Graveyard Keeper 2 Alchemy & Runes — Rune System & All Recipes

GK2 replaced GK1’s alchemy lists with a rune system: every ingredient carries red, green and blue runes, and a recipe works when your ingredient runes match it. This page covers how the system works, the verified recipe table, and — just as important — which famous GK1 crafts do not exist in GK2. Last verified October 8, 2026.

How the Rune System Works

• Every alchemy ingredient carries red, green and blue rune counts. A recipe fires when the runes of your chosen ingredients match the recipe’s requirement exactly — no more, no less.
• Recipes cap at 5 runes per color. Lab tier I runs recipes with 2 ingredients; Lab tier II runs recipes with 3.
• Study items at the study stations to reveal their runes — studying costs Faith and Science, and unstudied ingredients are guesswork.
• There are 4 discovery-only tier-III recipes the game does not list — community guides are still mapping them.

Verified Recipe Table

Ink Is Not Alchemy

Players search “GK2 ink” constantly — and it is not an alchemy craft. Ink is made at the Writing Desk from Ash + Water + Melted Fat, or bought from the town alchemist (tier 1). Same for paper: church basement chain, not the lab.

The GK1 Crafts That Do Not Exist in GK2

• Zombie Juice — not in GK2. The zombie-raising craft is Reanimation Liquid (above). The GK1 juice recipe is not a GK2 item.
• Black paint — not in GK2. Only plain “Paint” exists; the black-paint search demand is leftover from GK1.
• Energy elixir — not in GK2. No stamina elixir has been confirmed; the elixir family in GK2 is the Growth line.
• Acid — not in GK2. The closest equivalent is Alkali (1R + 4G + 2B).
• Standalone oil — not in GK2. Seed Oil exists only as a 1-blue ingredient, not a finished product.

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