Get to know the elements, which are the basic elements of nature, at the alchemy bench in Graveyard Keeper and learn what you can do with them with the information in this guide.
Guide to The Theory and Practice of Alchemy
Understand the fundamental elements of nature, and how to use them to make any element, even gold from nothing but crop waste and water!
The 19 Fundamental Elements
In the beginning, the Ancient God created the world. And He made it out of 19 fundamental substances, or at least, 19 of them can be used in alchemy. I believe that the fundamental form of all matter is that of Goo. There are 19 elemental Goos, and one unknown Goo, which may represent the original Prima Materia from which the Ancient God created the elements.
First, there are the 8 ‘abstract’ elements, which are 4 pairs of opposites:
Order | and its opposite | Chaos |
Health | and its opposite | Toxic |
Life | and its opposite | Death |
Acceleration | and its opposite | Slowing |
These elements are found in the makeup of living and growing things, like the plants, insects, and slimes in the world. The elements of Life and Death are found in the 3 major organs of corpses brought to the graveyard. All of these elements are found in 3 different forms, in addition to the fundamental Goo:
- powder
- solution
- extract.
Second, there are 11 ‘concrete’ elements. Four of them are only found in nature as liquids:
- Water
- Oil
- Alcohol
- Blood
The other 7 are only found as solids:
- Ash
- Graphite
- Salt
- Bone, also called White
- Electric
- Silver
- Gold
Goos: Elemental Transmigration
Although the fundamental form of all elements is the goo, only in their other, reactive, forms, of liquid, powder, solution, and extract, can they be combined alchemically. This can produce many different elixirs and potions; but when one fails to make a potion, something far more interesting occurs: the creation of a goo, of an element not found in the reagents!
The goo that results, depends on what kinds of recipes that would create a potion, contain the reagents in their respective positions. For example, when one combines Oil + Slowing solution, the result is either alcohol goo or acceleration goo, because there are no 2-reagent recipes with Oil as the first reagent, and there are two recipes with slowing solution as the second reagent, one which uses alcohol as the first reagent, and one which uses acceleration powder. This Goo is sort of a clue to what recipe you may be failing at, but these reactions can be used intentionally.
Now consider what happens when you try to mix Water + Oil. This reaction can produce any of the 8 abstract elements, and also ash and white powder, because there are recipes with oil in the second position to make paints.
Natural Sources For the 19 Elements
This section lists ways to get elements in their reactive form, from natural sources rather than alchemical transmigration.
Acceleration
- Powder: Hemp or Honey
- Solution: Honey or Blue Jelly
- Extract: Hemp or Blue Jelly
Slowing
- Powder: Hops or Spiderweb
- Solution: Fat, Beeswax, Hops
- Extract: Beeswax, Spiderweb
Life
- Powder: Intestine, Sulfur
- Solution: Brain, Maggot, Yellow Flower
- Extract: Heart, Maggot, Yellow Flower
Death
- Powder: Dark Intestine
- Solution: Dark Brain, Black Jelly
- Extract: Dark Heart, Black Jelly
Health
- Powder: Cabbage, Cropwaste, Pumpkin
- Solution: Carrot, Cabbage, Hiccup grass
- Extract: Pumpkin, Lentils
Toxic
- Powder: Onion, Red Flower
- Solution: Ornge Jelly, Red Mushroom
- Extract: Onion, Orange Jelly
Order
- Powder: Bee
- Solution: Bee, Green Jelly, White flower
- Extract: Green jelly, White flower
Chaos
- Powder: Butterfly, Bat wing
- Solution: Moth, Bat wing
- Extract: Butterfly, Moth
Water
- From the various wells around the map.
Oil
- Hemp seeds, or fat from corpses, in the Vine Press
Alcohol
- From Booze distilled from wine, apple ferment, or berry ferment
Blood
- From corpses.
Ash
- Cremating corpses.
Salt
- Cremating corpses.
White
- Bones extracted from corpses, powdered.
Graphite
- Processing coal in the furnace, then powdering it.
Electric
- Electric orbs in the dungeon, also eels.
Silver
- From breaking iron ore
Gold
- From the iron mine
How to make Gold and Silver from Flowers
Okay, so if you didn’t understand the goo section, this may seem like magic, but actually it is very simple. Go out into the field and grab as many white flowers as you can find, along with some water.
Now make half the flowers into Order extract and half of them into Order solution.
Now go to the alchemical workbench II and do Water, Order Solution, Order Extract. If you do this several times, you will get several goos, including silver goo and gold goo! 4 gold goos make 2 gold powder.
If you look at what recipes exist that have order solution and order extract, you will realize 2 of them make the gold and silver elixirs. This is why we get gold and silver from flowers and water.
In fact one can get all of the elements from just crop waste and water, or even from only Cabbage.
How to Synthesize each of the 19 Elements
This section gives ways to produce each of the 19 elements (in their Goo state) from other elements in their reactive form
Order:
- Oil + Toxic Solution, always makes Order (in the form of “goo or Order” [sic])
Chaos:
- Health powder + Water, makes 6 possible things including Chaos
Health:
- Water + Chaos Solution, always makes Health
- Water + Blood, makes Health or Death
Toxic:
- Water + Oil, makes 10 different elements including Toxic.
- I don’t know any better way with the level I work bench.
- Ash + Oil + Acceleration extract, always makes Toxic
Acceleration:
- Slowing powder + Water, makes Acceleration or Oil
Slowing:
- Alcohol + Order Solution, makes Oil or Slowing
- Water + Acceleration Solution, makes Acceleration or Slowing
Life:
- Water + Health solution, makes Life and Salt
Death:
- Slowing powder, Water, Order Extract, makes: Chaos+Death, Order+Death, Silver+Chaos, or Life+Slowing.
The liquid elements:
Water
- Graphite + Alcohol, always makes Water
- (Water goo is useless other than completing your Goo Collection)
Alcohol
- Water + Slowing Solution, produces Alcohol or Acceleration
Oil
- Water + Order Solution always makes Oil
Blood
- Health powder + Life Solution, produces Ash or Blood
Solid elements:
Ash
- Water + Life Solution always makes Ash
Graphite, Electric
- Oil + Water makes Graphite, Electric, or Death
- Blood + Water same thing
Salt
- Water + Health Solution makes Salt or Life
White
- Water + Oil makes one of all 8 abstract elements plus ash and white.
- There isn’t any better way to get White goo.
Gold, Silver
- Water + Order solution + Order Extract,
- makes several different goos including Silver and Gold.
- You can’t synthesize gold or silver at the level one alchemy workbench.
Crop waste, Maggots, Water
Crop waste and Maggots. If you’re like me, you have a lot of these from massive farming operations. But don’t click “destroy”! you can use them to make useful elements!
Crop waste makes Health powder, while Maggot makes Life Solution.
Health powder + Life Solution:
- Oil, Blood, Chaos, Ash
Health powder + Water:
- Oil, Blood, Chaos, Death, Graphite, Electric
Water + Oil
- Order, Chaos, Accel, Slow, Life, Death, Health, Toxic, Ash, White
Already we have 15 of the 19 elements that can be made with nothing but crop waste and water.
The last 4 can be made with the standard syntheses in the previous chapter.
