Why couldn't Dante create a Philosophers Stone by herself?

Question

In the 2003 Anime Fullmetal Alchemist, in episode 45, she says that she had the Homunculi search for a Philosophers Stone because without Hohenhiem she was unable to create one by herself. But why?

Did she require knowledge that only Hohenheim had or was she simply not strong enough to do it? Because in a flash backs of Dante and Hohenheim's history, he did all the work, which would suggest that maybe she needed knowledge or strength or both, such as what Transmutation requires, but I'm not sure.

An answer would greatly be appreciated.

Answer 1

The reason she couldn't is simply because of the risk. Unmarked spoilers follow.

Recall that, during their first attempt to create a Philosopher's Stone, Hohenheim was nearly killed by the process. In order to keep Hohenheim from dying, Dante used alchemy to fix his soul to another body.

Because of this risk, Dante knew that, in order to create another Philosopher's Stone, she needed a way to survive the process. That meant that she either needed someone else who would complete the process—so that she would not die—or someone who could save her after the process was complete.

Since alchemists of the aforementioned skill levels are rare, and those who possess such abilities would likely not have helped a suspicious old lady (or young lady, by the end of FMA), Dante needed (and trusted) only Hohenheim to help her complete the process.