Base progression is one of the most important long-term systems in Z Route: Redemption because your Base level gates hero levels, research, buildings, troops, and other progression systems.
The fastest approach is not to upgrade everything. It is to identify the exact buildings blocking the next Base level, finish those first, and use your second builder to prepare the following bottleneck before the current upgrade completes.
Rush what unlocks the next Base. Prepare the next requirement early.
City Progression
HQ Rush Guide
Reach HQ30 faster by preparing only the buildings that block your next Base upgrade.
| HQ | Required Building 1 | Required Building 2 | Food | Metal | Oil |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Drill Ground 1 | Squad 1 | 90 | 90 | — |
| 3 | Defense Line 2 | — | 490 | 490 | — |
| 4 | Soldier Training Camp 3 | Drill Ground 3 | 2,970 | 2,970 | — |
| 5 | Defense Line 4 | Soldier Training Camp 4 | 25,000 | 25,000 | — |
| 6 | Defense Line 5 | Drill Ground 5 | 89,200 | 89,200 | — |
| 7 | Defense Line 6 | Training Center (By class) 6 | 250,000 | 250,000 | — |
| 8 | Alpha Research Division 7 | Alliance Center 7 | 309,000 | 399,000 | — |
| 9 | Alpha Research Division 8 | Training Center (By class) 8 | 598,000 | 598,000 | 200,000 |
| 10 | Alpha Research Division 9 | Defense Line 10 | 748,000 | 748,000 | 239,000 |
| 11 | Alpha Research Division 10 | Soldier Training Camp 11 | 1,900,000 | 1,900,000 | 595,000 |
| 12 | Alpha Research Division 11 | Training Center (By class) 10 | 3,200,000 | 3,200,000 | 992,000 |
| 13 | Alpha Research Division 12 | Training Center (By class) 12 | 3,400,000 | 3,400,000 | 1,100,000 |
| 14 | Alpha Research Division 13 | Drill Ground 13 | 4,900,000 | 4,900,000 | 1,600,000 |
| 15 | Alpha Research Division 14 | Defense Line 14 | 6,500,000 | 6,500,000 | 2,100,000 |
| 16 | Alpha Research Division 15 | Alliance Center 15 | 11,600,000 | 11,600,000 | 3,800,000 |
| 17 | Alpha Research Division 16 | Training Center (By class) 16 | 15,100,000 | 15,100,000 | 4,800,000 |
| 18 | Alpha Research Division 17 | Hospital 17 | 26,400,000 | 26,400,000 | 8,400,000 |
| 19 | Alpha Research Division 18 | Defense Line 18 | 32,800,000 | 32,800,000 | 10,900,000 |
| 20 | Alpha Research Division 19 | Soldier Training Camp 19 | 56,600,000 | 56,600,000 | 17,900,000 |
| 21 | Alpha Research Division 20 | Training Center (By class) 20 | 79,600,000 | 79,600,000 | 26,600,000 |
| 22 | Alpha Research Division 21 | Drill Ground 21 | 103,000,000 | 103,000,000 | 32,900,000 |
| 23 | Alpha Research Division 22 | Alliance Center 23 | 131,000,000 | 131,000,000 | 41,000,000 |
| 24 | Alpha Research Division 23 | Training Center (By class) 24 | 159,000,000 | 272,000,000 | 87,000,000 |
| 25 | Alpha Research Division 25 | Hospital 25 | 375,000,000 | 375,000,000 | 122,000,000 |
| 26 | Alpha Research Division 26 | Defense Line 26 | 499,000,000 | 499,000,000 | 160,000,000 |
| 27 | Alpha Research Division 27 | Soldier Training Camp 27 | 696,000,000 | 696,000,000 | 226,000,000 |
| 28 | Alpha Research Division 28 | Training Center (By class) 28 | 943,000,000 | 943,000,000 | 311,000,000 |
| 29 | Alpha Research Division 28 | Drill Ground 29 | 1,300,000,000 | 1,300,000,000 | 434,000,000 |
| 30 | Alpha Research Division 29 | Drill Ground 29 | 1,300,000,000 | 1,300,000,000 | 434,000,000 |
1. The core HQ rush strategy
A Base rush is about reducing dead time. Every time your Base finishes and you discover that another prerequisite still needs several levels, your progression stalls. The goal is to avoid that.
Your priority order should usually be:
- Current Base prerequisite
- Second required building
- Alpha Research Division
- Next Base prerequisite
- Only then optional buildings
Do not level random buildings simply because a builder is available — use that builder to prepare the next known requirement.
2. Use a two-builder strategy
Two builders are most valuable when they are working on different parts of the same progression chain.
Builder 1: current Base path. Focus on whatever directly blocks the Base upgrade you are trying to start — Alpha Research Division, Alliance Center, Training Center, Hospital, Defense Line, Drill Ground, or Soldier Training Camp, depending on the level.
Builder 2: next Base path. Work one step ahead. If you are currently completing the prerequisites for HQ23 (Alpha Research Division 22, Alliance Center 23), don’t wait until HQ23 starts to think about HQ24 (Alpha Research Division 23, Training Center 24) — start moving the relevant building upward while practical, then push Alpha Research Division the moment the HQ23 upgrade begins.
3. Alpha Research Division is the recurring bottleneck
Starting around the middle Base levels, Alpha Research Division appears repeatedly as a requirement — HQ8 needs Division 7, HQ9 needs Division 8, HQ10 needs Division 9, and it continues appearing almost every level afterward. Because it recurs so often, falling behind on it can create repeated delays.
Keep Alpha Research Division as close to the Base requirement curve as possible.
If you have construction speedups and no urgent event reason to save them, Alpha Research Division is often one of the best places to use them.
