Graveyard Keeper 2: Ultimate Zombie Guide

Welcome to our Graveyard Keeper 2: Ultimate Zombie Guide.

The zombies can do an enormous quantity of repetitive jobs in Graveyard Keeper 2. These jobs include crafting and gathering, farming, and combat. Nevertheless, the zombies cannot be immediately put to work after being revived. The proper technologies, tools, logistics, mastery levels, body parts, collars, perks, and workstations are required to maximize your use of them.

The guide deals with how the zombies operate, how to revive the zombies, how to improve the statistics of the zombies, how the red skulls influence the capabilities of the zombies, how to create 10 red skull zombies, and how to form the zombie crew.

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How Zombie Workstations Actually Work

An initial zombie has limited capabilities. Proper technologies, equipment, and logistics must be in place for it to perform any jobs efficiently. The first important technology is Zombie Assistant, which unlocks the Zombie Supplier Station. This station is necessary since zombies who work in crafting stations cannot transfer the materials by themselves. The zombies basically complete the production work, whereas the supplier does the logistics.

The basic process is this:

1. Keep your materials in storage.
2. Install a supplier station nearby the workstation.
3. Assign a zombie to the proper job.
4. Choose the recipe in the workstation.
5. Specify how many times you would like it to be produced.
6. Insert the recipe into the queue.
7. Provide a container for the resulting materials.
8. The zombies and supplier will do the rest.

It is clear that supplier stations are a foundation of zombie-based automation. The basic logistics processes are the same when dealing with zombies at the proper resource deposits, including some mines.

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Zombie Mastery Determines What They Can Craft

Zombies have mastery levels, just like the Keeper. The mastery level shows what jobs can be performed by them. Zombies are able to do almost the same kinds of jobs as the Keeper, if their mastery level allows performing such a job. It is possible to view the needed mastery level right in the recipe of your choice.

In addition, a zombie should have a proper tool for the job. Only the mastery level is not enough. For instance, a zombie working at the anvil should have a hammer in his hands. At first, when you start using zombies, they can use only tools. The system of perks does not work for them because of the lack of experience. However, each zombie can have only one tool at a time, although you can switch the tool at any moment. So, you should provide the proper equipment for each zombie depending on the job. After all of the preparations are done, you should give the proper workstation to the zombie.

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Zombies Gain Experience and Unlock Perks

Experience accumulates for working zombies as they do their jobs. As experience accumulates, a zombie gets perks that offer extra skills or mastery bonuses. The quantity of perks a zombie can unlock is proportional to the quantity of its red skulls. Thus, red skulls play a significant role when creating zombies. A zombie with three red skulls can unlock three perks, while a zombie with five red skulls can unlock five. This explains why a zombie with a lot of red skulls allows much more room for specialization. More on this later in the article.

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Zombie Gardening

Gardening is different from other crafting activities. You will need the technology of the Zombie Gardening and Gardener Stand for the zombie to till your farm. The lifting crane is a feature of the factory system, hence is not necessary for the first time that you use zombie gardening. Your farming zombie also requires a shovel.

You will need to configure the assignments of the farming zombie in the building station since assigning the zombie to the Gardener Stand will not determine which of the the fields to work. There are tablets in the farming interface which instruct the zombie on what crops to plant in the rows. For instance, if you put wheat tablet, the zombie is informed to plant wheat there. These tablets act as instructions, hence you can remove them anytime without incurring any costs. When you configure the fields and crops, the zombie performs the farming activity.

Use Zombies for Mass Production

Zombie farming will help to save tremendous amounts of physical work, as agriculture can quickly turn into a boring routine. Nevertheless, zombies cannot be the best option to use in order to cultivate your best products.

Farm mastery of The Keeper affects the quantity of products from a field in many ways. In case your keeper has a high mastery at farming, it is better to do everything with your hands. Zombies are better suited for cultivating those products that are needed in big amounts.

