Kingshot Research Guide 2026: Academy Priority Order for F2P, Spenders, and Whales

Kingshot research takes thousands of days to complete across all three trees. The order you do it in matters — a lot. Bad sequencing means weeks of research that doesn't move the right needle for how you actually play.

The catch is that the right order isn't the same for everyone. A whale and an F2P player have almost opposite priorities in the Battle tree. Most guides give you one universal list and call it done. This one doesn't. Pick your archetype below and follow that path.

The Three Trees at a Glance

One note on Economy before going further: there are two types of projects in that tree. Output skills generate resources from your town buildings — protected, but capped. Gathering skills speed up how fast your troops collect from the map. Gathering scales better as your game grows. Once you have access to Level 7+ gathering items, the gap widens even more. Prioritize gathering over output if you have to choose.

Picks That Apply to Everyone

A few projects are worth grabbing no matter how you play.

Tool Enhancement is the clearest one. It boosts research speed, which means it compounds across every single project you do after it. Every percentage point off a 14-day research run adds up across hundreds of future projects. Do it early, even if the project itself takes a few days.

Command Tactics unlocks additional march queues. More queues means more simultaneous gathering, more troop training flexibility, and better event performance. It's useful from day one and stays useful forever.

Regimental Expansion sits in the Battle tree but benefits everyone — it increases deployment capacity for both rallies and gathering marches. F2P or whale, you want this.

F2P

Here's the thing most F2P players don't realize early enough: your combat stats don't apply to rallies you join. Only the rally leader's stats count. So grinding Infantry Attack for three weeks when you're mostly joining other people's rallies is a bad trade. Your combat research matters in solo content and when you're the one leading — which F2P players rarely do.

That doesn't mean ignore the Battle tree forever. When you do invest, start with the all-troop nodes first — Assault Techniques (universal lethality) and Survival Techniques (universal health) before any class-specific stat. These apply to every troop type you field, so the return is broader than anything class-locked. After those, go in this order: Archer Lethality and Infantry Health, then Cavalry Lethality, then Archer Attack and Infantry Defense, and finally Cavalry Attack. Lethality and health are harder to source elsewhere and consistently outperform raw attack and defense.

Skip Camp Expansion past the first couple of tiers. The later levels take weeks for stats that barely move the needle.

Low to Mid Spender

Most of the F2P logic still applies here — you're not hosting rallies constantly, and your infrastructure still needs work. But a few things shift.

You're more likely to occasionally lead a rally, which means your combat stats actually matter sometimes. Don't hold the Battle tree as long as a pure F2P player would. Start working lethality and health sooner, still following the same priority order (lethality over attack, health over defense, infantry and archers before cavalry).

If you unlocked the second builder, Tooling Up is worth more early on. Once all your buildings are maxed though, the later tiers of that branch lose value fast — don't chase the bottom.

Start infirmary capacity and Bandaging earlier than you would as F2P. You're spending real resources on troops, and you need the capacity to protect that investment when things go sideways.

Resource output research doesn't move the needle much at this tier since you gather reasonably well and packs fill some gaps. Gathering speed is still worth it. Skip output skills or leave them for later.

Whale / High Spender

The priorities are almost the inverse of F2P here.

Deprioritize the Economy tree early. Packs cover your resources and you have better things to do. Eventually grab gathering skills for KvK competition, but it's not urgent. Resource output research is low value at this spend level — leave it.

Still do Tool Enhancement. There are thousands of days of research across all three trees and research speed never stops mattering — even whales feel it on the deepest tiers.

The Battle tree is your main focus. Take everything, as fast as possible. Same stat priority order applies (lethality over attack, health over defense, infantry and archers before cavalry) — you're just doing it months earlier than anyone else.

Infirmary capacity and Bandaging are early priorities. Expensive troops die in KvK and wars — you need the capacity to heal them fast.

One thing worth noting: some late-tier Tooling Up research isn't worth pushing with speedups because unresearched construction projects can be saved to score points in Strongest Governor events. Speedups cover construction at this level anyway.

Camp Expansion is the weakest troop-related project at every tier. Grab early levels to unlock other nodes, then largely ignore it.

The Event Timing Trick (HoG and Strongest Governor)

This is the one most players miss, and it's genuinely impactful for F2P and mid-spenders.

Early Battle tree projects complete fast — these are the low-tier nodes near the top of the tree, not the weeks-long projects deeper down. We're talking 1–2 hours in some cases. Each one gives a meaningful chunk of power, and that power translates directly into event points on Research scoring days.

In Generation 1–2, that event is the Hall of Governors. Hold a batch of these short Battle tree projects and queue them all during HoG Research day — you can score tens of millions of points in a single session without touching a single speedup.

In Generation 3+, HoG is replaced by Strongest Governor, which runs monthly. The same logic applies: the City Construction stage rewards power gained from research completions. Save your fast Battle tree projects for that day.

Either way, the principle is identical: don't casually knock out fast Battle tech outside of events. Hold it. Save it for when it scores.

Boosting Research Speed Outside the Tech Tree

Tool Enhancement isn't your only lever. Several other sources stack on top of it:

• Oasis Island tech decorations — passive research speed once the island is unlocked
• Yeonwoo's expedition skill — worth checking if she's in your roster
• Alliance control of the Scholar's Tower — coordinate with your alliance to hold it during long projects
• Chief Minister position in the King's Castle — solid bonus if you can secure the role
• King's Fresh Ideas skill — situational, but it stacks

These don't replace good project ordering, but they're free acceleration if you're paying attention to them.

Quick Reference

The research grind is long no matter how you approach it — the Battle tree alone takes thousands of days to complete even with good speed bonuses. The goal isn't to rush it. It's to make sure every week of research is moving the right needle for how you actually play.