Road to T4: requirements, research and your first army

What unlocking T4 means

Castle 25 alone does not unlock T4. You need Academy 25, the prerequisite research chain and the separate technology for your chosen troop type. Research does not give you an army: you must then train it in the Barracks.

Infantry, ranged, cavalry and siege each have their own unlock. You may unlock one first; all four are a more expensive finish.

A staged development plan

Choose a role: farmer, rally filler or future rally lead. A farm may benefit more from economy and safe gathering than an immediate T4 rush. Coordinate your first combat type with your guild.

Keep construction and research working while progressing the Castle prerequisite chain. Improve construction, research speed and gathering. Save gold and special building materials in parallel; they often become the final bottlenecks.

At Castle 25 finish the Academy 25 buildings, then progress Military to Army Offense I 10/10. Unlock the chosen T4 and train gradually while preserving healing reserves.

The building gate: Academy 25

You do not need every building in the game, or every copy of a Farm or Infirmary. You need at least one of each building in the prerequisite chain below. Treasure Trove and familiar buildings are not universal T4 requirements.

Battle Hall uses War Tomes, Prison uses Steel Cuffs, and Altar uses Soul Crystals. Each needs 20,000 in total from zero, not just for the last level. Do not buy again what you have already spent. The listed chain requires 18 Gold Hammers in total.

War Tomes for buildings and Archaic Tomes for later research are different items. Check the actual upgrade window and your inventory.

Mandatory research, not every coloured tree

Each T4 unlock requires Academy 25 and Army Offense I 10/10. That technology requires Army Defense and Army Health 10/10, Weight Training I 10/10, Resource Harvesting I 10/10 and their dependencies.

T4 requires all 8 technologies in the initial Economy tree at 10/10, except Gem Harvesting I. This is part of the prerequisite chain, not merely an economy recommendation. All eight are already included in the calculator below.

The Military chain includes stats for all troop types, including siege, even if your first unlock is infantry. This does not mean completing every Academy tree. Monster Hunt, traps, sigils and later combat trees are separate goals. The generated list below shows the exact level needed for each prerequisite.

Scroll the table horizontally

Reducing the wait

Equip research gear, set suitable talents and activate available research boosts before starting a long project. Compare actual bonus totals, not just equipment colour.

Collect guild helps before spending large amounts of speed-ups. Match completions with relevant events where practical, but do not delay important progress indefinitely for a small reward.

Table time is not your real completion date. Approximate duration = base time / (1 + research-speed bonus/100). Helps, special effects and free completion can change it further. The calculator is an estimate, not an unlock-date promise.

Resources and safety

Research consumes substantial gold. Open resource packs for planned spending rather than leaving exposed stockpiles. Use guild support and check Infirmary capacity, Shelter and shields before mass training.

Budget gems for special materials and Gold Hammers before spending them on small timers. Sources and prices vary with events and shops; there is no reliable universal free T4-in-N-days promise.

Your first T4 army

Avoid building an enormous T3 army purely for Might before T4. Train for actual tasks and your protection capacity. Existing lower-tier troops do not disappear or upgrade automatically when T4 research finishes.

Start with the type your guild needs, appropriate heroes and gear, and a healing reserve. Mixed tiers without understanding the frontline do not replace real combat stats. Siege T4 can be useful for a defined task, but is usually not a regular field fighter’s first priority.

Final checklist

Academy 25 complete; your chosen T4 technology researched; Barracks available; enough resources, gold, training time and a free queue. Check the window for the exact troop type.

Keep healing resources, protect your leader and agree on your rally role. If T4 is absent, inspect the specific troop unlock, not just Castle level or Army Offense.

Technolabes: a faster route to T4 and T5

A Technolabe immediately completes the selected research level without its normal timer or the Food, Stone, Timber, Ore and Gold cost of that research. The number required depends on the technology and level; one item does not necessarily complete any research.

Open the eligible, not-yet-started technology in the Academy, inspect prerequisites and the separate Technolabe completion button, and confirm its item quote. This is not a speed-up for research already running. Academy levels and prerequisite technologies still apply.

Kingdom Labors rewards are one source, including the free reward track; a paid pass can add rewards. Check the current event rather than assuming fixed quantities, availability or prices.

Consider saving Technolabes for long levels blocking your goal. Compare actual time saved with your research bonuses per item; short levels can be better completed normally. If research event points matter, finish the relevant levels through ordinary research rather than Technolabes.

For T4, Technolabes can complete mandatory Economy research and Military technologies, including the final troop unlock. They do not replace Academy 25 buildings, Gold Hammers or special construction materials.