Keeping your party well equipped and well supplied can be an expensive affair in Dragon Age. My characters are around level 16 to 17 and I had only about 12 sovereigns left at this stage in the adventure.
But with some savings, the Potent Lyrium Potion recipe and some tedious footwork, I can make enough cash to buy my adventurers the best gear.
I went from having 26 sovereigns to 353 sovereigns! You, too, can get rich quick! 
I’m sure this information is written in a Dragon Age strategy guide somewhere— which means I would have used this money making strategy earlier if I bothered to do some research. But anyway…
I was getting cash strapped in Dragon Age, to the point where I was about to go back through locations I had already cleared of enemies to scoop up any drops or loot I may have missed in order to resell them at vendors.
Admittedly, I wasn’t using my characters’ abilities to craft items to their full extent. I used only Herbalism in a strictly utilitarian fashion; to create health and mana potions as required. But Lyrium potions are virtually bottled gold once you find the least expensive ingredient suppliers.
It’s easy but tedious since you’ll be running back and forth between vendors in different cities but the pay-off is worth it. You need to be at least level 10 and one of your characters must have the Master Herbalism skill.
The Process
1. Sell your most valuable items (or do a few sidequests and save money) to generate cash to buy the Potent Lyrium Recipe from the Wonders of Thedas in Denerim City’s market district.
It costs 11 g 17 s 50 c (gold, silver, copper) and on top of that, you’ll need extra cash for supplies. Don’t worry about selling your most valuable items. You’ll be making enough money to buy them back, even at their inflated re-sale prices— or you can simply buy better stuff.
2. Your best suppliers (in terms of cost) for ingredients and supplies required for the Potent Lyrium potion are:
- Gnawed Noble Tavern in the Denerim Market District for Concentrator Agent and Distillation Agent. The GNT is the second best supplier for Flasks. We’ll use them simply to save time for now. Using the cheapest source for flasks in Orzammar would require a third lengthy trip that would only be worth it if you can buy flasks in large bulk quantities.
- Quartermaster in the Circle Tower for Lyrium Dust.
Keep in mind that a Potent Lyrium requires these amounts for each ingredient/supply:
- 4 x Lyrium Dust
- 2 x Distillation Agent
- 2 x Concentrator Agent
- 1 x Flask
3. Make as many Potent Lyrium Potions as you can. Sell them at any vendor. They seem to go for a constant 1 g 25 s. Now keep going back and forth between your suppliers, creating and selling potions and watch your cash pile up!
Cost/Profit Breakdown
First, the exchange rates: 1 gold/sovereign = 100 silver. 1 silver = 100 copper. So 1 gold = 0.001 silver = 0.0001 copper.
The cost of ingredients to make a single Potent Lyrium potion is 19 silver 94 copper or 0.1994 sovereigns.
Potent Lyrium Potions always sell for 1 gold, 25 silver or 1.25 sovereigns.
Your net profit per potion is: 1.25 – 0.1994 = 1.05 sovereigns.
Every trip you make nets you an increasing amount of profit, which in turn allows you to buy more supplies per trip; and the cycle continues.
I was at a point where I was buying enough ingredients per trip to make 200 Potent Lyrium potions at a time. That’s 250 sovereigns each trip!
It’s time consuming and tedious but well worth it!
i have the skills. but i can’t make it! why? my mana is 296! and i also have the 4 x Lyrium Dust
2 x Distillation Agent
2 x Concentrator Agent
1 x Flash
not working! whyyyyyyyyyyyyy
It’s been a while since I’ve played Dragon Age.
To be honest, I don’t have a clue as to why it wouldn’t work. If you have the skill and the supplies, you should be able to make Potent Lyrium Potions as I did— unless there’s a glitch, or you have no room in your inventory.