Research priority for a smooth 1.0 run: land & levels → Pipeline → shop automation → Cauldron → steel-grade smelting → wood automation → Catapult (when aiming for it) → end-game items. The logic below comes from official achievement unlock percentages, which approximate how far real players get at each stage.
What the unlock rates say
| Milestone | Unlock rate | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| Healing Potion | 76.6% | Everyone reaches the potion loop |
| Automatic Cashier | 69.3% | Shop automation is expected early |
| Pipeline research | 58.5% | Pipes are the logistics backbone |
| Steel Ingot | 29.0% | Steel tier is the mid-game filter |
| Cauldron research | 20.7% | Cauldron is a mid-game choice, not a given |
| Philosopher’s Stone | 2.5% | End-game chain is deep |
Recommended order
- First plot + first harvest — unlock the potion loop.
- Pipeline research — pipes let you scale before belts spaghetti out of control.
- Automatic Cashier — automated sales free your attention for factory planning.
- Furnace/smelter upgrades to steel — the mid-game production filter.
- Cauldron research — decide deliberately: it competes with other mid-game nodes.
- World Tree / wood automation — solves the wood bottleneck (5.8% only).
- Catapult — unlock when pursuing throwing-device setups or the joke achievements.
- End-game chain — essences → planet items → Philosopher’s Stone.
Adjusting for 1.0
Because non-production devices moved to the Workbench, some things you previously “researched” now come from the Workbench: confirm where a device unlocks before spending research time — the Workbench page lists the moved categories.
Early Access costs are not current facts. If a number is missing here, it is because the 1.0 figure is still pending verification — no guess is better than a labeled gap.
Unlock rates and tree rework: OFFICIAL. Node costs and exact gating: PENDING.
Independent fan reference for Alchemy Factory. Game data refers to the current official 1.0 build (Steam, PC). Field-level evidence is flagged on each page with OFFICIAL / OBSERVED / COMMUNITY badges; amounts shown without a badge come from the official 1.0 patch notes or store descriptions.