Research Trees

Knowledge is a map you draw for yourself — line by line, island by island.

In short: Research is global now, but every island uses it differently.

- Four research trees: economy, trade, military, naval

- Research levels apply to your entire empire, not per island

- Multiple researches can run in parallel — how many depends on your laboratory

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Four research trees #

From v0.35 research is split into four trees. Each tree has its own focus — most researches sit in the economy, military or naval tree. The trade tree now has its first entry: Cartography. It opens your view beyond your own ocean — those who research it can switch between oceans on the map and explore distant waters.

What you research applies to every island you own. If you used to grind the same Bow level on every colony, that's gone — progress carries across. Whether the bonus actually shows up on the battlefield, however, still depends on the buildings you have on each island. No laboratory: minimal effect. Fully built laboratory: full effect.

Multiple researches in parallel #

Without a laboratory, or with one below level 10, you run one research per island. From laboratory level 10 you can run two at the same time, from level 20 even three. Slots belong to the island whose laboratory hosts them — if you want to research on a side island, build a laboratory there too.

You cannot run the same research twice in parallel. The slot expansion is still useful: a long economy chain alongside small military upgrades sits comfortably together.

Reading prerequisites #

Each research lists its prerequisites in the table. Check mark: met. Cross: not yet. Some new researches also have a "Effective from" threshold for a building — you can finish the research earlier, but the bonus only kicks in once the threshold is reached.

Strategy #

• Use globality — pick one research-focused island; everyone else benefits with it
• Plan your slots — laboratory 10 only pays off if you actually want to keep two long researches running at once
• Mind the effective-from gates — finishing a research without meeting its in-effect requirement spends resources without immediate payoff
• Trade tree — contains Cartography (exploration of distant oceans); more trade researches to follow