Alchemy Lab

The Alchemy Lab is an advanced crafting building that transmutes items into higher rarity ones, other items of the same rarity, or farmable ascension materials into non-farmable ones. The Lab can be converted at Stronghold level 23 (from any non-storage building of level at least 5). It was released in June 2019 along with several other advanced buildings after first announcement in December 2018 and much anticipation (see the original Idea/Suggestion thread). Some original criticisms were improved in version 30 (June 2020). However, the Alchemy Lab has several limitations unlike the other crafting buildings such as the Training Camp, Forge or even Hunter's Lodge:

• Level 10 requires Gems to use.
• Transmutation can't be sped up with Gems.
• The output is random. For conversions within the same rarity, it can be influenced in varying degree because it is guaranteed to be different from all of the ingredients.
• The number of queued transmutations of one kind is capped at 100, limiting its use for "banking" food.

The term "farmable" (3*) Ascension Materials is used for those four that can be found as Battle reward on the Map: Battle Manual, Chainmail Shirt, Scabbard, and Tall Boots. The non-farmable (the game uses term "scarce") are the other seven available much less often only as loot from special events: Compass, Fine Gloves, Hidden Blade, Orb of Magic, Sturdy Shield, Trap Tools and Warm Cape.

Upgrading

Upgrade Costs (research in Food)

Lvl	Iron	Time	Research Cost 1st/X←|→2nd/U		Res. Time
1	2367k	10s	510k	652k	1d
2	2479k	1d 8h	729k	897k	1d
3	2495k	2d	988k	1199k	1d
4	2502k	2d 22h	1232k	1409k	3d
5	2521k	4d 2h	1511k	1625k	3d
6	2531k	5d 13h	1839k	1951k	3d
7	2551k	7d 9h	2163k	2306k	7d
8	2562k	9d 6h	2576k	2688k	7d
9	2573k	11d	2709k	2809k	7d
10	2594k	12d 13h	3105k	3127k	7d (U) / 14d (X)

Each level unlocks two recipes; with the exception of Level 9 and 10, the first (i. e. higher in the menu and cheaper, at least to research) is for transmutation on the same level, marked here X, and the second upgrade to higher rarity, marked U (the game uses icons of intertwined horizontal arrows and a wide arrow pointing up).

At higher building levels, several concurrent transmutations are allowed, similar to Hero Academy: there can be two transmutations going on between levels 5–9 and three on level 10.

Alkashards

The Alchemy Lab introduced a new inventory item called Alkashards. These are a by-product of every transmutation in varying amounts (see table below). When collecting the transmutation results, the produced Alkashards can be supplemented in exchange for gems (again, see below for ratios).

1000 Alkashards can be combined into some desirable and scarce items, chosen from a selection of 6. As soon as 1000 Alkashards are reached, the selection is made randomly and stays the same until the Alkashards are combined, even if one waits for the second or further thousands. This is indicated by an Alkashard icon above the Alchemy Lab building on Base screen, which takes precedence over a cauldron icon for transmutation results being ready. Rewards are:

• Slot 1: 90%: 3-star Ascension Material, 10%: 4-star Ascension Material
• Slot 2: 3-star Ascension Material
• Slot 3 & 4: 30 Class Emblems
• Slot 5 & 6: 5 5-star Battle Item

Usage

Transmutation details (X: Convert within same rarity, U: Upgrade to higher rarity)

Lvl/ type	Item Type	Input	Input Count	Cost Food	Output	Alka- shards	Time	Boost
1 X	Crafting	1 star	4	4k	1 star	2	1h	1 Gem → 1 AS
1 U	Crafting	1 star	12	1.8k	2 star	2	1h
2 X	Battle	1 star	4	10k	1 star	4	2h	1 Gem → 2 AS
2 U	Battle	1 star	10	3.6k	2 star	4	2h
3 X	Ascension	1 star	4	15.5k	1 star	7	3h	3 Gems → 6 AS
3 U	Ascension	1 star	18	7k	2 star	7	3h
4 X	Crafting	2 star	4	32k	2 star	15	6h	5 Gems → 12 AS
4 U	Crafting	2 star	8	15k	3 star	15	6h
5 X	Battle	2 star	4	67k	2 star	30	12h	5 Gems → 12 AS
5 U	Battle	2 star	7	30k	3 star	30	12h
6 X	Ascension	2 star	4	93.3k	2 star	41	15h	7 Gems → 14 AS
6 U	Ascension	2 star	15	45k	Farmable 3*	41	15h
7 X	Crafting	3 star	4	170k	3 star	67	1d	11 Gems → 23 AS
7 U	Crafting	3 star	5	94k	4 star	67	1d
8 X	Battle	3 star	4	372k	3 star	135	2d	21 Gems → 45 AS
8 U	Battle	3 star	5	220k	4 star	135	2d
9a X	Crafting	4 star	4	627k	4 star	225	3d	35 Gems → 75 AS
9b X	Battle	4 star	4	641k	4 star	225	3d
10 U	Ascension	Farm. 3*	12	125k + 100 Gems	95% scarce 3*, 5% 4*	1050	7d	150 G → 350 AS
10 X	Ascension	4 star	1	225k + 200 Gems	4 star	1050	7d

Alkashard attainment rates (without gem-boosting)

Lvl + type	Item Type	AS /hr	Days to 1000	Nr of Trans.	Total Inputs	Total Food	Food /day
1 X	Crafting	2	20d 20h	500	2,000	2,000k	96k
1 U	Crafting	2	20d 20h	500	6,000	900k	43.2k
2 X	Battle	2	20d 20h	250	1,000	2,500k	120k
2 U	Battle	2	20d 20h	250	2,500	900k	43.2k
3 X	Ascension	2.33	17d 21h	143	572	2,216.5k	124k
3 U	Ascension	2.33		143	2,574	1,001k	56k
4 X	Crafting	2.50	16d 18h (16d 16h)	67	268	2,144k	128k
4 U	Crafting	2.50	16d 18h (16d 16h)	67	536	1,005k	60k
5 X	Battle	2.50	17d (16d 16h)	34	136	2,278k	134k
5 U	Battle	2.50	17d (16d 16h)	34	238	1,020k	60k
6 X	Ascension	2.73	15d 15h (15d 7h)	25	100	2,332.5k	149.28k
6 U	Ascension	2.73	15d 15h (15d 7h)	25	375	1,125k	72k
7 X	Crafting	2.79	15d (14d 23h)	15	60	2,550k	170k
7 U	Crafting	2.79	15d (14d 23h)	15	75	1,410k	94k
8 X	Battle	2.81	16d (14d 20h)	8	32	2,976k	186k
8 U	Battle	2.81	16d (14d 20h)	8	40	1,760k	110k
9a X	Crafting	3.125	15d (13d 8h)	5	20	3,135k	109k
9b X	Battle	3.125	15d (13d 8h)	5	20	3,205k	213.7k
10 U	Ascension	6.25	7d (6d 16h)	1	12	125k (+100 G)	17.86k
10 X	Ascension	6.25	7d (6d 16h)	1	1	225k (+200 G)	32.14k

The third column "Days to 1000 Alkashards" list "gross" values, i. e. the fifth "Number of transmutations" times transmutation duration – how much it takes from zero to achieve (and often surpass signficantly: like 5 three-day transmutations on Level 9 will bring 1125 Shards) the thousand. Where relevant, there are also lower "net" values, reciprocal to the second column "Alkashards per hour", which may be useful in long-term average running many consecutive transmutations. For Level 3, the difference is negligible 26 minutes.

Forum Links

• "Alchemy Lab" Forum Tag
  • "Alchemy Lab" FAQ Discussion