That is:

• Keeper: High-quality or mastery crops.
• Zombie: Large-scale crop cultivation.

It is also advisable to give the zombie a farming mastery higher than the one demanded by the crop.

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Unlocking Zombie Resurrection

You cannot start creating zombies immediately. The creation of a zombie depends on the progress of the storyline. At first, you need to make some progress through several quests and unlock the required facilities.

Among your progression there should be the following steps:

• Progression to the required part of the story and corresponding town with port.
• Completion of required quests involving Gunther.
• Unlocking the resurrection and reanimation technologies.
• Access to the required room in the morgue.
• Unlocking of the Resurrection Table.
• Reanimation liquid.
• Zombie collar.

Reanimation technology will be found under Anatomy and Alchemy section. Here, you will find both reanimation technology and recipe for making bronze zombie collars. Resurrection table should be constructed. It is impossible to resurrect a zombie using only the autopsy table. Resurrection Table may be located in any of four spots inside the building.

How to Get Reanimation Liquid

Initially, you can obtain Reanimation Liquid from the astrologer. The cost of the liquid is high; however, you will not be making lots of zombies in the early stages. Further along in Gunther’s quest line, you will unlock the possibility of making Reanimation Liquid on your own. You need Laboratory II and the following materials for this purpose:

• Alcohol
• Blood
• Copper nugget

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Zombie Collars and Red Skull Limits

The collar determines how many red skulls the resulting zombie can support.

The progression is:

Collar	Red Skull Capacity
Bronze Zombie Collar	5
Golden Zombie Collar	10
Higher-end collar	99

The highest collar becomes available much later in the game. Early in your zombie progression, therefore, five red skulls represents the important first target. Once you reach the golden collar stage, you can build zombies around 10 red skulls and gain access to substantially more perk specialization.

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How to Resurrect a Zombie

Once you have the required technology, table, collar, and Reanimation Liquid, the resurrection process is straightforward.

Step 1: Choose a Suitable Corpse

When new bodies arrive at the morgue, inspect them at the autopsy table. Pay attention to their red skulls. Red skulls determine the zombie’s potential. The body does not necessarily need to be perfect immediately because you can manipulate its organs later.

Step 2: Prepare the Body

Inspect the individual organs and determine how many red skulls they contribute. You can replace body parts at the autopsy table. Removing and replacing organs costs some stamina and sanity, but the body parts themselves can be freely exchanged.

Step 3: Add the Collar

Place the prepared corpse on the Resurrection Table. Open the inspection interface and add the appropriate zombie collar. A bronze collar supports up to five red skulls. A golden collar supports up to ten.

Step 4: Add Reanimation Liquid

Place the Reanimation Liquid into the resurrection setup.

Step 5: Wait for the Required Day

Resurrection is tied to a specific day in the weekly cycle. The standard resurrection uses Green Day. For the 10-red-skulls wait specifically for Snake Day before performing the resurrection. Once the required day arrives, activate the resurrection process. After the animation finishes, the corpse becomes a zombie.

Step 6: Assign the Zombie to Work

Take the new zombie out of the morgue and place it at the workstation you want it to use. Give it the appropriate tool. Once the zombie has the required tool, mastery, workstation, and logistical support, it can begin working.

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Why You Should Aim for Five Red Skulls Early

The number of red skulls on a zombie directly impacts how many perks it is able to obtain. For instance, a three red skull zombie is capable of obtaining three perks. A five red skull zombie will be able to obtain five.

This makes it clear why you would want to focus on the five red skull zombies as your primary target while working with the bronze collar. If you resurrect a zombie with just four red skulls but are capable of getting five, then you lose one slot for a perk.

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Getting Better Corpses

If the bodies arriving at your morgue consistently have poor red-skull values, progress through the Nun questline. The relevant progression involves Bronze and Brains. After you upgrade the Nun’s housing at the crossroads, she begins delivering better corpses. Those improved corpses give you a higher chance of obtaining zombies with five red skulls and, later in the game, even higher values. As you progress further, you gain access to better opportunities for creating zombies with more red skulls and therefore more perk slots.

