It's easy to waste your first few hours in Graveyard Keeper 2. Energy runs out quickly, resources are always in short supply, the Graveyard needs attention, and the progression tree opens up dozens of different paths at once. However, making a few smart decisions early on can significantly speed up your progress. In this guide, we'll explain what to focus on during your first few days, which resources to collect, how to use Energy efficiently, improve your Mastery, establish a steady food supply, and prepare your base for automation.
Collect Mushrooms and Berries From the Start
When starting a new playthrough, don't rush straight from one story objective to another. Explore the surrounding area and collect every mushroom you come across. Most importantly, don't eat the first mushrooms you find raw. A little later, you'll be able to cook them into much more efficient food that restores considerably more Energy.Image unavailableThe same applies to berries. There are several berry bushes around your base and the nearby village, and they replenish over time. Don't destroy the plants themselves. Simply return every so often and harvest the berries.
Don't Go to Bed With Full Energy
Time is one of your most valuable resources early in the game. If you still have Energy left before going to bed, spend it on simple work around your home: chop down a few trees, remove stumps, clear space for future buildings, or stockpile materials. It's generally best to sleep when your Energy is almost depleted or the Lack of Sleep penalty appears.Image unavailableHowever, you shouldn't ignore rest completely. Working gradually increases Insanity, which locks part of your Energy bar and makes further work more difficult. Regular sleep only reduces it partially, so constantly pushing your character to the limit isn't a good idea.
Check the Starting Chests and Put Food on Your Hotbar
Once you reach your property, make sure to check the chests inside the house. Early on, they contain berries, bread, and other useful items. Food that restores a large amount of Energy is worth placing on your hotbar immediately so you don't have to open your inventory every time you need to eat while working.The fewer unnecessary items you carry around at all times, the easier it will be to gather resources and complete quests.
How to Handle Your First Corpses
When your first corpse arrives, take it to the Morgue. The main rule early on is simple: remove Blood and Fat. This improves the corpse before burial. The more white skulls you preserve, the more useful the grave will be for your overall Graveyard Quality.Image unavailableOnce the corpse is prepared, take it to the Graveyard, dig a grave, and add at least some basic decorations. If a grave has a negative rating, gradually replace basic markers with better crosses and fences.
Don't Ignore Mastery and Inspirations
In Graveyard Keeper 2, tools and character progression are closely tied to Mastery. The higher your Mastery in a particular branch, the faster you can work and the less Energy you'll spend on repetitive tasks. Because of this, don't put off increasing your Mastery. Using a shovel develops one branch, working with wood develops another, and gathering natural resources contributes to another.Early on, skills related to resource gathering, woodworking, gardening, cooking, and basic construction are especially valuable.
Start Growing Crops as Early as Possible
Once you unlock Gardening, build several Garden Beds. Three are enough to begin with. Plant your seeds, then immediately replant the beds after each harvest. This will gradually give you a steady supply of food and make you much less dependent on whatever you happen to find while exploring.Don't sell all your seeds for quick money. You'll need them for the next planting cycle, and traders expand their inventories gradually. Later, unlock the Compost Pile and fertilizer production as well. This will let you make better use of leaves and other byproducts.Image unavailable
Which Workstations to Build First
Before expanding your production setup, clear the area around your house. Then gradually unlock woodworking, stoneworking, and the basic construction technologies.Early on, you'll want to build:
Sawhorse;
Chopping Spot;
Woodworking Workbench;
Stonemason's Workbench;
Firewood Shed;
Furnace;
Potter's Wheel.
Try to place related workstations close together and near the chests containing their materials. This becomes particularly useful later, once you unlock automated workers.
Cook Mushrooms Instead of Eating Them Raw
As soon as you can repair the kitchen and supply it with fuel, start cooking the mushrooms you've collected. Baked Mushrooms restore 27 Energy according to the source walkthrough, making them extremely useful early-game food. This is exactly why it's worth saving the mushrooms you find during your first few days.
Keep an eye on production queues: some workstations require you to manually collect a finished batch before they can continue processing the next one.
Learn How to Fish
After completing some of the first quests in the village, you'll be able to get a Fishing Rod. Fishing provides another reliable source of food. During the minigame, watch the indicator and don't hold the button continuously if the line tension starts getting too high. Fish at a particular spot will eventually run out, but they return after several days. Because of this, it's worth regularly checking several available fishing spots.Image unavailableFishing also has another important advantage: according to the source walkthrough, it doesn't consume Energy or increase Insanity. This makes fishing especially useful once your character is already tired and regular work is no longer efficient.
