Getting started

A starting framework for F2P players approaching the research tree for the first time. The advice below assumes long research timers without speed-ups and focuses on the research order that pays itself back fastest.

TL;DR

• Chase combat research only as far as your active troop tier; deeper unlocks are wasted
• Prioritize research that reduces other costs or times before research that adds raw stats
• Keep the research lab running on something — a 12-hour research finished is better than a 36-hour one started and abandoned
• Don’t spend speed-ups on research; they’re worth more on building or training

What to focus on first

Open with the economy branch nodes that reduce gathering, training, or building time. These are compounding — a 5% reduction in gathering time pays back across thousands of resource pulls over the months you’ll be at this level.

Combat research follows your troop tier, not your ambitions. Researching tier-N+2 combat tech when you’re training tier-N troops just stores power you can’t use yet.

What to skip

Skip the deepest combat nodes until you’ve capped the cheaper ones. Research costs scale steeply, and the marginal % gain often shrinks faster than the cost grows.

Where F2P time pays off

Run research overnight. A 16-hour overnight research with the queue refilled in the morning gives 24+ hours of progress per real day — the F2P way to keep pace.

A starting framework for Spenders working through the research tree. The advice below assumes you can pack-skip when it matters and focuses on knowing which research is worth skipping vs. running normally.

TL;DR

• Pack-skip research that gates other progress; let standalone research run
• The combat research that unlocks your next troop tier is the highest-ROI skip
• Don’t pack-skip economy research — it pays back via time, not progress
• Keep speed-ups for research events; they often double their effective value there

First moves

Identify the research that’s blocking something else. A combat node that gates the next troop tier, a building node that gates a wall upgrade — these are worth skipping because skipping unlocks compounding benefits downstream. Pure-stat research isn’t.

Where the wallet pays off most

• Skipping research that gates a tier-up
• Research event packs that grant resources at boosted rates
• Permanent research speed bonuses (where the game offers them)

Common traps

Pack-skipping a long economy research that has no downstream gate just buys you the stats earlier — but the stats were going to arrive anyway. The dollars spent on the skip are better used on a different research that’s actually blocking something.