Efficient Headquarters Upgrade Guide

Advancing your Headquarters (HQ) in Last Z: Survival Shooter is crucial for unlocking new features, increasing hero capabilities, and strengthening your base. This guide outlines the most effective strategies for rapid and resource-efficient HQ development.

Core Principles for HQ Upgrades

• Prioritize Necessary Buildings: Focus solely on structures essential for the next HQ level. Avoid unnecessary diversions.
• Rapid Early Progression: Aim to quickly reach HQ30. This phase uses different resources and strategies compared to later levels.
• Steel-Centric Later Stages: Treat HQ31-35 as a distinct phase, heavily reliant on Steel and extended construction times.

Key Milestones and Caps

• Maximum HQ Level: Currently capped at 35.
• Hero Level Cap: On established servers, the hero cap is 175.
• Early Game Speed: Reaching HQ1-18 is achievable within two days, especially with active bonuses.
• Strategic Targets: Major progression points include HQ21, HQ24, HQ27, and HQ30.
• Steel Resource: Steel only becomes available and relevant after your HQ reaches level 30.
• Alliance Duel Alignment: Save your HQ completion to coincide with Day 2 of Alliance Duel for maximum points.

HQ31-35 Steel Requirements Overview

Progressing beyond HQ30 introduces Steel as a primary resource bottleneck. Below is a summary of the Steel needed for each level, along with the critical prerequisite building.

HQ Level	Prerequisite Building	Steel Cost (Millions)	Planning Notes
HQ31	Rider Camp	2.2M	Your initial Steel expenditure.
HQ32	City Walls	3.1M	Steel demand increases by 0.9M from the previous level.
HQ33	Alliance Center	4.1M	Keep this structure aligned with your critical path.
HQ34	Assaulter Camp	5.3M	First level requiring over 5M Steel.
HQ35	Shooter Camp	6.4M	The largest Steel cost for a single upgrade.

Note: The total Steel required for HQ31-35 is 21.1 million.

Impact of Headquarters Level on Heroes

Your HQ level directly dictates the maximum level your heroes can achieve. Each HQ increase adds 5 levels to the hero cap:

• HQ 1: Hero cap 5
• HQ 20: Hero cap 100
• HQ 30: Hero cap 150
• HQ 35: Hero cap 175

Sophia: The Construction Specialist

Sophia is an indispensable hero for efficient base development due to her third skill:

• Bonus Construction Time: Provides additional free construction duration.
• Faster Building: Increases overall construction speed.
• Resource Cost Reduction: At 4 stars, she reduces resource costs by 5%; at 5 stars, this bonus reaches 10%.

Recommendation: Aim to promote Sophia to 5 stars before beginning the expensive HQ30+ upgrade phase. Her cost-saving ability applies to all building projects, making her invaluable for the numerous prerequisite upgrades required.

The Value of a Second Builder

Acquiring a second builder allows for simultaneous construction, which is beneficial when prerequisite building queues are long. It's important to understand that it doesn't reduce individual construction times or circumvent resource and prerequisite demands. Prioritize its use for critical path structures.

The Fastest HQ Progression Path: Levels 1-35

Optimal HQ progression involves a focused approach, prioritizing critical upgrades and reserving resources for later, more demanding stages.

Phase 1: HQ 1-18 (Rapid Development)

• Duration: Achievable in just a few days.
• Bonuses: Can be completed in under two days with active bonuses.
• Costs: Resource demands remain low during this initial period.

Phase 2: HQ 18-24 (Increased Timers)

• Challenge: Construction times begin to extend significantly, with some potentially lasting over a week.
• Strategy: Leverage the early game environment for resource acquisition. Avoid excessive peace treaties early on.

Phase 3: HQ 24-27 (Strategic Resource Management)

• Crucial Aspect: Saving speedups becomes paramount for future upgrades.
• Focus: Only upgrade buildings directly required for the subsequent HQ level.
• Avoid: Do not waste resources on non-essential buildings, even if they appear ready for an upgrade.

Phase 4: HQ 30 (Major Achievement)

• Significance: HQ30 is a critical turning point, unlocking advanced late-game progression and further raising the hero cap.
• Preparation: If HQ31-35 is not yet accessible, use this period to accumulate resources, speedups, and construction bonuses.
• Enhancements: Upgrade structures like the Hall of Honor and formation buildings for significant power gains.

