Conan Exiles Oil: How to Farm and Make It (Complete Guide)

The most efficient way to get Conan Exiles Oil is the Alchemist's Bench: with a T3 alchemist, 1 Bark + 1 Ichor gives 5 Oil according to community guides. Simpler methods are the Fluid Press (seeds or fish) and a passive fish farm. By level 60 at the latest, when you need Hardened Leather, Oil becomes a bottleneck.

Oil is one of the most important resources in Conan Exiles, and many players underestimate how much a steady supply matters. Once you need Hardened Leather for epic armor, Oil limits your whole production. This guide shows every way to farm Oil, compares how efficient each one is and explains how to set up a fish farm that keeps producing while you are out adventuring.

What do you need Oil for in Conan Exiles?

Before we get to farming, here is what Oil is actually used for. The list is longer than most players think:

Hardened Leather is the biggest Oil consumer in the game. Each unit takes 5 Leather, 2 Thick Leather, 1 Alchemical Base and 5 Oil, made at the Tanner's Table (Enhanced, 2026). According to the Enhanced database, most epic armor pieces cost 20 Hardened Leather, some 10 to 25. A five-piece set therefore eats around 100 Hardened Leather, and you need roughly 500 Oil for that alone (250 to 625 depending on the pieces). That is the point where most players realize their small fish trap isn't enough. The full process is in our Hardened Leather guide.

No Oil for Insulated Wood: older guides list Oil as an ingredient for Insulated Wood. According to the Enhanced database conanexiles.gaming.tools, Insulated Wood is made at the Carpenter's Bench from Dry Wood and 2 Resin, without Oil.

Gear kits at the Tinker's Bench often need Oil. The Enhanced database lists for example the Simple Weapon Damage Kit (5 Oil), Weapon Damage Kit (10), Advanced Weapon Damage Kit (15), Grandmaster Armor Repair Kit (10) and Master Reinforcement Kit (20).

Black Dye for coloring armor takes 5 Oil and 1 Water-filled Glass Flask.

Fuel: according to the Enhanced database, Oil burns for 48 seconds per unit in the furnace, wood for 15 and coal for 35, so more than three times as long as wood. Still, burn coal and save your Oil for crafting. Coal is easier to farm and hardly needed for anything else.

Every method: how to make Oil in Conan Exiles

Method 1: seeds in the Fluid Press (beginner)

The easiest method to start with: collect every seed you get while harvesting plants, bushes and aloe. According to community guides, 15 seeds of any kind give 1 Oil in the Fluid Press. That sounds like little, and it is. But it involves no combat and uses resources you gather anyway.

Tip: equip a sickle if you farm seeds on purpose. You get noticeably more seeds per bush than with bare hands or an axe.

Unlocking the Fluid Press: according to the GamerGuides database at level 28 through the Fluid Press knowledge. Build cost per the Enhanced database: 50 Shaped Wood, 10 Twine, 10 Iron Bar.

Method 2: fish in the Fluid Press (intermediate)

Much more productive than seeds. The conversion rates according to community guides:

You catch fish with Fish Traps placed at water. Without bait they only catch Unappetizing Fish. With insects or grubs as bait, the chance of Savory and Exotic Fish goes up noticeably.

Method 3: the Alchemist's Bench with a T3/T4 alchemist (advanced)

By far the best method in the game: the Enhanced database lists an Oil recipe at the Alchemist's Bench from Bark and Ichor. According to community guides it needs an alchemist of tier 3 or higher (named) at the bench and gives:

1 Bark + 1 Ichor = 5 Oil

That is extremely efficient. According to community guides you get Bark by chopping trees with a pick instead of an axe. Ichor drops in large amounts from spiders, scorpions and corrupted creatures. A single spider cave gives you enough Ichor for hundreds of Oil.

Where do you find T3/T4 alchemists? Community reports name the three towers east of the Mound of the Dead and a Relic Hunter settlement in the west as good spawn points. Named alchemists (T4) spawn less often, but a T3 is enough for the recipe. How to capture thralls in the first place is in our thralls guide.

Method 4: harvesting creatures

According to community guides, some creatures drop Oil when you harvest them with a pick. Rocknoses are the best-known source, but they only give small amounts; the Enhanced database lists Oil as a 20 percent bonus drop on the Demonic Rocknose, for example. More in our Rocknose guide. This is a nice bonus while farming, not a reliable main source.

Efficiency compared: which method is worth it?

