Last Z Survival Research Guide: What to Prioritize for Faster Progress

In Last Z: Survival Shooter, research isn’t just background noise. It’s one of the core systems that drives your power, speeds up your growth, and unlocks vital troop and base upgrades.

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Yet many players waste valuable speed-ups and resources on the wrong techs. Others overlook low-cost research that could dramatically boost their construction speed, troop output, or Alliance Duel score.

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Between Shelter Building, Elite Troops, Alliance Recognition, it’s easy to get overwhelmed…

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Should you prioritize training speed or combat buffs? Is it better to rush with two labs or save your badges for key moments? And which research gives the best return early on?

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This guide breaks down what to prioritize in the research lab based on your stage, how to unlock the best techs early, and how to build a plan that works whether you’re F2P or running two labs.

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Why Research Priorities Matter in Last Z

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Not all research is created equal. Some tech trees give you fast returns (like training or construction speed), while others look powerful on paper but burn through badges, time, and resources with limited payoff.

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Top players in Last Z avoid this trap by following one simple rule: Max the no-badge techs first. Here’s why:

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• They offer massive boosts early (10–30% construction and training speed)

• They don’t consume badges

• They take much less time to complete

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That means you can grow faster, save more, and hold your badges for when they matter most: Alliance Recognition, Hero Training, and Military Strategies.

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Let’s break down exactly which trees to focus on.

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1. Start Here: Shelter, Elite Troops & Allied Troops

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If you’re early in the game, or just unlocked your second lab, there are three research trees you should focus on before anything else: Shelter Building, Elite Troops, and Allied Troops.

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Shelter Building is easily one of the best starting points. A few quick upgrades here will give you a huge boost to your construction and research speed (up to +30% and +10%, respectively). And the best part is that you don’t need to spend any badges. It’s fast, cheap, and sets you up for smoother HQ upgrades down the line.

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Next up is Elite Troops, which is especially important if you want to train faster and promote units efficiently. Unlike Assembly Tech, which only affects one troop type at a time, Elite Troops gives universal training speed buffs and unlocks promotions for all three main troop types: Assaulters, Riders, and Shooters. Again, no badges needed.

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Then there’s Allied Troops, a solid secondary priority. It offers small but useful boosts to stats like HP, defense, and attack across your entire squad.

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It’s not as critical as Shelter or Elite Troops, but it’s great to queue up when your main lab is tied up or you want to round out your power gains without spending badges.

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If you’re running a two-lab setup, these three techs will keep your progress rolling without slowing you down, or draining your rarest resources.

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2. Second Priority: HQ Management > Rapid Growth

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Once you’ve finished the Shelter line, you’ll unlock a new path: HQ Management, which eventually leads to Rapid Growth. And trust me, both are absolutely worth your time.

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The progression is simple: max out Shelter Building first, which then unlocks HQ Management. Once that’s done, you’ll gain access to Rapid Growth.

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Neither of these research trees require badges, which is a huge plus, especially if you’re trying to scale quickly without burning through rare resources.

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These techs give you solid mid-game value. You’ll reduce your upgrade timers, increase your building efficiency, and free up your queues faster, which means more progress with less downtime.

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If you’ve got two labs running, a great strategy is to dedicate one to cycling through Shelter, HQ Management, and Rapid Growth.

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Let the other lab focus on higher-cost research that does require badges. It’s a clean split that keeps your momentum going without putting too much pressure on your resources.

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3. Use Badges Only Where They Matter: Alliance Recognition

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When it comes to badge usage, Alliance Recognition should be your first and main investment.

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Yes, it’s expensive. But it gives you massive stat boosts, ccontributes directly to Alliance Duel points, and unlocks monthly rewards (e.g. 10,000 badges for top-tier rankings).

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To get the most out of your badges:

• Time this research with Day 3 of Alliance Duel (also called Bednest Day)
• Finish high-cost nodes during ranking windows for extra rewards

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Holding off until the event can double your value while securing better placement for your alliance.

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4. What to Work On Next: Hero Training, Military Strategies & Fully Armed Alliance

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Once you’ve maxed out the Shelter line and made solid progress on Alliance Recognition, it’s time to look at your next big badge investments: Hero Training, Military Strategies, and Fully Armed Alliance.

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Hero Training is a great place to start. It boosts your overall hero performance and adds passive stat bonuses that make your entire squad stronger, especially helpful if you’re building around a core team.

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Military Strategies is another solid path. It gives meaningful stat buffs to your troops and includes things like Destruction Value, which is huge in the State Ruler event.

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If you’ve ever wondered how top players rack up big points just by knocking down buildings, this research is why.

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Then there’s Fully Armed Alliance, which leans more into survivability and support. It increases hospital capacity, adds troop attack and defense, and unlocks powerful effects like Annihilation, which causes enemy troops to die instead of just getting wounded in PvP. That can be a game-changer on Enemy Buster days.

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All three of these trees cost a decent chunk of badges, so go for the one with the lowest badge requirement per node first.

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Two-Lab Strategy: How to Optimize Parallel Research

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If you’ve unlocked a second research lab, congrats, that’s a game-changer.

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But running two labs efficiently isn’t just about keeping both busy. It’s about dividing the work smartly so you grow faster without burning through badges or speed-ups too quickly.

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Here’s what works best for most mid- to late-game players:

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Use Lab 1 for all the fast, badge-free trees, think Shelter Building, HQ Management, Rapid Growth, Elite Troops, and Allied Troops. These techs don’t require rare materials, they finish quickly, and they offer a ton of early value like faster building and training. Let this lab rotate non-stop.

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Use Lab 2 for your heavy badge trees, but only when the timing is right. That means Alliance Recognition, Hero Training, and Military Strategies, research that gives huge stat boosts but also costs more badges and takes longer to finish.

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If you’re planning around events (and you should be), start your big badge research right before Bednest Day (Day 3 of Alliance Duel). This helps you earn extra points for doing something you were going to do anyway, and it keeps your resources working double-duty.

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Having two labs is great but having a plan for both is what really sets strong players apart. Rotate your no-badge research continuously, time your badge-spend wisely, and you’ll grow faster than most players around you.

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How to Speed Up Research Without Wasting Resources

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Let’s face it: some research upgrades in Last Z can take hours, or even days. And while smart planning helps, there comes a point where speed-ups and resources start running low.

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If you want to accelerate your growth without overcommitting, it’s all about finding the right balance…

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Some players wait for event bonuses to stretch their value. Others join active alliances that provide more tech and speed-up support. And some explore alternative top-up methods that offer the same in-game packs, just at lower prices.

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No matter your approach, the goal is the same: progress faster without wasting diamonds, time, or badges.

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Want to explore ways to upgrade smarter and spend less?

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