Last War Arms Race Guide: Phases, What to Save and When to Spend (October 2026)

For Last War players who want every Arms Race chest without wasting speed-ups, and for spenders who want packs to count twice. Checked October 2026.

Short answer: Arms Race splits each day into six 4-hour phases, each scoring one activity: building, troops, research, drone and stamina, or heroes. Every phase has 3 chests worth 1, 2 and 3 Badges, and the daily chests open at 2, 8 and 18 Badges. Save speed-ups, Hero EXP and tickets for their matching phase.

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Arms Race is the daily event that decides whether your speed-ups pay once or twice. The rule is simple: do the work any time, but finish it inside the matching phase. Below are the phases, what scores, the thresholds, and what to hold for each.

How Arms Race works

• Open it from Events, then Arms Race. The calendar icon at the top right shows the phase order.
• Each day has six phases of 4 hours. Phases start at the same time on every server.
• Point targets and rewards scale by HQ level. For example, the first chest needs 1,000 points at HQ 10 to 12 and 15,000 points at HQ 31 to 35.
• Each phase has 3 chests: 1, 2 and 3 Badges, so 6 Badges per full phase.
• Daily rewards open at 2, 8 and 18 Badges (blue, purple and gold chests). 18 Badges means all chests in 3 phases.
• The top 3 in the daily ranking get extra chests.

What scores in each phase

Buying Diamond packs scores in every phase. Skill medal upgrades and drone part synthesis score nothing in Arms Race, so do those during the Alliance Duel instead.

Stage Swap

Once a day you can swap a phase to a later slot. It swaps the targets, points and chests, so your progress in that phase goes back to 0. Use it only when you are not ready, for example when your research will not finish until the next Tech Research slot.

How to get more from each day

• Pre-finish, then claim. Let buildings and research finish, but open the gift box or click the icon only during the matching phase.
• Speed-ups only in their phase. A construction speed-up used in Unit Progression scores nothing in Arms Race.
• Stack low tier troops and upgrade them in Unit Progression. Points count by the level they arrive at.
• Open phase chests early so you reach the 2, 8 and 18 Badge daily chests sooner.
• Line up with the Alliance Duel. When the VS day theme matches the Arms Race phase, the same action can score twice. The lastwartutorial author confirms this for Hero EXP on VS Days 1 and 4. Our Alliance Duel guide has the VS day themes.

Common Arms Race mistakes

• Opening finished buildings too early. Building power only scores when you open the gift box, so leave it for Base Building.
• Using Stage Swap after you scored. The swap resets that phase to 0, so decide before you start.
• Upgrading skill medals or drone parts for Arms Race. Neither scores here. Keep them for the Alliance Duel.
• Spending Hero EXP in small amounts. It only scores when you use at least 2,000 at a time.
• Chasing all six phases. 18 Badges, the top daily chest, only needs three full phases. Pick the three you are best stocked for.

For spenders and R4/R5 leaders

• Buy packs inside a phase you still need. Diamond pack purchases score in every phase, so a pack bought in a phase where you already hold all 3 chests gives nothing extra for Arms Race.
• Best double window: Hero EXP used during Hero Advancement on VS Days 1 and 4 counts for both events. That is the time to open Hero EXP from packs.
• Time your top-up. Load credits the day before. The pack should land before the phase you are aiming for, not after it ends.
• Research spenders: hold research speed-ups for Tech Research phases. See our research guide for what to research first.
• Free first: link Last War ID for 1,000 ID Points on activation and 50 per weekly task.
• Leaders: post the day's phase order with the VS day theme each morning. One line saves members a lot of wasted speed-ups.

Sources: lastwartutorial Arms Race, cpt-hedge VS Points calculator.

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Where Packsify fits

Arms Race rewards packs bought at the right hour, so load credits before the phase you want them to count in. With Packsify you pay about 19 to 22% less than the in-game price (about 35 to 38% if you pay in EUR). Packsify buys the exact pack through the official Apple App Store or Google Play. Read how we keep accounts safe before your first order.

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More Last War guides: Alliance Duel guide, best Last War packs to buy, Last War research guide.

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