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Home / Growth / Research Priority

Growth · Research Strategy

Research Priority

There is no longer one research order that fits every account.

The modern research system branches into T10, Field and troop specialization, Army Building and Tactical Master, badge-free Army Expansion, support-focused Age of Steel, and ultra-endgame Leader's Will. Build the same foundation first—then choose the route that matches your badge income and account goals.

21 research treesLow-spender routeHigh-spender routeT10 vs broad stats

SIN Command · Core Rule

Research toward a breakpoint, not a percentage.

1 Finish the badge-free foundation. 2 Build Alliance Recognition early. 3 Reach Urgent Rescue before expensive endgame branches. 4 Pick a late-game path instead of funding every tree at once.

BADGE ECONOMYYour income determines your route.

A player earning badges slowly and a player buying large badge packs should not follow the same endgame order. The first half of the guide is shared; the expensive branches are where strategy should split.

Everyone Starts Here

The shared research foundation

Before spending millions of badges on modern endgame trees, build the pieces that every account needs.

Foundation

New Home

Complete New Home. It is the base progression tree and feeds multiple later unlocks. Do not leave basic account development unfinished just because badge trees become visible.

Target: 100%.

Badge-free combat

Elite Troops

Push Elite Troops to completion. It gives useful troop and training upgrades without consuming badges and 100% completion unlocks Military Strategies.

Target: 100% → Military Strategies.

Best early badge engine

Alliance Recognition

If you play in an active alliance, make Alliance Recognition your main early badge investment. The Duel scoring and reward upgrades pay you back repeatedly, making every future week of progression more productive.

For most active players: finish this early.

High-value combat bridge

Military Strategies

Military Strategies is inexpensive compared with later badge trees and provides broad troop stats. Push to the important unlocks first, then come back and finish it as your badge economy allows.

15% opens Siege to Seize · 45% opens Peace Shield.

PvP survival

Peace Shield → Urgent Rescue

Once Peace Shield opens, Urgent Rescue is one of the strongest practical midgame targets because it reduces permanent troop-loss pressure in PvP. Reach and max it before chasing expensive endgame branches.

Priority node: Urgent Rescue.

Efficient side investment

Hero Training → Cockpit

Hero Training is a comparatively cheap badge tree. Reaching Cockpit is a useful checkpoint, and finishing the tree later is reasonable once Alliance Recognition and the key combat unlocks are secure.

Checkpoint: Cockpit · Full tree is only about 40K badges.

Badge-free development

Shelter Building → HQ Management → Rapid Growth

Keep the non-badge development chain moving whenever badges are tight. With two Labs, this is ideal parallel research while the other Lab handles badge trees.

Never burn badges just to keep a Lab busy.

Choose Your Route

Low / moderate spenders and high spenders should diverge

Both paths begin with the same foundation. The difference is how many expensive branches your badge economy can realistically support at the same time.

LOW / MODERATE SPEND

Protect badge efficiency

Finish meaningful checkpoints and avoid opening five long-term projects at once.

1
Finish Alliance Recognition
The long-term reward engine matters more when your badge income is limited.
2
Military Strategies 45% → Urgent Rescue
Secure the core combat bridge and troop-loss protection before endgame spending.
3
Hero Training to Cockpit, then finish later
The tree is cheap enough to provide useful account value without becoming a major badge sink.
4
Finish Military Strategies
It remains one of the better badge-to-combat-value trees available.
5
Take efficient stats from Siege to Seize / Peace Shield
Prioritize universal troop ATK, DEF and HP rather than buying completion percentage for its own sake.
6
Choose your long-term fork
At Lab 30 decide whether your next major commitment is T10 through Unit Special Training or broader incremental power through Field / Army Building.
7
If you unlock troop-specific research, pick ONE
After Field 100%, invest in the tree matching the troop type used by your main formation. Do not try to fund all three at once.
8
Use Army Expansion as badge-free background work
Once available, it costs no badges but has enormous timers and resource costs—excellent for a second Lab or low-badge periods, not something to speed-run casually.

HIGH SPEND / HIGH BADGE INCOME

Use parallel progression

Your advantage is the ability to open modern trees without abandoning the T10 path.