4. Prepare the next prerequisite before you need it
This is what separates a smooth Base rush from a stop-start one. The moment your current Base level begins upgrading, your next construction priorities should already be known — not decided after the Base finishes.
A good rhythm:
Current target → finish required buildings While Base is upgrading → prepare next target Second builder → start the following supporting building when possible
This can save days of idle progression over time.
5. Do not upgrade every building evenly
A balanced-looking city is not necessarily an efficient one. If a building doesn’t unlock the next Base, improve a major bottleneck, unlock a needed troop or feature, satisfy an event objective, or provide an important account-wide bonus, it can often wait. A rushed account may have buildings at very different levels — that’s normal. The point is progression, not symmetry.
6. Resource planning becomes critical after HQ20
The resource curve becomes steep — HQ23 asks for roughly 131M Food/Metal and 41M Oil, HQ25 jumps to 375M Food/Metal and 122M Oil, and HQ29/HQ30 reach roughly 1.3B Food/Metal and 434M Oil. At these levels, resource efficiency matters as much as construction time.
7. Compare every resource offer before spending diamonds
Not all diamond resource offers have the same value. A standard 10,000 Food for 10 diamonds is 1,000 Food per diamond; a limited 126,100 Food for 40 diamonds is about 3,152.5 Food per diamond — more than three times as efficient. Max the efficient limited offer before buying at the standard rate.
Always calculate resource-per-diamond before purchasing resources.
8. Use Alliance Coin resource chests strategically
The Alliance Shop can also help cover resource shortages — an SSR Resource Selection Chest can be worth over a million Food and Metal plus proportional Oil, which otherwise would have cost diamonds to buy. But Alliance Coins have opportunity cost too: check whether the shop also carries rare hero materials, universal shards, hard-to-farm items, or valuable speedups before spending them on resources.
9. Save construction speedups for meaningful bottlenecks
Don’t burn construction speedups on random buildings. The best use is usually a building that directly unlocks the next Base, repeatedly blocks future Base levels, is unusually slow, or is preventing both builders from advancing efficiently — Alpha Research Division often meets all of those conditions.
10. Use construction buffs before large upgrades
When construction buffs are available, use them before major Base upgrades, Alpha Research Division, or long prerequisite upgrades. The larger the timer, the more value a percentage-based construction bonus creates — don’t spend a valuable temporary buff on a two-hour building if a multi-day upgrade is ready.
11. Alliance Assistance is free construction speed
An active alliance shortens construction through assistance, on top of gifts, research help, alliance research buffs, and event rewards. The difference between getting maximum helps quickly and sitting in a quiet alliance compounds across every major upgrade.
12. Time long upgrades around real life
Start long upgrades before sleep or work, and short upgrades while you’re actively playing. This minimizes the chance of a completed builder sitting idle for hours.
13. Do not let both builders finish at the same time unless you are ready
Two idle builders are twice the lost progression. When practical, stagger construction completion (for example, Builder 1 finishing in 2 hours and Builder 2 in 10) so you can continuously feed the construction pipeline.
14. Know your next resource bottleneck
Food and Metal dominate at lower levels; Oil becomes increasingly important as Base levels rise. Keep flexible resource chests unopened until you know which resource is actually blocking the next Base — an unopened selection chest is more valuable than the same chest converted into the wrong resource.
15. Bank resources for known expensive jumps
If the next upgrade costs substantially more of one resource than usual, start preparing for that imbalance early. HQ24, for example, asks for roughly 159M Food but 272M Metal — an unusually Metal-heavy jump compared with the surrounding levels.
16. Verify unusual requirements in-game
The HQ rush table below was transcribed from a player-created community graphic — useful for planning, but not official documentation. A few rows deserve extra attention for unusual jumps (see the evidence note at the top of this guide). Whenever the game exposes the next Base requirement, treat the in-game screen as authoritative: use the chart to plan, use the game to confirm.
17. Suggested Base-rush workflow
Whenever you finish a Base level:
- Check the exact prerequisites for the next Base.
- Compare them with the reference table.
- Assign Builder 1 to the hardest immediate prerequisite.
- Assign Builder 2 to the next prerequisite or the following Base’s supporting building.
- Check whether Alpha Research Division will block the next two Base levels.
- Calculate Food, Metal, and Oil requirements before spending resource boxes.
- Use alliance help and buffs.
- Use construction speedups only if they materially shorten the critical path.
- Start the Base upgrade.
- Immediately begin preparing the following level.
Then repeat.
Example: HQ22 → HQ25
If you are HQ22 and preparing HQ23:
HQ23 target requires Alpha Research Division 22 and Alliance Center 23 — finish those first.
While HQ23 is upgrading, prepare HQ24: Alpha Research Division 23 and Training Center 24.
While HQ24 is upgrading, prepare HQ25: Alpha Research Division 25 and Hospital 25.
Current Base → next prerequisite → next Base → next prerequisite.
Never let the progression pipeline go empty.
Common Base Rush Mistakes
Avoid:
- Upgrading every building evenly
- Letting a builder sit idle
- Discovering prerequisites only after the Base finishes
- Spending speedups on non-critical buildings
- Opening all resource boxes too early
- Buying standard-rate resources before checking limited offers
- Ignoring Alliance Assistance
- Falling several levels behind on Alpha Research Division
- Spending resources on optional buildings while a Base requirement is unfinished
- Treating a community chart as more authoritative than the actual game
Quick Priority Order
When deciding what to build next:
- Current Base prerequisite
- Alpha Research Division
- Second required building
- Next Base prerequisite
- High-value progression building
- Everything else
Final Rule
If you remember one thing:
Never finish a Base upgrade without already knowing what the next Base needs.
The strongest Base-rush accounts are not necessarily spending the most speedups. They are simply keeping both builders on the critical path with almost no wasted time.