Cook Baked Fish
Once you've repaired the Kitchen Table, process your catch into Fish Fillets. Then use them to cook Baked Fish. According to the source walkthrough, this dish restores 30 Energy, so food becomes much less of a problem once fishing is available. It's also worth gradually buying Eggs and storing them near the kitchen, as you'll need them for other recipes later.
How to Develop Bronze Production
The next major step is moving beyond basic wooden tools and establishing Bronze production. Unlock the necessary technologies, build a Furnace, and start producing Bronze Ingots. This will allow you to craft Bronze Details, Bronze Nails, and better tools.New tools increase the relevant Mastery, allowing you to work faster. There's little reason to keep using your starting rusty equipment forever, so gradually replace it with upgraded versions as you unlock their recipes.
How to Unlock Alchemy
After developing your basic production setup, the story will eventually lead you to the Plague Doctor. It's best not to delay this part of the game, since it unlocks Alchemy, one of the major systems you'll need later. At the Study Table, you can research various materials and obtain research resources. In the route described in the source, Blood and Water are among the first materials studied, after which you'll be able to make Dream Dust. You don't need to dive deeply into every Alchemy recipe during your first few hours. The important thing is to unlock the system and start accumulating the resources you'll need later.
How to Get and Use Zombies
The Plague Doctor will also give you your first Zombies. From this point on, you can gradually automate some of your routine production. First, unlock the Zombie-related technologies and build a Zombie Supplier Station. Each helper has its own stats and progression, and a Zombie needs the appropriate Mastery to perform specific jobs.The simplest example is giving a Zombie one of your old tools. This provides the Mastery it needs to work at the corresponding workstation. It's convenient to assign one helper as a supplier and another as the actual worker. The supplier will carry the required materials from nearby storage, while the second Zombie automatically handles the selected production task. Make sure there is always free space in your chests. If your storage is completely full, production will stop.Image unavailable
Raise the Graveyard Quality to 10
One of the early story quests requires you to raise your Graveyard Quality to 10. There's no need to build the perfect necropolis right away. Bury prepared corpses, add fences, and improve your weakest graves. That's enough to gradually reach the required value and continue the questline. The better the corpses and grave decorations, the faster your overall Graveyard Quality will increase.
Unlock the Church
Later, the Nun will appear at the tavern, and speaking with her will begin the restoration of the Church. First, you'll need to clear the debris and repair the damaged sections of the building using Wooden Planks and Bronze Details. To hold your first Sermon, you'll need to raise the Church Quality to at least 10. One of the easiest ways to do this is to place several benches.Image unavailableThe higher your Church and Graveyard Quality, the more effective your Sermons become. Sermons can reward you with money and Faith, both of which are required for further progression and quests. Once the Church is open, remember to return on the appropriate day of the week.
Don't Forget to Activate Milestones
After progressing through the first story questlines, you'll gain access to a Milestone near the village. Activate it as soon as possible. Once Milestones are active, you can fast travel between distant parts of the map instead of wasting a large portion of each in-game day simply running back and forth between your home and the village.During the early game, when you're constantly carrying resources, completing errands, and returning to your workstations, fast travel saves a huge amount of time.
What to Do at the Start of Graveyard Keeper 2: Quick Checklist
During the first few days, collect mushrooms and berries, but don't waste valuable food unnecessarily. Before going to bed, use your remaining Energy to clear your property and gather resources.
Once the first corpses start arriving, focus on the Morgue and improving the Graveyard while increasing your Mastery. Start a garden as early as possible, repair the kitchen, and establish a steady supply of Baked Mushrooms.
Next, focus on woodworking, stoneworking, pottery, and Bronze production. Get a Fishing Rod and use fishing as an additional source of food, especially when your character is already tired.
After that, work toward unlocking Alchemy and Zombies. Automated helpers significantly reduce the amount of repetitive work and let you focus on quests and progression.
Finally, raise your Graveyard and Church Quality, unlock Sermons, and make sure to activate Milestones. Once you've done all of this, the early shortages of Energy, resources, and time will become much less of a problem.
