Conan Exiles Tar: Recipes, Unlock and All 32 Uses
- ๐ข๏ธ What Tar Is in Conan Exiles
- ๐ฅ Every Conan Exiles Tar Recipe
- ๐ Unlocking Conan Exiles Tar at the Alchemist's Bench
- ๐งช Conan Exiles Tar From Oil
- โ๏ธ All 32 Uses for Conan Exiles Tar
- ๐งฎ Conan Exiles Tar Math: Cheapest Route to 50
- ๐ก Tips for Producing Conan Exiles Tar
- โ Conan Exiles Tar FAQ
Conan Exiles Tar comes from four sources: as a byproduct at the Tannery, from 25 Coal in the Fluid Press, from Resin or Oil plus Raw Ash at the Alchemist's Bench, and from Pure Sorcerous Lifeblood in the Firebowl Cauldron. You can't skip it if you want steel, golems or explosive ammo.
This guide covers every recipe with amounts, how to unlock them, all 32 recipes that consume Tar in Enhanced, and our own math on which route gets you 50 units for the lowest cost.
๐ข๏ธ What Tar Is in Conan Exiles
All values come from the game data database conanexiles.th.gl, which tracks Conan Exiles Enhanced. According to the item description, Tar is made by dry-heating bark and is a byproduct of tanning. One stack holds 500, and each unit weighs 0.1.
You can't harvest Conan Exiles Tar anywhere. Besides the recipes, the database lists drops: skeletons and other undead have a 1.3 percent chance to drop 5 to 15, and some bosses drop it at 1.6 percent. Don't plan your supply around that.
๐ฅ Every Conan Exiles Tar Recipe
The database lists one base recipe, three alternates and the Tannery byproduct. Amounts, stations and craft times are taken from the individual recipe pages:
| Method | Ingredients | Output | Station | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tanning | 3 Hide | Leather plus byproduct | Tannery | 10 s |
| Pressing Coal | 25 Coal | 1 (community figure) | Fluid Press | 30 s |
| Resin and Ash | 10 Resin, 10 Raw Ash | 2 | Alchemist's Bench | 10 s |
| Oil and Ash | 20 Oil, 5 Raw Ash | 2 | Alchemist's Bench | 30 s |
| Lifeblood | 100 Coal, 1 Pure Sorcerous Lifeblood | 50 | Firebowl Cauldron | 10 s |
Gaps in the data: The database gives no yield for the Tannery or the Fluid Press. GamerGuides says 1 per craft, and players on the Funcom forum were already quoting 25 Coal for 1 back in 2019. Thick Leather made from Thick Hide also produces Tar as a byproduct according to the database, again with no amount listed.
Tannery: Tar on the side
The database lists the Tannery at 200 Stone, 100 Wood and 50 Bark, unlocked through the Tanner knowledge. It names Bark as fuel. If you're making leather for armor anyway, you collect Tar here with no extra effort. Our guide to Hardened Leather explains how much leather the endgame sets need.
Fluid Press: Tar from Coal
The Coal recipe at the Fluid Press doesn't need its own knowledge. GamerGuides says the press unlocks at level 28. So it's available early, but it burns a lot of material: 25 Coal for a single Tar.
๐ Unlocking Conan Exiles Tar at the Alchemist's Bench
According to the database, the base recipe with Resin and Raw Ash is learned through the knowledge Transmutation: Metal. It sits in the Sorcery tab, costs 3 knowledge points and requires Pure Transmutation. The database doesn't list a level. The same knowledge also unlocks Oil, Resin, Goldstone, Silverstone and Obsidian.
If you skip Sorcery, thralls are the way in. The database lists the recipe as a bonus recipe of 46 NPCs, including Rokur the Alchemist and Ansgar Blackfinger. Our list of all thrall professions shows how alchemists work as thralls. The database names no unlock for the Oil version.
The cauldron route depends on Pure Sorcerous Lifeblood. The database says it's brewed in the Firebowl Cauldron from 6 Diluted Sorcerous Lifeblood and 50 Coal, yields 2 and is learned through Pure Transmutation. You make the Diluted Sorcerous Lifeblood at the Sacrificial Stone from 1 Sacrificial Blood, 5 Blood and 5 Ichor, which gives 10.
๐งช Conan Exiles Tar From Oil
Oil converts into Tar, but at a steep price: 20 Oil and 5 Raw Ash give 2, so 10 Oil per Tar. That same Oil would cover two Hardened Leather, which cost 5 Oil each according to our Oil guide. The Oil route only makes sense if you're sitting on a big surplus. How to farm Oil is covered in the Oil guide; here we only look at what you do with it.
