Alright, I think I can help with that. So, for alchemy, you need three things: materials, alchemy tools, and knowledge. The materials are the stuff you use to make stuff, the tools are what you use to turn the materials into stuff, and the knowledge is in your head. The key is to combine the materials and tools with the knowledge that you have about how to do it. And then, voila! Stuff gets made. Pretty simple, right?