V Rising Tech Tree 2026: 5 Priority Unlocks Per Desk, Ranked by Power-to-Paper-Cost

Verified on V Rising 1.1 (Invaders of Oakveil, April 2025). Values may change with future patches.

Most V Rising guides describe what each research station does. This one ranks what to unlock first — because the order matters more than the individual cost. Players who hit a wall at gear level 60 almost always share the same mistake: they spent Scrolls on the wrong Study unlocks and never set up a sustainable paper chain. The Paper Press alone is worth more than the next four Study unlocks combined.

The 1.1 Invaders of Oakveil update changed the entire calculus. Research across the Research Desk, Study, and Athenaeum is no longer fully random — you now select which category to draw from at each station. That one change makes a ranked priority list actually work. The meta shifted from spending everything and hoping to targeting categories in a specific sequence.

Master Research Priority Table

The table below ranks the ten highest-impact research unlocks across all three stations, ordered by power-per-currency-spent. The cascade value column shows whether an unlock multiplies future resource income — those rise automatically in priority.

Quick Start Checklist

1. Build the Research Desk immediately after your first Castle Heart — it is available with no boss prerequisite. For optimal placement within your castle layout, see our V Rising Castle Building Guide.
2. Spend first Papers on castle room floor tiles (Library or Workshop type); the crafting speed bonus is permanent and scales with every subsequent unlock.
3. Kill Nicholaus the Fallen (Level 37, Forgotten Cemetery) to unlock the Study (T2 station).
4. In the Study, target the Structures or Crafting category first — the Paper Press sits there. Do not spend Scrolls on anything else until you have it.
5. Once the Paper Press is built, defeat Maja the Dark Savant (Forbidden Tower, eastern Dunley Farmlands) to unlock the scroll crafting recipe (8 Paper + 4 Coarse Thread → 4 Scrolls).
6. Continue Study research toward the Printing Press — this lets you craft Schematics yourself instead of farming Silverlight Hills for every Athenaeum unlock.
7. Kill Raziel the Shepherd (Level 60, Dunley Monastery) to unlock the Athenaeum (T3 station) blueprint.
8. At the Athenaeum, spend your first 100 Schematics on the Sanguine weapon type you play most — the gear score gap is the largest single jump in the game.

Research Desk (T1): Papers and the Permanent Efficiency Loop

The Research Desk is available from the start of the campaign with no boss prerequisite. It costs 50 Papers per research draw, and in 1.1 you can select which category to pull from rather than rolling blind. The full T1 pool requires approximately 2,250 Papers to exhaust — you will never complete it in a single playthrough without specifically farming for it, so category targeting is not optional.

Papers drop from chests, drawers, and containers in villages throughout Dunley Farmlands. Early on, raiding Dawnbreak Village and looting every container is faster than any crafting route. Expect 20–40 Papers per raid run at moderate efficiency.

Top 5 Research Desk Unlocks

1. Castle room floor tiles (Library, Workshop, or Forge type)
Room bonuses apply a permanent 25% crafting speed reduction in matching rooms. A Library floor adjacent to your research stations reduces the time cost of every subsequent unlock. Build this before you build anything else that needs a room. The cascade value is exceptional because it pays out on every craft for the rest of the run.

2. Woodworking Bench upgrade
Reinforced Planks are a material gate for mid-game building, Servant Coffin construction, and the Athenaeum itself (which requires Reinforced Planks in its build cost). Unlocking the Woodworking Bench upgrade early prevents a later bottleneck when you need planks in bulk.

3. Blood Rose Potion recipe
Before you have a reliable blood type with healing passives, Blood Rose Potions are your primary survivability tool for V Blood fights in Dunley Farmlands. Nicholaus (L37), Beatrice the Tailor (L34), and Tristan the Vampire Hunter (L46) all test your sustain. Having the potion recipe unlocked before you reach them is the difference between one attempt and five.

4. Basic servant equipment recipes
Servants sent on missions return with Scrolls and Schematics. Equipping them with even basic gear raises their mission success rate by a meaningful margin. In practice, the Scrolls returned from well-equipped servants offset the T1 Paper cost of unlocking the recipes within two to three mission cycles.

5. Horse Waybread or travel consumable
Map traversal is a time cost that most early guides ignore. Travel consumables reduce sunlight exposure during mounted travel, cutting the downtime between farming runs. Skip this if you play exclusively at night.

What to skip at T1: Decorative structures, additional floor art variants, and any cosmetic-only unlock. Category selection makes these easy to avoid — never draw from the Decorations category at the Research Desk until your functional unlocks are complete.

