KCD2 Recipes Complete Guide - How to Craft and Use Recipes

This detailed survey note explores the role of recipes in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (KCD2), a medieval RPG where recipes and crafting play a vital role in the historically immersive world, providing players with essential recipes for survival, combat, and exploration. As of March 5, 2025, this recipe guide synthesizes information from various sources to offer a thorough understanding of KCD2 recipes, particularly for those new to the game.

Understanding Recipes in KCD2

The recipe system in KCD2 provides instructions that enable players to craft a diverse array of items through various recipes, each contributing to different aspects of gameplay. The game, released in early 2025, emphasizes crafting recipes as a core mechanic, with recipes categorized into several types based on their purpose and effects. These recipe categories include:

• Potion and Poison Recipes: Created through alchemy recipes, these items can heal, boost skills like archery or thievery, or debilitate enemies with poison recipes. For instance, the Aqua Vitalis potion recipe reduces health loss and bleeding, while poison recipes like Bane can deplete enemy health significantly.

• Food and Drink Recipes: Cooking recipes provide nourishment, essential for maintaining Henry's health and energy. Examples include recipes for cooked apples and beef, with effects like energy restoration and nourishment. Notably, the game allows flexibility in food recipes, where players can combine ingredients like fruits, mushrooms, and meats to create meal recipes with varying effects, such as mood enhancement from strong drink recipes like moonshine.

• Gunpowder Recipes: Recipes for gunpowder, such as lead shot or scatter shot recipes, are crucial for players using firearms, offering ammunition for close-range combat.

• Weapon and Armor Crafting Recipes: Sketch recipes allow players to craft or repair weapons and armor at a forge, including recipes for items like Ataman's Sabre or Battle Longsword, enhancing combat capabilities.

• Utility Recipes: This category includes recipes like soap for cleaning clothes, improving social interactions, and saviour schnapps recipes for saving game progress, which is vital for managing gameplay without autosaves.

The total number of recipes mentioned across sources is extensive, with one source noting 53 unique recipes, including 27 potion/poison recipes, 2 food/drink recipes, 2 gunpowder recipes, 21 weapon/armor sketch recipes, 1 soap recipe, and 1 schnapps recipe, though the sum suggests a possible typo in counting.

Acquiring Recipes

Players can acquire new recipes through multiple methods, enhancing the game's exploration and interaction elements:

• Finding Recipes in the World: Recipes can be discovered in chests, recipe books, or on defeated enemies, encouraging players to explore the game's detailed environments. For example, potion recipes like Aqua Vitalis can be found by completing quests, such as Thomlin Bruthans' "Fight Dirty" in Horschan.

• Purchasing Recipes from Traders: Recipe traders, especially those in related professions like apothecaries for alchemy recipes or blacksmiths for weapon sketch recipes, sell various recipes. This is a reliable method, with sources noting recipe purchases from NPCs like Aranka at Nomads' Camp or Apothecary Emmerich in Troskowitz.

• Learning Recipes from NPCs: Some NPCs teach special recipes as part of quests or through interactions, adding depth to character relationships. This method is particularly useful for quest-driven progression, where learning new recipes might be a reward.

Using Recipes

Crafting in KCD2 requires specific stations and tools, aligning with the game’s realistic medieval setting:

• Alchemy Recipes: Crafted at alchemy benches, found throughout the game, such as in Bozhena’s Hut during the tutorial or in Troskowitz. The process involves preparing herbs, using liquid bases like water or wine, and following steps like boiling or distilling. For instance, crafting Aqua Vitalis involves adding Dandelion, boiling, grinding Marigold, and distilling.

• Food Recipes: Prepared at cooking fires or stoves, with options like pots, smokehouses, and drying racks. Cooking in a pot is simple, using any combination of ingredients like fruits or meats for quick health restoration, while smokehouses preserve food longer, ideal for meats and cheeses. Drying racks, though less restorative, extend shelf life further, suitable for rare ingredients like belladonna.

• Gunpowder: Made at specific crafting stations, with recipes like lead shot gunpowder used for firing ammunition, effective at close range.

• Weapon and Armor Sketches: Used at forges, these sketches allow crafting items like swords or horseshoes, requiring materials and blacksmithing skills.

Players must ensure they have the necessary ingredients, which can be gathered through foraging, trading, or looting. The game’s crafting menu, as noted in sources, helps track known recipes, making management easier.

Essential Recipes for Beginners

For new players, starting with simple and beneficial recipes is key. Here are some recommendations:

Potions

The following potion recipes are beginner-friendly, based on simplicity and early-game utility:

These recipes, with 2-3 ingredients and straightforward steps, are ideal for early-game survival, offering health management and energy recovery.

Food

Food crafting in KCD2 is flexible, with no fixed recipes listed in sources, allowing players to experiment. Common methods include:

• Cook Pot: Use empty pots at campsites to cook fruits, mushrooms, or meats, offering the most restorative potential for health but spoiling within a couple of in-game days. Examples include cooked apples (Energy: 5, Nourishment: 4) and cooked beef (Nourishment: 26).

• Smokehouse: Found near butchers, used for preserving meats and cheeses, extending shelf life. This method is instant in-game, despite real-life smoking taking time, and is ideal for long-term storage.

• Drying Rack: Extends shelf life further, suitable for rare ingredients, though less restorative, with small health differences compared to other methods.

Players are encouraged to combine ingredients like venison or belladonna for varied effects, tailoring meals to their needs.

Other Utilities

• Soap: Crafted for cleaning clothes, improving social interactions, essential for maintaining Henry’s hygiene in the game’s realistic setting.

• Saviour Schnapps: A crucial item for saving game progress, allowing players to save at will, which is vital given the game’s lack of frequent autosaves.

Tips for Efficient Crafting

To maximize the benefits of recipes, consider the following:

• Start Simple: Begin with basic potion and food recipes to sustain yourself, focusing on items like Aqua Vitalis for health and cooked meats for nourishment.

• Experiment with Food: Given the flexibility, try different combinations in cooking, using pots for immediate needs and smokehouses for preservation, to find what suits your playstyle.

• Explore and Interact: Keep an eye out for recipes while exploring, as they can be hidden in chests or taught by NPCs, enhancing your crafting options.

• Purchase Strategically: If funds allow, buy recipes from traders to quickly expand your repertoire, especially for potions and weapon sketches, saving time on exploration.

This guide, informed by detailed sources, provides a comprehensive overview for players, ensuring they can navigate KCD2’s crafting system effectively as of March 5, 2025.