Build and Conquer Drones & Research Offices

Drones are the cheap pressure layer of Build and Conquer—the systems that force enemies to spend interceptors while your tanks, navy, and missiles do the real work. Research offices (small and medium) are the buildings that unlock those frames and keep the tech tree moving after city level gates open. This guide covers how research and manufacturing split in V0.2 beta, which community-named drones matter (Shahed-136, Shahed-236, Karrar), and how to use drone swarms for mainland support and air-defense saturation.

Pair this page with the Missile Guide for strike ladders, Air Defense so your own hangars survive return fire, and Naval Ships when coastal axes join the mix. Population gates that unlock basic military sit on City Levels.

Why drones matter in V0.2

V0.1 made drones a clearer, practical kit instead of a rumor. V0.2 (Naval wave) still uses that kit while adding ships, coastal launchers, and denser AA. Public servers hold up to eight players. While you tunnel for strategic areas (~+20% income / ~+30% population while held, community reports), neighbors can dump cruise profiles, ballistic shots, and their own drones onto your plot. A swarm that forces six Sea RAM / C-RAM shots to fire is already a win—even if half the frames die before impact.

Drones are not a replacement for the SRBM → Cluster hit-quest ladder. They are the attrition and vision tool that makes every other system cheaper.

Research offices: small vs medium

Community build orders treat research as a two-step industry:

1. Reach city level 2 (~250 population) so guns, soldiers, and basic military menus exist—see City Levels.
2. Fund a small research office once shops and utilities are stable (Make Money Fast).
3. Push drone / munitions / military nodes as they appear; do not starve housing to rush vanity tech.
4. Upgrade or place a medium research office when cash, power, and steel can absorb longer queues without freezing population growth.
5. Keep power and water online—dead research districts are expensive decorations.

Exact node costs are not published as a developer spreadsheet. Trust the live research UI after every join; use this page for doctrine and naming.

Research vs manufacturing

A common beginner mistake is treating the research office as a factory. In practice:

• Research unlocks blueprints, branches, and prerequisites.
• Manufacturing (military factories, hangars, munitions lines) actually produces frames and ammo.
• Military HQ (level 4, community path) later raises ground, navy, missile, and air-defence limits and can centralize factory orders—research still comes first.

If the research tree shows Shahed or Karrar nodes but your hangar is empty, you are missing industry, steel, cash, or placement—not another research click. Cross-check roster roles on Players / Units.

Community drone roster

Frame (community name)	Reported role	Notes
Shahed-136	One-way / attrition strike	Classic saturation tool vs AD
Shahed-236	Heavier / follow-on one-way profile	Confirm unlock after research progress
Karrar	Armed / loitering pressure	Pair with vision and mainland pushes
Scout / light frames	Mainland vision	Spot AD and artillery before tanks

Names in creator videos and factory tabs can drift in beta. If your build menu uses a slightly different string, match function (one-way attrition vs armed loiter) rather than obsessing over spelling.

How drones support mainland fights

1. Scout first — fog kills more armies than hypersonics. Light drones reveal AD arcs, clustered industry, and tunnel mouths.
2. Saturate before the push — send cheap one-way frames to burn Sea RAM / C-RAM and mid-tier interceptors, then advance guns and soldiers.
3. Multi-axis pressure — combine drones with missiles and, after the Naval update, coastal or ship fire so enemy AD cannot focus one corridor.
4. Protect the hangar — revenge salvos love research districts; layer plot AD from Air Defense before long absences.
5. Repair and requeue — beta fights punish AFK production; keep steel and cash flowing from shops.

Strategic-area buffs still matter. Drones help you take and hold ground; they do not replace the income math on Make Money Fast.

AD saturation doctrine

Enemy air defense is a budget. Community guides repeatedly cite a six placement cap on Sea RAM / C-RAM-style close-in guns, plus mid and high interceptors (Iron Dome / PAC / Arrow slang). Your job with Shahed-class frames:

• Launch enough cheap shots that close-in guns empty magazines or miss overlapping threats
• Time a second wave with SRBM / GLCM fire from the Missile Guide while magazines reload
• Avoid dumping your entire hangar into a single radar blind spot the enemy already covers
• Watch Naval-update AA (Stinger, twin 23mm, Early Warning Radar) that makes naked drone spam riskier than in early V0.1 clips

Saturation is a tempo skill, not a button mash.

Suggested research-to-swarm session

1. Confirm city level 2 (~250 pop) and positive shop income.
2. Place / power a small research office; unlock early drone nodes.
3. Stand up manufacturing so frames actually queue.
4. Cover the research block with first-layer AA.
5. Run a scout pass over the mainland approach you care about.
6. Fire a small Shahed wave to test enemy AD density, then escalate or abort.
7. Only then commit tanks, tunnels, or expensive missiles.

Common drones & research mistakes

• Researching frames with zero hangar capacity
• Skipping city level 2 and wondering why military menus feel empty
• Leaving research offices without AD while tunneling
• Treating drones as a substitute for hit-quest missile progress
• Ignoring steel reserves (export greed starves production)
• Expecting Codes to gift free swarms—none are confirmed working as of November 2026
• Buying Eastern / French packs and skipping free-tree research entirely (Game Passes are optional hardware, not quest completion)

Related reading

• Guides Hub — full tutorial index when the nav dropdown truncates
• Update V0.1 Notes — when drones solidified in the roster
• Update V0.2 Notes — Naval + AA context around the same drone kit
• Tier List / Units & Missiles — meta grades

Research unlocks the blueprint; manufacturing builds the swarm; air defense keeps both alive. In Build and Conquer, the player who forces the enemy to waste interceptors on Shaheds usually wins the mainland clock.