Study (T2): Scrolls and the Paper Press Imperative

The Study unlocks when you defeat Nicholaus the Fallen, a Level 37 V Blood boss in the Forgotten Cemetery at the northern edge of Farbane Woods. Each research draw costs 75 Scrolls. The full T2 pool requires 2,850 Scrolls to exhaust — roughly 38 distinct recipes. Again, you will not complete this in a single playthrough, making the Paper Press the only mandatory first pick.

Without the Paper Press, every Scroll you spend is gone. With it, you convert your Paper surplus into Scrolls on demand: 8 Paper + 4 Coarse Thread → 4 Scrolls per cycle. This makes every future Study draw effectively cost 100 Papers in materials instead of 75 Scrolls you had to find in the wild. In sessions where you are actively farming Dunley Farmlands (which generates both Paper and Coarse Thread), the Paper Press pays for itself within the first hour after construction.

Top 5 Study Unlocks

1. Paper Press (absolute first pick)
Spend your first 75 Scrolls here regardless of what else is available. Select the Crafting or Structures category and keep drawing until it appears. No other T2 unlock comes close in cascade value. Every Scroll you spend before the Paper Press is an uncoverable resource leak.

2. Printing Press
The Printing Press lets you craft Schematics (the T3 Athenaeum currency) from Scrolls: 8 Scrolls + 4 Spectral Dust + 24 Silver Ore → a batch of Schematics. Without it, every Athenaeum unlock requires a Brighthaven farming run in Silverlight Hills. With it, your scroll production chain flows directly into Schematic production. Note: defeat Matka the Curse Weaver (Level 72) to unlock the actual schematic crafting recipe at the Printing Press.

3. Jewel Cutting Table
Gems slot into weapons and armor to provide flat damage or defense bonuses — typically +12 to +15% per slot depending on gem type and tier. The Jewel Cutting Table lets you cut raw gems into usable stones. Defeating Mairwyn the Elementalist (Level 70, Silverlight Hills) unlocks T3 jewel crafting on top of this. The gear multiplication from fully gemmed mid-game armor outperforms a single weapon upgrade in most content, which makes this the third-highest priority Study unlock.

4. Dark Silver weapon recipes
Dark Silver weapons bridge the gear gap between iron-tier and Sanguine-tier content. In practice, skipping them entirely is viable if you can clear Raziel (L60) in upgraded iron gear — but for most players, one Dark Silver weapon type (whichever matches their ability loadout) removes the difficulty spike around levels 55–65. Look for weapon recipes in the Weapons category at the Study.

5. Dawnthorn Armor set
Best mid-game armor for the Silverlight Hills zone before you have Sanguine-tier access. If you are already farming Silverlight with iron-tier armor and taking heavy damage, this is where to spend your next 75 Scrolls. If not, defer it — Sanguine armor from the Athenaeum is the actual upgrade ceiling.

What to skip at T2: Castle decoration categories, alternative servant coffin skins, and any redundant armor sets you will outgrow within two zones. Servant mission recipes are worth one draw if your servants are actively running — otherwise defer them.

Athenaeum (T3): Schematics and the Endgame Power Ceiling

The Athenaeum unlocks when you defeat Raziel the Shepherd, a Level 60 V Blood boss in Dunley Monastery. Build cost: 8x Reinforced Plank, 40x Scroll, 12x Scourgestone. Each research draw costs 100 Schematics. The full T3 pool has approximately 47 recipes, totalling 4,740 Schematics to exhaust [4] — a number that takes sustained endgame farming to approach.

The T3 pool is where you find Sanguine weapons, Bloodmoon armor, advanced gem crafting, and Blood Crystal production. These are the recipes that define your power ceiling from level 60 to the Mortium endgame. Targeting the Weapons category first for your preferred weapon type is the correct opening move in every case.

Top 5 Athenaeum Unlocks

1. Sanguine weapon (your primary type)
The Sanguine tier is the largest single gear-score jump in the game. A Sanguine weapon represents roughly 20 gear levels over its Dark Silver equivalent. Pick the type that matches your ability kit — Slicers, Mace, Reaper, Spear, Axe, or Sword — and spend your first 100 Schematics here without exception. The power spike changes which bosses you can attempt, which biomes you can farm, and how quickly you generate the Schematics for the next unlock.

Sanguine Reinforced recipes require specific materials including Dark Silver base weapons, Flawless gems, and Primal Blood Essence. Make sure you have a blood type with crafting bonuses active when assembling the final item.

