Mastering Tinkering in Caves of Qud: A Guide

In Caves of Qud, you have the opportunity to learn an extensive array of skills—more than you might ever be able to master. While many skills require you to spend skill points to acquire, the Tinkering skill can be learned through an NPC in the game world.

This guide will cover everything you need to know about the Tinkering skill, including how to learn it for the first time, what it involves, and the possibilities it opens up for you.

How to Acquire the Tinkering Skill

There are two primary methods to acquire the Tinkering skill:

Method	Cost
Unlock from ‘Skills’ Menu	100 SP
Ask a Barathrumite to Teach Tinkering During the Water Ritual	100 Reputation with the Barathrumites

Once you’ve acquired the skill, you can spend skill points on various Tinkering sub-skills. Although you won’t be able to start crafting just yet, you’ll have better luck examining artifacts you encounter.

Overview of Tinkering Skills

A player looking at the learnable tinkering skill.

To advance your Tinkering abilities, you’ll need to unlock sub-skills, which are located under the Tinkering section of the Skills menu. Here’s a rundown of all the Tinkering skills and their functions:

Skill	Description	Cost	Unlock Requirements
Gadget Inspector	Improves your success rate in examining artifacts and allows you to deploy wiring.	0 SP	Unlocks automatically with Tinkering.
Disassemble	Lets you take apart scraps and artifacts to gain Bits.	100 SP	15 Intelligence
Reverse Engineer	When disassembling, you have a 25% chance to learn how to recreate that item.	100 SP	25 Intelligence and Disassemble must be unlocked
Scavenger	Allows you to pick up scraps from trash and gain extra scrap from destroyed robots.	100 SP	15 Intelligence
Repair	Enables you to fix broken items using Bits.	100 SP	17 Intelligence
Deploy Turret	Lets you set up missile weapons as stationary turrets.	100 SP	17 Intelligence
Lay Mine/Set Bomb	Allows you to use grenades as mines or bombs.	50 SP	17 Intelligence
Tinker I	Lets you create basic schematics and recharge energy cells and capacitors. Comes with one free schematic.	100 SP	19 Intelligence
Tinker II	Enables you to create mid-level schematics, also includes one free schematic.	200 SP	Tinker I must be unlocked and 23 Intelligence
Tinker III	Empowers you to build advanced schematics, granted with one free schematic.	300 SP	Tinker II must be unlocked and 29 Intelligence

As shown, you’ll first need to unlock Tinker I to actually begin crafting. Therefore, it’s a good idea to save your skill points in order to obtain this skill.

How to Acquire Schematics

Schematics are referred to as Data Disks within the game. These items contain the schematics you need to craft.

There are multiple ways to acquire schematics. With the Reverse Engineer skill, you have a chance to learn a schematic whenever you disassemble an item. This method allows you to learn passively without actively searching for a Data Disk.

Your other option for obtaining schematics is to either purchase or loot them. Various vendors throughout the game may offer Data Disks for sale. Below are a few vendors you can check out:

Vendor	Location
Argyve	Joppa
Jacobo	Grit Gate
Sparafucile	Grit Gate
Yla Haj	Ezra
Tinkerers	Randomly generated villages
Schematic Drafter	Stiltgrounds (has a specific tent)

You can also learn schematics from Legendary Barathrumites during a Water Ritual. For instance, by talking to Q Girl in Grit Gate, we found the recipe for Leyline Puppeteers.

What Are Schematic Tiers?

Schematics are categorized into three tiers. There’s a vast number of schematics in the game, so when you learn a new schematic, you’ll see the Tinker level you need to craft it. For example, after obtaining the schematic for Leyline Puppeteers, we received a notification indicating that Tinker III was required to craft it.

When you acquire a new schematic, be sure to review it in the ‘Tinkering’ tab in your menu. If you accumulate too many schematics, remember that you can organize them at the top of the screen for easier navigation.

How to Craft Schematics

A player looking at the leyline puppeteers schematic.

You can obtain Bits by dismantling artifacts and scraps.

To craft schematics, you’ll need Bits, which come in different types in Caves of Qud. Here’s a breakdown of the Bit types available:

Bit Type	Designation
Scrap Power Systems	A
Scrap Crystal	B
Scrap Metal	C
Scrap Electronics	D
Phasic Power Systems	1
Flawless Crystal	2
Pure Alloy	3
Pristine Electronics	4
Nanomaterials	5
Photonics	6
AI Microcontrollers	7
Metacrystal	8

Each material you need is associated with a specific letter or number designator along with a color. Taking our example of Leyline Puppeteers, it has a Bit cost of D2358. To craft this item, you will need the following materials:

Scrap Electronics
Flawless Crystal
Pristine Electronics
Nanomaterials
Metacrystal

Every schematic clearly lists the required materials, so you won’t need to memorize the designators; they are displayed next to the schematic description.

Use schematics to craft weapons, armor, various items (like injectors and recoilers), and mods.