Chemicals bring addiction, not raids, which means a chemist's problem arrives as a customer. Recipes are closely guarded and margins are strong, and that is the whole trade: better money than the safer lines, with a higher chance of problematic regulars.
On this page
Probably Stolen chemist guide: the addiction trade-off
Addicted regulars create reputation problems and bring Security trouble. That is why the Chemist sits in B tier rather than A: the exposure is social, not a raid you can bribe your way out of on the night.
Machinery and permits, not concealment
Chemical goods need protected recipes to be produced or sold, which ties the line to machinery and permits rather than to concealment.
Customer risk instead of raid risk
Compared with the Fence, you avoid raid risk and inherit customer risk instead.
The ruin type outright
Compared with the Farmer or Water Merchant, you gain margin and inherit the ruin type outright.
The four machines behind the line
| Machine | Slots and controls |
|---|---|
Chem Finisher | Chem Module, Container and Output slots, plus a Control Panel with a Set Recipe control |
Evaporator | Battery, Module, Container, Distillate and Note slots |
Heating Plate | A Chem Module and a Target Temp setting running Off, Low or High |
Cryptographic Desecrasser | Power Source, Modules, Chip Slot, Input and Output slots |
These run overnight on an energy cell and need power, so the chemical line competes with scavenging and your other overnight jobs for the same hours. A status reading like No Target or No Recipe Selected means a machine with nothing queued. The crafting machines page covers what power costs and how the machine panel is laid out.
Run one chain you can feed
An unfed bank of machines is wasted capacity, and every overnight job wants the same hours. Decide which one job the chemical line's power is actually funding before you add a second machine, and the production chains page shows what each chain yields for the same overnight slot.
Scavenging competes with this line for hours as well, so a Chemist run is often a choice between feeding the machines and restocking scrap.