All Hail the Orb Alchemy Guide: 9 Discoveries Ranked

Updated 2026-10-05: The post-story question now points to April 26 Hotfix #2, while the guide keeps exact alchemy effects tied to the live Bench tooltip.

TL;DR: All Hail the Orb alchemy has nine discoveries. The game and its achievement set establish the total, while exact thresholds and effects belong to the current Bench tooltip. Keep the Library staffed if Eureka Moments is still missing, and use the post-story continuation from Hotfix #2 to finish Grand Opus after the finale.

This guide covers all nine discoveries, which to unlock first, and how the Library feeds the one recipe that won't find itself.

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All Hail the Orb alchemy: quick answer

• Open the Alchemy Bench when it appears during Obelisk progression; do not rely on an old stage number.
• Nine total discoveries, with eight unlocking through resource milestones during normal progression
• Devotion Resonance Crystal and Crystal Conduit are named discoveries in the current checklist; read their live tooltips before assuming exact chain behavior.
• Speedy Transit is described as a Library automation upgrade by the community checklist, but its current effect should be confirmed in-game.
• If Eureka Moments is still undiscovered, keep the Library staffed and running; no official patch note establishes a permanent trigger percentage.
• The Grand Opus achievement (all 9 discoveries) is the only alchemy achievement requiring deliberate setup
• Hotfix #2 added post-story play so missed achievements can be completed after the story.

Current status: September 2026

All Hail the Orb launched on April 20, 2026. Hotfix #2 added post-story play and fixed progression blockers, Hotfix #3 addressed cloud-save and other bugs, and Hotfix #4 addressed a localization crash issue. In a June 3 Steam discussion, LeGingerDev said the team was “completely reworking how the alchemy works under the hood,” so this article treats the live discovery screen as authoritative and labels older percentages or stage thresholds as community observations.

For the broader progression context, see the All Hail the Orb achievement guide and All Hail the Orb advanced automation guide.

What alchemy actually does

The All Hail the Orb alchemy system is a discovery engine, not a conventional crafting station. You're unlocking modifications that change how existing systems generate Devotion, crystals, Knowledge, or cultist output. Read the current tooltip before planning around any one effect.

Every discovery affects the flow of the game differently. Community guides identify Devotion Resonance Crystal, Crystal Conduit, and Speedy Transit as high-impact examples, but the developer's post-launch rework means exact percentages and interactions should come from the current Bench rather than this static page.

The nine discoveries do not necessarily appear in a fixed order. Older observations describe resource milestones, but the Bench is the reliable place to see what the current run has unlocked and what requirement remains.

The practical exception is Eureka Moments: players consistently report that a staffed Library matters. No official note used for this audit publishes a permanent per-book percentage, so keep the Library running and check the discovery screen instead of promising a timer.

GODEEPER: Alchemy unlocks in the context of the Obelisk stage progression. For the full picture of when each system opens up and how stages connect, the Obelisk guide covers the sequence. All Hail the Orb Obelisk Guide: Stages and When to Advance →

All 9 alchemy discoveries: complete list

The nine names below are the checklist this guide tracks. Effects and unlock conditions can change with the live build, so use the in-game tooltip as the final authority. Official patch notes do not publish a complete threshold table.

Critical note on Eureka Moments: Keep cultists assigned to the Library if it is still locked. Treat the trigger as probabilistic community knowledge, not a guaranteed timer: the developer's June discussion says the alchemy system was being reworked, and the official patch notes do not publish a permanent rate.

Completeness note: LeGingerDev has not published an official complete threshold table in the sources used here. The table therefore separates the nine names from community-observed effects; if a patch changes an interaction, the Bench tooltip wins.

The highest-impact discoveries

Not all nine discoveries are equal. Two of them restructure how the game works; the rest are useful improvements.

Devotion Resonance Crystal is the first one worth checking because community players consistently describe it as an active-click multiplier. Crystal Conduit is commonly paired with it as an automation discovery. The exact chain chance and Life Crystal interaction are not treated as permanent here: open each live tooltip before planning a build.