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Improving Zombie Stats Through Organs

Red Skulls Are Not Permanent. As you know more about each organ, you become more powerful in controlling the stats of your zombies. An organ may have an effect on a certain stat; there may be organs which do not give any bonus to the zombie. An organ may be removed from the first body and placed into the second. So you have many opportunities in creating a special zombie. White skulls do not give any bonus to the zombies. They do not hinder the zombie, but they also do not give any bonus.

Replacing Organs

You can freely replace body parts, with the process costing some stamina and sanity. However, certain slots are more complicated. Some of the lower body-part slots cannot simply be filled through ordinary organ replacement. They require the embalming system.

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Embalming and Advanced Zombie Modification

The embalming system will eventually give you the possibility to tweak zombies more. The corresponding technology will give access to the embalming table and its different injections. At the early stages of the game, you can use embalming to make corpses more visually appealing or improve some of their attributes in other ways. Later on, embalming will become necessary for creating better zombies.

With certain injections, you can even grant additional red skulls to your zombies. But embalming is a late game system that needs more technology and development of the storyline to unlock it.

The difference is:

• Early embalming improves bodies.
• Later embalming directly contributes to better zombie builds.
• It is important to note that the bottom slots of the body cannot be filled using organ replacement but only via embalming.

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Leveling Zombies Up With Perks

The zombies get better at working as they get experience from their assignments. The type of gems collected by the zombie will depend on the kind of work that the zombie does – Red, Green or Blue. After collecting 50 Gems, the zombies get to unlock their first Perk.

Perks allow you to specialize your zombies for certain tasks. There are some Perks that add +1 to specific stats. This is enough to have the mastery needed for the recipes. It becomes very important in production tasks because you do not want your zombie producing inferior products due to lack of mastery.

Specialize Zombies for Their Jobs

Each and every perk does not contribute to increasing overall stats. Some of the perks are made specifically for certain jobs; hence, these perks become very useful in case you design your zombies for some specific production roles. This makes it worth planning your zombie workforce around specific jobs rather than treating every zombie as interchangeable.

Check Your Zombies Regularly

Having zombies does not mean you are compelled to take the next Perk for them. Once zombies collect enough gems, you should inspect them and see whether you need a Perk or not. Always get into a routine of checking your zombies while they are working. It will ensure you make use of all your available Perk upgrades and develop them according to the role that you want them to play.

The process involves the following steps:

• Assign a zombie to perform a certain task.
• Allow the zombie to earn gems through its task.
• Earn 50 gems and unlock Perk.
• Select a Perk that is suitable for the role of the zombie.
• Continue developing the zombie after earning more gems.

This means that you can develop a very productive zombie in terms of blacksmithing, carpentry, farming or any other production activity if you select proper perks.

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How to Build a 10-Red-Skull Zombie

After acquiring the golden zombie collar, you can then start creating zombies that have the capacity to hold up to 10 red skulls. This requires additional progression through Gunther’s questline. The quest begins after helping the Donkey following his encounter with the Nun. Eventually, Gunther gives you the Rhyme Imprinted quest, where he asks for a poetry book. According to the Donkey, Gunther possesses a copy of the Necronomicon, which contains information about resurrecting zombies. In order to craft the book, you will have to use the printing press inside your dungeon. After providing the book to Gunther, the next step in reanimation progression is unlocked.

These are:

• Making of Reanimation Liquid.
• Reanimation Progression for Golden Zombie Collar.
• Recipe for Gold Ingot.
• Golden Zombie Collar.

