Research

by Joe

Research is done by the alliance and is generated by the tribes that have labs as a part of their build strategy. The tribes then invest their rps (research points) in the Research page, so that the elder can purchase it.

Understanding how research works

Research is determined by an alliances total rps invested in a branch and the total acres of the alliance. In the following table you can see how much research per acre (RPA) you need to get a certain research percentage:

We'll look how much time pumping decent research takes: Running 30% labs gives exactly 0.3 RPA per update, so to get max (25%) research you'll need 14.4 RPA / 0.3 = 48 updates. This only works if the whole alliance has 30% labs of course! Note that for 20% research you need only 9.9 RPA, which equals 33 updates with 30% labs. As you might notice, research at higher level is more expensive.

Decay

All research is decaying, and it is decaying really fast! The decay is dependent on the amount of research and on the amount of labs you run. Labs increase the decay, especially when research is at quite a high level already. However, running no labs at all, results in only 0.12 RPA decay per update (which is the minimum decay possible). Therefore, once you've maxed one branch it is wise to achieve the lowest decay by running no labs at all instead of trying to sustain it all the time. Without labs, it takes 37.5 updates for the research to decay from 25% to 20%. From 20% to 0% takes 82.5 more updates, making total decay take 5 days.

For the very interested, formulae for decay and research can be studied further.

Coordinating your research investment

It is obvious that research can be great, but it is also obvious that it's worthless if you pump research without using it! When you max a branch, make sure you make good of it!

The best strategy to max out a branch is to save all rps until you have enough, then invest and purchase it all. That way the research won't decay all the time, making the pumping a tiresome and inefficient process. After investing, raze labs and get the buildings you need to minimize decay and meanwhile fulfill your Machiavellian plans.

Combat research: use before warring

For example, invest in combat research and go to war! First pump the needed rp's, then convert to warmode and when the guilds and hideouts are filled you declare a war, purchase full research and strike quickly and hard! If you don't grow you have about a day and a half until your research gets below 20%, but it is also possible to pump some more rp's to lengthen this time. However, if your enemy did see you coming and strike first, things won't go this easy though... Pumping research means having secret plans! Keeping track of your enemies is important to see them come (and go :P). Striking before they are done with research pumping is almost always better than awaiting the storm getting over you! The least you can do is increasing your warding research.

Warding research: the “turtle” option

Warding can help an alliance to defend themselves a great deal against agressors. Decreasing damage and enhancing defences, this research branch makes survival chances a lot bigger for the besieged! However, if you still have to pump rps when you are declared and being killed, you are probably too late. One solution is to store a bunch of rps for times of need so one can invest in this research tree as much as possible when being declared. The stored rps might be targeted first though, so be careful and keep them secret. Another solution is to keep checking your enemies, since if they start pumping rps, they are probably planning evil... Or growth, which means you can catch them while they are exploring! Note that having more than 20% warding research makes Dwarves almost unkillable as long as they are online to rebuild their acres.

Economy: for effective growth

The last research tree, Economics, helps coordinated exploring within the alliance a lot. Citizens will replenish very quickly, and soldiers can be trained faster. Building markets to explore cheaply becomes cheaper, and exploring takes less citizens. An alliance can save lots of credits by efficiently using this research tree. Keeping it up all the time is probably not worth the labs, not to mention that it's asking for attention from more war-orientated alliances looking for juicy targets. For attacker alliances, this research is less useful, though the reduction to military costs can be helpful for pumps. Regardless, an alliance using this branch well can speed their growth up a lot!

Look up the bonuses for each branch: Combat, Warding, Economics.

Summary for elders

Research is important, and you need to coordinate your alliance for it to work. Having all tribes work together is a must.

1. Get your tribes to pump some efficient research (30% labs or more)
2. Make sure they keep their rps in their tribes
3. Set a time on when to invest the rps
4. Make everyone invest and raze their labs immediately afterwards
5. Purchase the desired research

I would advise stating any research plans in the elder message as well. Good luck!

Last updated: August 2010