Graveyard Keeper 2 Tech Tree — All Five Branches

How many research branches are in Graveyard Keeper 2?

Five. Building holds 52 nodes, Metallurgy 45, Farming 34, Theology 28 and Anatomy and Alchemy 47, for 206 research nodes in total. That is the whole tree — there is no sixth branch and no hidden page. A separate Cooking tab holds 20 more entries that cost nothing to unlock.

The count matters because players arriving from the first game look for tabs like Book Writing and Spiritualism. Those are gone as separate branches. Writing, books, newspapers and prayers all sit inside Theology now, which is why Theology is the densest branch per node in terms of what it actually unlocks.

What does the whole tree cost in tech points?

11,157 red, 5,129 green and 4,132 blue to buy every research node. Red dominates because Building alone wants 4,470 red, and Metallurgy adds another 3,680. Green and blue are far cheaper overall, and one branch is almost free in red terms — Farming costs just 5 red across all 34 nodes.

That distribution is the single most useful number on this page. It tells you that red points, not green, are what you will spend the game short of, and it explains why the tech point farming guide spends most of its length on red sources.

Which branch does what, and where is it gated?

Every branch’s node count, three-colour cost, purpose and reputation gates sit in one table below. Read the reputation column before you commit points to a branch — a node you cannot buy is worse than a node you cannot afford, because more farming will not fix it.

Branch	Nodes	Red	Green	Blue	Main role	Reputation gates
Building	52	4,470	257	670	Wood, stone, workbenches, conveyors, assembly benches, zombie logistics	Jack 40, Jack 50
Metallurgy	45	3,680	330	340	Bronze, iron, steel, anvils, smithy, weapons and armour, zombie mining	Herbert 20, Jack 70
Farming	34	5	2,575	360	Garden beds, orchards, milling, brewing, wine, zombie gardening	None
Theology	28	930	795	1,120	Writing Desk, paper and ink, prayers, church furniture, newspapers, techbooks	Nun 30, Gunter 20, Nun 50
Anatomy and Alchemy	47	2,072	1,172	1,642	Autopsy, embalming, organs, alchemy formulas, graveyard expansion	Albert 10, Nun 25, Gunter 20
Total	206	11,157	5,129	4,132	—	10 gates

Farming’s line in that table is worth reading twice. Five red points buys the entire branch’s research, so the green-heavy cost is irrelevant if green is your surplus colour. The two automation nodes at the end of it — Zombie Gardening and Zombie Vineyard — are the reason to finish the branch at all.

How is this tree different from Graveyard Keeper 1?

The structure is consolidated rather than expanded. The first game is commonly described as having around eight research tabs, a figure that could not be verified for this guide, but the practical difference is clearer: the first game separated Book Writing and Spiritualism into their own branches, while Graveyard Keeper 2 folds that content into Theology.

Cookery also stops being a research branch. In its place is the free Cooking tab, where 20 entries unlock from quests, gathering, fishing, repairs, crafting and using items rather than from points. So the second game is not simply a bigger version of the first — it is five research branches plus one non-research tab.

What is the free Cooking tab?

Twenty recipe groups that unlock without spending a single tech point. They arrive through play instead: six from quests, five from gathering, four from fishing, two from repairing, two from crafting and one from using an item. The game files list 226 tech records in total, which is the 206 research nodes plus these 20.

Because they are event-driven, the Cooking tab is a progress tracker more than a research decision. If an entry is still locked, the answer is almost never more tech points — it is a task you have not done, a spot you have not fished or a repair you have not built.

Which reputation gates block tech nodes?

Ten nodes cannot be bought with points alone. They display the character’s portrait instead of a cost and require that NPC’s reputation to reach a set value, so a player who farms points perfectly will still stall. Reputation comes from quests and story progress, which means the main quest order is a research prerequisite.

The dependency runs both ways and is worth planning around. Two confirmed examples: Circular Saw sits behind Jack at reputation 40 plus Oiled wood, and Conveyors sit behind Jack at reputation 50 plus Tool Rack II. Both are core automation unlocks, so Jack’s questline is effectively part of your tech tree.

Branch	Character	Reputation	Prerequisite research
Building	Jack	40	Oiled wood
Building	Jack	50	Tool Rack II
Metallurgy	Herbert	20	Bronze Forge
Metallurgy	Jack	70	Iron Products
Theology	Nun	30	Church Furniture I
Theology	Gunter	20	Books I
Theology	Nun	50	Church Furniture II
Anatomy and Alchemy	Albert	10	After the starting node
Anatomy and Alchemy	Nun	25	Columbariums I and Graveyard Keeper III
Anatomy and Alchemy	Gunter	20	Battle Potions II

Nun appears three times and Jack three times, so those two relationships carry most of the gating. Nun’s gates sit inside Theology and the graveyard-expansion line, which means church progress and sermon access feed directly into research. The church and sermons guide covers how to raise that reputation.

When does each branch open?

Building, Metallurgy and Farming are available from the opening, the moment you wake up at home. Theology unlocks during the Holy Moly! quest, and Anatomy and Alchemy unlocks when you place your first corpse on the autopsy table. Until then, nodes in those branches are visible but out of reach.

That stagger explains an early-game pattern that confuses new players. Your first blue tech points appear before you can spend them on the branches that want blue, because the Theology tree has not opened yet. Banking them is correct.

Which nodes should you research first?

Wood first, then stone, then the bronze chain. The Concept of Wood costs 2 red and 2 green and unlocks Board, Short Log, Sawhorse and the timber stockpile, which every building and most recipes depend on. Chopping at 8 red and Woodworking I at 10 red follow, then The Concept of Stone at 15 red.

From there the order that keeps you moving is Pottery I at 10 red and 5 green for the fishing line, Wooden Gravestones I at 5 red and 2 green to hit graveyard score 10, then Gardening, Millstone and Bread to solve food and energy. This ordering is a synthesis of the media priorities rather than a single published community ranking — no widely cited Graveyard Keeper 2 top-ten unlock list exists yet.

The full automation chain, from Zombie Assistant through to conveyors and assembly benches, is laid out in the zombie production line guide, and its research costs are covered there node by node.