Speedy Transit is a practical Library-focused discovery in community checklists. Knowledge and cultist assignment make the Library worth staffing, but the developer's rework note means the exact portal and travel behavior should be confirmed in the current Bench rather than promised as a fixed mechanic.

Super Beds and Grotto Auto Harvest are mid-tier efficiency improvements. Super Beds reduces stamina pressure on cultists across the whole compound, which matters more in long passive sessions than in active play. Grotto Auto Harvest removes the need for manual collection from the grotto: again, a set-it-and-forget-it improvement that pays off across time.

The remaining four or five discoveries unlock predictably as your run scales. You'll see them appear without needing to track anything. Spend 20-30 minutes at the Bench when alchemy first unlocks, check the log, and unlock whatever's available. Then come back when more appear.

Devotion Resonance Crystal and Crystal Conduit are both high-priority early unlocks. Grab them on your first Alchemy Bench session and the Devotion loop shifts noticeably.

The Library and Eureka Moments

The Library is a passive automation building. Assign cultists to it, let them read books, and Knowledge accumulates over time. You don't manage the Library beyond keeping it staffed.

Eureka Moments is the discovery most often associated with keeping the Library staffed. Players report that a stocked Library is the right preparation, but the public patch notes do not establish a permanent per-book rate or a guaranteed stage deadline. Check the current Bench rather than promising that it will trigger before the finale.

The fix is simple: set up the Library when it becomes available and keep cultists assigned throughout the run. There's nothing else to do. Eureka Moments resolves passively as long as the Library is operational.

If you're mid-run and haven't touched the Library yet, start now. After Hotfix #2 added post-story continuation, missed achievements can be cleaned up after the story, but the current build remains the authority on whether the Bench and Library continue in your save.

The other resource to track in parallel is Knowledge. Avoid a fixed “400,000” checkpoint from an old guide: use the live requirement shown by the Bench, and keep the Library staffed when it is available.

GODEEPER: For the full achievement list and how The Grand Opus fits into a 100% completion run, the achievement guide has the complete unlock order. All Hail the Orb Achievement Guide: All 46 Unlocked →

When each discovery matters in the run

Some discoveries are worth rushing for; others can wait. The Bench doesn't expire and you won't miss anything that unlocks through a resource milestone: it will be waiting for you when you come back. What you can miss is the compound value of unlocking something late.

Unlock immediately when available:

• Devotion Resonance Crystal and Crystal Conduit. Each hour you spend after they become available without having unlocked them is Devotion generation running below its potential. These two restructure the Devotion loop. Get them at the first Bench visit.
• Speedy Transit. The Library Knowledge bottleneck costs you Eureka Moments probability. Every hour the Library runs with the transit overhead is book reads running slower than they could.

Unlock on your next dungeon visit (not urgent, but don't delay more than a stage):

• Grotto Auto Harvest. Passive, pays off during idle sessions.
• Super Beds. Matters more as cultist count grows: the compound on stamina recovery scales with how many cultists you have assigned.

Unlock when they appear (no special effort needed):

• Life Crystal Upgrades+, Cultist Statue Upgrades+, Prayer of Fertility. These appear at higher resource thresholds and don't require any setup beyond normal progression. Check the Bench on dungeon visits and unlock whatever's new.

Requires deliberate setup:

• Eureka Moments. Assign cultists to the Library when it becomes available and leave it running. That is the clearest preparation supported by community reports; do not treat an old trigger percentage or stage deadline as guaranteed.

Step-by-step: working through All Hail the Orb alchemy

The Bench becomes available during Obelisk progression. This sequence helps you check all nine discoveries without relying on a stale stage number.

1. Open the Alchemy Bench as soon as it appears. Check the current tooltip and unlock what the run actually offers instead of importing a stage threshold from an older guide.

2. If Devotion Resonance Crystal is available, inspect its current tooltip and consider it first for an active-click run. Do not promise a fixed chain percentage unless the live build displays it.

3. Set up the Library and assign cultists before moving on. This is the most consistently reported preparation for Eureka Moments, even though the public sources do not publish a permanent trigger rate.

