Alchemy in Graveyard Keeper 2 looks much more confusing at first than it actually is. The game shows you colored runes, makes you study every new ingredient, requires some kind of flasks, and sometimes an item simply disappears from the Laboratory list when you try to use it. At the same time, there are no traditional recipes like "one Blood + one Water" in the usual sense.The entire system revolves around red, green, and blue runes. Every studied ingredient has its own set of symbols, and the Laboratory simply adds them together. If the final rune total matches one of the 29 alchemy products, you get the corresponding item. This means the same potion can sometimes be brewed in dozens of different ways.Below, we'll explain Alchemy from the very beginning: how to unlock the Laboratory, obtain Science, study ingredients, use flasks and the Folio, and then list all 29 alchemy results with convenient ingredient combinations.Image unavailable
How to Unlock Alchemy
Access to Alchemy is tied to Albert. After meeting the Plague Doctor and speaking to him about making Dream Dust, you receive your first 10 reputation with him and unlock the Alchemy, Basic Technology.We cover Albert's entire storyline and all related quests separately in our Plague Doctor quest guide.You do not need to build your first Laboratory from scratch. The tower already contains a Study Table, Laboratory I, Flask shelf, and Folio. There is also a chest nearby containing enough starter resources to learn the system and make your first Dream Dust.Among other things, the chest contains a Science Kit I, Clean Paper, Water, Blood, and several Alchemy Flasks I. Do not immediately waste your Science studying everything you find. Your supply is limited early on, and Albert's quest primarily requires Water and Blood.
How to Study Ingredients
Before you can use a new material in the Laboratory, you need to study it. Approach the Study Table and select the item you want to research.Studying consumes Science, while some materials also require Faith. The ingredient itself is not destroyed. Once the research is complete, you get the item back, reveal its runes, and receive tech points.Image unavailableEach type of item only needs to be studied once. If you have researched a regular Pumpkin, you do not need to repeat the process for every other Pumpkin. The quality of farm produce does not change its alchemical runes either, so there is usually no reason to waste expensive high-quality crops on research.Before an item is studied, its runes are shown as unknown, and it will not appear in the Laboratory menu at all. So if you know you have the correct ingredient but cannot find it while mixing, return to the Study Table first.The exception is Alchemic Powder. There are 19 variants with different rune combinations, and all of them count as studied from the beginning.
How to Get Science
Science does not appear as separate blue orbs that you collect in the world. Your Science supply is stored directly in the Study Table, where suitable items can be decomposed into Science.The main options are:
Clean Paper — 1 Science;
Science Kit I — 30 Science;
Science Kit II — 60 Science.
The starter chest in the Laboratory effectively gives you 31 Science: 30 from Science Kit I and another 1 from Clean Paper. That is more than enough for your first few studies, but not enough to immediately scan half your inventory.We recommend studying Water and Blood first. They are needed for the story-related Dream Dust and only cost one Science each. After that, gradually research materials required for your current quests or formulas.Later, paper and Science Kits become renewable, so you will not need to conserve every single point for the entire game.If you are confused about tech points, Mastery, and Inspirations, we explain the entire progression system separately in our Graveyard Keeper 2 Technology and Mastery guide.
How Alchemy Runes and Recipes Work
This is the most important part of the entire system. Every alchemical ingredient has a certain number of red, green, and blue runes. When you place ingredients into the Laboratory, their values are added together separately for each color.For example:Water provides 1 green rune.Blood provides 1 blue rune.Together, they produce a combination of 1 green + 1 blue, which corresponds to Dream Dust.But this does not mean Water + Blood is the only recipe. The same rune total can be achieved with other ingredients. For example, Ash already contains the required combination by itself and can also be turned into Dream Dust.This is why the game's data contains almost seven thousand valid ingredient combinations even though there are only 29 final alchemy results.Ingredient order does not matter. You can also use the same ingredient twice if that is what you need to reach the required rune total.An extra rune, however, will break the combination. If a product requires 2 red runes, a total of 3 red will not work. The game does not automatically ignore excess symbols.Fortunately, ingredients are not consumed by an invalid combination. If your rune total does not correspond to any existing result, the Laboratory simply will not allow you to start mixing.
