Summary of "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)

Research Advanced Blender and place it for the Growth Potion recipe.
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.
Build clay line:
- Produce sand (sand factories), refine to sand → combine with charcoal powder in grinders to make clay powder.
Build chamomile line:
- Place nursery(s) with fertilizer input; grind chamomile into powder.
Produce charcoal powder via existing charcoal blueprint; route into clay/salt lines as required.
Use hoppers/cannons/catapults to deliver Growth Potions to storefront shelves and dispatch portals.
Add trash bins for unwanted sand/byproduct to avoid production backups.
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.