1
Finish the shared foundation quickly
Alliance Recognition, Military Strategies, Urgent Rescue and Hero Training still matter even when badge income is high.
2
Complete Siege to Seize and Peace Shield earlier
This opens Field and Army Building and gives you access to the modern late-game research network.
3
Start Unit Special Training when Lab 30 opens
T10 is still a major long-term milestone. Higher badge income makes it much more realistic to progress UST without abandoning every other branch.
4
Finish Field → specialize in your main troop
Field 100% unlocks Rider, Assaulter and Shooter Training. A single troop-specific tree costs roughly 1.44M badges, so start with the type used by F1.
5
Finish Army Building → evaluate Tactical Master
Tactical Master is broad and powerful but costs roughly 6M badges. It is a true endgame commitment, not simply the automatic next tree.
6
Run Army Expansion in parallel
It costs zero badges and adds troop capacity, troop-type ATK/DEF and training improvements, but its raw research time is enormous.
7
Treat Age of Steel as optional support research
It improves economy, healing, hospital capacity and development speed, but has no direct troop ATK/DEF/HP payoff. Buy it for a purpose, not because it appears.
8
Leader's Will is ultra-endgame
It requires Lab 35 and about 80% Tactical Master. This is whale/endgame territory and should not influence normal-account planning years earlier.

What the Math Changes

Badge costs are separated by orders of magnitude

The number that matters is not just how strong a tree is—it is what you are buying for the badges, time and resources required to reach the payoff.

Badge efficiency

Military Strategies is unusually cheap

80,116 badges

For roughly 80K badges, the completed tree includes broad Troop ATK/DEF, field and siege modifiers, troop HP and troop-type HP/training bonuses. Peace Shield or Siege to Seize each cost more than 3× as many badges; Field costs about 7.5× as many.

SIN Command read: That is why Military Strategies is worth finishing rather than treating it as only an unlock bridge.

Spend for a reason

Peace Shield and Siege to Seize are similar-cost forks

~267K each

Both branches cost a little over three Military Strategies trees. Peace Shield earns its early priority through Urgent Rescue and the path to Army Building. Siege to Seize earns its cost through offensive/mobility research and the path to Field.

SIN Command read: After the key breakpoint, buy the branch that advances your next actual goal—not whichever percentage bar is lower.

Late-war investment

Fully Armed Alliance is no longer a casual side tree

~493K badges

The current tree is roughly six times the badge cost of Military Strategies. Its value is concentrated in war-oriented nodes such as Annihilation, troop-type combat research and Move Out rather than early account acceleration.

SIN Command read: Low spenders should enter it for a specific node or war role, not simply because it unlocked early.

Support vs combat

Age of Steel has a very different return

1.079M badges · 1,355 raw days

Its payoff is support: up to +30% construction speed, +30% research speed, +60% healing speed, +1,500 hospital capacity, Reservist Camp capacity and production improvements. It does not directly add troop ATK, DEF, HP or damage.

SIN Command read: Excellent when those support systems are your bottleneck; a poor place to chase combat power while stronger combat trees remain unfinished.

Badges are not the only cost

Army Expansion is free in badges—not free

0 badges · 11,031 raw days

The full tree has been mapped at roughly 19.06B Electricity and 17.16B Zents. In return it can add +2,500 troop capacity, troop-type ATK/DEF, training speed/capacity and lower training resource costs.

SIN Command read: Use it as long background research. Treat research time, speedups and resources as the price tag.

Rally-lead endgame

Leader's Will is a role-based investment

~6.09M badges · 19,576+ raw days

Leader's Will adds team, faction, siege and Team-Up bonuses and finishes with Urgent Rally. Its grouped-combat effects matter most when the researched account is leading rallies or reinforcement groups; they are not the same as universal solo-fight stats.

SIN Command read: This is an ultra-endgame leadership tree—not a target ordinary accounts should budget around years early.

Why? Show me the math.Compare whole-tree badge costs against Military Strategies · Click to expand

Military Strategies is the baseline because it is a broad combat tree and costs only about 80K badges. The ratio column shows how many complete Military Strategies trees the same badge budget could buy. It is a cost comparison—not a claim that every tree gives the same kind of stats.

