what's the best way to start alchemy?

[Scratch and win]

Just decided to have a go at it finally.

[Amoreyna]

Obviously, the best way to start alchemy is to read the guides available in this forum.
There is actually one titled "Introduction to Alchemy" if you just scroll down a bit.

[Kaiki Kit]

Philosopher's Caches. Your going to need a ton of them.
Buying from the Bifrost is a waste of half your money - just buy em all from the marketplace as long as their price is under 25k.
There are others who have given up on alchemy or have finished thus are giving away caches. Look in the Item Alchemy Exhange.
Many people are just dumping the caches in the dumpster dive. Go into it every so often.

Be prepared to make little to no profit unless you carefully plan out every formula you are going to make.

The Ultimate Alchemy Formula Guide is a good place to look at all the possible formulas you can make per level with links to the mp in case you need to buy pieces.

Maybe start a crafting service so people will give you all the components you need so long as you give the resulting item back.

[I_Am_Cowbows_Fan]

Scratch and win

Just decided to have a go at it finally.

Orb aggregates will get you from level 1-3, save them and you can use them to make Mint Sundae Sweets on level 3.

[Scratch and win]

Darkened Fay

Scratch and win

Just decided to have a go at it finally.

Orb aggregates will get you from level 1-3, save them and you can use them to make Mint Sundae Sweets on level 3.

Orb Agrregates???

[I_Am_Cowbows_Fan]

Scratch and win

Darkened Fay

Scratch and win

Just decided to have a go at it finally.

Orb aggregates will get you from level 1-3, save them and you can use them to make Mint Sundae Sweets on level 3.

Orb Agrregates???

Yes its a level 1 formula and you can get all the orbs for free from zOMG.

[Urd Tanzanite]

Scratch and win

Orb Agrregates???

If you play a lot of zOMG! and I do mean a lot. You need 100 orbs for one aggregate. Then it is a way to level from 1 to 2 (after which crafting the formula no longer grants XP).

[Scratch and win]

Darkened Fay

Scratch and win

Darkened Fay

Scratch and win

Just decided to have a go at it finally.

Orb aggregates will get you from level 1-3, save them and you can use them to make Mint Sundae Sweets on level 3.

Orb Agrregates???

Yes its a level 1 formula and you can get all the orbs for free from zOMG.

Oh!! Do you mean those purple orbs?

[Scratch and win]

Urd Tanzanite

Scratch and win

Orb Agrregates???

If you play a lot of zOMG! and I do mean a lot. You need 100 orbs for one aggregate. Then it is a way to level from 1 to 2 (after which crafting the formula no longer grants XP).

Hmmmm I don't think I have enough time in the day to play that much Zomg

[Urd Tanzanite]

Scratch and win

Urd Tanzanite

Scratch and win

Orb Agrregates???

If you play a lot of zOMG! and I do mean a lot. You need 100 orbs for one aggregate. Then it is a way to level from 1 to 2 (after which crafting the formula no longer grants XP).

Hmmmm I don't think I have enough time in the day to play that much Zomg

There are a lot of different ways to level in Alchemy, you'll just need to do your research and see which one appeals to you and your current interests.

[Yami no Sakura]

Scratch and win

Just decided to have a go at it finally.

I'd recommend reading Zzyli's [An Introduction to Alchemy]. It is a newbie guide that will tell you the basics of every aspect of Alchemy, completed with pictures. It might be a little wordy, but it gets the point across.

Once you got the basics down and want to start leveling, you'll need Lei's [Ultimate Alchemy Formula Guide]. It has a list of every single formula in Alchemy, ordered by level, complete with all the necessary components and costs for crafting. It also has recommendations on what to craft for efficient leveling, but I strongly advise you to double check the MP first. Some of the ingredients may have inflated over time or gone extinct. What might be cheap then is most likely not cheap now. There's no need to peruse this since it's just an information database, so feel free to just skim it.

If you know what you want to craft, you can check Milky Mint's [What Makes What? Component Guide] to find out where you can get some of the components for a formula. If you can find a component in a colored Philosopher's Cache, it's often cheaper to buy the colored Cache and pull out the component yourself rather than buy the component from MP. If a component is an equippable item, try looking for it in Stripped Stripe's [Alchemy Component or Not Guide]. It will tell you if that item is used in Alchemy, and if so, which formulas.

That is about all the basics you need to know about Alchemy. If you need to look up any more information, you can take a look at Sharacia's [Alchemy Guide and Information Database]. It will have links to every single guide and database, which will have answers for everything Alchemy related.

Good luck!