Graveyard Keeper 2 Alchemy Recipes and Rune Combinations

How does alchemy work in Graveyard Keeper 2?

Alchemy is exact rune arithmetic. Every ingredient carries some number of red, green and blue runes, and a formula demands a precise total; one rune over or under and the lab produces nothing. Load the ingredients in any order, because only the colour totals matter.

Two rules govern it. Runes are added by colour, and any single colour caps at 5 runes per mix. That cap is why the strongest formulas need three ingredients rather than two: you cannot fit five red and five blue into a two-slot lab.

Rule	How it works
Runes	Each alchemy ingredient carries some number of red, green and blue runes
Matching	Add the ingredient runes by colour; the total must equal the formula exactly
Slot limit	Laboratory I takes at most 2 ingredients, Laboratory II at most 3
Colour cap	Any single colour tops out at 5 runes
Discovery	A successful mix is written into your Folio and stays there
Tech unlock	The alchemy documentation counts 25 formulas as tech-tree unlocks
Scale	63 ingredients produce 6,960 valid mixes; 35 mixes need only one ingredient

How many ingredients fit in Laboratory I and Laboratory II?

Laboratory I accepts up to 2 ingredients and Laboratory II accepts up to 3, and that slot count — not the rune total — decides which lab a formula needs. The 5-rune cap per colour is what forces the split, since high-tier combat potions need six runes of one colour.

Lab	Ingredient slots	Formulas that require it
Laboratory I	2	22 of the 28
Laboratory II	3	6 of the 28

One naming warning: the station dataset registers a single Alchemy Workbench record, while the alchemy documentation and Fextralife both describe two tiers, Laboratory I and II. No official source confirms these are the same facility, so the crafting station list uses the dataset name and this page uses the tier names.

Why can’t you add an ingredient you already own?

Because every ingredient must be researched once at the Study Table before its runes become visible, and the lab refuses anything you have not studied. Research costs Science, so an unstudied mushroom or organ simply will not appear as a usable slot no matter how many you are carrying.

This is the most common reason a formula that should work produces nothing. One study per item type is permanent, so stocking Science early beats hunting a missing ingredient later; the tech point farming guide covers where those unlocks come from.

What else does the lab need before it will run?

It needs flask charges and fuel. Every brew consumes Alchemy Flasks, which come from the Flask shelf, plus Fuel, and a lab missing either one will not start at all. Discovered formulas are written into the Folio, so a successful mix is recorded permanently.

The Alchemy Workbench costs 6 Wooden Plank, 8 Iron Nails and 10 Brick, and the Flask shelf turns 1 Alchemy Flasks I into 5 usable flasks. Fuel is the bigger bottleneck than most players expect, since the same Fuel pool feeds eight stations including the Distillation Cube — see the factory power guide.

Full Graveyard Keeper 2 alchemy formula list

All 28 formulas are below. Read the rune column as an exact target: two green means exactly two green runes and nothing else, while one red plus one blue means both colours present in that exact count. Base prices and selling prices come from a single source, the wikily dataset.