Tree	Approx. full badge cost	Cost vs. Military Strategies
Hero Training	~40K	0.5×
Military Strategies	80,116	1.0×
Peace Shield	~268K	3.3×
Siege to Seize	~267K	3.3×
Alliance Recognition	~357K	4.5×
Fully Armed Alliance	~493K	6.2×
Field	~600K	7.5×
Army Building	~750K	9.4×
Age of Steel	1.079M	13.5×
One troop-specific tree	~1.44M	18×
Unit Special Training	~1.49M	18.6×
Tactical Master	~6.0M	~75×
Leader's Will	~6.09M	~76×

Why this matters: Completing Military Strategies before casually spreading into late branches is not just an old rule of thumb. One troop-specific tree costs roughly eighteen times as many badges, and Tactical Master / Leader's Will are roughly seventy-five times the badge commitment.

Modern Research Map

What the newer trees actually change

These are the branches missing from many older Last Z priority guides—and the reason a single numbered list no longer works.

~600K badges

Field

Unlocked by finishing Siege to Seize. Its early combat nodes can give relatively quick power, while 100% completion opens Rider, Assaulter and Shooter Training.

Best use:Bridge into your main troop specialization.

~750K badges

Army Building

Unlocked by finishing Peace Shield. It adds another large layer of broad combat research and must be completed before Tactical Master appears.

Best use:Broad endgame stats and the Tactical Master path.

~1.44M each

Troop-Specific Training

Rider, Assaulter and Shooter Training unlock at Field 100%. These are enormous trees, so most players should choose the troop type used by their strongest formation first.

Best use:Deep F1 specialization.

~1.5M badges

Unit Special Training

The dedicated T10 path. It gives useful combat stats while progressing, but the final T10 unlock only arrives after the entire branch is completed.

Best use:Long-term T10 commitment.

1.079M badges · 1,355 raw days

Age of Steel

A support/economy tree that can add construction, research and healing speed, hospital/Reservist capacity and production improvements. It does not provide direct troop ATK, DEF or HP.

Best use:Advanced support accounts with a specific development or recovery bottleneck.

~6.0M badges

Tactical Master

Unlocked after Army Building 100%. It contains huge faction, troop, siege and broad combat bonuses—but its badge and time requirements put it well beyond ordinary progression.

Best use:Very high badge income / mature accounts.

0 badges · 11,031 raw days

Army Expansion

One of the newest trees. The mapped full cost is roughly 19.06B Electricity and 17.16B Zents, trading badges for an enormous time/resource wall while adding capacity and troop/training improvements.

Best use:Long-running background progression once unlocked.

~6.09M badges · 19,576+ raw days

Leader's Will

Requires Lab 35 and roughly 80% Tactical Master. Team-Up, faction, siege and broad combat bonuses make it powerful, with outsized value for accounts that regularly lead rallies or grouped defenses.

Best use:Ultra-endgame rally leads and very high-spend accounts.

Decision Points

The forks that actually deserve a decision

Community advice differs most at these points. That is because each choice trades a different kind of value—not because one side is universally wrong.

T10 first or Field / Army Building first?

There is real community disagreement here. UST gives the eventual T10 breakpoint, but it is a long 1.5M-badge campaign. Field and Army Building can provide quicker incremental combat gains, especially in their earlier nodes. Low spenders should consciously choose whether they value the long T10 destination or faster near-term stats; do not drift between all three and finish none.

Peace Shield or Siege to Seize?

Get Peace Shield far enough for Urgent Rescue first. After that, the choice becomes more play-style dependent. Siege to Seize leads to Field and troop-specific specialization; Peace Shield leads to Army Building and later Tactical Master.

Troop-specific tree or Tactical Master?

For almost everyone, one troop-specific tree matching F1 is the cleaner first specialization. Each troop tree is about 1.44M badges, while Tactical Master is about 6M. Tactical Master becomes more sensible for accounts with very high badge income and broad formations.

Age of Steel or Army Expansion?

They solve different problems. Army Expansion costs no badges and improves troop capacity/training/combat stats but consumes extraordinary time and resources. Age of Steel costs roughly 1.08M badges and is mainly support/economy research. For most combat-focused accounts, Army Expansion is easier to justify when a Lab is free.

Full Tree Reference

All 21 current research trees

Badge costs are intentionally rounded. Community databases sometimes differ slightly after game updates; use the live game screen as the final authority before a major spend.

