It was the most basic of the basic principles. Combining a part of higher tier elements with a lower one, in order to help bring up the quality of the lower ones.
In the field of apothecary, if one wanted to create a better quality result from Tier 3 materials, they shouldn't combine it with Tier 2 ingredients. Instead, they should use Tier 4. It was a no-brainer.
Here, Emery was standing in the middle of a massive jungle full of Tier 3 to Tier 5 plants. However, without the aid of [Universal Flora Knowledge - Rank 3] and [Analyze - Rank 3], he wouldn't be able to identify how to harvest them, leaving him only limited to using lower tier ingredients his skills capable of harvesting.
For the first few minutes, Emery was pacing around in silence, busy thinking of the best way to deal with his current predicament.