Graveyard Keeper 2 Autopsy Mastery: Anatomy Needed per Organ

What Anatomy level do you need to remove an organ?

Anatomy is the blue talent, and each of the 108 autopsy operations in the shipped data carries its own required level — three per organ, one for each quality tier. The cheapest gate anywhere is tier 1 skin at Anatomy 1. The most expensive are tier 3 heart, brain and guts, all sitting at Anatomy 13.

Organ	Tier 1 gate	Tier 2 gate	Tier 3 gate	Ticks per operation
Skin	1	3	6	6
Bones	2	4	7	8
Skull	3	5	8	10
Heart	5	9	13	12
Brain	8	10	13	14
Guts	9	11	13	12

Source: crafts.csv rows where is_autopsy_craft == 1, fields talent_lock and duration, build 25509347.

The gate belongs to the organ, not to the body. Every organ item carries its own quality value in the item data, and the matching craft id ends in :1, :2 or :3 — so the same operation on a better organ asks for three or eight more Anatomy than the worst version. Arrival corpses improve as the story advances, which is why a body you could take apart in the first week locks you out later. The skull values each organ carries are in organ red and white skull values, and the graveyard-side trade-off is in corruption and red skulls.

How much does one operation cost in ticks, energy and insanity?

Ticks are the real budget. Every autopsy operation costs 3 energy and 0.3 insanity per tick, and the tick count is fixed per organ — a higher quality tier changes the Anatomy gate but never the price. Stripping all six organs off a single body costs 62 ticks, 18.6 insanity and 186 energy, before anything goes back on.

Organ	Ticks	Insanity (0.3/tick)	Energy (3/tick)
Skin	6	1.8	18
Bones	8	2.4	24
Skull	10	3.0	30
Heart	12	3.6	36
Brain	14	4.2	42
Guts	12	3.6	36
All six organs	62	18.6	186

Source: crafts.csv → duration, energy_per_tick and insanity_per_tick across the 108 is_autopsy_craft == 1 rows; the two per-tick rates are identical on every one of them, build 25509347.

The ordering runs the wrong way for the cheap organs. Skin is the shortest operation in the game at 6 ticks and the brain is the longest at 14, so Anatomy buys access to the deeper gates rather than speed through the ones you already own. The shipped data does not record a formula for the chance of a surgeon’s error, so any published error percentage is community arithmetic layered on these tick counts.

Why do the published anatomy requirements not match the game?

Because most guides publish one flat number per organ, while the data stores a gate for every quality variant. Checked against the shipped files, the widely circulated six-number list is right for skin, bones, skull and brain at tier 1 — but its heart value of 9 and its guts value of 11 are the tier 2 gates.

That one mismatch explains why early guides feel broken. A player follows the list, reaches the heart, finds they are still two tiers short, and concludes the number is wrong. The complete ladder is the first table on this page: 18 numbers rather than 6, which is why the short version exists.

Does the surgical kit raise the mastery requirement?

No. The kits are separate tool recipes made at the Jeweler’s Table, and not one of the 108 autopsy operations lists an item requirement — no input items, no fuel, no extension. What the kit carries instead is a talent bonus, and the shipped data does not record which skill that bonus is applied to.

Kit	Station	Station skill gate	Materials	Talent bonus
Butcher’s Kit	Jeweler’s Table	3	Bronze Detail x2, Leather Scroll x1	1
Surgeon’s Kit	Jeweler’s Table	6	Iron Ingot x1, Leather Scroll x2	2
Master Surgeon’s Kit	Jeweler’s Table	10	Steel Ingot x1, Leather Scroll x3	4

Source: crafts.csv rows surgical_kit_1 to surgical_kit_3, fields crafts_in, talent_lock and need_items; items.csv field talent_bonus, build 25509347.

The gate in that table is the Jeweler skill, not Anatomy — the same generic talent_lock field the autopsy operations use, which there always means the skill behind the station. Every bench that can carry one of these recipes, autopsy tables included, is in the crafting stations list.

Where does Anatomy level come from?