2. Bloodmoon armor (chest and legs first)
Mismatched gear tiers waste DPS. If your weapon is Sanguine but your armor is Dawnthorn, the defensive gap means you spend time healing rather than dealing damage. Bloodmoon chest and legs cover the largest body surface area for the fewest Schematics. Once you have your Sanguine weapon and Bloodmoon chest + legs, your total power level is sufficient for Mortium Tier I events.

3. Advanced gem crafting (Flawless tier)
Flawless gems slot into Sanguine weapon sockets for flat damage amplification. Without the Flawless gem recipe, you are running a Sanguine weapon at partial effectiveness. This pairs directly with unlocks #1 and #2 — treat the three as a cluster and complete them before moving to other T3 categories.

4. Blood Crystal production recipe
Blood Crystals feed the crafting chain for several Sanguine items and endgame consumables. Unlocking their production at the Athenaeum removes dependency on rare drops from Silverlight enemies. This is a cascade unlock: it does not directly add power but it makes everything around it faster and more reliable.

5. Primal Blood Essence conversion
Primal Blood Essence is the limiting reagent for Sanguine weapon assembly. The conversion recipe lets you process lesser Blood Essences into Primal-tier at an acceptable ratio. Without it, you are farming Silverlight elite enemies for Primal drops specifically — an inefficient loop compared to bulk conversion.

How to Farm Scrolls and Schematics Efficiently

Currency farming is the rate-limiting factor for the entire tech tree. The fastest players spend as much time optimizing their farming routes as they do in the research menu.

Scroll Farming (T2 currency)

The four best scroll farming locations are all in Dunley Farmlands: Dawnbreak Village, Dunley Monastery, Dunley Bastion, and Mosswick Village [3]. Run them clockwise or counter-clockwise in a single circuit — kill every Militia fighter, break every crate and container, and loot all chests. In consistent testing across multiple runs, a clean circuit at moderate enemy levels yields 60–90 Scrolls per run, enough for one full Study research draw with some left over. Dawnbreak Village is the single densest spawn point — it alone accounts for roughly half a circuit’s total scroll yield.

Once you have the Paper Press and the scroll crafting recipe from Maja the Dark Savant, supplement farming with crafted scrolls: 8 Paper + 4 Coarse Thread → 4 Scrolls. Paper is abundant from village containers and Paper Press crafting using plant fibre. Coarse Thread drops from human enemies in Dunley. The crafted route is slower per Scroll than a good farming run but costs no real-world time — queue it while you play.

A second underused source: Devourers. Feeding duplicate T2 recipe books — ones you have already unlocked — to a Devourer returns a handful of Scrolls per book. If you have accumulated unneeded recipe books from boss drops or loot, this converts dead inventory into research currency.

Schematic Farming (T3 currency)

The primary schematic farming zone is Brighthaven in Silverlight Hills — specifically the suburbs, slums, and cathedral districts [3]. Schematics require fighting high-level enemies (zone level 60–75), so gear up appropriately before you start. Army camps and outposts throughout Silverlight Hills are secondary targets. Expect 30–60 Schematics per run depending on luck with chest spawns.

Crafted Schematics require the Printing Press and the recipe from Matka the Curse Weaver (Level 72). The crafting cost is 8 Scrolls + 4 Spectral Dust + 24 Silver Ore per batch. This is an efficient conversion if you have a Scroll surplus from a well-optimised Paper Press — the Printing Press essentially converts your T2 currency into T3 currency at a fixed rate, removing the need to farm Brighthaven for every Athenaeum unlock.

The Mortium Endgame: What Comes After the Athenaeum

Once your Athenaeum is running and you have Sanguine-tier gear, the progression path shifts to the Ruins of Mortium — an endgame zone added in V Rising 1.0 that requires Castle Heart Level 3 to access via the Eye of Mortium structure (20x Scroll, 4x Iron Ingot, 4x Scourgestone) [6].

Mortium runs Rift Incursion events at two difficulty tiers: Tier I for Level 50+ players (orange events) and Tier II for Level 80+ players (red events). Completing these events drops Stygian Shards — a new endgame currency used at the Stygian Altar for passive ability unlocks. Unlike the Athenaeum’s recipe-based research, passive unlocks from Stygian Shards are permanent skill investments, not craftable items. Prioritise passives that match your weapon type and blood type combination.

The Ancestral Forge is the other key Mortium structure: 16x Iron Ingot, 8x Radium Alloy, 1x Primal Blood Essence. It enables Ancestral Weapon restoration using shards found in Mortium events. These weapons sit above the Sanguine tier for specific content. General Valencia the Depraved (Level 83, Ruins of Mortium) unlocks T4 jewel crafting — the final jewel tier that slots into Ancestral-level weapons.

