Research Lab

Only one research at a time per player

Unlike buildings or ships, research is not parallelizable across planets. Even if you own several Labs on several colonies, you can only run one active research at a time across your whole empire.

• A single research queue per player — regardless of how many planets you own
• The active research uses the Lab of the planet that started it (its level drives the time reduction)
• Start research from the planet with your best Lab to maximize speed

Time reduction formula

The higher the Lab, the faster your research. The curve has two phases: a smooth asymptotic ramp before level —, then research time is halved at each level beyond — down to a floor of −—%.

• Below level —: reduction = (— × level) ÷ (level + —)
• At level 10: ~—% reduction
• At level —: −50% (formula switches)
• Each level beyond: remaining time is halved (−75%, −87.5%, −93.75%…)
• Floor: −—% (build time can't drop further)

Research time calculation

Research time depends on its metal and silicon cost (deuterium is not counted), and on the universe speed. Your Lab's bonus is then applied to this base time.

• Base time (hours) = (metal cost + silicon cost) ÷ (2500 × universe speed)
• Final time = base time × (1 − Lab bonus)
• Universe speed is a global game setting — its current value is shown in the main UI
• The Nanorobot Factory does NOT speed up research — only the Lab matters here

Advice

• Invest early in your Lab: each initial level saves a huge amount of time on subsequent research
• Focus a single very high Lab on your homeworld rather than leveling several medium ones — only the best is used for active research
• Check the Research tree to plan your strategic priorities