Dungeon Settlers Research: Table, Books and Early Nodes
Building the research table
- Cogwheel. The first one is inside the wagon at your starting camp: select a settler, right-click the wagon, and the cogwheel drops with other supplies. Harvest the wagon afterwards. More come from the Dungeon Core machine room on Region 1, Floor 3, and from some dungeon benches and chests.
- Indoors only. The research bench only works inside a room, so build walls and a door first. It also wants its own room rather than sharing with production workstations.
Who should research
| Settler | Research speed |
|---|---|
| Elf | +30% |
| Philosopher background | +20% |
| Lizardman | -20% |
Set task priorities so your researcher researches and everyone else stays off the table. CanOpener’s devlog joked that task priority finally lets you “stop lizardmen from wandering around the research table”.
Research books
Chests and bookstands in the dungeon drop research books. Since demo patch v0.3.21 a book can unlock research instantly even while your party is still in the dungeon, and unlocking no longer uses up items in the unit’s hand. The research screen also has a search box (v0.3.21).
The early tree
The official research screenshot shows the first nodes and their costs in research points:
| Node | Cost | What it leads to |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Processing 1 | 50 | First wood items |
| Basic Storage | 50 | Storage |
| Hunt Processing | 300 | Hunter Workstation and the bone line |
| Weave Processing | 300 | Cloth goods |
| Wood Furniture | 300 | Beds, tables |
| Rawhide Sleeping Bag | 800 | Better expedition sleep |
| Mason Processing | 800 | Stone work |
| Bone Processing 1 and 2 | — / 1,500 | Bone weapons and armour |
| Basic Crafts | 1,500 | More crafting |
These numbers come from an official store screenshot and may differ in the current build. Players also point to Basic Wood Processing (the Goddess Statue), Monster Cuisine, Carapace Processing, Metal Processing (which unlocks the kiln and the casting workbench for copper), staff crafting, and Dark Vine Thorn Purification for clearing land. Research slows down as you go up the tree.
Where to go next
Unlock the Goddess Statue early so settlers can level up, then steer research toward what is blocking you: food, better armour, or expanding the base.
Thanks for the feedback!