Wand & Order Walkthrough: All Three Zones
Quick answer
The shortest useful route through all three zones, with links to the problem-specific guides.
The game has three large jobs, but every zone follows the same loop: learn the room's grouping rule, build one correct shelf or display as a reference, use spells to reduce repeated searching, and finish the cleaning checklist before moving on.
Fast route
| Step | Zone | Main sort | Do not leave before checking |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Archives | Tarot decks and Major Arcana | Both rooms, every shelf gap, and all cleaning progress. |
| 2 | Wand Workshop | Wands by the current cabinet and case clues | Ground floor, upper floor, side spaces, and remaining cleaning. |
| 3 | Alchemy Lab | Potions and ingredients in tins, jars, and bottles | All floors, passages, railings, alcoves, and task icons. |
Steam describes about 470 items in the Archives, about 1,300 in the Wand Workshop, and more than 2,200 in the Alchemy Lab. That scale makes a repeatable search pattern more useful than carrying random objects across the room.
The sorting loop that works in every zone
- Pick one visible item family instead of clearing the nearest pile at random.
- Read the held item name and compare it with the labels or examples already on the destination display.
- Complete one trustworthy row or shelf so it becomes a visual reference.
- Use Alchemical Vision when you need to locate the rest of a known set.
- Use Magnetic Vacuum when matching items are close together.
- Use Auto-Place Magic when carrying items to the correct display is the bottleneck.
- When progress stalls, run the missing-item search route rather than rechecking the same central pile.
- Verify cleaning progress separately; sorting completion does not replace sweeping, frames, plants, or other room chores.
Zone 1: The Archives
Start by separating Major Arcana from the four Minor Arcana suits: Cups, Wands, Swords, and Pentacles. Then work one deck treatment at a time. Current-build color and trim matter, and Hotfix 1.1 changed Zone 1 grouping and presentation, so an older screenshot may show an obsolete shelf rule.
Use the Tarot Sorting Guide for the card workflow and the Major Arcana Guide when those cards are blocking completion.
Zone 2: The Wand Workshop
Use the existing cabinet, case, material, and school clues before trusting appearance alone. Establish a correct reference case, collect matching wands in short loops, and check the upper floor and edges of the workshop whenever the central floor looks clear.
Open the Wand Workshop Guide for the room-by-room checklist.
Zone 3: The Alchemy Lab
Treat container type as the first filter: tins, jars, bottles, potions, and ingredients can look similar from a distance but belong to different displays. Work floor by floor and finish one container family before changing levels.
Open the Alchemy Lab Guide for the multi-floor search pattern.
When the completion counter will not move
- Check whether the remaining task is cleaning rather than sorting.
- Search behind furniture, on stairs and landings, along railings, inside alcoves, and on upper galleries.
- Hold an item from the missing family before using Magnetic Vacuum.
- Use Alchemical Vision for a set you have already identified.
- Revisit any nearly complete shelf; a visually full row can still contain a gap.
- If items are not rendering, use the Invisible Items Fix.
Current patch note
Hotfix 1.2 stopped powers from recharging while the game is paused. Do not build a timed or achievement route around waiting in the pause menu.