R16 Research Guide
Research introduction by Namelessname
So, you got to R16, you got a popup from the advisor, you got the gem requirement, now you are just waiting (im)patiently for me to explain what to do now, unfortunately, I will first explain what exactly are you going to unlock.
Firstly, Unique Buildings
commonly referred to as UBs, these are an upgrade to a certain building, which is determined by your current faction, which does 2 things, the first is a bonus to that building's production, which scales with a certain stat, and the second is giving you access to Research if you unlocked it for that faction.
In order to unlock a UB you need to have a certain amount of the building that is going to be upgraded and 1e100 coins, currently you can only unlock the ones for the Vanilla factions, but that will change as you progress through the game. (This page has a list of the building requirements for all UBs, and the formulas for their upgrades)
After you unlocked it, you need to upgrade the building each abdication, this costs coins (1e103 (10 Ttg) for Vanilla and Neutral factions) and that means you won't be able to buy UBs at the start of the R. (at least for a while)
Then, once you have the UB for a faction unlocked, you still need to unlock Research for that faction, Vanilla factions skip this step but they do got something else that need to be done...
The Research tree has 6 branches, 1 for each Vanilla faction, to unlock these branches, you need to pay 1e6 FCs of that faction and 1e121 coins after you bought the UB for that faction, this only needs to be done once.
So, what I want you to do first is to unlock every branch in the tree, I recommend using a few excavations for Demon, Undead and Angel as it will speed things up by quite a lot, however, be very careful with excavations as you will need quite a lot of them.
Also, I'd recommend using the following faction-bloodline combinations to unlock the branches: Elf-Elfline, Fairy-Elfline (Fairy's production is enough, but Elfline provides the FCs needed to avoid using excavs), Angel-Druidline, Undead/Demon/Goblin-Titanline. (Demon and Undead have virtually no FC gain nor production, so they need Titanline for production and excavations for FC, Goblin gets FC from their spell so they only need production)Alright, now that you unlocked all branches it is time for yet another explanation, this time about Research Points (RPs) and researches.
Every branch has a level, that level is called RPs, to get more RPs/level it up, you need to pay FCs of the faction that is related to the branch and coins, depending on the level, RPs are retained through all soft resets, and you can only purchase up to a certain cap, which is increased each R, up to 5000 at R100 (-50 because the devs wanted it to be a round number).*ending note 1
At certain RP amounts for a branch, you will be able to unlock a research, these are referred to by their number and their branch's letter, for example E50=Economics 50.
Researches are like Merc upgrades, you have a certain amount of slots per branch, and you can pick which ones you want to fill those slots, there will be ways to increase the number of slots you have at each branch, but currently that isn't very important to you. (they also reset each abdication, and have templates, just like Merc)
The big blocks are where you buy RPs, and where you can see how many RPs and slots you have available for that branch, the small blocks to their right are the researches, a red ❌ means the research is unlocked but can't be used as your current faction, a yellow ? means you can't unlock the research as this faction, and a green ✔ means you already chose this research for this abdication.
There is one more thing about researches, which can either be seen as what's fun about them, or, the opinion that I share, is their biggest problem, that is their requirements, or more specifically, the fact you can't see their requirements in-game, yes, you can see a progress indicator, but this game has so many different stats to track, you would spend more time trying to understand what are the requirements than you would planning a run to fulfill as many as possible at once...
However, unlike in the game, in this page you can see the requirements for yourself and decide of a best course, but if you feel a bit overwhelmed, here is what I recommend to do:
To unlock Research follow the guide below, Do not buy Prestige Faction
This guide was written as of v4.0.1 and without Sunforce or any Premium Upgrades
Note: Sunforce will help speed things up
A complete list of Research Unlock Requirements can be found here
A complete list of All Unique Buildings Unlock Requirements can be found here
Note Recommended before starting research
Vanilla Flavor Juice
Description: An essence from extremely savory vanilla beans.
Rewards: Increase the production of all buildings by 2,500% for the first 25 minutes of the game (this game) for all Vanilla factions. Doesn't work while offline.
Note: Effect is canceled if you use a Prestige faction.
Requirement: R16+
Chance: 20% in the first 5 minutes of a game
Cost: 1 coin
Note: Does not work while offline.
Note: Get to at least 1e75 (1 Qavg) gems before starting to unlock research.
Note: If going offline anytime during R16 switch to Undead as you need 5 hours offline time as Undead to unlock a research.
Recommended to maximize your excavations before starting research unlock.
Auto Casting: Spiritual Surge on Silver everything else on Gold unless stated otherwise.
