In the current update of Dead Rails, the developers introduced a liquid system that lets players mix different liquids to create Potions. You can then drink these Potions to gain various buffs and perks that will help you on your journey. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to get all Potions in Dead Rails, where to find the ingredients, and what each potion does. Whether you’re looking for healing, fire damage, or full-on necromancy, this is your starting point.
All Potion Effects and Recipes in Dead Rails
The table below lists all the potion recipes in Dead Rails, along with the ingredients you’ll need to make them. Crafting is simple: combine the right substances on the ground, then use an empty Glass Bottle to scoop up the mixture. Be quick, as they evaporate fast once exposed to the air.
| Potion | Potion Recipes | Effect |
|---|---|---|
 |
Unicorn Blood + Blood |
Angel Tears can heal all injuries almost immediately. |
 |
Unicorn Blood + Kerosene |
Once ignited, it rapidly engulfs the entire area in flames. Best used by the Arsonist class. |
 |
Unicorn Blood + Water |
It very quickly kills all enemies around you with green flames, while allied players remain unaffected. |
 |
Unicorn Blood + Milk |
Corpses soaked in Primordial Soup will come back to life and fight on behalf of the player. |
As we can see here, all Potions in Dead Rails require you to have Unicorn Blood. Once you have Unicorn Blood, you will have to combine it with different liquids to produce different Potions. We will explain in detail how to acquire all of these materials and liquids in the section below.
How to Make Potions in Dead Rails
There are four potions you can find in Dead Rails: Angel Tears, Devil Tears, Holy Water, and Primordial Soup. To make them, you’ll need to mix different ingredients and store the result in Glass Bottles, which you can collect while exploring.
Some key ingredients you’ll need are Water, Milk, Blood, Kerosene, Zombie Blood, and Unicorn Blood. Most of these can be found while scavenging, though Zombie Blood and Unicorn Blood must be collected from the bodies of the undead or unicorns. Here is a list of all ingredients:
| Ingredient | How to Get |
|---|---|
| Water | Obtained in a bottle during Rainy Weather. |
| Milk | You can get it by searching houses in the Urban Town Areas or by choosing the Milkman Class at the start. |
| Blood | You can collect it by killing non-zombie NPCs and drawing their blood. |
| Kerosene | You can extract Kerosene by carefully draining it from a Molotov. |
| Zombie Blood | Obtained by killing any zombie and draining its blood. |
| Unicorn Blood | You can get it by either striking a liquid puddle with lightning or by collecting blood from a dead unicorn. |
To collect liquids in Dead Rails during draining or other specific events, you’ll need a Glass Bottle. This new item lets you store liquids in the game. You can find Glass Bottles all over the map, either empty or already filled with something. Just pick them up and toss them in your sack, then use them whenever you need. Once you’ve got empty bottles, just head over to any liquid puddles like Unicorn Blood, Normal Blood, or Rain, and press the LMB to fill them up. When you want to pour the liquid out, simply press F to spill it onto the ground as puddles.
Dead Rails Potion Tier List
Below is a Tier List of all Potions in Dead Rails, ranked by usefulness and split into the best for solo runs and the best for group gameplay. It goes well with our DR class tier list.
| Best with a Group | Best when Alone |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Angel Tears are, sadly, just a big Heal. They do not offer much more than that, and you can already heal with bandages. Holy Water is good, but its effect is just a worse Devil Tears, so it is near the bottom. The Primordial Soup is amazing for dealing with hordes of mutated and non-regular zombies, alone or with a group. And lastly, the Devil Tears are amazing for destroying large groups of zombies fast, and the Potion itself is not hard to craft.
And that is all for my Dead Rails Potions Guide. Check out our Dead Rails Codes for goodies that can help you get potions faster. Lastly, check out our challenge guide for DR.