How to Use the Laboratory
Laboratory I allows you to use up to two ingredients at the same time. This is enough for most Alchemy.Select studied materials, check the combined rune total, and pay attention to the result field. If you have already discovered the product, its icon will appear. If you have matched an existing but still undiscovered formula, a question mark will be shown instead.Create the item at least once and it will be recorded in the Folio.Image unavailableThe Folio sits nearby and stores every formula you have discovered. Its result pages show the rune combination required for each product, while separate sections let you check the runes of ingredients you have already studied.This means there is no reason to memorize hundreds of ingredient combinations. Once you understand the basic system, the problem becomes simple arithmetic: use the materials you have available to reach the required number of runes in each of the three colors.
How to Unlock Laboratory II
Later, you will need Laboratory II. Its main difference is the addition of a third ingredient slot.The Technology costs:
20 red tech points;
40 green tech points.
You need to unlock Battle Potions I first.Do not rush to build the second Laboratory just to speed up routine production. The main reason to upgrade is that six products cannot be made from regular ingredients using only two slots:
Berserker Potion III;
Reanimation Liquid;
Tannin Liquid;
Alkali;
Umami;
Philosopher Stone.
Some other complicated rune combinations are also much easier to assemble there.
What Alchemy Flasks Are For
Every mix consumes one alchemy flask. Simply carrying flask items in your inventory is not enough.You need to load them into the Flask shelf in the Laboratory. Once deposited, they become an internal supply used by the alchemy stations.One Alchemy Flasks I provides 5 uses, while Alchemy Flasks II provides 10.There is a slightly strange efficiency issue here. Crafting one Alchemy Flasks II requires three Alchemy Flasks I, while those three regular flasks would provide 15 uses on the shelf instead of 10. For that reason, we do not recommend upgrading them specifically for everyday mixing. Alchemy Flasks II have other uses, but the first version is more efficient for routine Alchemy.Alchemy Flasks I can be crafted at a Furnace from 2 Glass and Fuel after unlocking Glass Blowing.
All Alchemy Recipes
Below are all 29 results currently available in Graveyard Keeper 2.To make the list easier to read, we'll use the following abbreviations:
R — red runes;
G — green runes;
B — blue runes.
Once again, the ingredients listed below are convenient working recipes, not the only possible combinations.
Dream Dust, Paint, and Lacquer
Dream Dust — R0 / G1 / B1. Recipe: Water + Blood. You can also use a single Ash.
Paint — R0 / G2 / B0. Recipe: Flour. Two portions of Water also work.
Lacquer — R0 / G0 / B2. Recipe: Night flower. Minced Meat or two portions of Blood also work.
Dream Dust is required during Albert's first questline and is later used for Fancy Incense, fertilizers, and mechanics related to the fairy.Paint is required by Linda and is later used when producing Printed Money. We cover her entire storyline in our Linda quest guide.Lacquer is also required by Albert and is used in the Live Bait recipe. Once you unlock advanced fishing, it is worth keeping any leftovers. All rods, bait types, and fish can be found in our complete Graveyard Keeper 2 fishing guide.
All Healing Potions
Healing Potion — R2 / G0 / B0. Recipe: Stone.
Healing Potion II — R4 / G0 / B0. Recipe: Stone + Stone.
Healing Potion III — R5 / G0 / B0. Recipe: Stone + Iron Ore.
The first version restores 20 Health, the second restores 40, and the third completely restores your Health up to the maximum of 100.Battle Potions can only be used while you are actually in combat.
All Damage Potions
Damage Potion — R1 / G1 / B0. Recipe: Flax.
Damage Potion II — R2 / G2 / B0. Recipe: Stone + Flour.
The effect lasts 30 seconds. The first tier adds +3 damage to Sword, Bow, and Spear attacks, the second adds +6, and the third adds +9.Drinking another tier of the same potion replaces the previous effect. You cannot stack all three levels to get +18 damage.
All Berserker Potions
Berserker Potion — R1 / G1 / B1. Recipe: Salt or Cheese.
Berserker Potion II — R2 / G1 / B1. Recipe: Salt + Clay.
Zombie Motivator Potion II — R1 / G0 / B2. Recipe: Clay + Night flower.
Zombie Motivator Potion III — R3 / G0 / B3. Recipe: Iron Ore + Alcohol.
These potions work during battles and cause allied zombies to attack roughly twice as fast.The strength of the effect does not increase. Only its duration changes:
I — 15 seconds;
II — 30 seconds;
III — 60 seconds.
If you are only beginning to work with the undead, we recommend starting with our zombie guide.