Important: Do not buy Dwarf/Drow while doing research
Step 1: Unlocking Unique Buildings and Research Facilities
1.1: Unlock the Fairy unique building and the Spellcraft research facility. (use Fairy/Elf Bloodline)
Requirements
Enchanted Field Quest
Requirement: Fairy, R16+, 2250 Farms
Cost: 10 Dtg (1E100)
Effect: Unlocks Enchanted Field
Enchanted Field (Unique Building)
Cost: 10 Ttg (1E103)
Effect: Upgrade Farms to Enchanted Fields
Effect: Allows access to the Research Facilities.
Spellweavery
Requirement: Enchanted Field
Cost: 10 Notg (1E121) coins, 1 M (1E6) Fairy coins
Effect: Unlocks Spellcraft Research Facility
1.2: Unlock the Elf unique building and the Craftmenship research facility. (use Elf/Elf Bloodline)
Requirements
Training Grounds Quest
Requirement: Elf, R16+, 1750 Warrior Barracks
Cost: 10 Dtg (1E100)
Effect: Unlocks Training Grounds
Training Grounds (Unique Building)
Requirement: Training Grounds Quest
Cost: 10 Ttg (1E103)
Effect: Upgrade Warrior Barracks To Elven Training Grounds
Effect: Allows access to the Research Facilities.
Carpentry
Requirement: Elven Training Grounds
Cost: 10 Notg (1E121) coins, 1 M (1E6) Elven coins
Effect: Unlocks Craftsmanship Research Facility
1.3: Unlock the Angel unique building and the Divine research facility. (use Angel/Elf Bloodline)
Requirements
Heaven's Domain Quest
Requirement: Angel, R16+, 1500 Heaven's Gates
Cost: 10 Dtg (1E100)
Effect: Unlocks Heaven's Domain
Heaven's Domain (Unique Building)
Requirement: Buy "Heaven's Domain Quest"
Cost: 10 Ttg (1E103)
Effect: Upgrade Heaven's Gate To Heaven's Domains
Effect: Allows access to the Research Facilities.
Pantheon
Requirement: Heaven's Domain
Cost: 10 Notg (1E121) coins, 1 M (1E6) Angel coins
Effect: Unlocks Divine Research Facility
1.4: Unlock the Goblin unique building and the Economics research facility. (use Goblin/Elf Bloodline)
Goblin Bank Quest
Requirement: Goblin, R16+, 1750 Witch Conclaves
Cost: 10 Dtg (1E100)
Effect: Unlocks Goblin Bank
Goblin Bank (Unique Building)
Requirement: Buy "Goblin Banks Quest"
Cost: 10 Ttg (1E103)
Effect: Upgrade Witch Conclaves To Goblin Bank
Effect: Allows access to the Research Facilities.
Exchequer
Requirement: Goblin Bank
Cost: 10 Notg (1E121) coins, 1 M (1E6) Goblin coins
Effect: Unlocks Economics Research Facility
1.5: Unlock the Undead unique building and the Alchemy research facility. (use Undead/Elf Bloodline)
Undercities Quest
Requirement: Undead, R16+, 1750 Necropolises
Cost: 10 Dtg (1E100)
Effect: Unlocks Undercities
Undercities (Unique Building)
Requirement: Undercities Quest
Cost: 10 Ttg (1E103)
Effect: Upgrade Necropolises To Undercities
Effect: Allows access to the Research Facilities.
Laboratory
Requirement: Undercities
Cost: 10 Notg (1E121) coins, 1 M (1E6) Undead coins
Effect: Unlocks Alchemy Research Facility
1.6: Unlock the Demon unique building and the Warfare research facility. (use Demon/Elf Bloodline)
Infernal Realm Quest
Requirement: Demon, R16+, 1500 Hell Portals
Cost: 10 Dtg (1E100)
Effect: Unlocks Infernal Realm
Infernal Realm (Unique Building)
Requirement: Infernal Realm Quest
Cost: 10 Ttg (1E103)
Effect: Upgrade Hell Portals To Infernal Realm
Effect: Allows access to the Research Facilities.
Strategy Room
Requirement: All Demon faction upgrades bought, Infernal Realm
Cost: 10 Notg (1E121) coins, 1 M (1E6) Demon coins
Effect: Unlocks Warfare Research Facilities
Spellcraft
Craftsmanship
Divine
Economics
Alchemy
Warfare
Once you unlock these you will see them in the research tab, pointing to them (ingame) will tell you how many research points you have and how many available slots you have.
Reincarnation: = R, Research Points: = RP
After you unlock all 6 Research Facilities you can upgrade them with RP.
