Graveyard Keeper 2 Iron & Smithing Guide
“Graveyard keeper 2 iron” exploded +1,200% the week of launch, and the chain is not obvious: ore comes from surface deposits, only Furnace II smelts it, and the smithy is a separate research line. Here is the full iron pipeline, verified against launch-week guides.
Where to Find Iron Ore
- Iron ore comes from surface deposits in the wild, not a dedicated mine — they cluster around the Inquisition Base outskirts, the Forest and the Swamp
- Deposits look shiny brown / multi-coloured against the grey stone — once you know the texture they are easy to spot
- The densest farming run: from the Inquisition Base, cross the bridge west into the Vineyard — several deposits in one trip (roughly 6 ingots’ worth per run)
- Ore can also be bought from traders, and zombie miners can gather it for you — see the mining section below
Furnace I vs Furnace II
| Furnace | Smelts | Unlock & build |
|---|---|---|
| Furnace I | Bronze + Glass only — no iron | Research Bronze Works → Bronze Melting (10 red). Build at the Yard building desk: 6 Piece of Stone + 12 Brick (Brick needs Kiln + Brick Making). Finish with a Hammer at Building mastery 2. |
| Furnace II | Iron Ingot (and Gold Ingot with the Bellows extension) | Research Iron Forge (35 red, after Bronze Polishing). Build: 6 Polished Stone + 2 Polished Bronze + 12 Brick. |
Both furnaces burn fuel from the Yard Firewood Shed and stop after each batch until you collect the output — an early trap that makes smelting look broken. Collect, refuel, repeat (or assign a zombie later).
The Smithy Unlock Path
- Talk to the blacksmith — the conversation opens the Smithing branch (same as GK1)
- Research Iron Smithing and the Iron Anvil
- Research Smithy I (75 red + 20 blue) — unlocks the Smithy I building plus Brick and Glass recipes
- Build: 6 Reinforced Plank + 4 Bronze Detail + 4 Bronze Gear
- Later: Smithy II via Steel Casting (160 red + 20 blue); extensions Hammer (80R/30B), Bellows (90R/20B), Lenses/Press (175R/20B), Grindstone
Jack's “Supply: Iron” Order (Workshop Hours)
The “supply iron” breakout search is this quest: Jack’s Workshop Hours, the first Town Warehouse order. The crate is crafted at the Woodworking Workbench I — not at an anvil: 6 Iron Ingot + 4 Wooden Plank + 8 Nails. The crate drops on the ground and must be carried overhead (it blocks your inventory) to the Town Warehouse pallet, where the crane lift takes it. Reward: +10 Jack reputation, 1 Town Gratitude, a Jack trade-tier upgrade and 20 money, plus it unlocks the Back in Business and Plaza Battle quests. The full order system is on the orders page.
Zombie Iron Mining
- Zombies mine iron automatically: build a Zombie Supply Station (4 Boards + 4 Bronze Nails) and assign a zombie holding a pickaxe to a quarry/mine station
- The tool must match the station, and tool tier gates proficiency — rusty +1, bronze +2, and higher tiers unlock better outputs
- The first two free zombies come from the Dream Dust questline — see insanity & dream dust and the full zombie guide
GK1 Baseline
GK1 iron came from bog-ore in the swamp plus one deposit north of the Cabin in the Woods, with a buildable Zombie Ore Mine (8 Flitch, 4 Nails, Pickaxe I) after Zombie Mining tech — ore could also be bought from Krezvold. GK2 replaces the dedicated mine with denser surface deposits, but the smelt-at-Furnace-II and zombie-pickaxe parts carry over.
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