You do not drink these products directly. They are used later to make fertilizers at the Formulation Bench.More powerful versions unlock as you progress through the Farming branch, making Coal a surprisingly useful Alchemy ingredient. We recommend keeping a small stock instead of burning absolutely everything in your Furnaces.
Preservative
Preservative — R0 / G3 / B0.The easiest recipe is Pumpkin. Fragrance also works.Preservative is later used in embalming and forms part of the production chain for corpse and zombie solutions and injections. You do not apply it directly to a body. It is an intermediate alchemical material.
Organ Improvers
The game contains two different items with the same name, Organ Improver, but with different runes and purposes.The first:R4 / G1 / B0 — Stone + Copper Nugget.This version is used to create organs focused on red skulls.The second:R0 / G4 / B0 — Flour + Flour.This version creates variants focused on white skulls.Once the corresponding Formulation Bench recipes are unlocked, a regular organ can be combined with an Organ Improver to turn it into its maximum version. The white-skull variant is particularly useful for preparing high-quality corpses for the graveyard, while the red-skull version is useful when creating powerful combat zombies.Do not confuse the two items in your inventory. Their localized names are identical, so use the skull icon and rune values to tell them apart.
Explosive Dust
Explosive Dust — R2 / G0 / B2.A convenient recipe is Stone + Night flower. Another option is Blood + Tin.The dust is required to make Dynamite at the Formulation Bench. One explosive uses two Explosive Dust and Alcohol.Dynamite is required to clear the blockage in the old mine, so you will definitely need at least a few portions of Explosive Dust later.
Spices
Spices — R0 / G2 / B2.Simple recipe: Ash + Ash.Spices are used in cooking and allow you to upgrade suitable bronze-quality food and drinks to silver quality.If you plan to get into advanced cooking, keep some Ash aside. Otherwise, you may suddenly discover that your entire stock went into the Crematorium and you now need to wait for more bodies just to make two portions of Spices.
Third Eye Salt
Third Eye Salt — R1 / G0 / B5.Regular recipe: Alcohol + Clay + Night flower.This combination is easier to make in Laboratory II, but the same rune total can also be reached with two slots by using certain Alchemic Powders or high-quality organs.Third Eye Salt can be used directly as a consumable. It grants +2 to all five Mastery types for 450 seconds, or seven and a half minutes.This makes it one of the most useful late-game Alchemy products when you are only a couple of Mastery levels short of using a particular recipe or performing a specific action.
Reanimation Liquid
Reanimation Liquid — R2 / G1 / B4.Recipe: Stone + Alcohol + Ash.This combination requires Laboratory II.The liquid is used in the resurrection system and is required to create new zombies. If you plan to automate mines, the sawmill, production, and resource delivery, this product quickly turns from a rare story item into a regular consumable.We explain the entire system in our guide to creating and upgrading zombies.
Tannin Liquid
Tannin Liquid — R4 / G2 / B1.Recipe: Marble + Ash + Flax.Requires Laboratory II.Tannin Liquid is used in late-game crafting and is required for Master Armor. As a result, once you reach Steel and the final equipment upgrades, the Alchemy Lab unexpectedly becomes essential again.
Alkali
Alkali — R1 / G4 / B2.Recipe: Ash + Ash + Coal.This also requires Laboratory II.Alkali is used to craft the Master Sword. By the late game, it is worth stopping thinking of Ash as junk entirely: you need it for Spices and several advanced Alchemy combinations.
Umami
Umami — R0 / G4 / B4.Recipe: Alcohol + Ash + Pumpkin.Requires Laboratory II.Umami works as an advanced version of Spices and allows suitable silver-quality food and drinks to be upgraded to gold quality.If you want the maximum bonuses from cooking, you will eventually need it.
Philosopher Stone
Philosopher Stone — R3 / G3 / B3.A convenient recipe is Marble + Alcohol + Pumpkin.Requires Laboratory II.The name is not just for flavor. At the Formulation Bench, the Philosopher Stone can genuinely be used to turn ordinary metals into gold:
Iron Ore + Philosopher Stone — Golden nugget;
Iron Ingot + Philosopher Stone — Golden ingot.
Once advanced Alchemy is unlocked, obtaining gold no longer depends entirely on rare natural sources.
Which Recipes Require Laboratory II?
If you do not want to keep returning to the full list, remember these six products that cannot be made from regular ingredients using only two slots:
Berserker Potion III;
Reanimation Liquid;
Tannin Liquid;
Alkali;
Umami;
Philosopher Stone.
