Obsidian and technology research

The research tree at the Professor is where you gradually unlock upgrades for buildings and animal pens on the mainland, plus the whole obsidian farm with everything that belongs to it. Every topic has its own requirements and its own price in obsidian, so it pays to know what a given piece of research actually gives you before you pour resources into it. Here I sum up how research works and which branches of the tree are waiting for you.

The research tree is a must, because without it neither the productivity of your mainland farms nor the start of the obsidian farm goes anywhere - but it is worth finishing the key buildings on the mainland first (above all the grand farmhouse), so the obsidian branch does not greet you with a message about unmet requirements.

What the research tree is and what obsidian is for

You find the research tree at the Professor, and it splits into two big areas - improving the farms on the mainland and getting the obsidian farm going. On the left there is a list of all the topics currently available; click any of them and you see the details of what exactly the upgrade does.

Every piece of research is paid for in obsidian, which serves purely to cover research costs. You earn it in the Farmers League, but only from a high enough level, so at lower levels you will not reach the obsidian branch of the tree at all.

The obsidian farm itself then runs on its own currency, obsidian dollars - those pay for putting up buildings and for production costs directly on that farm, so do not mix up obsidian (for research) and obsidian dollars (for running the farm).

How the research itself works

Only one piece of research can be active at a time. If you want another topic going straight away, you either have to wait for the current one to finish or skip it by paying Gold - the game offers a dialog asking whether you want to close the current research that way.

A lot of topics also come with requirements to meet - typically a certain level of another building. If the condition is not met, the game says so clearly with a message that not all requirements are fulfilled, and the research simply cannot be started until you catch up.

Research for the mainland farms

A large part of the tree revolves around gradually improving the productivity of the animals and fields you already have on the mainland. That includes upgrades for chicken coops, cowsheds, pigsties, sheep pens, goat stables, donkey stables, duck coops and rabbit hutches, plus fields and fertile fields, the windmill and the water mill, and an extension of the barn capacity.

• Main farm expansions unlock 2 additional expansions to buy.
• Gourmet farm expansions unlock 2 additional expansions to buy.
• Flower farm expansions unlock 4 additional expansions to buy.

A chapter of its own is upgrading the grand farmhouse to level 11 - that is not just cosmetics, because this very step unlocks further research options deeper in the tree. To me it is one of the more important milestones, because without it you will not get much further.

Research for the obsidian farm

Before you get into the obsidian branch, you first have to finish the topic Unlocking the obsidian farm - that alone grants access to this farm and at the same time opens the follow-up research that only then makes sense to deal with.

Once it is unlocked, you can go on to upgrade cabins (they raise the number of workers), storehouses and spacious storehouses (capacity), the insulated composter, the botanical workshop, the feed kitchen, the winter garden, the adventurer's homestead and volcanic fields as well as fertile volcanic fields.

The animals found only on the obsidian farm have research lines of their own - lizard enclosures, orca pools, ostrich pens, dragon fruit orchards and plum orchards. Each of these upgrades raises the productivity of the pen or orchard in question.

Obsidian resources and special seeds

The last big block of research covers the production of obsidian resources, which then feed the animals and orchards on the mainland as well as on the obsidian farm.

With all of these recipes, further research levels do not unlock a new building but improved versions of the same resource. Pay special attention to the winter garden upgrade for special seeds - it is the only recipe that prepares seeds directly for the obsidian farm, not for the mainland.

Buildings and products mentioned in the text

FieldMain farm · 8 × 6GardenGourmet farm · from level 19 · 9 × 7WorkshopMain farm · from level 19 · 4 × 5StableHorse ranch · from level 15 · 4 × 14FertilizerProcessed product · Main farmDragon fruit orchardObsidian farm · from level 114 · 9 × 7Insulated composterObsidian farm · from level 114 · 5 × 5Lizard enclosureObsidian farm · from level 114 · 11 × 10