Research is where a free-to-play account either compounds or stalls, and the reason is timing: development tech makes everything after it cheaper, so taking it late means paying full price for weeks you cannot get back.
Research order
Development first. Training facilities, equipment improvements, tool upgrades, infirmary expansion — these buy growth speed, and growth speed compounds. Take bandaging to the minimum and no further.
Combat second, and in a specific order inside it: troop capacity before anything, then infantry defence and HP, then cavalry and archer attack and lethality. Capacity first is not intuitive but it multiplies everything else you research afterwards.
Economy third. Gathering speed is real, but it is the line that can wait — you can compensate for slow gathering with activity, and you cannot compensate for missing capacity with anything.
Where to concentrate for early events
| Event | How to play it |
|---|---|
| All-Out Construction | Concentrate construction and tech speedups; finish on Town Center upgrades. Base rewards are mandatory. |
| Tech Advancement | Lands right after the construction event — anyone who banked speedups can genuinely place here. |
| Alliance Mobilization | Refresh personal missions toward tech and construction. Needs 15+ members in the alliance and Town Center Lv. 10 to join— Mobilization FAQ |
| Hero Advancement | Spend all shards in one burst and register just before the close, so the score lands in one stage. |
| Beast Hunting | Stamina management is the whole event. Efficiency jumps sharply once Diana is Lv. 2 or above. |
One principle covers all of them. On an active server, a free-to-play account should push hard on the single event it can actually win and take base rewards on everything else. Burning your material stock to climb from 180th to 100th is a loss dressed up as ambition.
The research ordering and event tactics above are community consensus rather than published rules. The Alliance Mobilization requirements and everything in the next section come from Century Games' own help centre.
Two more published Mobilization details worth knowing before the event opens: you get nine mission draws by default, with extras purchasable for Gems— Mission count FAQ, and an unwanted mission can be dropped by tapping it and selecting Give Up— Mission replacement FAQ. Nine draws is few enough that dropping a bad one early is usually right.
The other Academy — the Master system
Everything above is the War Academy and the Academy, the research buildings. The Master Academy that appears in the mid-game shares a word and nothing else. Here is the publisher's own description:
Master is a new feature that unlocks when the server reaches a certain age and your Town Center level is greater or equal to 25. Through Quinn’s Realm Journeys, you can unlock different Masters. Training different Masters provides different bonus boosts for your Town.
— Master system FAQ
After your first Master settles in your Town, this building will unlock. It allows Governors to go on Journeys in the Badland and develop Masters. When a Master’s Affinity reaches 1,000, they will settle in your Town. The first Master to settle is guaranteed to be Valora, the Hunting Master.
— Master Academy FAQ
That last sentence removes an entire decision. You do not have to agonise over which Master to spend your first Affinity materials on, because the first to move in is Valora regardless. Your first target is simply Valora at 1,000 Affinity.
Affinity, skills and the one queue
Master Affinity has 100 levels across 11 stages, from strangers to Kindred Soul. Raising your Affinity stage enhances the effects of the Master’s Expertise Skills. You can increase Affinity with Masters through Journeys, or by sending items such as Copper Horns, Silver Goblet, and Elite Spices.
— Affinity FAQ
All Masters share one learning queue. At any given time, each queue can only learn one skill from one Master.
— Learning queue FAQ
The shared queue is the constraint that shapes the whole system. You cannot develop four Masters in parallel, so breadth is not a strategy here — pick the Master whose Expertise matches the content you actually play and finish them. The current roster is Valora the Bear Hunter, Pan the Royal Steward, Roman the King of the Arena, and Cassia the Battle Master— Masters roster FAQ, and Expertise is scenario-specific — Bear Hunt, Arena, resource gathering— Expertise FAQ.
Journey Supplies are the throttle, and the numbers are published: you start with 30, receive 20 at 00:00 UTC daily plus 10 each at 08:00 and 16:00 UTC for 40 free per day, and can buy up to 4 more batches of 5 for 1,000 Gems each— Journey Supplies FAQ. Three restock times a day means an account that logs in once loses supplies to the cap; two logins is the difference. Auto Journey unlocks after 50 Realm Journeys and Lostlands after 60— Realm Journey FAQ, so those first sixty runs are the grind that removes the grind.
Finally, the far end: Master Research opens at Affinity Lv. 100, the Kindred Spirit stage, and is upgraded with Master Emblems— Master Research FAQ. That is a long way out — which is exactly why concentrating on one Master rather than spreading across four is the whole game here.