The Problem

I picked up ten new items and three recipes unlocked but I have no idea which item unlocked which recipe. How does the Ideas system actually decide what I can craft?

The Solution

The Ideas system is Abiotic Factor's recipe unlock mechanic. Unlike most survival games where you spend points in a tech tree, here you unlock recipes by interacting with the world. The system is deterministic — you just cannot see the rules. Here is exactly how it works.

How Recipes Unlock

There are four unlock methods. Most recipes use method 1.

Method 1: Pick Up a Component (70% of Recipes)

The most common trigger. When you pick up a new item type for the first time, your character "gets an idea" — a recipe that uses that item unlocks.

What counts as "picking up":

• Looting from a container or corpse
• Harvesting from the environment (mining, chopping, gathering)
• Crafting the component yourself

What does NOT count:

• Receiving an item from another player's inventory (you must physically pick it up from the world or a container)
• Having the item in a shared storage crate

Method 2: Find a Completed Item (15% of Recipes)

Some recipes unlock when you find the finished product in the world. Example: finding a Security Pistol on a soldier's body may unlock the 9mm Ammo recipe. Finding a specific armor piece may unlock its upgraded variant recipe.

Method 3: NPC / Story Progression (10% of Recipes)

A small number of recipes unlock through dialogue or story events. The X-Ray Tower and X-Ray Lamp recipes, for instance, are taught by interacting with the terminal next to the Containment Block X-ray barrier. You cannot unlock these by finding components.

Method 4: Brain Sync (Co-op Only, 5% of Recipes)

In multiplayer, interacting with a Brain Sync device allows players to share unlocked recipes. One player who has unlocked a recipe can sync it to teammates. This is the only way to bypass the "pick up item" requirement.

Which Items Unlock What: Key Triggers

Some unlocks are not obvious. Here are the ones players most often miss:

The most commonly missed trigger: Players who never pick up a Stapler in Office Sector miss out on an entire branch of early advanced tools. The Stapler is in the Level 2 offices — go get one.

All Crafting Benches and What They Do

Recipes are also gated by which bench you are using. You cannot craft a Chemistry recipe at a standard Crafting Bench.

Bench Upgrade Chain

Makeshift Crafting Bench → Powered Crafting Bench
Chemistry Bench → Distillation Bench
Campfire → Portable Stove → Chef's Counter

Each upgrade requires specific components and is gated behind progression. You cannot skip tiers — you must craft the base version first.

Schematic Locations (Physical Recipe Items)

Some recipes come from physical schematics found in the world. These are one-time pickups — once collected, the recipe is permanently unlocked for that character.

Known Schematic Locations

How to Systematically Unlock Everything

If you want to unlock every recipe, follow this loop:

1. Scavenge every new sector thoroughly before moving on. Pick up every new item type.
2. Kill every enemy type at least once — some weapon mods unlock from enemy-specific drops.
3. Interact with every terminal and NPC — X-Ray and some endgame recipes are dialogue-gated.
4. Craft one of every component — crafting a Carbon Plating can unlock recipes that just owning one does not.
5. In co-op, use Brain Sync after each session to catch recipes your teammates found.

Common Frustrations

See Also

• Chemistry: enethiol, solvent, biogel guide
• All chemistry recipes complete list
• Crafting bench upgrades guide
• Power: battery runtime and grid guide