JohnK wrote:In this case, I really feel that the overcomplication stems from the way the text is written. It's confusing, at least to me.
When in doubt of the rules always look into the text that explains things before the example entries.
Most important advice for reading the whole book...

Here it is the Alchemical Brewing in Detail section on page 270:
"We provide examples of ingredients for every elixir to help stimulate ideas."
The ingredients are just fluff at their most basic level and when the GM doesn't want to bother with it. Mechanically they don't really matter.That naturally doesn't mean that he can't limit the availability of buyable ingredients and demand that the adventurers need to quest for them:
"Often, to create an elixir of reasonable quality, the most challenging task in alchemical brewing is finding
the right ingredients. In some cases, this requires its own adventure.
JohnK wrote:Oh, okay... Truthfully, this was not what I was expecting, as the implications earlier on in the book seemed to indicate... Ah, well, never mind. Like you said, don't get hit in combat!
TDE is stingy with healing magic. That has been so for five editions. The rough exchange rate of 1AE for 1LP has been with us for a really long time. By now it can be called a holy cow.