Everything else can be brewed in Laboratory I using at least one existing ingredient combination.Third Eye Salt looks like an exception because our simple recipe also uses three ingredients. However, you can bypass the limitation with rare ingredients or Alchemic Powders and reach the same rune total with only two slots.
How Alchemic Powders Work
If you do not have the right natural ingredients available, visit the Apothecary.The shop sells Alchemic Powders with predetermined rune combinations. The first variants are available at shop Tier I, while Tier II unlocks the complete set of 19 powders.You do not need to study them.We recommend using powders not for simple products like Healing Potion, which can literally be made from Stone, but for inconvenient combinations requiring large numbers of blue runes or situations where you do not want to consume a valuable organ.They are particularly useful when experimenting with Third Eye Salt and other late-game products.
How to Unlock New Alchemy Recipes
Some formulas become available through Technologies and quests. For example, basic Alchemy introduces Dream Dust, the Battle Potions branch gradually reveals new potions, and later research unlocks transmutation, Organ Improvers, and advanced crafting products.However, the Laboratory itself is built around experimentation. If you assemble the correct rune combination for a result you have not discovered yet, a question mark appears in the result field. Successfully mix it once and the new product will be recorded in the Folio.This is particularly important for four Tier III potions:
Healing Potion III;
Damage Potion III;
Zombie Motivator Potion III;
Berserker Potion III.
There is no separate Technology that simply hands you their completed formulas. You need to discover them through mixing.
How to Make Alchemy Faster
The mixing process consists of three progress segments. The speed depends on your effective Anatomy Mastery.Alchemy and surgical kits equipped in your tool slots provide additional points. Later, this can reduce routine mixing to almost a single action instead of spending a long time working at the station.A high Mastery level is not a requirement for the recipe itself, however. Even with low Mastery, the correct mixture can still be created; it simply takes longer.If you plan to brew a lot of products, we recommend making at least an Alchemist's Kit. It unlocks alongside Laboratory II and is crafted at the Jewelry Table.
How to Level the Alchemist Inspiration
Every alchemy product created in a Laboratory progresses the separate Alchemist Inspiration.It has six levels:
Alchemist I — 1 product created;
Alchemist II — 5;
Alchemist III — 10;
Alchemist IV — 50;
Alchemist V — 100;
Alchemist VI — 250.
So if you already need Healing Potions, fertilizers, or Dream Dust, make them yourself. You will gradually progress the Alchemist Inspiration at the same time.Each result also awards tech points matching the colors present in its formula. For example, a product with three red, three green, and three blue runes gives the corresponding number of tech points in all three colors.
Can Zombies Automate Alchemy?
The game data does contain an Alchemy Workbench designed to repeat previously discovered formulas and be operated by a zombie.The problem is that in the current version of the game there is no normal way to unlock its building recipe. No available Technology or quest grants access to it.For now, do not plan your Laboratory around eventually getting a zombie alchemist. All 29 products have to be mixed manually in Laboratory I or Laboratory II.The same applies to Laboratory III, which also exists in the game data but is currently inaccessible through normal progression.
Why an Ingredient Does Not Appear in the Laboratory
In most cases, you simply forgot to study it.Return to the Study Table and check whether the item's runes have been revealed. As long as question marks are displayed instead, the Laboratory will not offer the ingredient.If the item has already been studied, check your total rune values. The game does not show ingredient options that would push any color above the maximum of five runes.Also remember the flasks. Your ingredients can be available and the combination can be correct, but production still cannot begin without a supply loaded onto the Flask shelf.
Which Alchemy Products Are the Most Useful?
Early in the game, we recommend remembering Dream Dust, the basic Healing Potion, Paint, and Lacquer first. They are either required for early quests or can be made from very cheap resources.Once you unlock zombies, Reanimation Liquid and both Organ Improvers become useful. If you are heavily invested in Farming, gradually unlock all three growth elixirs.Later in the game, Third Eye Salt, Umami, Philosopher Stone, Tannin Liquid, and Alkali become particularly useful.We do not recommend trying to brew absolutely everything immediately after unlocking the Laboratory. Alchemy in Graveyard Keeper 2 develops alongside the rest of the game's systems. Study new ingredients when you actually need them, keep track of their runes, and maintain a supply of flasks. Once you understand how the three colors are added together, the system stops looking like a collection of random recipes and becomes fairly simple arithmetic.