You get more RP every time you R, at R16 you start with 136 RP for each Research Facility then you get more for each R you are at. (R17 you get 17 RP, R18 you get 18 RP and so on) all the way to R100 where RP is capped at 5000.
It cost gold coins and faction coins to raise the RP in each facility.
RP opens up research that need unlocked, below you will find a list of unlock steps to take for each research.
Unlocked Upgrade (X): You cannot use this upgrade with the faction you are playing. (There is an option to hide these icons.)
Locked Upgrade (! exclamation mark): You can unlock this upgrade with the Faction you are playing. The Icon tool-tip will show your unlock progress %.
Locked Upgrade (? question mark): You cannot unlock this upgrade with the Faction you are playing.
Step 2: Unlocking Research
Auto Casting: Spiritual Surge on Silver everything else on Gold unless stated otherwise.
2.1: Buy at least up to 80 Research Points in each branch, use Goblin with Druid Bloodline (or Titan Bloodline if you're struggling with the coin cost).
2.2: S30: 4000 Max Mana, E30: 1000 royal exchanges this game, E50: 1000 royal exchanges as Goblin, W25: 1 Tqag (1e132) coins this game, Use Goblin with Druid Bloodline.
2.3: C25: 12K spells this R. Use Merc build below and read note (After spell count reached switch to Angel to unlock this research)
Merc Build
Alignment: Good
Bloodline: Druid
FR3,AN1,AN5,GB1,GB5,GB7,UD7,TT7,DD6,DN2,DN4,DW7,SP:Goblin's Greed,SP:Fairy Chanting
Note: Buy all available upgrades, then autocast Fairy Chanting and Tax Collection. (2-5 minutes run)
2.4: S10: 2000 heaven's gates this game, D50: 15000 good buildings as Angels, Use Angel with Goblin Bloodline.
2.5: D10: 2000 Infernal Realms, Use Demon with Goblin Bloodline.
2.6: E10: 2000 Undercities, Use Undead with Goblin Bloodline.
2.7: S30: 4000 Mana, S50: 6000 max mana, C10: 2500 Farms, C80: 16K Good and Evil Buildings (Total, this game), E80: 9K Neutral Buildings, Use Fairy with Goblin Bloodline.
Step 3: Buy at least up to 105 Research Points in each branch, use Goblin with Druid or Titan Bloodline.
3.1: A105: 2750 Blacksmiths, Use Fairy with Goblin Bloodline.
3.2: D55: 3 M (3e6) mana produced this game, A55: 25K spells this game, Use Angel with Druid Bloodline. (30 minutes run) (Everything Gold autocast with Tax Collection last until you have bought all researches available, then only Gold autocast Tax Collection)
Step 4: Buy at least up to 136 Research Points in each branch, use Goblin with Druid or Titan Bloodline.
4.1: A120: 6500 max mana, W120: 250 base assistants, Use Goblin with Druid Bloodline.
4.2: C50: 1 B (1e9) Faction Coins, C105: 25K clicks, C120: 200K clicks, C135: 250K Clicks this game as Elf, E25: 100 M (1e8) Faction Coins found this game, W10: 2000 Warrior Barracks, Use Elf with Elf Bloodline, After all upgrades and research bought autocast Moon Blessing and Call to Arms.
4.3: D135: 250 m/s Mana Regen(as Angel) Use Angel with Druid Bloodline.
4.4: E135: 28,000 Total Buildings(as Goblin) Goblin with Goblin Bloodline.
4.5: S135: 4,000 Unique Buildings this game as Fairy, Use Fairy with Goblin Bloodline.
4.6: A25: 666 Hellfire Blast, A30: 750 Fairy Chanting this R, Use Merc build below and read note (After spell count reached switch to Demon and Fairy to unlock both research)
Merc Build
Alignment: Good
Bloodline: Druid
FR3,AN1,AN5,GB1,GB5,GB7,UD7,TT7,DD6,DN2,DN4,DW7,SP:Fairy Chanting,SP:Hellfire Blast
Note: Cast Hellfire Blast and Fairy Chanting on Bronze everything on Gold and no Tax Collection. (Just under 4 hour run)
4.7: W135: 580 trophies, Use Demon with Elf Bloodline.
4.8: D25: 5 hours offline as Undead, A50: 120 m/s Mana Regen(as Undead), A135: 1 day play time this R, W50: 12 hours evil playtime this R, Use Undead with Druid Bloodline. (After 12 hours evil time switch to Demon to unlock W50)
Note: D25 and W50 can wait until after R18 where you do vanilla challenges but needs to be done.