Cauldron — Alchemy Factory Wiki

How to unlock the Cauldron

From the Steam achievement data, the unlock milestone is “Traditional Alchemy — Complete research of Cauldron”. Research lives in the Tech Tree (see Research); the tree applies mostly to production devices in 1.0 after non-production devices moved to the Workbench.

1. Progress the main production chain until the research panel offers Cauldron research.
2. Complete the research to unlock the build recipe.
3. Place it with conveyor access on at least one input side.
4. Feed heat/fuel and keep inputs stable (see below).

Heat & fuel

The official 1.0 patch notes state: “Removed the base heat cost of all heating devices.” So heating devices no longer consume heat baseline in 1.0 — a launch-sensitive change. Community questions about “best fuel” and “heat value” (from search data) refer to the device-specific fuel economy; those figures are being re-verified.

Verified formulas

Full table and the pending list: Cauldron formula reference →

Common problems

• “Production stopped even though inputs are full” — check heat/fuel first; heating devices changed base cost in 1.0.
• “Output differs from the community recipe” — community formulas are leads until reproduced; 1.0 may have changed inputs.
• “Automatic Cashier in Cauldron?” — yes, Catapult it in for the “What are you doing?” achievement.

Best uses

The economic argument for the Cauldron: it converts cheap, abundant inputs (planks, essences) into higher-tier goods and completes achievements like Wood by Cauldron (2.2%) and Overqualified (1.7%× rarity). Until exact rates are verified, use it as a supplement to normal chains, not the sole producer.