Formula	Rune combination	Lab required	Base price	Selling price
Dream Dust	1 green + 1 blue	Laboratory I	75 bronze	75 bronze
Paint	2 green	Laboratory I	150 bronze	1 silver 50 – 2 silver
Lacquer	2 blue	Laboratory I	150 bronze	1 silver 50 – 2 silver
Healing Potion	2 red	Laboratory I	38 bronze	38 bronze
Healing Potion II	4 red	Laboratory I	188 bronze	1 silver 88 bronze
Healing Potion III	5 red	Laboratory I	750 bronze	7 silver 50 bronze
Damage Potion	1 red + 1 green	Laboratory I	75 bronze	75 bronze
Damage Potion II	2 red + 2 green	Laboratory I	375 bronze	3 silver 75 bronze
Damage Potion III	3 red + 3 green	Laboratory I	1,500 bronze	15 silver
Zombie Motivator Potion	1 red + 1 blue	Laboratory I	112 bronze	1 silver 12 bronze
Zombie Motivator Potion II	1 red + 2 blue	Laboratory I	562 bronze	5 silver 62 bronze
Zombie Motivator Potion III	3 red + 3 blue	Laboratory I	1,875 bronze	18 silver 75 bronze
Berserker Potion	1 red + 1 green + 1 blue	Laboratory I	150 bronze	1 silver 50 bronze
Berserker Potion II	2 red + 1 green + 1 blue	Laboratory I	750 bronze	7 silver 50 bronze
Berserker Potion III	3 red + 2 green + 2 blue	Laboratory II	—	Alchemist buys from level 3
Weak growth elixir	1 red + 2 green	Laboratory I	150 bronze	1 silver 50 bronze
Rich growth elixir	1 red + 3 green	Laboratory I	300 bronze	3 silver
Miracle growth elixir	1 red + 5 green	Laboratory I	1,125 bronze	11 silver 25 bronze
Preservative	3 green	Laboratory I	300 bronze	3 silver
Organ Improver	4 red + 1 green (red skull) or 4 green (white skull)	Laboratory I	—	Alchemist buys from level 2
Reanimation Liquid	2 red + 1 green + 4 blue	Laboratory II	—	Gunter and Alchemist buy
Tannin Liquid	4 red + 2 green + 1 blue	Laboratory II	1,500 bronze	15 silver
Alkali	1 red + 4 green + 2 blue	Laboratory II	1,500 bronze	15 silver
Explosive Dust	2 red + 2 blue	Laboratory I	—	No trader buys it
Spices	2 green + 2 blue	Laboratory I	—	Alchemist 2 and Baker 2 buy
Umami	4 green + 4 blue	Laboratory II	1,125 bronze	11 silver 25 bronze
Philosopher Stone	3 red + 3 green + 3 blue	Laboratory II	3,750 bronze	37 silver 50 bronze
Third Eye Salt	1 red + 5 blue	Laboratory I	1,125 bronze	11 silver 25 bronze

One number on the formula list is inconsistent at the source. The alchemy page’s copy says “29 formulas”, but its own list and the dataset both return 28, so this page uses 28 and flags the page figure as a counting error rather than a missing recipe.

Which six formulas need Laboratory II?

Six formulas have no valid two-ingredient mix, so Laboratory I can never produce them: Berserker Potion III, Reanimation Liquid, Tannin Liquid, Alkali, Umami and Philosopher Stone. Everything else on the list fits in a Laboratory I slot, even the formulas that look expensive.

Three of the six matter beyond collection. Philosopher Stone is the only Formulation Bench route to Golden nugget and Golden ingot, Tannin Liquid feeds Master Armor, and Alkali feeds Master Sword. The item prices and selling guide covers how trader level and purse size cap what you can move.

What do the combat potions actually do?

The four potion lines cover healing, raw damage, zombie attack speed and stamina-free attacks. Damage Potion adds +3, +6 or +9 damage to sword and bow for 30 seconds, Zombie Motivator halves zombie warrior attack intervals, and Berserker Potion removes the stamina cost of attacks entirely.

Potion line	Effect	Source
Healing Potion I / II / III	Restores 20 / 40 / full health (100)	2 red, 4 red, 5 red
Damage Potion I / II / III	+3 / +6 / +9 sword and bow damage for 30 seconds; zombie warriors and arrow towers get nothing	1–3 red plus an equal amount of green
Zombie Motivator I / II / III	Halves zombie warrior attack interval for 15 seconds / 30 seconds / 1 minute	1–3 red plus 1–3 blue
Berserker Potion I / II / III	Sword and bow attacks cost no stamina for 15 / 30 / 45 seconds	1–3 red plus green and blue

Zombie Motivator is the one to brew first if you run a zombie production line, because it accelerates the workers you already have instead of only helping you personally. Damage and Berserker Potions are player-only, so they matter for clearing content rather than for throughput.

Which ingredients carry which runes?

Ingredients carry different rune mixes, and the most-used ones are single-colour filler: Clay, Flesh and Sand each give one red, Berry, Leaf and Stick each give one green, and Blueberry, Blood and Seed oil each give one blue. Those three runes are the backbone of almost every formula.

Ingredient	Red	Green	Blue	Formulas it appears in
Clay	1	0	0	21
Flesh	1	0	0	21
Sand	1	0	0	21
Berry	0	1	0	18
Leaf	0	1	0	18
Stick	0	1	0	18
Blueberry	0	0	1	14
Blood	0	0	1	14
Seed oil	0	0	1	14
Flax	1	1	0	13
Flour	0	2	0	13
Zombie goo	0	0	2	10

Two more groups matter. The 19 Alchemic Powders carry exactly the runes printed in their name — “Alchemic Powder (1 red, 2 blue)” is one red plus two blue — and the Apothecary buys them. Organs mix too, and only gold-quality Heart, Brain and Guts carry runes, so quality tier changes what a body part contributes.