Graveyard Keeper 2 Alchemy Guide: All Recipes & Runes
Alchemy in Graveyard Keeper 2 is much easier once you stop thinking in terms of fixed recipes. Ingredients contribute red, green, and blue runes, while each alchemy result asks for a specific rune total. That means Clay + Leaf may be useful for one formula, but another pair of completely different ingredients can produce the same result if their combined runes match.
There are 29 known alchemy results, ranging from basic Paint and Healing Potions to Reanimation Liquid, Organ Improvers, and the Philosopher Stone. Before trying to memorize all of them, it helps to understand how discovery, ingredient research, flasks, and rune totals fit together.
Jump To Section:
How Alchemy Works
Research Ingredients First
Best Rune Ingredients to Keep
All Alchemy Recipes
Laboratory I vs Laboratory II
Recipe Discovery & Repeat Crafting
Why a Mixture Won't Start
Match the Rune Total to Make an Alchemy Recipe
Every alchemy ingredient has a combination of red, green, and blue rune values. An alchemy result is created when the ingredients placed into the Laboratory add up to the exact rune total required by that formula.
For example, a basic Healing Potion requires 2 red runes. One verified combination is 2 Clay because each Clay supplies 1 red rune. Damage Potion instead needs 1 red and 1 green, which can be reached with Clay + Leaf.
This is why different ingredient combinations can create the same item. The game cares about the combined rune value rather than one sacred ingredient list.
Alchemy in One Example
Healing Potion needs: 2 Red
Clay gives: 1 Red
Clay + Clay = 2 Red
Result: Healing Potion
Once I started looking at alchemy this way, the whole system made a lot more sense. I would use the recipe list below as a target sheet for the rune totals, then choose ingredients based on what you actually have rather than treating every listed combination as mandatory.
Research an Ingredient Before It Can Be Used Properly
Having an ingredient in your inventory does not automatically make it available for alchemy.
Use the Study Table to research ingredients and reveal their alchemical properties first. Once researched, their rune values can be used when building mixtures.
You also need Alchemy Flasks. Each result consumes one flask, separate from the ingredients used to satisfy the rune formula.
That becomes important when crafting larger quantities. Having enough ingredients for five potions does not help if you only have two available flasks.
Before Mixing
Research each ingredient at the Study Table
Check its red, green, and blue rune values
Keep Alchemy Flasks available to the Laboratory
Use one Flask per crafted result
Match the formula's exact rune total
A Small Ingredient Stockpile Can Cover a Lot of Recipes
You do not need to hoard every alchemy ingredient equally. Some materials are particularly useful because their rune values are simple and make it easy to build exact totals.
Community testing has mapped many common ingredients to their rune values:
Useful Rune Ingredients
Clay — 1 Red
Leaf — 1 Green
Blood — 1 Blue
Stone — 2 Red
Flour — 2 Green
Night Flower — 2 Blue
Iron Ore — 3 Red
Ash — 1 Green + 1 Blue
Salt — 1 Red + 1 Green + 1 Blue
Tin — 2 Red + 1 Blue
Beeswax — 1 Red + 2 Green
Clay, Leaf, and Blood are especially easy to reason around because each represents a clean single rune. Salt is the opposite: it gives one of every color, which makes it extremely efficient when a formula wants balanced totals.
I would keep those simple ingredients around instead of automatically throwing every unusual material into experiments. It gives you much more control when you're only one rune short of a target.
Ingredient quality can also matter. Bronze, Silver, and Gold versions of an ingredient may have different rune values, so if a known combination specifically calls for a quality tier, use that exact version.
All 29 Graveyard Keeper 2 Alchemy Recipes
The rune requirement is the most useful part of this list. The ingredient combinations are verified examples that reach the required total, but they are not necessarily the only possible recipes.
I have grouped them by what they actually do rather than alphabetically, so it's easier to find the type of alchemy you're working on.
Crafting, Quest, and Utility Alchemy
Dream Dust
Runes: 0 Red / 1 Green / 1 Blue
Example: Leaf + Blood
Paint
Runes: 0 Red / 2 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Leaf + Leaf
Lacquer
Runes: 0 Red / 0 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Blood + Blood
Explosive Dust
Runes: 2 Red / 0 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Tin + Blood
Spices
Runes: 0 Red / 2 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Ash + Ash
Tannin Liquid
Runes: 4 Red / 2 Green / 1 Blue
Example: Clay + Tin + Coal
Alkali
Runes: 1 Red / 4 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Clay + Hops + Hops
Umami
Runes: 0 Red / 4 Green / 4 Blue
Example: Flour + Hops + Alcohol
Third Eye Salt
Runes: 1 Red / 0 Green / 5 Blue
Example: Alcohol + Firefly
Philosopher Stone
Runes: 3 Red / 3 Green / 3 Blue
Example: Tin + Hops + Salt
The Philosopher Stone is one of the cleanest demonstrations of why rune totals matter. The required 3/3/3 can be produced through other combinations too; one alternate documented recipe uses Alcohol, a Golden Nugget, and Beeswax.