Here is how the methods stack up. The values are rough estimates of Oil per hour of playtime including gathering the materials, not official numbers:

The gap is huge: with a T3 alchemist you make more Oil in an hour than with fish traps in a whole day of play. That is why catching a T3 alchemist should be one of your first goals in the midgame.

A self-sustaining Oil farm, step by step

Until you have a T3 alchemist, a fish farm is the best passive solution. This is the setup community guides recommend:

Step 1, bait supply: build 6 to 8 Compost Heaps. Community guides use them as the bait source for the fish traps.

Step 2, fish traps: build 12 or more Fish Traps and place them along a river or the coast. More traps means more fish means more Oil.

Step 3, add bait: put the bait into the Fish Traps (two stacks of 50 per trap). With bait you catch a lot more Savory and Exotic Fish.

Step 4, Fluid Presses: build 3 to 5 Fluid Presses. Sort the fish by quality into different presses so you keep track and don't lose Exotic Fish in a pile of Unappetizing ones.

Step 5, keep the cycle going: when fish rot in your traps (it happens), throw them into the Compost Heap. This keeps the loop running as long as you collect regularly.

Result: a well-built fish farm with 12 traps makes about 50 to 80 Oil per hour of play, fully passive while you explore dungeons or expand your base.

Oil calculator: how much you really need

So you know what you are working toward, here is the Oil cost of typical projects:

One armor set plus a few kits quickly eats 500+ Oil. That is why steady production matters so much. Start producing early, even before you need the Oil.

Common Oil farming mistakes

Burning Oil as fuel: yes, Oil burns more than three times as long as wood. Use coal instead. It is easy to farm (pick on rocks in the highlands), also burns long and isn't needed for much else. Save your Oil for crafting.

Running fish traps without bait: without grubs or insects as bait, your traps catch almost only Unappetizing Fish. Ten of those for 1 Oil is very inefficient. With bait you regularly get Exotic Fish, and 1 fish = 1 Oil.

Building too few Fluid Presses: a single press is a bottleneck. Build at least 3, better 5, to process your catch quickly. The presses run in parallel, so more presses means faster results.

Putting off the alchemist: many players build huge fish farms when a single T3 alchemist solves the problem. 1 Bark + 1 Ichor = 5 Oil is so efficient that you barely need your fish traps once you have the alchemist.

❓ FAQ about Conan Exiles Oil

What is the fastest way to farm Oil?
The Alchemist's Bench with a T3/T4 alchemist: 1 Bark + 1 Ichor gives 5 Oil according to community guides. That way you make more in an hour than with fish traps in a whole day of play.

How do I build a passive Oil farm?
Compost Heaps as a bait source, 12+ Fish Traps with bait and 3 to 5 Fluid Presses. That gives roughly 50 to 80 Oil per hour without you having to be there.

How much Oil do I need for an epic armor set?
About 500. According to the Enhanced database, most epic armor pieces cost 20 Hardened Leather, so a five-piece set needs around 100 (50 to 125 depending on the pieces), and each one costs 5 Oil.

At what level can I make Oil?
From level 28 with the Fluid Press. The Alchemist's Bench recipe works as soon as you have captured a T3 alchemist.

Summary: the best path to unlimited Oil

Levels 1 to 28: collect seeds on the side and keep them. You don't need Oil yet.

Levels 28 to 40: build a Fluid Press and process your seeds. Set up 6 to 8 Fish Traps and start your first fish farm.

Levels 40 to 60: make catching a T3 alchemist your priority. Farm spider caves for Ichor and collect Bark while chopping wood. From now on your Alchemist's Bench makes more Oil than you can use.

Level 60+: you need lots of Oil for Hardened Leather and gear kits. Keep the alchemist running and build a stock of 500+ Oil before you start on epic armor. For an overview of every material, see our resources guide.

Oil is something you need for the whole game. Start production early and you'll never run short in the endgame. With the right alchemist, the old bottleneck turns into a resource you have plenty of.

Checked against Conan Exiles Enhanced with Hotfix 3.0.1 as of October 2026. Verified in the Enhanced database conanexiles.gaming.tools: the recipes for Hardened Leather (5 Leather, 2 Thick Leather, Alchemical Base, 5 Oil), the Hardened Leather cost per armor piece, Insulated Wood, Black Dye, the Oil cost of the kits, furnace burn times, the Fluid Press build cost and the Oil recipe from Bark + Ichor at the Alchemist's Bench (the database gives neither the 5 Oil yield nor the T3 requirement; both come from community guides). Seed and fish amounts for the Fluid Press, alchemist spawn points, Oil per hour and the fish farm setup are community figures and not officially confirmed.