How Last War Research Speed Works: Speedups, Timers, and Research Strategy
Understand how Last War: Survival Game research speed and speedups work. Learn how to calculate research time, prioritize speedup usage, and accelerate your base development.
Related Calculators
- Last War Research CalculatorEstimate Last War research time after research-speed bonuses, alliance help, and stored speedups.
- Last War Speedup CalculatorCombine speedup items, compare them with an adjusted timer and calculate the remaining time or surplus.
- Kingshot CalculatorEstimate Kingshot research completion time after Academy speed bonuses, help reductions, and speedups.
- Last War Event CalculatorEstimate event points from troops, research, building power, speedups and other point-generating actions.
- MapleStory EXP CalculatorCalculate EXP remaining, kills or actions required, and estimated training time from your own MapleStory values.
How Research Works in Last War
Research in Last War: Survival Game is a time-gated progression system. Each research unlocks upgrades for troops, heroes, building efficiency, and combat. Research time scales dramatically with tier — early research takes minutes; advanced research takes days or weeks.
Research Time Calculation
Base research time is displayed before starting. The actual time is:
Effective Research Time = Base Time × (1 − Research Speed Reduction %)
Research speed reduction comes from: - Research Center level: Higher level reduces research time - Hero skills: Research-focused heroes have speed buffs - VIP level: VIP bonuses include research speed - Alliance technology: Alliance research reduces member research times - Events: Limited-time research speed events
Example: 24-hour research with 35% speed reduction: Effective time = 24 hours × (1 − 0.35) = 15.6 hours
Speedup Types and Equivalencies
Speedups come in time increments: 1-minute, 5-minute, 15-minute, 1-hour, 3-hour, 8-hour, 24-hour, and universal speedups.
Universal speedups can be used on any timer (research, construction, training). Time-specific speedups are limited to their category.
Conversion: All speedup types are equivalent in total time: - 60 × 1-min speedups = one 1-hour speedup = 60 minutes applied
There is no benefit to hoarding smaller speedups over larger ones — 60 one-minute speedups are identical to one hour speedup in value.
Research Priority: Combat vs. Economy
Early game: Economy research first - Construction speed, resource production, march capacity - Enables faster base development and higher-tier unlocks
Mid game: Military research - Troop attack, defense, HP - T3 and T4 troop unlock research
Late game: T4/T5 unlock research - Hours to complete individually; strategic speedup expenditure required
Speedup Efficiency Strategy
Rule 1: Complete research before season end Research carries over between seasons but benefits don't accumulate until complete. Don't leave 20% incomplete at season transition.
Rule 2: Use speedups on high-value long researches One-minute speedups on 2-hour research uses 120 speedups. Save for major research tasks (24+ hours).
Rule 3: Research speed buffs compound If using a research speed hero ability during a speed event, the bonuses multiply rather than add. A 25% speed hero during a 30% event effectively gives ~47.5% reduction, not 55%.
Rule 4: Alliance research donation Alliance research benefits all members — donating resources to alliance tech is high-ROI for shared military speed buffs.
Calculating How Many Speedups You Need
Speedups needed = Remaining Time (minutes) ÷ Speedup Value (minutes)
For 72 hours of remaining research: 72 × 60 = 4,320 minutes Needed using 1-hour speedups: 4,320 ÷ 60 = 72 one-hour speedups
Related Guides
- Kingshot Research Speed and Speedups: How to Accelerate ResearchLearn how Kingshot research speed works, how speedups reduce research time, and which researches to prioritize for competitive base development.
- How to Plan Last War Research: Priority Research Path and Speedup StrategyCreate an efficient Last War: Survival Game research plan — which research trees to prioritize, how to spend speedups wisely, and how to sequence research for maximum base power.
- How to Use the Last War Event CalculatorLearn how Last War events work — event point systems, milestone rewards, ranking tiers, and how to use the Event Calculator to plan activities that maximize your reward efficiency.
- How ROTMG DPS Is CalculatedLearn how weapon damage, ATK, defense, shots, attack rate, accuracy and buffs combine in ROTMG DPS.
- MapleStory EXP Planning Guide: How to Calculate EXP Rates and Level TimePlan your MapleStory leveling journey with EXP rate calculations, mob EXP values, party bonuses, and time-to-level estimates from 100 to 275.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How does research speed affect research time in Last War?
- Research speed reduction is applied as a percentage of base time. At 40% speed reduction, a 10-hour research takes 10 × (1 − 0.40) = 6 hours. Speed bonuses stack from Research Center level, VIP, hero skills, alliance tech, and events. Check your total speed reduction in the Research Center info before starting major projects.
- What should I research first in Last War?
- Early game, prioritize economy research (construction speed, resource gathering, march capacity). This unlocks higher-level buildings faster. Once your base reaches mid-development, shift to military research starting with T3 troop unlocks and attack/defense bonuses. T4 research becomes the late-game priority for competitive play.
- Are universal speedups better than research speedups?
- Universal speedups are more flexible — they apply to construction, training, AND research. Time-specific speedups have the same time value but limited application. Save universal speedups for whichever queue needs them most urgently. There's no time-value difference between equivalent speedup types.
- How many speedups does it take to complete 7 days of research?
- 7 days = 168 hours = 10,080 minutes. Using 1-hour speedups: 168 speedups. Using 8-hour speedups: 21 speedups. Using 24-hour speedups: 7 speedups. If you have a 30% research speed reduction, effective time is 7 × 0.70 = 4.9 days = ~118 hours of speedups needed.
Last updated 7/28/2026