Dungeon Settlers Research Guide: Tech Books, Rooms, Priorities

The Research Station is where dungeon loot becomes colony progress: books hauled out of the Veil of Silence turn into recipes, gear tiers, and kitchen upgrades. The system is visible in official material — a press-kit screenshot shows the full RESEARCH screen with its prerequisite tree, an “Ongoing research” progress bar, and the book currencies — while the behavior below is first-week community documentation.

What does the Research Station do?

• Holds one active project at a time; the UI queues locked recipes sorted by prerequisites
• Research books are the catalyst: each consumed book advances the active project by a chunk, sized by recipe complexity and the researcher’s speed
• An idle station halts everything — no researcher assigned means no progress at all
• The station enters the story at quest Main6, right before the Red Monster Rat chain asks for gear you can’t craft yet

What’s on the tree?

Node names visible in the official press-kit screenshot include:

• Wood Processing → Wooden Housing → Advanced Wooden Housing → Stone Housing → Advanced Stone Housing
• Hunting Processing → Campsite Setup / Bone Processing / Carcass Processing I → II
• Basic Storage → Basic Alchemy → Staff Crafting → Dark Thorn Vine Purification → Intermediate Storage → Acorn Processing

Two of those matter more than they look: Staff Crafting is where magic weapon trees get their gear, and Dark Thorn Vine Purification is the community-documented land-expansion mechanic — clearing the purple vines that wall off your territory.

Where do books come from?

Dungeon floors, event rooms, and named enemies — and they are finite. Two consequences from community documentation:

1. Depleted regions cut book drops (with everything else) at roughly −50% — rotate floors instead of grinding one corridor (how depletion works)
2. Use auto-pickup and grab every book on a run; a book left behind can be lost if the floor depletes before you return

What determines research speed?

Speed = Intelligence × room quality multiplier, per community documentation:

A Genius-Intelligence researcher in a Fantastic lab runs roughly 2-4× faster than a Moderate in a storage corridor — “the difference between a 40-hour project and a 20-hour project.” Put the station in an enclosed, well-furnished room.

Who should research?

• Elves: research racial bonus plus Intelligence aptitude — the best pick, once clan rank 2 unlocks them
• Humans: flexible — Outstanding or Exceptional Intelligence works, and their XP bonus speeds growth (watch Growth Fatigue on a maxed bar)
• Lizardmen: a research penalty is documented — better assigned to mining, taming, or guard duty

What’s the unlock priority order?

The community order for regions 1-2:

1. Basic Workstation recipes — cloth, arrows, tools
2. Bone or Carapace gear — required before the Red Monster Rat; cloth fails its damage check
3. Improved beds and bedroom furniture — feeds the mood multiplier
4. Better cooking appliances — vegetarian and meat recipe lines for mixed rosters
5. Advanced ammo and repair kits — expedition sustainability
6. Region 2 recipes — after clearing region 1 or confirming the gate

And the warning that comes with it: don’t spend unlocks on decorative recipes (a vanity statue) while your guards still wear cloth into Festering Burrow.

Where to go next

• Crafting & Gear — what those unlocks produce
• Recruiting Guide — staffing the lab with talent
• Boss Overview — the fights the gear is for