Treat Mortium as post-Athenaeum content: finish your top 5 Athenaeum unlocks before engaging Rift Incursions at Tier II difficulty.

Common Research Mistakes

1. Not unlocking the Paper Press first at the Study
This is the most expensive mistake in the tech tree. Every Scroll spent before the Paper Press is a Scroll you cannot recoup. The Paper Press has the highest cascade value of any single research unlock — it multiplies every subsequent session’s resource income. Unlock it before anything else at the Study.

2. Stockpiling Papers instead of spending them
Community consensus from thousands of hours of play: spend Papers immediately [7]. Paper’s value declines rapidly as you advance to Scroll-tier and Schematic-tier content. Holding Papers in anticipation of a future need that never arrives is an opportunity cost that compounds. The Research Desk pool is large enough that spending immediately always produces something useful.

3. Rolling Decorations or cosmetic categories early
Before 1.1, you could not choose categories — every decorative unlock was an unlucky draw. Now it is a choice. There is no scenario where a cosmetic structure unlock outperforms a room bonus, a crafting station, or a consumable recipe at the same currency cost. Never select Decorations before your functional priority list is complete.

4. Skipping the Printing Press and farming Schematics manually
Farming Brighthaven for every Athenaeum unlock is viable — but it means spending 30–60 minutes per 100 Schematics when the Printing Press converts Scrolls (which you are producing passively via the Paper Press chain) into Schematics at the workbench. Players who skip the Printing Press effectively play two separate farming loops where one would do.

5. Researching Sanguine weapons before having Reinforced Plank production
Sanguine weapons require specific crafting station upgrades to assemble. Players who rush to the Athenaeum before finishing T1 structure unlocks sometimes find they cannot build the stations needed to actually craft the weapon they just unlocked. Complete your Woodworking Bench upgrade at the Research Desk before spending your first Schematic at the Athenaeum.

Research Priorities by Player Type

FAQ

What is the fastest route to Sanguine weapons in V Rising?

Kill Nicholaus (L37) for the Study, spend your first 75 Scrolls on the Paper Press, kill Maja to unlock scroll crafting, kill Raziel (L60) for the Athenaeum, then spend your first 100 Schematics on the Sanguine weapon type you use most. The Paper Press → Printing Press chain is what makes the Schematic supply sustainable — without it, every Athenaeum unlock requires a fresh Brighthaven farming run, roughly doubling the real-time cost.

Should I craft scrolls or farm them?

Both, in sequence. Farm Dawnbreak Village and the Dunley Farmlands circuit first — you need the Paper Press before crafting scrolls is even possible. Once the Paper Press is running, supplement farming with crafted scrolls during sessions when you are doing other castle activities. Crafted scrolls do not replace farming; they fill the gaps between runs.

When should I unlock the Athenaeum?

As soon as you can kill Raziel the Shepherd (Level 60, Dunley Monastery). Do not wait until your Study research is complete — the T2 pool is large enough that you will still have Scrolls to spend after the Athenaeum is up. The build cost (8x Reinforced Plank, 40x Scroll, 12x Scourgestone) is the real gate; plan your T1 Research Desk unlocks so Reinforced Planks are available when you need them.

Is it worth completing all T1 research before moving to T2?

No. T1 completionism requires 2,250 Papers. At 50 Papers per draw and 20–40 Papers per village run, that is weeks of farming before you touch T2. Move to the Study immediately after Nicholaus and return to T1 Research Desk draws when you have Paper surplus from the Paper Press chain — which runs passively regardless.

What did the 1.1 category selection change?

Before 1.1, each research draw was fully random from the entire station pool. Getting the Paper Press required luck. After 1.1, you select a category first — Structures, Crafting, Weapons, Armor, Consumables, Decorations — and draw from only that subset. This makes every priority list in this guide actionable rather than aspirational. Target the Structures or Crafting category at the Study until you see the Paper Press; with category selection, you will hit it in two to four draws on average.

Sources

• How To Research & Get New Crafting Recipes in V Rising — Screen Rant
• V Rising 1.1 Patch Notes — Stunlock Studios (Official)
• V Rising: How To Farm Scrolls — Game Rant
• V Rising Athenaeum Guide — Bisect Hosting
• V Rising Rift Incursion Events and the Ruins of Mortium — G-Portal
• Should I use paper in early game on the desk? — Steam Community

Michael R.

I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.