Phase 5: HQ 31-35 (The Steel Phase)

• New Chapter: This phase represents a distinct progression chapter, introducing Steel as a key resource.
• Difficulty: Upgrades become substantially slower and more expensive, demanding careful planning of speedups and bonuses.
• Reality Check: Without buffs, individual HQ31-35 construction projects can extend for several months. Utilize every possible construction bonus before initiating these long upgrades.

Steel: The Post-HQ30 Resource

Steel Unlocks

Steel materializes exclusively after your Headquarters reaches level 30. Prior to this, it remains absent from the game. Once you hit HQ30 and the HQ31-35 update is active, Steel becomes widely available.

Methods for Acquiring Steel

• Orange Bounties: A significant source of Steel in the late game.
• Steel Mine & Nodes: Provides consistent daily income once unlocked.
• Hub Shop & Seasonal Rewards: Supplemental sources for Steel.
• Furylord Event: A periodic event-based source.
• HQ31-35 Launch Event: A temporary boost to Steel acquisition upon the update's release on your server.

Note: Tyrant is not a reliable Steel source unless explicitly indicated on the live reward screen.

The Special Launch Event

Around Season 3, following the introduction of HQ31-35, a special event is typically available to aid players in transitioning from HQ30 to HQ31. This event offers substantial Steel rewards for completing daily objectives.

Crucial Advice: Ensure you actively participate in this event, as the Steel provided greatly simplifies the HQ31 upgrade.

Steel is Not the Only Barrier

While Steel becomes a major constraint after HQ30, it isn't the sole challenge for HQ31-35 progression. Extended construction timers, requiring significant speedups, can equally impede your progress, even with a solid Steel supply.

Alliance Duel Day 2 Strategy

Expert Tip: Prepare your Headquarters upgrade, but do not finalize its completion until Day 2 of the Alliance Duel event.

• Initiate the upgrade at any time.
• Once ready, a green checkmark will appear.
• Accidentally completing it prematurely will forfeit potential points.
• Hold off until Day 2, then complete it for a substantial point gain.

Double Advantage: Attempt to align your HQ completion with the 'Full Preparedness' event on the same day for combined bonus points.

Maximizing Construction Speed

For the demanding HQ31-35 upgrades, activate all possible construction speed enhancements:

• Villa: Provides inherent construction bonuses.
• Refugees: Boosts construction speed significantly when assigned to the Villa.
• Sophia (5 Stars): Reduces costs and accelerates building.
• Laboratory Buffs: Research construction-related bonuses.
• Alliance City 4: Ensure your alliance controls this for relevant buffs.
• Alliance Laboratory: Prioritize construction research within the alliance lab.
• All Speedups: Collect and save every speedup you can for these critical upgrades.

Essential HQ Upgrade Requirements

Consistent Prerequisite Pattern

From HQ8 to HQ30, the Laboratory is a mandatory prerequisite for every Headquarters upgrade. The second required structure rotates among these options:

• City Walls
• Alliance Center
• Assaulter Camp
• Shooter Camp
• Rider Camp

This Laboratory plus a rotating prerequisite defines the core pattern for HQ8-30. For HQ31-35, it's vital to consult the in-game cost tables, as requirements and Steel costs necessitate level-by-level planning.

What Not to Upgrade Early

Avoid enhancing these structures unless they are specifically required for your next HQ level:

• Resource production buildings (e.g., farms, lumber mills)
• Hall of Honor structures (their early bonuses are minimal; save for later)
• Any random buildings not on your critical path.

Recommended Early Optional Upgrades

These buildings offer valuable benefits and are worth upgrading when resources allow:

• Formation buildings
• Military Center
• Bookstore
• Restaurant
• Production Center
• Rally buildings
• Radar

Quick Tips

• Max Level: HQ35 is the current maximum on older servers; new servers reach HQ30 before the Season 3 update.
• Hero Cap: Each HQ level increases hero cap by +5.
• HQ31-35 Duration: Can take months without buffs; significantly faster with full speedup setup (Sophia, Villa, refugees, alliance buffs).
• Post-HQ30 Value: Generally worthwhile for long-term accounts to increase hero caps. Only push when resources, Steel, and speedups are sufficient.
• HQ31-35 Unlock: Occurs around Season 3, introducing Steel and a special event for the transition.