If Alcohol is the piece you're missing, the Graveyard Keeper 2 Alcohol guide covers the Distillation Cube recipe, unlock requirement, and batch upgrades.
Healing, Damage, and Berserker Potions
Healing Potion
Runes: 2 Red / 0 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Clay + Clay
Healing Potion II
Runes: 4 Red / 0 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Clay + Iron Ore
Healing Potion III
Runes: 5 Red / 0 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Stone + Iron Ore
Damage Potion
Runes: 1 Red / 1 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Clay + Leaf
Damage Potion II
Runes: 2 Red / 2 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Clay + Coal
Damage Potion III
Runes: 3 Red / 3 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Coal + Golden Nugget
Berserker Potion
Runes: 1 Red / 1 Green / 1 Blue
Example: Clay + Ash
Berserker Potion II
Runes: 2 Red / 1 Green / 1 Blue
Example: Clay + Salt
Berserker Potion III
Runes: 3 Red / 2 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Clay + Tin + Hops
The three potion families scale in a predictable direction: higher Healing Potions need more red, Damage Potions increase both red and green, while Berserker recipes mix all three colors.
Community notes describe Healing Potions as combat healing, Damage Potions as temporary damage increases, and Berserker Potions as granting unlimited stamina for a period during combat.
Growth Elixirs and Preservative
Weak Growth Elixir
Runes: 1 Red / 2 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Leaf + Flax
Rich Growth Elixir
Runes: 1 Red / 3 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Coal + Leaf
Miracle Growth Elixir
Runes: 1 Red / 5 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Coal + Bronze Pumpkin
Preservative
Runes: 0 Red / 3 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Flour + Leaf
The farming side is heavily green-rune focused. If you're planning to experiment with Growth Elixirs, this is one of the better reasons to keep high-green ingredients rather than spending them on low-level formulas that could have been made with basic Leaves.
Zombie and Corpse Alchemy Has Its Own Progression Chain
Zombie Motivator Potion
Runes: 1 Red / 0 Green / 1 Blue
Example: Clay + Blood
Zombie Motivator Potion II
Runes: 1 Red / 0 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Clay + Zombie Goo
Zombie Motivator Potion III
Runes: 3 Red / 0 Green / 3 Blue
Example: Tin + Firefly
Organ Improver: Red Skull
Runes: 4 Red / 1 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Iron Ore + Flax
Organ Improver: White Skull
Runes: 0 Red / 4 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Flour + Flour
Reanimation Liquid
Runes: 2 Red / 1 Green / 4 Blue
Example: Clay + Alcohol + Salt
These recipes eventually tie alchemy directly into corpse improvement and zombie automation rather than treating it as a potion-only system.
Reanimation Liquid is the obvious progression recipe here. Clay + Alcohol + Salt is one verified combination, and other ingredient sets can reach the same 2/1/4 rune total.
For the rest of the resurrection process, the Graveyard Keeper 2 Zombies guide covers collars, Red Skulls, worker training, automation, and where zombies can actually be assigned.
Laboratory II Matters Because It Gives You a Third Ingredient Slot
Laboratory I works with two ingredient slots, while Laboratory II expands that to three.
That changes alchemy more than simply giving you access to a longer recipe list. Three slots let you build more complicated rune totals from lower-value ingredients instead of needing one perfect item that supplies several colors at once.
Some of the later formulas naturally fit that expanded setup, including Reanimation Liquid, Tannin Liquid, Alkali, Umami, and the Philosopher Stone.
There is also a practical ceiling to experimentation. Community testing reports that a craft cannot exceed 5 runes of a single color, which matches the highest single-color requirements currently documented, such as Healing Potion III at 5 red and Third Eye Salt at 5 blue.
Discovering a Product and Discovering a Recipe Aren't Quite the Same
When you successfully mix a combination in a Laboratory, that combination becomes available for repeat production. The Folio records your discoveries, while the Alchemy Workbench can be used to reproduce learned formulas.
There is one wrinkle: finding one way to create an item does not automatically teach the game every alternate ingredient combination for that same result.
