Corpses and autopsy
White skulls for the graveyard, red skulls for zombies: what every body part carries, and the Anatomy each extraction needs.
Every corpse is made of six body parts - skin, bones, skull, heart, brain and guts - plus 1 to 4 soft parts (Fat, Blood and Flesh) in its pockets. The corpse's white and red skulls are the sum of its parts, and removing or adding organs at the autopsy table changes them.
- 6
- Organs per corpse
- 36
- Organ variants
- 5
- Corpse tiers
- 12
- Embalming mixes
A buried corpse's white skulls count toward the grave's quality, but its red skulls never do - and each red skull has to be covered by a decoration point before the white ones start to count. A resurrected zombie is the opposite: every red skull unlocks a zombie perk slot.
Counts toward a grave's quality once it is buried, alongside decorations.
Never counts for the graveyard and uses up decoration; makes a better zombie and opens a zombie perk slot each.
Each white skull matched by a decoration point on the grave becomes one point of quality.
How an extraction turns out
An operation at the Autopsy Table I runs for a number of ticks, and each tick succeeds or fails - Anatomy mastery sets how often it succeeds. The result depends on how many ticks succeeded.
Enough successful ticks to reach the organ's gold mark: the organ comes out as an item.
Between the silver and gold marks: the organ is removed from the body, but it is ruined and no item is left.
Short of the silver mark: the organ is removed and a Surgeon's Error is left in its place - 1 red and 1 white skull less.
Extracting each organ: the Anatomy mastery it needs, its ticks, and the successful ticks needed to remove it (silver) or keep it (gold), plus the tech points each operation earns.
 | Skin | Bronze | 1 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 red, 1 blue |
| Skin | Silver | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 red, 2 blue |
| Skin | Gold | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 red, 3 blue |
 | Bones | Bronze | 2 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 1 red, 1 blue |
| Bones | Silver | 4 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 1 red, 2 blue |
| Bones | Gold | 7 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 1 red, 3 blue |
 | Skull | Bronze | 3 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 1 red, 1 blue |
| Skull | Silver | 5 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 1 red, 2 blue |
| Skull | Gold | 8 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 1 red, 3 blue |
 | Heart | Bronze | 5 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 1 red, 1 blue |
| Heart | Silver | 9 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 1 red, 2 blue |
 | Heart | Gold | 13 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 1 red, 3 blue |
 | Brain | Bronze | 8 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 1 red, 1 blue |
| Brain | Silver | 10 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 1 red, 2 blue |
 | Brain | Gold | 13 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 1 red, 3 blue |
 | Guts | Bronze | 9 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 1 red, 1 blue |
| Guts | Silver | 11 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 1 red, 2 blue |
 | Guts | Gold | 13 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 1 red, 3 blue |
Embalming
Embalming adds or trades skulls without surgery. Solutions and injections are made at the Formulation Bench and applied at the Embalming Table I; the grade (I to III) comes from how well the solution was made.
Embalming mixes and what they do to a corpse's skulls.
| Mix | Red skulls | White skulls | Made from | Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Solution for Corpses I | 0 | +1 | 1 Melted Fat and 1 Preservative | 1 silver |
| Solution for Corpses II | 0 | +2 | 1 Melted Fat and 1 Preservative | 10 silver |
| Solution for Corpses III | 0 | +3 | 1 Melted Fat and 1 Preservative | 50 silver |
 | Solution for Zombies I | +1 | 0 | 1 Alcohol and 1 Preservative | 2 silver |
| Solution for Zombies II | +2 | 0 | 1 Alcohol and 1 Preservative | 12 silver |
| Solution for Zombies III | +3 | 0 | 1 Alcohol and 1 Preservative | 60 silver |
 | Injection for Corpses I | -1 | +1 | 1 Melted Fat, 1 Preservative and 1 Comet's Tail | 2 silver |
| Injection for Corpses II | -2 | +2 | 1 Melted Fat, 1 Preservative and 1 Comet's Tail | 12 silver |
| Injection for Corpses III | -3 | +3 | 1 Melted Fat, 1 Preservative and 1 Comet's Tail | 70 silver |
 | Injection for Zombies I | +1 | -1 | 1 Alcohol, 1 Preservative and 1 Comet's Tail | 3 silver |
| Injection for Zombies II | +2 | -2 | 1 Alcohol, 1 Preservative and 1 Comet's Tail | 13 silver |
| Injection for Zombies III | +3 | -3 | 1 Alcohol, 1 Preservative and 1 Comet's Tail | 80 silver |
Corpse tiers
Corpses arrive in tiers: tier 0 at the start, tier 1 after the quest Brawns and Brains and tier 3 after the quest The House at the Crossroads. The Prayer for Repose blessing adds 1 tier to arriving corpses while it lasts. Burying a corpse earns the certificate shown.
What each corpse tier carries.
| Tier | Red skulls | White skulls | Gold organs | Burial reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 0 | 0 to 1 | 2 to 4 | 0% | Burial Certificate I |
| Tier 1 | 1 to 5 | 1 to 5 | 4% | Burial Certificate II |
| Tier 2 | 2 to 6 | 2 to 6 | 15% | Burial Certificate III |
| Tier 3 | 3 to 7 | 3 to 7 | 20% | Burial Certificate III |
| Tier 4 | 3 to 7 | 3 to 7 | 20% | Burial Certificate III |
Tools for better organs
Autopsy questions
What does removing an organ do to a grave's score?
Removing a red-skull organ lowers the corpse's red skulls, so fewer of the grave's decoration points go to covering red skulls; a clean extraction also leaves the organ as an item. Removing a white-skull organ lowers the most the grave can score.
What causes a Surgeon's Error?
Too few of the operation's ticks succeeded. Each organ needs the Anatomy mastery shown in the table above. An Organ Restorer repairs the error afterwards.
Which skulls matter for a zombie?
Red skulls: each one opens a zombie perk slot. Red organs are added at the autopsy table, and Solution or Injection for Zombies at the embalming table changes the skulls without surgery.