Yeah the long chains/ "walls of doom" come at you every roughly 14-16 seconds, and only come out from one of the four cardinal direction so as long as ur in a diagonal you won't get caught by them
An elegant, symmetrical solution to Level IV: Litharge using two production lines and 41 cycles:
b,3,10;b,10,10;m,4,13,180,2,crorclolcrol;m,0,10,0,1,uucdwwwdlwro;m,8,10,180,3,rowwwwwwwwlc;m,14,10,180,1,wwwwwjuucdwwwdrwlo;m,8,6,270,1,wcuu1oddwwww;m,10,13,0,2,wwwwwjclolcrorclor;m,6,10,0,3,wwwwwjlowwwwwwwwrc;m,6,6,270,1,wwwwwjwcuu2oddwwww;
My solution for level 3: Yohimbe. Focusing on lowering the amount of manipulators needed:
b,7,11;
b,1,11;
b,10,7;
c,5,8;
m,10,11,90,2,crolcdr1olucrr2orr;
m,4,11,90,2,crolcdr1olucrr2orr;
m,5,10,270,2,owdwwwwwwwwwwwwcuw;
m,7,7,180,1,cr22ru2lu22olddwww;
Level XIII ELixir of Life:
b,4,9;c,1,11;c,13,11;b,9,9;b,6,6;m,5,13,180,3,cdruol;m,1,9,90,3,wwcddlu22oru;m,13,9,90,3,wwjwwcddru11olu;m,9,13,0,3,wwjcdluor;m,7,9,180,2,crorclolwwww;m,3,6,270,2,wwcr22olwwww;m,1,3,270,1,wwcrolwwwwww;m,9,6,180,1,cruu2oddlwww;
Level XI Black Powder
c,1,9;b,5,7;b,9,11;c,11,13;t,5,11;t,7,9;m,13,11,90,1,wwcruodlwwwwww;m,7,11,90,1,crrrorw;m,10,8,90,2,wwwwwcd1u1owww;m,9,13,0,3,cddwwwwloruuww;m,10,7,90,3,crolwwwwwwwwww;m,1,11,90,1,cllollwwwwwwww;m,1,7,90,1,wwwwcluuoddrww;m,6,5,90,1,wwcllorrwwwwww;
Solution for Aqua Fortis:
c,13,11;b,10,9;c,1,11;t,3,9;t,1,7;b,5,9;m,8,9,0,1,wwwwwwwwwwcr22roll;m,13,9,90,3,cddllloluuwwwwwwww;m,10,13,0,2,wwcluodrwwwwwwwwww;m,6,5,90,3,wwcrrollwwwwwwwwww;m,1,9,90,3,cddrrruuorwwwwwwww;
Zack5777 figured out the code :) semicolons seperate objects. The first letter is the type of object: (Manipulator-m, glyph_of_Binding-b, Glyph_of_transmutation-t, Glyph_of_Calcination-c, Glyph_of_Duplication-d, Glyph_of_Projection-p) The first set of numbers are coordinates (from top right first is left to right, second is top to bottom, sits to the grid) On manipulators, the third number is degrees turned clockwise(0,90,180,270) the fourth number is number of times it is extended(1-3) The last bit are the commands (right-r, left-l, retract-d, expand-u, rotate_held_object_clockwise-1, rotate_held_object_counter-clockwise-2, wait-w, repeat_after-j) I hope this is interesting if not helpful, put near top if gets too low!
An extremely complicated way to do lvl. 1
180 symbols, 221 cycles, 15 manipulators
m,9,13,180,3,cddlllorrruu;m,1,7,270,2,clulordrwwww;m,5,11,180,3,clddouurwwww;m,4,4,90,2,crolwwwwwwww;m,5,12,0,1,crruodllwwww;m,7,7,90,1,crrrolllwwww;m,11,13,270,3,cddroluuwwww;m,10,3,0,3,clldourrwwww;m,12,3,90,2,clldourrwwww;m,2,9,90,2,cdroluwwwwww;m,4,9,180,3,cddroluuwwww;m,10,6,90,3,cddloruuwwww;m,9,9,90,1,crorcrorwwww;m,13,10,90,2,curdorrrwwww;m,14,1,180,1,clorwwwwwwww;
Brimstone - level 8
Using only 6 manipulators and 80 symbols
t,3,8;t,11,8;t,11,6;c,1,10;c,13,10;b,6,10;b,7,8;t,3,6;m,7,13,0,3,wwwwwwwwwwcdloru;m,11,10,90,2,cdloclocuuocdlol;m,3,10,90,2,crdocrocuuocdror;m,7,6,90,3,cddouuww;m,8,6,90,3,cddouuww;m,6,5,90,2,wwwwcdll11orruww;
 "Colourshift"){kind=icon}
 "Microbe Chain"){kind=icon}
 "The Codex of Alchemical Engineering"){kind=icon}
 "The Codex of Alchemical Engineering - Magnum Opus Challenge"){kind=icon}
 "Neon Maze"){kind=icon}
 "Red Moon"){kind=icon}
 "Bars of Black and White"){kind=icon}
 "25 Boxes"){kind=icon}