Crafting the Golden Zombie Collar

Golden Zombie Collar takes eight Mechanical Mastery. To get more Mechanical Mastery, one may buy a jug of milk from Herb and use it for making Soldier’s Stew. Making Soldier’s Stew gives +2 Mechanical Mastery, and this is how you will manage to get the necessary eight. Apart from that, the golden collar needs blue crystals. These crystals can be obtained from Gunther. With eight Mechanical Mastery and other materials at hand, one can make the Golden Zombie Collar.

Building the Body for 10 Red Skulls

Getting a 10-red-skull zombie requires careful arithmetic. You need the final body to total exactly 10 red skulls.

If the body has more than 10, you cannot use the Golden Zombie Collar for that target. If it has fewer than 10, you have not reached the maximum available from the collar. This means you should inspect the individual organs before resurrection and calculate the final total. A useful strategy is to start with a body that already has a high number of red skulls.

For example, the body already has a strong baseline. Then you remove the:

• Heart
• Bones
• Skin

You have replacement organs worth:

• 3 red-skull skin
• 2 red-skull bones
• 1 red-skull heart

The remaining organs already provided the rest of the required total. Because only those particular organs needed replacing, you do not need an especially high Anatomy score for the procedure.

The key is not to blindly replace organs. Do the red-skull calculation first.

If the final total reaches 11, the Golden Collar will not allow you to select that body for the intended 10-skull resurrection. If the total reaches only nine, you have not maximized the collar’s capacity.

Some 10-Skull Body Parts Are Easier to Find Than They Look

The necessary parts are not especially uncommon for the common body type either. They show up periodically, so make sure you save any good red-skull body parts that you come across. By stockpiling the parts, you will give yourself more chances to create a perfect 10-red-skull body. In that case, managing the morgue becomes very important.

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Gearing and Specializing Zombies

Tools cannot be permanently attached to the zombie. You are able to swap the equipment of a zombie based on what you need them to do. This is also true of other equipment. Combat zombies will be given weapons and armor, while production zombies are able to have the tools that are necessary for their jobs.

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Zombies in Combat

Zombies can also make up a part of your fighting force. Following your first fight, you unlock the Zombie Squad in the barracks. The zombie squad is found in the area near the manacles in the barracks.

To make a combat-ready zombie, you will need to provide it with:

• A weapon
• Armor

The weapons used by zombies, include:

• Pikes
• Bows

It is possible to have large numbers of zombies within your squad. This is especially effective when dealing with zombies that you want to keep away from specializing for production. Rather than using vital organs and resources on making each zombie specialized, you can make un-specialized zombies your combat fighters. FYI there was no difference between high-red-skull and low-red-skull zombies in combat effectiveness. This means that red skull is significant to perk capacity, but there was no noticeable difference in combat effectiveness.

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How Many Zombies Should You Have?

There is a drawback to constructing a huge army of zombies. If there are a lot of zombies, then you will have the Excessive Zombies debuff. It will make your sermons less effective. The good thing about this is that there are also ways to counter the penalty for having too many zombies right when you can start constructing a huge army of zombies.

The Astrologer will give you options to reduce the negative effects of this debuff. One method involves hypno devices, which you charge in your Scriptorum. Secondly, you will make newspapers. These systems are tied to another workbench that becomes accessible on a particular day, adding another timer to manage alongside the game’s other weekly activities.

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The true power of zombies in Graveyard Keeper 2 is based on specialization. You don’t have to make each zombie perfect; just use your usual zombies for mundane production and farming, save your better corpses for special roles, and train the remaining extras as soldiers. The further you go, the more optimization-based system will become. Red skulls tell how many perks can be added to a specialized zombie, organs allow to tweak its basic stats, embalming will grant more opportunities to upgrade corpses, and better collars will increase the cap from five to ten and later even more. For initial automation, pay attention to logistics: supplier stations, tools, mastery, and proper workplaces. In case of special zombies, get ready to take a closer look at each individual organ and total red skull count.

That ends our guide to Zombies in Graveyard Keeper 2.

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