Many actions in Graveyard Keeper 2 depend on Mastery, but the game does not always clearly explain what the displayed success percentage actually means. The chance is calculated separately for every tick, so even a relatively high percentage does not guarantee a perfect result. In this guide, we'll explain how green and red ticks work, where the success chance for autopsies and planting comes from, and why failed checks affect both organs and crop quality.
How Success Chance Is Calculated
The game compares your current Mastery with the requirement for the selected action. To calculate the success chance, simply divide your current Mastery by the required amount. For example, removing a Skull requires 5 Anatomy Mastery, while your character only has 3. The calculation is:
3 / 5 = 60%.
This means that every individual tick during the operation has a 60% chance of being successful and turning green. If your Mastery meets the requirement, each tick has a 100% chance of success.
How Autopsy Ticks Work
When extracting body parts, the game performs several checks in a row. You'll see green and red ticks on the screen, along with an indicator showing how many successful ticks are required.Image unavailableIn the Skull example, the operation consists of ten checks, and nine out of ten must be successful for the extraction to succeed. With 3 Mastery against the required 5, each tick only has a 60% chance of turning green. As a result, even a single red tick may be enough to cost you the body part you were trying to extract.
What Happens When an Extraction Fails
If you fail to get the required number of successful ticks, a Surgeon's Error appears. In this case, you can no longer extract the body part you wanted, and the effect remains on the corpse.According to the example provided in the source, a Surgeon's Error adds one red skull and one white skull to the corpse. It cannot be removed later, so it's best not to attempt extracting valuable body parts when your Mastery is significantly below the requirement.
How Planting Ticks Work
Image unavailableThe same system is used for farming. When planting seeds, the game compares your Farming Mastery with the requirement of the specific crop. For example, bronze Cabbage Seeds require 8 Mastery, while your character has 6:
6 / 8 = 75%.
Each tick during planting therefore has a 75% chance of turning green. If you try to plant bronze Onion Seeds, which require 10 Mastery, with the same 6 points, the chance drops to:
6 / 10 = 60%.
In this case, red ticks affect the quality of the future harvest. If an error occurs during planting, you will no longer be able to get silver-quality vegetables, and the crop will remain bronze.
What Determines Crop Quality After Planting
Once the seeds have been planted, a different value comes into play: the Mastery of the Garden Bed itself. This is separate from the character's Mastery and consists of the bed's base value plus any additional bonuses. In the example shown, the Garden Bed has 4 Mastery and fertilizer adds another 1, bringing the total to 5.If the crop requires 10 Mastery, each growth tick will have:
5 / 10 = 50% chance of success.
These checks occur as the plant grows. In the example shown, a new tick appears roughly every one minute and forty-five seconds of real time. If the Garden Bed had the full 10 Mastery required, every growth tick would be green. Combined with successful planting, this would allow you to harvest silver-quality crops.
Why You Should Increase Mastery
The key thing to understand is that the displayed percentage applies to every individual tick, not to the entire action. This makes the difference between 60% and 100% especially noticeable during operations that require an almost completely green progress bar. During autopsies, insufficient Mastery can cost you the body part you wanted and leave behind a Surgeon's Error. In farming, failed checks during planting or growth can reduce the potential quality of your harvest. Before attempting a difficult action, pay attention not only to the success percentage, but also to how many green ticks you need for the desired result.
