An 
Iron Ingot is what the middle of Graveyard Keeper 2 is built out of. Nineteen recipes want one, the anvil that spends them is bought with two, and it is the last metal in the game you can make.
Two recipes, and the automated one is easier to qualify for
The one you meet first is at 
Furnace II: three 
Iron Ore and thirty 
Fuel over twelve seconds for three ingots, four with the Fireman perk, and it pays 
3 into the bargain.
The other runs on the conveyor line. 
Smithy I and its second tier take one Iron Ore and one Coal for one ingot in eight seconds, which is the same one to one on ore with a different fuel bill.
Smithing mastery gates both recipes and it gates them very differently. Five at the furnace against two on the conveyor line, so the automated route opens a long way before you can smelt by hand.
A 
Zombie Miner returns one Iron Ore and two Coal every eight seconds, which feeds the conveyor recipe exactly and leaves a spare coal each time.
By hand the fuel works out at one 
Firewood an ingot, since two firewood make twenty Fuel at a shed. Neither route is better on ore, so pick on whichever of coal and firewood you have standing about.
Reaching it costs 130 red, all of it through bronze
The Iron Forge node is what unlocks the recipe and the Furnace II blueprint together, and it sits five nodes deep in Metallurgy behind the whole bronze chain.
Bronze Works, Bronze Melting, Bronze Craft, Bronze Forge and Bronze Polishing come to 95 between them, and Iron Forge adds 35 on top. There is no way round any of it.
Furnace II itself is six Polished Stone, two 
Polished Bronze and twelve 
Brick, so the bronze you smelted on the way is spent again on the building that replaces it.
The 
Iron Anvil costs four Piece of stone and two Iron Ingot. The bench that exists to spend iron is bought with iron, so the first smelt goes straight back into the yard.
Iron Smithing unlocks it at 180 cumulative, and Iron Works at 255 adds 
Iron Detail and 
Iron Kit I.
What the nineteen recipes want, and the best of them
The best conversions are the small ones. One ingot at the anvil becomes twelve 
Iron Nails, sixteen with the Blacksmith perk, or six Iron Detail, nine with Engineer, and both pay 3 a craft.
Tools take one ingot each and the war gear takes more: an 
Iron Sword is two with three Iron Detail, and 
Iron Armor is four with two details and two Fabric. Everything at the anvil asks Smithing 6, and Iron Kit I asks 7.
Beyond the anvil, the Jewelry Table wants one for a Surgeon’s Kit and one for an Alchemist’s Kit, and a crate of Supply: Iron takes six. The 
Formulation Bench turns a single ingot and a 
Philosopher Stone into ten thousand coins of gold, which is the most valuable thing an ingot ever becomes.
Iron is the last metal you can make
Seven steel technologies sit past the iron ones and come to 1,065 between them. Not one of them unlocks a way to produce a 
Steel Ingot.
Nothing in the game smelts one. No recipe makes it, no shop stocks it, and the only place a steel ingot appears is in what a Steel Anvil hands back when you tear it down, which you could not have built without four of them in the first place.
Every steel recipe consumes an ingot with no source, which puts the whole steel tier out of reach at the bench. Nine steel items do sit on tier three shop shelves and can be bought, from Steel Detail up to the Steel Sword.
The 
Steel Axe and the 
Steel Pickaxe are on none of them. Those two cannot be made and cannot be bought, so your 
Iron Axe and its pickaxe are where the ladder stops.
That is worth knowing before you spend a thousand red on the steel half of Metallurgy. The nodes unlock recipes you will never run.
Graveyard Keeper 2 Iron Ingot FAQ
How do you make an Iron Ingot in Graveyard Keeper 2?
Three Iron Ore and thirty Fuel at Furnace II for three ingots, four with the Fireman perk. The conveyor Smithy does one ore and one coal for one ingot instead, and needs far less Smithing mastery.
What mastery do you need to smelt iron?
Smithing 5 at Furnace II, but only Smithing 2 at the Smithy on a conveyor line. Everything at the Iron Anvil then asks Smithing 6, and Iron Kit I asks 7.
How much does it cost to unlock iron?
130 red in total. Five bronze nodes come to 95 and Iron Forge adds 35, which unlocks the recipe and the Furnace II blueprint together.
What is the best thing to do with an Iron Ingot?
Twelve Iron Nails or six Iron Detail from one ingot at the anvil, both paying 3 red a craft. With a Philosopher Stone it becomes a Golden ingot worth ten thousand, which is the most valuable use by a distance.
Why can I not make a Steel Ingot?
Because nothing in the game makes one. No recipe produces it and no shop stocks it, so every steel recipe is stranded behind an ingredient with no source.
Is it worth unlocking the steel technologies?
They cost 1,065 red between them and unlock recipes you cannot run. Nine steel items can be bought from tier three shops, but the Steel Axe and Steel Pickaxe cannot be obtained at all.
Crafted At
Needed By
Produced By
More Items
MaterialAcid
Building MaterialAdvanced Detail
ToolAdvanced RodAlchemyAlbedo Tear
AlchemyAlchemic Powder (Blue Rune x2)
AlchemyAlchemic Powder (Blue Rune x3)
