Graveyard Keeper 2: Beginner Tips and Tricks

Here's how to skip the slow parts of your first weeks in Graveyard Keeper 2.

Most early time in Graveyard Keeper 2 goes to walking, hauling, and redoing things that went wrong. These tips cut down on trips and get more work out of each zombie, so town progress moves faster.

Carry More and Travel Faster in Graveyard Keeper 2

Take the Carrier perk from the Building tab under Inspirations early. It lets you carry several items on your head at once, such as four logs instead of one. It reportedly works on zombies too, so you can bring four of them to the Barracks in one trip.

You can use teleport milestones while carrying a stack. That saves a lot of walking when you fill Town Orders, since one trip can cover what used to take ten. Spend Faith early to unlock milestones, because each one costs Faith only once and stays unlocked.

Get More Out of Your Zombies

Zombies that gather raw resources end up with far more tech points than their job needs. In one run, a lumberjack had about 2,000 points, enough to buy the perks for the Steel Anvil after a job change. Squad zombies stack up red points from winning battles the same way.

If your battles go smoothly, move squad zombies to other work. If they don't, put a gathering zombie in the squad at the Barracks and spend its points on the fighting perks.

When a Zombie Lumberjack fills the Sawmill wood pile, it starts leaving sticks at the storage. Bring the sticks home and have a zombie turn them into firewood for fuel.

For zombie gardeners, use the bottom rows of the Garden. They're closer to the Gardener Stand, so the zombie spends less time walking to each crop.

Later corpses come with better body parts, so an experienced zombie can keep its job. Move a strong part onto it at the Autopsy Table I. In one example, a bone with three red skulls plus a better collar took a zombie from four perk slots to seven.

Win Battles Without Restarting

Some battles in Graveyard Keeper 2 come in more than one part. Before you start the next part, check that your squads are selected. The game reportedly lets you start with only your character, and that can cost you the fight.

Give each defense zone four structures, such as two barricades with two archer towers, or four towers. Three barricades fill the whole space and leave no room for a fourth.

Pick archer zombies over pikemen for your squads. Pikemen tend to get stuck trying to reach melee range. Archers can keep firing from behind the barricades the enemy is attacking.

If fights still go badly, write a Combat Prayer at the Writing Desk and hold a sermon with it. Its God's fury buff lasts 45 minutes, and reportedly 100 minutes at three stars. It reportedly adds +5 attack, so switch back to a Faith prayer once the battles are over.

Carry healing potions into every fight. Damage potions add a flat +5, so they help most with weaker weapons like the Iron Sword. Another potion reportedly halves zombie attack cooldowns, and the berserker potion lets you swing without running out of stamina.

Manage Insanity and Skill Buffs in Graveyard Keeper 2

Writing stories at the Writing Desk uses up insanity, at about 1 point per tick. That makes writing in the Writing Basement a good way to bring insanity down when it climbs too high.

When you need insanity for writing, raw flesh from the Morgue gives +10 and Soldier's ale gives +20 insanity and +5 energy per bottle. The ale brews five bottles. To unlock it, bring a Berry Pie and two Beers to the guards southeast of the village at night.

Brew Soldier's ale at the Brewing Stand from three red mushrooms, five water, and ten fuel. The mushrooms grow in the woods southeast of the Forest waypoint.

Some Kitchen Table II dishes boost your skills, such as Vegetable salad for +1 Anatomy (Anatomy spirit I). Third Eye Salt is made at Laboratory I or Laboratory II.

Third Eye Salt gives +2 to all five talents for 7 minutes 30 seconds. It needs five blue runes and one red, and Alcohol reportedly covers three of the blue.

Rebuild the Town Faster

Repair large houses first when you rebuild the Town in Graveyard Keeper 2. A large house gives 10 Green Scrolls. A regular house gives 3, and a small one gives 1.

Some large houses need higher-tier kits, and plenty only need Building Kit I. Open the Builder first among the Town shops. It sells Building Kit I for 1 silver and 50 copper, and you need those kits for more shops and house repairs.

Some merchants reportedly let you buy goods and sell them straight back for Town Gratitude. In one example, a trade of 30 carrots showed +3 gratitude.

Visit the statue at Heart of the Swamp every Envy day to collect four Blue Crystals. Use them for crafting. The Astrologer reportedly buys them too.

If Agatha the nun's quest stalls at the choir, place a zombie in the church choir and hold a sermon. She comes out once the sermon ends. The organ step reportedly works the same way with a zombie at the organ.

Keep Your Inventory Under Control

Your inventory fills fast, so keep rarely used items in the Universal bag. Battle potions and fishing bait fit well there. So do Keys for Looters and gratitude scrolls.

Store items at the place where you use them. Prayer for Old God and other church prayers belong in a chest at the church, for example.

Spare seeds such as Flax Seed don't need to be destroyed. Turn them into Seed oil at the Millstone, then use the oil to make Melted Fat. You'll need hundreds of it over the course of the game.

Some Cooking recipes unlock the first time you pick up an ingredient, such as Onion dishes after your first onions. You can also still throw unwanted bodies in the river, as in the first game.

Trade Looter Keys With Davy in Graveyard Keeper 2

Keys for Looters drop from sewer battles in Graveyard Keeper 2. Davy the Dagger trades them for crates at the Dockside Club near the southeastern docks, which the item text calls the Port Club. His orders open only on Lust day after the Wharf Rats quest.

Most sewer battles pay 3 keys, and the Sewerena pays 4 to 10 per match. Once the Jeweler in Town reaches tier two, you can also buy keys for 1 silver each. A small crate costs 1 key, a medium one 2, and a big one 4.

Tech books are the best reward. A big order reportedly returns about six books, and in one run it returned seven red books worth 700 red points. Four keys spent on seeds reportedly bring large stacks of gold-quality seeds.

The valuables crate gives gold bars and nuggets. Turn the bars into gold trinkets and sell them for a quick profit. A crate shows up about one in-game day after you order.

What to Do Next

Take Carrier first and unlock teleport milestones as Faith allows. Reassign zombies with spare points and keep archers in your squads. Focus Town repairs on large houses and keep Soldier's ale on hand for writing. Spend sewer keys on tech books once battles in Graveyard Keeper 2 pay them out.

Most early slowdowns come from extra trips, so plan your carrying and storage before anything else.

FAQ

Q. What perk should you get first in Graveyard Keeper 2?

A. Carrier is a strong first pick. It lets you carry several logs or zombies at once and cuts the number of trips you make.

Q. How do you lower insanity quickly?

A. Write stories at the Writing Desk. Each tick of writing removes about 1 insanity.

Q. Where do you trade Keys for Looters in Graveyard Keeper 2?

A. Davy the Dagger runs the trades at the Dockside Club near the southeastern docks. His orders open on Lust day once the Wharf Rats quest is done.

Q. Should zombie squads use archers or pikemen?

A. Archers work better in most fights because they can shoot from behind barricades. Pikemen often get stuck trying to reach melee range.

Also, check out our other guides below :

• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Set Up Your Factory
• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Automate Wood Production
• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Win Zombie Battles
• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Make Money With Paint
• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Increase Mastery With Tools
• Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Use Fertilizers
• Graveyard Keeper 2: Production and Factory Tips