I leveled alchemy first because it was needed and boy did I get burned for that. comfort zone is completely utterly useless. if and only if you spend 10 steps making something then you get... 14 cp!. so nothing. and if you take less than 10 steps then you shouldn't even use it.
now compare this to weaving which gives you a 120% synthesis that cannot fail for no cp. leveling weaving first gives you such a massive advantage in all other DoH classes, no matter what. alchemy can't even be used since beginner stuff only gives you 40 durability! weaving is so powerful that if you level anything else first you are doing it wrong. especially if that thing is alchemy.