Tree	Unlock	Badges	Role	SIN Command read
New Home	Lab 1	No badges	Foundation	Complete early. Basic economy, buildings and progression.
Shelter Building	Lab 5	No badges	Foundation	Development and shelter efficiency. Continue whenever badge income is low.
Elite Troops	Lab 8	No badges	Core	Troop stats/training. 100% unlocks Military Strategies.
Hero Training	Lab 8	~40K	High value	Cheap hero/faction stats. Cockpit is the common early checkpoint.
Alliance Recognition	Lab 10 + New Home 50%	~360K	Core	Alliance Duel scoring/reward engine. A top early badge priority.
Fully Armed Alliance	Lab 10 + New Home 50%	~500K	Situational	Contains Annihilation and combat bonuses. War-focused, but usually not an early low-spender priority.
HQ Management	Lab 14 + Shelter Building 100%	No badges	Foundation	Badge-free account development; leads to Rapid Growth.
Military Strategies	Lab 16 + Elite Troops 100%	~80K	Core	Broad troop value. 15% opens Siege to Seize; 45% opens Peace Shield.
Siege to Seize	Lab 18 + Military Strategies 15%	~270K	Core / bridge	Combat, mobility and siege value. 100% unlocks Field.
Peace Shield	Lab 18 + Military Strategies 45%	~270K	Core / bridge	Urgent Rescue is the key early target. 100% unlocks Army Building.
Rapid Growth	Lab 22 + HQ Management 100%	No badges	Development	Large badge-free growth tree. 50% later gates Army Expansion.
Field	Lab 22 + Siege to Seize 100%	~600K	Late-game bridge	Broad combat stats with relatively accessible early nodes. 100% unlocks all three troop-specific trees.
Army Building	Lab 25 + Peace Shield 100%	~750K	Late-game bridge	Broad combat research. 100% is required for Tactical Master.
Rider Training	Lab 25 + Field 100%	~1.44M	Specialization	Large Rider-specific combat tree. Prioritize only if Riders are central to your main formation.
Assaulter Training	Lab 25 + Field 100%	~1.44M	Specialization	Large Assaulter-specific combat tree. Prioritize only if Assaulters are central to your main formation.
Shooter Training	Lab 25 + Field 100%	~1.44M	Specialization	Large Shooter-specific combat tree. Prioritize only if Shooters are central to your main formation.
Unit Special Training	Lab 30	~1.5M	Endgame milestone	Dedicated T10 path. Strong stats on the journey, but requires a long badge commitment.
Age of Steel	Lab 30 + Season 1 Day 49	~1.08M	Support / optional	Unlocks support structures and improves production, healing, hospital capacity, construction and research speed. No direct troop combat-stat payoff.
Tactical Master	Lab 31 + Army Building 100%	~6.0M	Extreme endgame	Huge broad/faction/troop combat tree. Far beyond normal midgame planning.
Army Expansion	Lab 33 + Rapid Growth 50% + Season 2 Day 50	No badges	Badge-free endgame	Troop capacity, troop-type ATK/DEF and training improvements. Free in badges, extremely expensive in time/resources.
Leader's Will	Lab 35 + Tactical Master 80%	~6.1M	Ultra-endgame	Team, faction, siege and broad combat bonuses. Designed for accounts already deep into Tactical Master.

Lab Management

Two Labs change the schedule—not the priorities

A second Laboratory is valuable because it lets you progress badge-free and badge-heavy paths at the same time.

1×

One Laboratory

Keep it running continuously.
Use badges on the current target rather than spreading them randomly.
When badges run low, switch to Shelter Building, HQ Management, Rapid Growth or later Army Expansion.
Do not research a poor badge node simply because the Lab would otherwise wait.

2×

Two Laboratories

Use one Lab for the long badge project.
Use the second for badge-free development, short prerequisite nodes, or Army Expansion when available.
High spenders can eventually run two badge branches, but only when badge income actually supports both.
Research speed and resource supply become meaningful bottlenecks long before every tree is complete.
At Army Expansion / Tactical Master / Leader's Will scale, a second Lab does not remove the bottleneck—it simply gives you another place to spend speedups and resources.

Data snapshot · September 2026

This guide reflects the expanded modern research system, including Army Expansion and Leader's Will. Badge/resource/time totals were cross-checked against current community research databases and in-game-derived tables. Several databases differ slightly on some branch totals and unlock percentages, so rounded values are used where appropriate. When a live in-game requirement disagrees with this page, trust the game.

PAIR THE QUEUESBuilding Priority →Keep builders and research following the same focused-growth strategy. TIME THE BADGESAlliance Duel →Whenever practical, line major badge spending up with Age of Science scoring.