Research is arguably the most significant progression mechanic in Last War: Survival. With equipment, heroes and buildings, the chances of needing to spend further research points to level it back up later are slim but every point invested in research permanently upgrades all the heroes on your account exponentially over time. Prioritise researching the right way or you may stagnate for weeks of your life. From free players to high spending players looking to push the hardest content this is the list for you on research priority order.
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Why Research Priority Matters
While research nodes don’t expire and all give passive increases to the base stats, no technology trees are equal in value. Some boost the rates of production, building and research – increasing the speeds of all other systems in the game while other increase the raw strength of armies. As the time required to research becomes prohibitive, it makes a massive difference if the right trees are started first. We want research that has benefits to every other tree in the game over raw damage output.
Priority 1: Development Research
For nearly every player, Development should be the first major tech tree to focus on.
Within this branch is arguably the most valuable research in the game, offering huge boosts to research and construction speed that will benefit all your subsequent buildings and tech for a lifetime of your account.
Key technologies to prioritize include:
- Research Enhancement
- Fast Builder
- Master Craftsman
- Extra Barracks
- Drill Ground Expansion
The earlier you unlock these bonuses, the more value they provide.
Priority 2: Economy Research
Once you have laid your Development base, you must look into making Economy your focus. Resources are crucial to growth in Last War: Survival. All building advancements, troop training and research projects are extremely heavy on resources such as Food, Iron and Gold.
This can be improved by investing into your Economy Research to increase passive resources production as well as unlocking even more resource-providing structures.
Several veterans suggest building additional Farmlands, Mines and Refineries immediately after they are available as they will generate resources every single day that you log on.
Priority 3: Garage 1
Garage 1 is probably the top power invest for you after account establishment. Garage research powers up your primary squad and gives tremendous returns on investment, and plenty of old timers suggest maxing out garage one prior to investing resources into garage two and three as your primary squad covers the majority of PvE, PvP, and event content.
Priority 4: Alliance Duel (VS) Research
Alliance Duels are one of the game’s most worthwhile research branches.
The research has the catch that you will need to invest Valor Badges but given how many Alliance Dual events are in the game, the rewards gained from investing heavily in them can have an amazing effect on long-term account progress. The key upgrades are the ones that enhance event reward quality and research progression speed which is where Alliance Duels come in by way of Advanced Rewards & Super Bonus. The efficiency of Alliance Duel investment makes a huge ROI and is often the research high levels players invest Valor Badges in as soon as they receive them.
Priority 5: Special Forces (The Road to T10 Troops)
Special Forces becomes the primary focus during the mid-to-late game.
This research tree eventually unlocks T10 troops, one of the largest power spikes available in Last War: Survival. Reaching T10 requires substantial resources, research time, and badge investment, but the payoff is enormous.
The most important Special Forces technologies typically include:
- Advanced Protection
- HP Boost III
- Attack Boost III
- Defense Boost III
- Unit X
Many experienced players recommend progressing toward these key unlocks as efficiently as possible while avoiding unnecessary side nodes.
Defense Fortifications: Unlock the Hospital First
While Defense Fortifications are usually thought of as a more mid/late-game option with not too many key items to rush. One tree section stands out as extremely good very early on; the first hospital expansion boosts your troop recovery dramatically and the one is almost always taken. After you get the extra slot on the hospital, not many players do much further than that in the defense tree for awhile.
Units Research
Unit research directly strengthens all your troops by providing attack/defense/health buffs. This resource will serve well and directly boost your performance but not as a first focus over Development, Economy, Alliance Duel and Special Forces upgrades. Many a player will sprinkle these points in slowly while they wait for big Special Forces buffs, or whenever they run out of points that can be used in other areas (especially to grab small badge increases if they're low). Load capacity doesn’t need an upgrade before combat upgrades though.
Intercity Truck Research
Intercity Truck research enables truck bonuses and efficient dispatching. While beneficial it often is the last tier to invest in due to its lower account value over time; as players only typically start researching intercity truck tech once higher-value trees have been completed or a player needs quick Alliance Duel scores.
The Importance of a Second Tech Center
The biggest long-term value purchase in this game is to buy a second Tech Center. With a second research queue, you double the pace of research you have to work on a given topic, meaning you can work towards a long term goal while working on a time-sensitive event at the same time. I've had tons of veteran players tell me it's among the most useful things to spend real money on. This includes running Economy/Development research on one and Alliance Duels/Special Forces research on the second.
Recommended Research Order
For most players in 2026, the optimal research path looks like this:
- Development
- Economy
- Garage 1
- Alliance Duel (VS)
- Special Forces
- Defense Fortifications (Hospital First)
- Units
- Intercity Truck
This progression provides the strongest balance between account growth, event rewards, and combat power.
Conclusion
The most efficient approach to research in Last War: Survival entails the prioritization of multiplicative growth before combat strength. Dev and Economy researches make every thing else happen more quickly, whereas Garage 1, Alliance Duel and the Special Forces are what enable the account long term strength and will permit you to unlock T10 troops some time in the future. Following a systematic research order will ensure you rise very rapidly compared to anyone placing resources in research hit and miss, be they trying for Alliance Duels competitive position or seeking out T10 troops as quickly as possible. LootBar offers discounted Last war top up and for over 200 supported games/apps with fast delivery and safe transactions.
