Research
Research is the progression system that unlocks new buildings and repeatable global bonuses. Research is performed globally for your kingdom and costs Science, so a completed research applies across all of your villages. Researches are organised into tiers (1 through 8), and almost every research has a prerequisite that must be completed first.
Overview
Each research has four defining properties:
- Tier: the research tier, from 1 to 8. Higher tiers cost more Science.
- Building village tier: the minimum village tier required to construct the unlocked building. The research itself is global and is not gated by village tier. Tier 8 researches unlock no building, so this property does not apply.
- Requirement: the prerequisite research. A research becomes available only once its prerequisite has been completed.
- Unlock: what completion grants. Tiers 1 to 7 unlock a specific building; tier 8 researches grant repeatable global bonuses instead.
The Science cost of a research is not fixed. It is computed dynamically from the research's tier, the player's level, and the server's elapsed time, so the cost a player sees in-game will differ from server to server and over the lifetime of a single server.
Pausing research
Ongoing research can be paused. The science progress for paused research is saved, but the cost isn't. If you obtain a higher tier, or the cost is reduced through server lifetime, the science required to complete a paused research will increase. Saved progress isn't affected by tiering up.
Research tree
Research dependency tree. Purple nodes have downstream dependencies; teal nodes are terminal (unlock a building but nothing else requires them); amber nodes are tier 8 global bonuses.
The tree branches from two tier-1 entry points, Town Defenses (the military / defensive line) and Apprenticeship (the economic / labour line), and fans out from there.
Tiers 1 through 7 each unlock buildings that cannot be constructed by any other means. Tier 8 does not unlock buildings; it contains repeatable global projects intended for the late game.
| Tier | Building village tier | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Village | Starter buildings (defence, crafting) |
| 2 | Village | Cavalry and organised labour |
| 3 | Town | Military, religious and administrative institutions |
| 4 | Town | Mechanised industry |
| 5 | Town | Advanced production |
| 6 | Town / City | Agriculture, deep industry, professional army |
| 7 | City | Sustainability and scholarship |
| 8 | N/A (no building unlocked) | Repeatable endgame bonuses |
Tier 1
| Research | Requires | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Town Defenses | — | Walls |
| Apprenticeship | — | Workshop |
Tier 2
| Research | Requires | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Riding training | Town Defenses | Stables |
| Organised Labour | Apprenticeship | Worker's Guilds |
Tier 3
| Research | Requires | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Smithing | Riding training | Armory |
| Divine Inspiration | Riding training | Temple |
| Bureaucracy | Organised Labour | Shift Office |
| Celestial Charting | Organised Labour | Observatory |
Tier 4
All three tier-4 researches depend on Smithing.
| Research | Requires | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Saw | Smithing | Sawmill |
| Prospecting | Smithing | Prospector |
| Stirrups | Smithing | Saddlemaker |
Tier 5
| Research | Requires | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Precision Mining | Mechanical Saw | Mining Guild |
| Literary Craft | Prospecting | Bookbinder |
| Craftsmanship | Stirrups | Siege Academy |
Tier 6
Tier 6 is the first tier where building village tier varies per research. Crop Rotations requires only a Town; the remaining three require a City.
| Research | Requires | Unlocks | Building village tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crop Rotations | Craftsmanship | Seed Vault | Town |
| Deep Excavation | Craftsmanship | Draining Engine | City |
| Blast Furnace | Craftsmanship | Blast Furnace | City |
| Professional Soldiers | Literary Craft | Military Academy | City |
Tier 7
All tier-7 researches require a City to construct their unlocked building.
| Research | Requires | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Forestry | Crop Rotations | Sustainability Office |
| Theological Scholarship | Crop Rotations | Monastery |
| Pedal-driven Loom | Deep Excavation | Wool Factory |
| Food Preservation | Blast Furnace | Food Preservary |
Tier 8: repeatable global research
Tier 8 researches do not unlock buildings. They grant global, repeatable bonuses, and each one can be completed multiple times, with the cost scaling on subsequent completions.
| Research | Requires | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Aether Survey | Forestry | Grants 1,000 Aether per completion. |
| Cultural Grants | Theological Scholarship | Grants a global improvement bonus per completion. Bonus stacks. |
| Engineering Studies | Pedal-driven Loom | Grants a global improvement bonus per completion. Bonus stacks. |