For example, if you discover a recipe using one pair of ingredients, a different pair that reaches the same rune total may still need to be mixed manually before that specific version appears in your repeat-crafting options.
This is useful because alternate recipes can completely change the resource cost of producing the same result. A basic Berserker Potion, for example, can be reached with a balanced 1/1/1 rune combination; documented alternatives include Salt by itself or other ingredient combinations totaling the same three runes.
If Alchemy Isn't Working, Check the Ingredient Before the Formula
Most alchemy problems are not caused by having the wrong workstation.
If an ingredient does not appear in the mixing menu, make sure you researched it first. If all the ingredients are available but the craft still cannot start, check your Alchemy Flasks separately.
Duplicates also count as separate ingredients. If a recipe calls for two Leaves or two pieces of Flour, you need two actual items for every result you want to produce.
Alchemy Checklist
Ingredient missing from menu → Research it
Correct runes but craft won't start → Check Flasks
Recipe needs the same ingredient twice → Bring two copies
Alternative recipe absent from Workbench → Discover that combination manually
Recipe needs three ingredients → Use Laboratory II
Quality-specific combination failing → Check Bronze, Silver, or Gold tier
Community testing also indicates that invalid ingredient combinations simply cannot be mixed, so experimentation is less punishing than it first appears. You still want to understand rune values, but you are not blindly throwing materials away every time the total is wrong.
The Apothecary Can Fill Rune Gaps Without Rebuilding Your Whole Supply Chain
If you're missing a specific rune combination, you do not always have to go gather the exact ingredient shown in a recipe guide.
The Apothecary sells Alchemic Powders representing different rune combinations, with more complex powders becoming available at higher shop tiers. It also stocks several alchemy materials such as Ash, Fragrance, Melted Fat, Salt, and later Alcohol.
That makes the shop useful when you understand the rune system. Instead of searching for one named ingredient, you can sometimes buy a powder that fills the exact red, green, or blue deficit in the formula you're trying to complete.
I would still build around materials you can replenish reliably and use the powders to solve awkward totals. Once you start thinking in colors instead of named recipes, Graveyard Keeper 2's alchemy stops feeling like trial-and-error and starts behaving more like a small equation: research your ingredients, hit the required rune total, keep a flask ready, and let the exact ingredient combination change depending on what you have.
Alchemy in Graveyard Keeper 2 is much easier once you stop thinking in terms of fixed recipes. Ingredients contribute red, green, and blue runes, while each alchemy result asks for a specific rune total. That means Clay + Leaf may be useful for one formula, but another pair of completely different ingredients can produce the same result if their combined runes match.
There are 29 known alchemy results, ranging from basic Paint and Healing Potions to Reanimation Liquid, Organ Improvers, and the Philosopher Stone. Before trying to memorize all of them, it helps to understand how discovery, ingredient research, flasks, and rune totals fit together.
Jump To Section:
How Alchemy Works
Research Ingredients First
Best Rune Ingredients to Keep
All Alchemy Recipes
Laboratory I vs Laboratory II
Recipe Discovery & Repeat Crafting
Why a Mixture Won't Start
Match the Rune Total to Make an Alchemy Recipe
Every alchemy ingredient has a combination of red, green, and blue rune values. An alchemy result is created when the ingredients placed into the Laboratory add up to the exact rune total required by that formula.
For example, a basic Healing Potion requires 2 red runes. One verified combination is 2 Clay because each Clay supplies 1 red rune. Damage Potion instead needs 1 red and 1 green, which can be reached with Clay + Leaf.
This is why different ingredient combinations can create the same item. The game cares about the combined rune value rather than one sacred ingredient list.
Alchemy in One Example
Healing Potion needs: 2 Red
Clay gives: 1 Red
Clay + Clay = 2 Red
Result: Healing Potion
Once I started looking at alchemy this way, the whole system made a lot more sense. I would use the recipe list below as a target sheet for the rune totals, then choose ingredients based on what you actually have rather than treating every listed combination as mandatory.
Research an Ingredient Before It Can Be Used Properly
Having an ingredient in your inventory does not automatically make it available for alchemy.
Use the Study Table to research ingredients and reveal their alchemical properties first. Once researched, their rune values can be used when building mixtures.
You also need Alchemy Flasks. Each result consumes one flask, separate from the ingredients used to satisfy the rune formula.
That becomes important when crafting larger quantities. Having enough ingredients for five potions does not help if you only have two available flasks.
