredients.

I'm going to go back through the bugged ingredients and add even the obscure options for obtaining them. One of those obscure options are Peddlers who can be randomly encountered on the road, being attacked by Forsworn or bandits. Those Peddlers have a small chance (8%) of carrying Wisp Wrappings. So technically there is a merchant who will sell them to you, but they're not exactly a reliable source. --Nephele^Talk 17:38, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

I just realized what's probably going on with some players: they've unlocked the Merchant speechcraft perk. Although the description says "can sell any type of item" it probably also means that you can buy any type of item. It would probably be helpful if someone could confirm this. My character doesn't have high enough speechcraft skill yet to unlock the perk. If the perk's effect is confirmed, it's something that needs to be noted in a lot of places, so I'd rather not starting editing dozens of pages until we're sure. --Nephele^Talk 19:50, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

After obtaining that perk I tried buying from Arcadia a few times and could buy "Beehive Husk", "Honeycomb", "Small Antlers", "Sabre Cat Tooth" and "Torchbug Thorax" from her. I think all those ingredients can't be bought normally. --Alfwyn 20:04, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Great! Thanks for confirming that... now just to figure out what all needs to be updated ;) --Nephele^Talk 20:29, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Wrong Info

I just purchased 2 Wisp Wrappings from Angeline in Angeline's Aromatics in Solitude. This is on latest patch, and I am at level 50, if that has anything to do with it. I do not contest that people do not see it in the list of what vendors can potentially carry, HOWEVER the FACT remains that I just purchased not one, but TWO from a vendor.

See the above discussion. I'm betting you've unlocked the Merchant perk. --Nephele^Talk 01:24, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Yup, just now noticed that. Pretty cool.

Wisp Mother Locations (spoilers)

1. Alchemy Vendors *only if the Merchant perk has been unlocked*, 2. 1 North of Ivarstead along the road, 3. 1 in Ruins of Rkund (south of Riften), 4. 1 in Labyrinthian during College of Winterhold quests, 5. 1 in Blackreach, 6. 1 in Frostmere Crypt (named, The Pale Lady), 7. 1 outside of entrance of South Skybound Watch

Also, one allegedly north of Windhelm, and I personally encountered one in a dwemer ruiny sub area in the Reach. --Minimang 01:47, 3 February 2012 (UTC)