If you’re a newcomer or simply restarting the game, you might be wondering what’s the best path to optimize building level. Within this Last War Survival building guide, we’ll explain exactly what you should prioritize within the first season.
For a quick summary, this is how building priority order should look like in the early game (HQ level 1-15):
- HQ (Headquarters): Always your main goal
- Builder’s Huts: Faster upgrade times
- Required Buildings for HQ: Only upgrade what’s needed
- Primary Resource Buildings (1–2 maxed)
- Research / Tech Buildings (if applicable)
- Storage (Vaults/Warehouses): Only when capped
- Everything Else: Lowest priority
Last War HQ Requirements: How to Upgrade Faster
The HQ, or headquarter, is the most important building in the game. Essentially, this is the equivalent of Town Hall in Clash of Clans. Upgrading your HQ is always your number one priority, even if you have not yet maxed out other establishments within your base.
For each HQ level increment, you’ll receive:
- an increase in total power
- an increase in hero level cap
- an increase in hero base stats
- an increase in each building level cap
To unlock higher HQ levels, you need to meet certain conditions. Here is a diagram to better illustrate:
This will be the necessary information needed for you to pass through season 1 of Last War Survival. By the end of the season, you’ll have the hero max level cap to 150 at HQ level 30. This can be increased further by progressing into season 2 and completing “HQ Expansion Lv1” research of The Age of Oil tree.
When You Should Pause HQ Upgrades
There are a few situations where slowing down is also productive:
- You’re constantly resource-starved
- Upgrade timers become too long to manage
- You’re preparing for events (like Arms Race)
Core Buildings & Why They Matter
Across different seasons, there are 32 core buildings available to players. Some are for resource production, some are to store them, and some are for permanently increasing your hero stats. However, beyond the required buildings for Last War HQ upgrade, these are the main ones you should prioritize.
- Builder’s Huts
- Fields and Mines
- Vault and Warehouses
Builder’s Huts
The builder’s huts are the cozy home for your builders. In practice, the level of this building type affects time reduction for other building upgrades.
Every time your HQ upgrades, you should max your builder’s huts as well. This will greatly speed up the process of leveling other buildings.
You can also assign relevant survivors to this building to further increase the free speed-up time. Higher tier can go up to 20 minutes reduction, but considering how rare the Tokens are to upgrade them, you should be saving them for other survivors instead.
For F2P players, having one builder is enough to keep you competitive, and even joining top guilds in your server. However, buying additional builders permanently unlocked additional building queues, hence greatly speeding up upgrading time.
Common mistake: The higher the level of the hut, the time reduction diminishes as well. Therefore, spending premium diamonds for tiny increments is a waste later in the game.
Fields and Mines
Your main currencies are gold, iron, and food. These are essentials to level up buildings, conduct research, and more. To farm those resources, you’ll need plenty of mines and farmlands.
- Field: Provide food
- Iron Mine: Provide iron
- Gold Mine: Provide coins
You can build multiple of these building types, but you don’t necessarily have to max upgrade each and every one of them. The trick is to concentrate all your best survivor units into one single field/mines. This will significantly boost overall resource production per hour, and spare your builders to upgrade other important buildings.
Here’s an overview of how survivors greatly boost a gold mine:
- Gold Mine Level 10 = 7.20k coins output per hour
- 1 golden survivor (50% boost) + 3 blue survivor (24% boost) = 122% boost
- New production output = 15,984 coins per hour (excluding any buffs)
Vaults and Warehouses
You can’t store all your resources infinitely, so this is where warehouses and vaults come in. Upgrading these buildings improves the total capacity you can store your gold, iron, and food.
There is no particular trick to optimize this. The only indicator that you need to upgrade is when they are full and can no longer store additional resources. However, you can also opt for upgrading other things to reduce your resources instead of upgrading these buildings.
Early, Mid, and Late Game Building Strategy
We’ve come up with the best strategies on building in Last War Survival based on where you are in the game.
Early Game (HQ 1-15)
When you first begin the game, it is important to rush progression fast. Don’t be distracted with over-upgrading storage or spreading survivors across too many buildings.
Focus on:
- HQ upgrades only
- Builder’s Huts
- 1-2 resource buildings
Mid Game (HQ 16-25)
In the mid game, we recommend balancing your base growth and sustainability. With that in mind, you should begin managing resource bottlenecks and upgrade timing. Read our decoration upgrading guide to discover the best for construction buffs.
Focus on:
- Resource production scaling
- Selective upgrades for efficiency
- Preparing for longer timers
Late Game (HQ 26-30)
In the late game, the strategy tends to shift to time efficiency over raw progression. Therefore, your goal is to maximise efficiency and optimization.
Focus on:
- Upgrade timing (events, boosts)
- Speed-up management
- Fine-tuning production
Speed-Up & Time Management Strategy
This is one of the biggest gaps between casual players and competitive ones. Two players with similar accounts can progress at completely different speeds simply based on how they manage time and speed-ups.
When to Use Speed-Ups
The things I see most beginners do is that they’re treating speed-ups as a convenience tool. The goal is to maximize speed-ups’ value when returns are highest. You should use them during:
- Competitive Events: Events like Arms Race often reward you for completing upgrades within a limited time window.
- Major HQ Upgrades: Higher HQ levels come with longer timers.
- Time-Limited Progression Windows: If you know you won’t be able to log in for an extended period, using speed-ups strategically can help you, especially useful before sleep or busy days.
When NOT to Use Speed-Ups
Just as important as knowing when to use them is knowing when to hold back. Here are the biggest mistakes most beginners do:
- Early Game Short Upgrades: In the early stages, most upgrades only take a few minutes.
- Minor or Low-Priority Buildings: Not every upgrade is worth accelerating.
- Small Time Saves: Using a speed-up to skip just a few minutes is rarely worth it.
If you’re looking for more casual games to play while waiting for upgrades, you might enjoy browsing through curated roundups for best gacha games and upcoming indie games.
Six Final Tips for Proper Building Management
To wrap everything up, these six final tips ensure you are able to plan upgrades and level ups like a true savvy:
- Save diamonds for high-impact upgrades.
- Consider upgrading decoration for building buffs.
- Upgrade only what’s required for HQ progression.
- Time upgrades around events for bonus rewards.
- Upgrade or build quick buildings on days you can commit.
- Consider using our automation tool by Godlikebots to automate resource collection & building management / upgrading.
Once you master these Last War Survival building strategies, you’ll be able to focus on optimizing your lineups, staying competitive in the Arms Race, and joining top guilds without heavy spending.
FAQs
What are the best buildings to upgrade in Last War Survival?
The best buildings to prioritize are your HQ, Builder’s Huts, and resource buildings (Field, Iron Mine, and Gold Mine).
Should I max all buildings before upgrading HQ?
No, you don’t need to max every building before upgrading your HQ. It’s more efficient to upgrade only the required buildings to meet HQ requirements.
How do I increase resource production efficiently?
Concentrate your best survivors on one or two high-level mines or fields. This significantly boosts production output and allows you to save builder time for more important upgrades.
Is it worth buying extra builders in Last War Survival?
Yes, buying extra builders can greatly speed up your progression by unlocking additional building queues.