In Probably Stolen - Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim, a Bottle of Reducing Agent is a Food and Drink item requiring two inventory cells. Several bottled chemicals share that category and size, so check the full label when organizing your stock. Chemistry machines have more specific requirements than inventory categories suggest. The Chem Finisher, for example, needs a selected recipe, the correct finished chemical, and a container with no water or alcohol remaining.
How do you identify Bottle of Reducing Agent?
Look for the exact name Bottle of Reducing Agent. Its inventory footprint is one cell wide and two cells tall, occupying two cells in total. The Food and Drink category also contains several other bottled solutions, making the item name more useful than its category for identification.
How does it compare with similar bottles?
These bottles share a category, and most also share the same storage dimensions:
| Item | Category | Inventory footprint |
|---|---|---|
| Bottle of Reducing Agent | Food and Drink | 1 × 2 |
| Bottle of Acidic Solution | Food and Drink | 1 × 2 |
| Bottle of Basic Solution | Food and Drink | 1 × 2 |
| Bottle of N-Methylol Base | Food and Drink | 1 × 2 |
| Bottle of Lipobond Agent | Food and Drink | 1 × 1 |
Bottle of Reducing Agent and Bottle of Basic Solution take up identical space. If you are checking a crowded inventory, read the full item label rather than identifying a bottle by its footprint.
Reducing Agent bottle details
What affects Reducing Agent's shop price?
Bottle of Reducing Agent has a base value, but shop pricing also depends on the difficulty's Retail Markup. The two easier settings add a percentage to base value; Thin Margins and Red Ink add no retail markup.
| Difficulty | Retail Markup |
|---|---|
| Price Gouge | +20% |
| Mark Up | +15% |
| Thin Margins | 0% |
| Red Ink | 0% |
Market events can also raise or lower prices. Stolen goods have another consideration: sellers offer heat-based discounts, while that heat makes the goods riskier to hold. Check the actual offer before treating any item's base value as your expected return.
A sale still needs to cover what you spent acquiring stock. The Probably Stolen shop economy guide explains how to separate sales revenue from profit and budget for your shop's expenses.
What does the Chem Finisher require?
The Chem Finisher processes finished chemicals into products such as pills and vials. Open its control panel, choose Configure, and select the product you want. Without a selected recipe, its status reads Status: No Recipe Selected.
The selected product determines both the chemical and the required volume. Check those requirements before preparing a batch:
| Finished product | Required chemical | Volume per product |
|---|---|---|
| Birth Control Pill | Contraceptive | 0.1 ml |
| Phanta Pill | Phanta | 0.5 ml |
| Zyanide Pill | Zyanide | 0.6 ml |
| Vial of Dream Dust | Dream Cap Extract | 2 ml |
| Vial of Nightmare Dust | Nightmare Extract | 4 ml |
| Nomore Injector | Nomore | 4 ml |
| Caffeine Pill | Caffeine | 5 ml |
The Chem Finisher also requires the input container to be completely dry. Having enough of the right chemical will not solve a container that still holds water or alcohol.
Configure chemical production
How do you prepare Dream Cap Extract?
Dream Dust provides a useful example of the preparation required before finishing a chemical. Each vial needs 2 ml of Dream Cap Extract, but the extraction process involves several machines:
- Blender: Put a liquid container, such as a Water Pitcher, into CONTAINER, add Dream Caps to INPUT, and press Start. Blending happens immediately.
- Heating Plate: Add liquid alcohol to the Dream Cap Mush. Use roughly three to six times the mush's volume in alcohol, then maintain 40°C to 60°C to produce the extract.
- Optional filtering: Use Kotton Fabric to filter the extract.
- Evaporator: Supply power and leave the container overnight. Continue until its water and alcohol have evaporated completely.
- Chem Finisher: Load the dry container, select the Dream Dust recipe, and collect the finished vial using the output control.
Rubbing Alcohol does not work as the extraction solvent because the item has no usable liquid content. Liquid alcohol supplies include Mini Alcohol Bottles, Nudka, and wine. The Evaporator requires 6 Energy per day, so allow for its power demand while preparing the batch.
Manage Dream Cap extraction
How do you unlock chemistry equipment?
The Retired Chemist upgrade in Wild's Network costs 1,000 base Favor and immediately awards a Chemist Starter Kit. The Retired Chemist then visits the next day and returns weekly to sell chemistry equipment and supplies. If you are choosing between contacts, the Probably Stolen early upgrades guide helps put that investment alongside other shop upgrades.
The Chemist Starter Kit includes the Blender, Heating Plate, Evaporator, and Chem Finisher, covering the machinery used in the Dream Dust preparation chain. It also includes the Chemistry Manual and a Composition Spectrometer, which can check purity.
Which upgrade rules matter for chemical machines?
The Chem Finisher uses the Chemical Equipment Module for upgrades. The Module Bay Expansion Kit, a one-use item that increases module capacity on compatible machines, does not work with Chemical or other special machines. Check compatibility before committing an upgrade item.
Specializations can also provide equipment at the beginning of a run. Their screens show starting items under START WITH. The Hydroponic Farmer can begin with farming equipment, supplies, and seeds, although its advanced start brings higher starting rent. Check the Probably Stolen starting specialization guide before choosing a start for its equipment.
For Bottle of Reducing Agent, begin with the exact item label and its 1 × 2 storage requirement. For Chem Finisher production, follow the selected recipe's chemical and volume requirements, then check that the container is fully dry before loading it.