Before Mixing
Research each ingredient at the Study Table
Check its red, green, and blue rune values
Keep Alchemy Flasks available to the Laboratory
Use one Flask per crafted result
Match the formula's exact rune total
A Small Ingredient Stockpile Can Cover a Lot of Recipes
You do not need to hoard every alchemy ingredient equally. Some materials are particularly useful because their rune values are simple and make it easy to build exact totals.
Community testing has mapped many common ingredients to their rune values:
Useful Rune Ingredients
Clay — 1 Red
Leaf — 1 Green
Blood — 1 Blue
Stone — 2 Red
Flour — 2 Green
Night Flower — 2 Blue
Iron Ore — 3 Red
Ash — 1 Green + 1 Blue
Salt — 1 Red + 1 Green + 1 Blue
Tin — 2 Red + 1 Blue
Beeswax — 1 Red + 2 Green
Clay, Leaf, and Blood are especially easy to reason around because each represents a clean single rune. Salt is the opposite: it gives one of every color, which makes it extremely efficient when a formula wants balanced totals.
I would keep those simple ingredients around instead of automatically throwing every unusual material into experiments. It gives you much more control when you're only one rune short of a target.
Ingredient quality can also matter. Bronze, Silver, and Gold versions of an ingredient may have different rune values, so if a known combination specifically calls for a quality tier, use that exact version.
All 29 Graveyard Keeper 2 Alchemy Recipes
The rune requirement is the most useful part of this list. The ingredient combinations are verified examples that reach the required total, but they are not necessarily the only possible recipes.
I have grouped them by what they actually do rather than alphabetically, so it's easier to find the type of alchemy you're working on.
Crafting, Quest, and Utility Alchemy
Dream Dust
Runes: 0 Red / 1 Green / 1 Blue
Example: Leaf + Blood
Paint
Runes: 0 Red / 2 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Leaf + Leaf
Lacquer
Runes: 0 Red / 0 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Blood + Blood
Explosive Dust
Runes: 2 Red / 0 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Tin + Blood
Spices
Runes: 0 Red / 2 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Ash + Ash
Tannin Liquid
Runes: 4 Red / 2 Green / 1 Blue
Example: Clay + Tin + Coal
Alkali
Runes: 1 Red / 4 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Clay + Hops + Hops
Umami
Runes: 0 Red / 4 Green / 4 Blue
Example: Flour + Hops + Alcohol
Third Eye Salt
Runes: 1 Red / 0 Green / 5 Blue
Example: Alcohol + Firefly
Philosopher Stone
Runes: 3 Red / 3 Green / 3 Blue
Example: Tin + Hops + Salt
The Philosopher Stone is one of the cleanest demonstrations of why rune totals matter. The required 3/3/3 can be produced through other combinations too; one alternate documented recipe uses Alcohol, a Golden Nugget, and Beeswax.
If Alcohol is the piece you're missing, the Graveyard Keeper 2 Alcohol guide covers the Distillation Cube recipe, unlock requirement, and batch upgrades.
Healing, Damage, and Berserker Potions
Healing Potion
Runes: 2 Red / 0 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Clay + Clay
Healing Potion II
Runes: 4 Red / 0 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Clay + Iron Ore
Healing Potion III
Runes: 5 Red / 0 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Stone + Iron Ore
Damage Potion
Runes: 1 Red / 1 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Clay + Leaf
Damage Potion II
Runes: 2 Red / 2 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Clay + Coal
Damage Potion III
Runes: 3 Red / 3 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Coal + Golden Nugget
Berserker Potion
Runes: 1 Red / 1 Green / 1 Blue
Example: Clay + Ash
Berserker Potion II
Runes: 2 Red / 1 Green / 1 Blue
Example: Clay + Salt
Berserker Potion III
Runes: 3 Red / 2 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Clay + Tin + Hops
The three potion families scale in a predictable direction: higher Healing Potions need more red, Damage Potions increase both red and green, while Berserker recipes mix all three colors.
Community notes describe Healing Potions as combat healing, Damage Potions as temporary damage increases, and Berserker Potions as granting unlimited stamina for a period during combat.
Growth Elixirs and Preservative
Weak Growth Elixir
Runes: 1 Red / 2 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Leaf + Flax
Rich Growth Elixir
Runes: 1 Red / 3 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Coal + Leaf
Miracle Growth Elixir
Runes: 1 Red / 5 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Coal + Bronze Pumpkin
Preservative
Runes: 0 Red / 3 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Flour + Leaf
The farming side is heavily green-rune focused. If you're planning to experiment with Growth Elixirs, this is one of the better reasons to keep high-green ingredients rather than spending them on low-level formulas that could have been made with basic Leaves.
