LIVE | Brewing Growth Potions & Unlocking the Next Alchemy Tier! | Alchemy Factory Gameplay

Stream overview

The goal of the live Alchemy Factory stream was to research and produce Growth Potions to unlock tier 7 of the research tree and gain new alchemy items/recipes.

Main outcome: Growth Potions were researched and produced (100 potions delivered during stream), unlocking Tier 7 and new tech: Advanced Blender, Paradox Crucible (thermal extractor), and Advanced Shaper.

What the streamer was doing / story progress

• Returned to a base that already had factories for pocket watches and malachite (referred to as “Malikite”), plus a cauldron-produced black powder feeding the factory.
• Focused on researching and producing Growth Potions to unlock new alchemy tier 7 items and recipes.
• After making Growth Potions, began testing next-tier possibilities (Oblivion/Vitality essences, blast potions, brandy) and new equipment.

Gameplay highlights & systems used

• Built a production line for Growth Potions using an Advanced Blender.
• Set up ingredient production lines:
  • Chamomile (nursery → grinder)
  • Clay (charcoal powder + sand → clay powder)
  • Brine (salt → extractor)
• Chose rock-salt → salt + sand route via stone crushers; simpler to implement despite sand byproduct and cost.
• Managed belt capacity and money flow (changed gold-coin stack sizes on belts to 1 to improve distribution).
• Used cannons/catapults/hoppers to move goods to storefronts; discussed pros/cons vs. dedicated conveyor logistic halls.
• Used trash/cleanup chests to dispose of excess sand/byproduct and avoid backups.
• Explored the Paradox Crucible (turns materials into Oblivion Essence) and observed paradox relationships between Vitality and Oblivion essences. Tested crucible input speeds (steel inputs produced faster Oblivion Essence than wood).
• Noted the cauldron system is powerful but has hundreds of recipe permutations — useful but potentially overwhelming.

Key recipes & resource ratios (practical numbers used)

• Growth Potion ingredients: chamomile (powder), clay powder, and brine (salt-derived).
• Brine objective: 2,400 brine total for the project.
• Salt requirement: 120 salt/min → decided to build four stone crushers producing salt.
• Chamomile: nursery output ≈ 36/min each → used two nurseries to exceed a 60/min requirement.
• Clay: required significant sand; used sand-production blueprints and grinders to make clay powder.
• Charcoal powder: required for clay & salt recipes — used existing charcoal blueprint and one grinder (one grinder matched needs).
• Belt throughput reference: belt capacity = 180 (important for splitting and avoiding overload).
• Growth potion production rate planned: ~30 potions/min (slightly overbuilt to avoid shortages but kept factory smallish to limit waste/backups).

Practical build steps / setup (applied during stream)

1. Research Advanced Blender and place it for the Growth Potion recipe.
2. Build salt/brine line:
   • Place stone crushers (4 crushers for 120 salt/min).
   • Use a splitter + filter to separate sand and salt (e.g., top = sand, bottom = salt).
   • Route salt into extractors to make brine.
3. Build clay line:
   • Produce sand (sand factories), refine to sand → combine with charcoal powder in grinders to make clay powder.
4. Build chamomile line:
   • Place nursery(s) with fertilizer input; grind chamomile into powder.
5. Produce charcoal powder via existing charcoal blueprint; route into clay/salt lines as required.
6. Use hoppers/cannons/catapults to deliver Growth Potions to storefront shelves and dispatch portals.
7. Add trash bins for unwanted sand/byproduct to avoid production backups.
8. Adjust coin-stack settings on belts (from stacks of 5 to stacks of 1) to improve money flow.

Strategies, tips, and lessons learned

• Keep dedicated storage where possible. If a shared storage slot can be overwritten (due to belt dips), you may need to overproduce an item to prevent replacement.
• Reducing gold-coin stack size on belts (e.g., to 1 coin per stack) improves coin distribution and reduces bottlenecks for multiple buyers/factories.
• Rock salt → salt + sand is a compact, fast salt source, but plan for sand byproduct and monetary costs.
• Use filters and splitters to prioritize sand vs. salt routing, and always check belt capacity to avoid overloads.
• Trim unnecessary overproduction — excess goods cause storage backups and money/fluid flow issues.
• Growth Potions are extremely effective as fertilizer (very high fertility value) and can replace or augment fertilizer systems, but they are resource-expensive.
• The cauldron is flexible but has many recipe permutations; a curated in-game recipe book or external calculators are helpful for planning.
• Consider a dedicated logistics corridor (conveyor halls) for long-term neatness, but retrofitting a large factory is time-consuming.

Future / next-step techs considered

• Blast potions and paradox systems (Oblivion/Vitality essences) — require the Paradox Crucible and inputs like black powder and brandy.
• Black powder production needs limestone/limewater and sulfur — will need additional smelting/extraction or cauldron recipes to support the blast potion branch.
• Paradox Crucible tests showed higher-value inputs (e.g., steel) produce Oblivion Essence faster than lower-value inputs (e.g., wood).

Stream/production notes and QoL requests

• Streamer requested in-game daily money reports (daily earnings history) — current stats show items sold but not a simple daily income view.
• Prefers a simpler cauldron recipe UI or curated “best” recipes to reduce overwhelm.
• Mentioned multitarget streaming (YouTube + Twitch) and using a link hub for channel links.

Shoutouts / people mentioned

• King (chat)
• V Vash Patel (subscriber shoutout)
• Gallon (chat)
• Lydia (chat)
• Streamer noted the community Discord and both YouTube and Twitch as places people share factory builds and ideas.

End result

• Growth Potions researched and produced; 100 potions delivered during the stream.
• Tier 7 unlocked and new tech/recipes available (Advanced Blender, Paradox Crucible, Advanced Shaper).
• Several working production lines built: salt/brine, sand, clay, chamomile, charcoal.
• Follow-up challenges outlined: setting up black powder / blast potion inputs, optimizing money flow, and integrating Paradox Crucible production into the factory.