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.

In the naval tree, the Port Registry is the key to the home port: once researched, it lets you move ships and troops permanently to another island of your own -- level 1 inside your own ocean, level 2 across the borders of the seas. It requires Navigation, a harbor at level 10 and a laboratory at level 5. Neither level shortens the rest an island keeps after a move -- the registry only opens the road. More on that in the Fleets & Travel chapter.

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. How strongly economy research, Navigation and Forced March affect an island is decided by the laboratory there (chapter "Laboratory Efficiency"): without a laboratory only a small residue is left, and once the laboratory meets the research's prerequisite it works at full strength. Sailing and combat research (Spear, Shield, Bow), on the other hand, work at full strength on every island — they need no laboratory on the spot.

Multiple researches in parallel #

How many researches may run at the same time is set by your highest laboratory — across your whole empire, all islands together: with a highest laboratory below level 10 you run one research, from laboratory level 10 two at the same time, from level 20 three. Two islands with laboratories below level 10 therefore allow only one research between them. You can only research on an island with its own laboratory (every research requires at least laboratory level 1), and that laboratory's level additionally limits how many researches run there at once.

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