Zombie and Corpse Alchemy Has Its Own Progression Chain
Zombie Motivator Potion
Runes: 1 Red / 0 Green / 1 Blue
Example: Clay + Blood
Zombie Motivator Potion II
Runes: 1 Red / 0 Green / 2 Blue
Example: Clay + Zombie Goo
Zombie Motivator Potion III
Runes: 3 Red / 0 Green / 3 Blue
Example: Tin + Firefly
Organ Improver: Red Skull
Runes: 4 Red / 1 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Iron Ore + Flax
Organ Improver: White Skull
Runes: 0 Red / 4 Green / 0 Blue
Example: Flour + Flour
Reanimation Liquid
Runes: 2 Red / 1 Green / 4 Blue
Example: Clay + Alcohol + Salt
These recipes eventually tie alchemy directly into corpse improvement and zombie automation rather than treating it as a potion-only system.
Reanimation Liquid is the obvious progression recipe here. Clay + Alcohol + Salt is one verified combination, and other ingredient sets can reach the same 2/1/4 rune total.
For the rest of the resurrection process, the Graveyard Keeper 2 Zombies guide covers collars, Red Skulls, worker training, automation, and where zombies can actually be assigned.
Laboratory II Matters Because It Gives You a Third Ingredient Slot
Laboratory I works with two ingredient slots, while Laboratory II expands that to three.
That changes alchemy more than simply giving you access to a longer recipe list. Three slots let you build more complicated rune totals from lower-value ingredients instead of needing one perfect item that supplies several colors at once.
Some of the later formulas naturally fit that expanded setup, including Reanimation Liquid, Tannin Liquid, Alkali, Umami, and the Philosopher Stone.
There is also a practical ceiling to experimentation. Community testing reports that a craft cannot exceed 5 runes of a single color, which matches the highest single-color requirements currently documented, such as Healing Potion III at 5 red and Third Eye Salt at 5 blue.
Discovering a Product and Discovering a Recipe Aren't Quite the Same
When you successfully mix a combination in a Laboratory, that combination becomes available for repeat production. The Folio records your discoveries, while the Alchemy Workbench can be used to reproduce learned formulas.
There is one wrinkle: finding one way to create an item does not automatically teach the game every alternate ingredient combination for that same result.
For example, if you discover a recipe using one pair of ingredients, a different pair that reaches the same rune total may still need to be mixed manually before that specific version appears in your repeat-crafting options.
This is useful because alternate recipes can completely change the resource cost of producing the same result. A basic Berserker Potion, for example, can be reached with a balanced 1/1/1 rune combination; documented alternatives include Salt by itself or other ingredient combinations totaling the same three runes.
If Alchemy Isn't Working, Check the Ingredient Before the Formula
Most alchemy problems are not caused by having the wrong workstation.
If an ingredient does not appear in the mixing menu, make sure you researched it first. If all the ingredients are available but the craft still cannot start, check your Alchemy Flasks separately.
Duplicates also count as separate ingredients. If a recipe calls for two Leaves or two pieces of Flour, you need two actual items for every result you want to produce.
Alchemy Checklist
Ingredient missing from menu → Research it
Correct runes but craft won't start → Check Flasks
Recipe needs the same ingredient twice → Bring two copies
Alternative recipe absent from Workbench → Discover that combination manually
Recipe needs three ingredients → Use Laboratory II
Quality-specific combination failing → Check Bronze, Silver, or Gold tier
Community testing also indicates that invalid ingredient combinations simply cannot be mixed, so experimentation is less punishing than it first appears. You still want to understand rune values, but you are not blindly throwing materials away every time the total is wrong.
The Apothecary Can Fill Rune Gaps Without Rebuilding Your Whole Supply Chain
If you're missing a specific rune combination, you do not always have to go gather the exact ingredient shown in a recipe guide.
The Apothecary sells Alchemic Powders representing different rune combinations, with more complex powders becoming available at higher shop tiers. It also stocks several alchemy materials such as Ash, Fragrance, Melted Fat, Salt, and later Alcohol.
That makes the shop useful when you understand the rune system. Instead of searching for one named ingredient, you can sometimes buy a powder that fills the exact red, green, or blue deficit in the formula you're trying to complete.
I would still build around materials you can replenish reliably and use the powders to solve awkward totals. Once you start thinking in colors instead of named recipes, Graveyard Keeper 2's alchemy stops feeling like trial-and-error and starts behaving more like a small equation: research your ingredients, hit the required rune total, keep a flask ready, and let the exact ingredient combination change depending on what you have.