โ๏ธ All 32 Uses for Conan Exiles Tar
conanexiles.th.gl lists 32 recipes in Enhanced that consume Tar. Amounts come from the individual item pages:
| Recipe | Tar | Other ingredients | Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steelfire | 1 or 2 | Brimstone | Firebowl Cauldron |
| 15 Guardian Tar parts (Head, Torso, Leg) | 40 each | matching Guardian part | Golem Workbench |
| Burning Siege Boulder | 75 | 75 Stone | Trebuchet |
| Dyer's Bench | 50 | 50 Brick | Construction Hammer |
| Water Well | 50 | 60 Brick, 60 Shaped Wood, 42 Iron Reinforcement | Construction Hammer |
| Argossean Fountain #1 and #2 | 50 each | same as Water Well | Artisan Table |
| Pool of Refreshment | 25 | 200 Stone, 50 Stone Consolidant | Artisan Table |
| Oil Arrow, 5 per craft | 10 | Ironhead Arrow, 2 Glowing Essence, 4 Feather | Carpenter's Bench |
| Explosive Arrow, 10 per craft | 5 | Ironhead Arrow, Dragonpowder, 4 Feather | Carpenter's Bench |
| Explosive Jar | 5 | Earthenware Jug, Dragonpowder | Inventory |
| Grease Orb | 5 | Water Orb | Alchemist's Bench |
| Dark Dye Colorant | 3 | Water-filled Glass Flask | Dyer's Bench |
| Kindling Fire | 2 | 2 Wood | Artisan Table |
| Tan Dye | 1 (community) | Resin, Water-filled Glass Flask | Dyer's Bench |
| Warpaint - Snake and Warpaint - Emptiness | 1 (community) | Inking Brush, Plant Fiber | Dyer's Bench |
| Charcoal | unclear | Coal | Alchemist's Bench |
The golem parts belong to five Guardian lines: Stone, Iron, Crystalline, Iron Slag and Tarnished Iron. We checked the 40 Tar on two parts in the database, and GamerGuides lists the same amount for all of them. Our Golem guide explains how golems work.
Conflicting numbers for Steelfire and Oil Arrows
For Steelfire, conanexiles.th.gl lists the ingredients but no amounts. The community wiki on Fandom and the Enhanced database conanexiles.gaming.tools both give 1 Tar plus 1 Brimstone, while GamerGuides says 2 plus 1. We go with 1, same as our guide to Steel and Hardened Steel.
For Oil Arrows, the database shows 10 Tar for 5 arrows, GamerGuides only 5. We use the database value. Charcoal lists Tar as an ingredient, but the crafting chain only uses Coal, so check this in game.
๐งฎ Conan Exiles Tar Math: Cheapest Route to 50
This is our own calculation based on the database amounts. 50 Tar is exactly enough for one Dyer's Bench or one Water Well. Here's what each route costs, fuel not included:
| Route | Materials for 50 | Crafts | Station time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tannery | 150 Hide (at 1 per craft) | 50 | about 8 min |
| Fluid Press | 1,250 Coal | 50 | 25 min |
| Resin and Raw Ash | 250 Resin, 250 Raw Ash | 25 | about 4 min |
| Oil and Raw Ash | 500 Oil, 125 Raw Ash | 25 | 12.5 min |
| Firebowl Cauldron | 125 Coal, 3 Diluted Sorcerous Lifeblood | 1 plus Lifeblood | under 1 min |
For the cauldron we counted half a batch of Pure Sorcerous Lifeblood. One craft gives 2 from 50 Coal and 6 Diluted Sorcerous Lifeblood, and 50 Tar needs one of them. That's 100 plus 25 Coal. Per unit, you pay 2.5 Coal instead of 25 at the press, one tenth of the cost.
What the math shows: Without Sorcery, the Tannery stays the best way to get Conan Exiles Tar because you produce leather anyway. The Resin route is fast at the bench, but according to our Resin guide 250 Resin ties up almost three hours of Dryer time. Once you've learned Pure Transmutation, the cauldron is the cheapest way to large amounts.
Total demand: building each of the 27 recipes with a confirmed amount once costs 930 Tar. 600 of that goes to the 15 Guardian Tar parts, 225 to benches and wells, 100 to siege and ammo, and the last 5 to Dark Dye Colorant and Kindling Fire. At the press that's 23,250 Coal, at the cauldron about 2,330. All values assume default server settings.
๐ก Tips for Producing Conan Exiles Tar
- Tan instead of press: Keep Hide in the Tannery even when you don't need leather right now. The byproduct piles up.
- Save your Coal: 25 Coal for one Tar is the most expensive route without Sorcery. According to our Oil guide, Coal burns for 35 seconds in a furnace and does more good as fuel.
- Don't burn your Oil: The Oil route eats 10 Oil per unit. Cover your Hardened Leather first, then convert.
- Stock up for steel: Every Steel Bar needs one Tar through Steelfire. 100 bars means 100 Tar in storage.
โ Conan Exiles Tar FAQ
What's the easiest way to get Conan Exiles Tar?
The Tannery. According to the database, it drops as a byproduct when you tan Hide into Leather, and GamerGuides puts it at 1 per craft from 3 Hide.
How much Coal does the Fluid Press need?
25 Coal per craft, 30 seconds. Community sources give a yield of 1; the database shows no amount.
Which knowledge unlocks the alchemy recipe?
According to the database, Transmutation: Metal in the Sorcery tab for 3 knowledge points, with Pure Transmutation as a prerequisite. Alternatively, 46 alchemist NPCs know the recipe as a bonus.
Can I turn Oil into Tar?
Yes, at the Alchemist's Bench: 20 Oil and 5 Raw Ash give 2 Tar in 30 seconds. It's expensive, because the same Oil covers two Hardened Leather.
What needs the most Tar?
Guardian Tar parts at 40 each, the Burning Siege Boulder at 75, and the Dyer's Bench and Water Well at 50 each. For steel, the wiki says 1 per Steelfire is enough.
Checked against Conan Exiles Enhanced as of November 2026, patch 3.0.0 from October 6, 2026 and hotfix 3.0.1. Funcom has announced Part 3 of Legacy of the Giant-Kings for November 10, and it isn't covered here yet. Recipes, amounts, unlocks and item names come from the game data database conanexiles.th.gl. Steelfire also cross-checked with the community wiki on Fandom and conanexiles.gaming.tools. Marked as community figures: GamerGuides (Tannery and press yield, press level) and player posts on the Funcom forum.
