Chemistry Bench workflow and batch planner

Chemistry has two distinct jobs. The Distillation Bench converts suitable items into Distillations, and the Chemistry Bench combines three Distillations into a Concoction. The official Cosmic Companions update describes those Concoctions as Coatings, Flasks, and Tinctures. Treating those jobs as one long recipe is the easiest way to lose track of an input.

This guide provides a repeatable bench workflow and a small batch-planning worksheet. It does not try to reproduce every source item or every Chemistry recipe. Use the GATEPal entries you have discovered, or the current Chemistry reference, to choose the exact product before loading a bench.

Scope and prerequisites

The official update ties Chemistry access to reaching Cascade Laboratories. You need both benches for the complete loop, but they do not accept the same type of input:

Before starting, empty the output side of each bench and reserve three inventory slots for the Distillations you intend to load. Keep unrelated liquids and Noxious Sludge in separate storage. That physical separation is more reliable than trying to identify every flask while standing at the bench.

The workflow here does not require a dedicated electrical circuit, a water source, Bleach, protective clothing, or a healing station. Those conditions belonged to an older, unsupported version of this page and are not part of the verified Chemistry Bench rules.

Enethiol is a separate crafting material

Enethiol is an item used in crafting, but it is not one of the Distillations listed by the Chemistry system. The current Enethiol reference lists it in Office Wood Crates, ASO Wood Crates, Cupboards, and several fixed locations, including locations in Cascade Laboratories and Reactors.

That distinction changes the correct route:

• If a normal crafting recipe asks for Enethiol, search its listed containers and fixed locations. Do not feed random organic items into a Distillation Bench expecting Enethiol to appear.
• If a Chemistry recipe asks for a named Distillation, consult the Distillation section of GATEPal and prepare a known source item for that liquid.
• If an item is accepted by the Distillation Bench but its output is unknown, run one item first. A single discovery establishes what that item produces before you commit the rest of the stack.

This boundary prevents two different tasks from being mixed together: finding a crafting material and manufacturing a Chemistry input.

The two-bench workflow

Use this sequence whenever the final goal is a Coating, Flask, or Tincture.

1. Choose the final Concoction. Write down its three Distillation names in recipe order and the quantity required from each input.
2. Count finished Distillations, not raw source items. Source items can produce different quantities. Check what is already in storage before distilling more.
3. Test uncertain source items one at a time. Put the item into the left input flask of the Distillation Bench, activate the bench, and collect the result from the right output flask. Successful discoveries are recorded in the Distillation section of GATEPal.
4. Set aside one complete Chemistry batch. Do not load a partial recipe. The Chemistry Bench expects three inputs, and failed combinations create an Unstable Flask.
5. Load the three Chemistry inputs in recipe order. The current Chemistry reference warns that the wrong order or ratio produces a failed mix. Use the displayed ingredient 1, ingredient 2, and ingredient 3 order rather than sorting the liquids alphabetically.
6. Check the eight-unit limit. Each input flask holds at most 8 units of one Distillation. Reduce the planned batch count if any input would exceed 8.
7. Turn the valve and watch the output flask. The Chemistry Bench reference states that targeting the output flask shows progress. Collect the result before setting up a different recipe.
8. Record the remaining stock. Update the three Distillation counts after collection. This makes the next batch calculation a subtraction problem instead of another storage search.

Batch worksheet for three verified Tinctures

The maximum number of recipe batches is the smallest whole-number quotient across the three inputs. For a recipe batch that consumes a, b, and c units, and available amounts A, B, and C, calculate:

batches = min(floor(A / a), floor(B / b), floor(C / c))

Multiply batches by the product's documented output per batch to get the number of tinctures. The batch count is also limited by the 8-unit capacity of each bench flask. The table below uses the individual current item recipes and shows the largest single bench load that preserves each ratio. Do not assume that every recipe batch creates exactly one item.

For example, suppose storage contains 7 Vigorous, 6 Fizzy, and 3 Void Distillations. One Speedy recipe batch needs 2, 2, and 1 and yields three tinctures. The three whole-number quotients are 3, 3, and 3, so the available stock supports three batches, or nine tinctures. Load 6 Vigorous, 6 Fizzy, and 3 Void. Loading all 7 Vigorous would break the recipe ratio and should not be used as a way to empty the container. If the goal is five tinctures, load only two batches (4 / 4 / 2); the bench makes six, not exactly five.

For a Curative Tincture, 8 units in every flask produce two outputs because the recipe uses 4 of each input. A third output would require 12 units in each flask, which exceeds the capacity even if storage contains enough material. Collect the first two outputs, then load a separate batch.

Decision table: choose the next Chemistry job

The table deliberately separates discovery, production, and recovery. Trying to do all three at once makes it difficult to tell whether a shortage came from a bad source item, an incorrect batch calculation, or a loading mistake.

Failure recovery and completion check

The current Chemistry reference identifies two failed-mix paths: three Distillations in the wrong order or ratio, and a combination that includes Noxious Sludge with two Distillations. Either path creates an Unstable Flask and causes a small explosion at the bench that knocks the player back.

If that happens:

1. Step away from the bench and make sure the immediate area is safe.
2. Do not repeat the same load from memory. Reopen the recipe reference.
3. Compare input 1, input 2, and input 3 separately. A correct set in the wrong order is still not a correct recipe.
4. Recalculate the common batch count. Extra units that do not preserve the ratio must remain in storage.
5. Check that Noxious Sludge was not substituted for a named Distillation.
6. Run one batch first. Scale up only after the expected item appears.

A Chemistry job is complete when the expected Concoction is collected, the three remaining Distillation totals are recorded, and no partial recipe remains loaded. For repeated production, use the batch formula again from the new stock counts. This creates a traceable loop: discover an input, count it, calculate a whole batch, load in order, verify the output, and update storage.

Source and version notes

This workflow was checked for game version 1.4 against the official Cosmic Companions update and the current Chemistry, Chemistry Bench, Distillation Bench, and Enethiol references listed above. Recipe tables can change in a game update, so confirm the three ingredients and their order in the current Chemistry reference before spending a rare Distillation. The capacity formula still applies after a recipe change: use the revised per-output quantities and take the smallest whole-number quotient, never exceeding 8 units in a flask.