4. Inspect Speedy Transit when it appears and compare its live effect with the rest of the Bench. Community guides treat it as a Library priority, but the developer has warned that alchemy behavior has changed.

5. Check the Bench on every dungeon visit between stages. New discoveries appear when your resource counts cross thresholds. The visit takes ten seconds; missing a discovery means missing compound improvements until you catch up.

6. Before triggering the finale, confirm The Grand Opus isn't still locked. Open achievements, check the alchemy section, and use Hotfix #2's post-story continuation if the current save allows cleanup after the story.

Hotfix #2 added post-story play, so missed Grand Opus progress is no longer described as an automatic full-run restart. Confirm the current save behavior after any later alchemy rework.

Speedy Transit connects the Library to the Cultist Quarters and removes travel overhead. Set it up early: it pays off across hours of passive automation.

Tips

Check the Bench during dungeon visits, not on a schedule. Discoveries appear when your resource counts cross thresholds, not on a timer. A room sweep past the Bench takes ten seconds and occasionally finds something new.

In the Library chain, unlock Speedy Transit first. Knowledge is the bottleneck resource and the portal between Library and Cultist Quarters removes the biggest source of generation slowdown.

Devotion Resonance Crystal is most useful to test during active sessions, while Crystal Conduit is commonly described as the passive counterpart. Verify both tooltips after updates before relying on a specific percentage or automatic Life Crystal behavior.

If The Grand Opus is still locked as you approach the finale, do not assume the old stage deadline is binding. Keep the Library staffed when available, check the Bench, and use the post-story path added by Hotfix #2 if needed.

Post-Hotfix #2, the game supports post-story play for achievement cleanup. Later alchemy changes mean the current save and Bench should decide whether a particular discovery remains available after the finale.

Related Reading

• All Hail the Orb Complete Guide 2026: hub for alchemy, automation, secrets, endings, and achievements.
• All Hail the Orb Ending Explained: What Happens After: post-story context and the finale.
• All Hail the Orb Review: A Short, Cheerful Cult Classic: a broader look at the short incremental game.
• How Long to Beat All Hail the Orb: Story, 100%, Routes: story and completion routes.
• All Hail the Orb Secrets: Hidden Rooms, Duck, Alchemy: hidden rooms and discovery context.

References

• All Hail the Orb on Steam: official page, patch notes, and community hub
• All Hail the Orb official news: launch, post-story play, and hotfix history
• Developer discussion about the discovery bug: LeGingerDev says the alchemy system was being reworked under the hood
• Steam achievement list: the achievement for discovering all 9 alchemy recipes
• LeGingerDev on Steam: developer page
• All Hail the Orb achievement guide: full achievement list including The Grand Opus unlock order
• All Hail the Orb tips guide: first-run priorities and when to engage each system

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How does alchemy work in All Hail the Orb? A: Open the Alchemy Bench when it appears during Obelisk progression. It lists the nine discoveries and their current requirements. The Bench tooltip is more reliable than a fixed stage number from an older guide.

Q: What is The Grand Opus? A: It is the achievement for discovering all 9 alchemy recipes. Keep the Library staffed if Eureka Moments is missing, then follow the current discovery tooltip rather than relying on an old trigger percentage.

Q: What does Crystal Conduit do? A: It is one of the named alchemy discoveries. Check its live tooltip for the current Life Crystal interaction, and verify it again after a patch because the developer has reworked alchemy behavior.

Q: What does Speedy Transit do? A: Connects the Library to the Cultist Quarters via portal, removing travel overhead that slows Knowledge generation. Priority unlock in the Library chain.

Q: How does the Library work? A: Assign cultists and let the Library run. If Eureka Moments is still undiscovered, this is the clearest preparation supported by community reports; the current Bench decides the trigger details.

Q: When does alchemy unlock? A: The Alchemy Bench appears during Obelisk progression. Older guides disagree about the exact stage, so use the current run's Bench as the source of truth.

Q: What changed in the April 26, 2026 patch for alchemy? A: Hotfix #2 added post-story play so missed achievements could be completed after the story. Later developer discussion says the alchemy system was being reworked, so do not treat pre-hotfix percentages or thresholds as permanent.