The blue talent line, and it is a short one. Five player-side nodes grant Anatomy +1 for a single talent point each, and seven zombie-side nodes grant nine more Anatomy bought with red and blue tech points. That is fourteen levels available from the tree, against a highest autopsy gate of thirteen.

Node group	Nodes	Anatomy granted	Cost
Player anatomy nodes	5	+5	1 talent point each
Zombie anatomy nodes, tier 1	5	+5	25 to 200 tech points
Zombie anatomy nodes, tier 2	2	+4	200 blue, 500 red
Total in the tree	12	+14	—

Source: talent_level_ups.csv rows whose ids begin anatomy_lvl_up_ or z_anatomy_lvl_up_, fields talentValueAdd, talentExpPointsPrice, techRed, techGreen and techBlue, build 25509347.

Three of the five player nodes sit behind prerequisites rather than behind each other: one waits on the science branch, one on the monument builder, and the fourth on the operations house perk. The first levels arrive quickly and the last ones do not, which is why a gate like Anatomy 13 arrives late. The blue points to buy the zombie half are in tech points farming, the full blue branch in the zombie talent tree full list.

Do you have to max Anatomy before dissecting anything?

No, and doing it that way wastes the run. Four perks sit on the same blue branch and two of them change how forgiving the table is. Surgeon is linked on all 108 operations, and Expert anatomist sits directly behind it and grants four mastery while you work at the table.

Perk	What the game states	Position on the blue line
Surgeon	Perform better autopsies	Unlocks Expert anatomist
Expert anatomist	+4 blue talent when working at an Autopsy Table	Directly behind Surgeon
Operations house	Autopsies require less energy and cause less insanity	Unlocks the fourth Anatomy node
Son of a butcher	Chance of a surgical mistake during autopsy −25%	Not on the blue line

Source: perks.csv rows perk_surgeon, perk_expert_anatomist, perk_operations_house and perk_junior_butcher, plus crafts.csv → linked_perks for the Surgeon link; perk text and tree positions from localization/lng_en.csv and talent_level_ups.csv, build 25509347.

Expert anatomist is the perk that changes the order of play. Four mastery at the table reaches the tier 3 heart and guts gates of 13 without a single zombie node bought, so the good organs open up long before the tree is finished. Operations house is the second one to take early, because a full six-organ pass spends 18.6 insanity. The rules around long sessions are in energy and insanity.

Is Autopsy Table II different from Autopsy Table I?

In the shipped data, no. The two benches are the same object with a different icon, and all 108 operations are listed on both. Autopsy Table II is a build-cost upgrade rather than a capability one: eight Polished Stone and four Iron Detail, against four Boards, two Stone Pieces and four Bronze Nails for the first table.

Bench	Build cost
Autopsy Table I	Board x4, Piece of stone x2, Bronze Nails x4
Autopsy Table II	Polished Stone x8, Iron Detail x4

Source: gamebalance_full.json → buildingDefs for the costs and wgoDefs[] for the two bench objects, build 25509347.

There is a counting trap alongside that. The autopsy benches carry 118 craft entries, not 108. Ten are not autopsy operations: one item-pocket extraction plus nine remove-and-replace shortcuts covering flesh, blood, fat and the six organs. All ten cost a single tick and a single Anatomy point, and each outputs a tier 1 organ.

Which organs should you actually take off?

Take the ones your corpse is worth taking, and leave the rest. A mistake does not remove an organ — the data stores eight separate mistake items, and six of them are main-organ replacements carrying −1 red and −1 white skull each. Flesh is the exception at +1 red and +1 white.

Mistake item	Red skulls	White skulls
Each of the six main-organ mistakes	−1	−1
Flesh	+1	+1
Optional part	0	−1

Source: gamebalance_full.json → itemDefs[] where isOrganMistake == 1, fields redSkulls and whiteSkulls, build 25509347.

This is why the decision is not really about Anatomy. Burying for red skulls wants the parts left on, and raising the body later wants every vital organ still in its slot — a surgeon mistake on the heart or brain is the one thing that turns a good corpse into something the resurrection table refuses. If you have not settled which route the body is for, the trade-off is in zombie resurrection errors, and whether the transplant from the first game applies is covered in do I need to play GK1 before GK2.