Fastest Path to T10 Troops

Why T10 Is the Goal

Tier 10 troops are the biggest single power jump in pre-season. They are dramatically stronger than T9 in every stat, and unlocking them flips your base from "mid-game" to "endgame-capable". Once you have T10 unlocked, every other investment — gear, heroes, research — compounds harder.

Unlock Requirements (Non-Negotiable)

You cannot train a single T10 troop until all three of these are met. Missing any one of them blocks you completely.

The Special Forces research tree becomes available once your Tech Centre reaches level 20, but the final T10-unlocking nodes only appear when Tech Centre hits 30. Plan to have it running continuously from HQ 25 onward.

Barracks: Upgrade One, Not All

This is where most players waste weeks. You do not need every barracks at 30.

• You only need one barracks at level 30 to train T10 of that troop type (Tank, Aircraft, or Missile)
• The other three barracks should be staggered at lower levels for waterfall training
• Upgrading all four barracks to 30 is an enormous resource drain for zero extra capability

Pick your primary squad type. That is the barracks you max first.

The Special Forces Fast Path

The Special Forces tree is large, but the trick is that you do not need to max it. Only four specific terminal nodes gate T10 training. Everything else in the tree is optional — you only spend badges on other nodes to satisfy prerequisites for the path to these four.

The Four T10 Unlock Nodes

These four nodes are the gatekeepers. Until all four are completed, you cannot train a single T10 troop.

Pick One Troop Type — Do Not Split

Special Forces has Tank, Aircraft, and Missile-themed branches (plus March Speed). You do not need to unlock T10 for all three types. Pick your primary squad and pour everything into that path.

• Tank is the most common pick in pre-season — the meta favours it and the heroes are easier to obtain
• Aircraft is a common second investment once Tank is matured, for mid-game meta transition
• Missile is rarely the first pick in pre-season

Splitting badges across two troop types typically doubles your timeline. Do one at a time.

Minimum-Waste Order

Within the path to the four gatekeepers, follow this order:

1. Lower-tier nodes first, cheaply — these are prerequisites you have to clear. Use basic speed-ups or no speed-ups at all; they complete quickly relative to the top
2. Mid-tier prerequisites next — start spending Valor Badges here, but keep heavy speed-ups in reserve
3. The four gatekeepers last, with every speed-up and badge you have saved — the final unlock research alone costs over 500M coins, so the speed-ups are genuinely the difference between unlocking on event day or waiting two weeks

Time Completions to Events

Finish research during event windows to double-dip the rewards:

• Alliance Duel Day 3 (Research Day) is the highest-value window — finish a big research node here for massive event points
• Arms Race Research phase also rewards completions
• Start a long node 1-2 days before the event, apply speed-ups during the event to finish

What You Need to Save Up

Before you start the four gatekeepers, build this stockpile:

The Coin Problem

Most of your T10 journey is a coin-farming project.

The two best coin sources

1. Zombie Invasion event (your #1 coin source)

A single Zombie Invasion cycle can earn well over 1 billion coins if you prepare properly.

• Save stamina packs in the week before — do not burn them on normal zombies
• Prioritise boss-level zombies during the event — highest coin drop per stamina
• Join every alliance rally — coin drops scale with rally size
• Aim to spend roughly 95% of stored stamina during the event window

2. Dead-base farming

Abandoned bases (players who have quit) hold large stockpiles — typically 500M–1B, 70-80% of which is coin.

• Farm up to 5 dead bases per day
• Look for bases with high base level and no shield — those are usually inactive
• Scout first to confirm troop counts and shield status

Keep both running

Do not pick one. Run dead-base farming daily as your baseline, and treat each Zombie Invasion as a coin-dump event.

The Secret: Promote, Don't Train

Once T10 is unlocked, the fastest way to fill your squads with T10 troops is not to train them from scratch. Promote T9 troops up instead.

• Training a T10 from raw resources takes the full training time
• Promoting a T9 → T10 takes a fraction of that time for broadly similar resources
• The same principle applies all the way down: promoting T8 → T10 is faster than training T10 from zero

This is the same mechanic as waterfall training, just applied to your final tier.

Suggested 30-Day Run to T10

Assuming you are at HQ 27-28 and ready to push:

1. Week 1: Finish HQ 30 prerequisites. Tech Centre to 29. Pick your main barracks — upgrade it toward 30. Start saving stamina.
2. Week 2: Hit HQ 30. Push Tech Centre to 30. Push your main barracks to 30. Start farming dead bases daily.
3. Week 3: Complete the four Special Forces T10 unlock nodes. Use saved research speed-ups here, not earlier.
4. Week 4: Zombie Invasion coin-dump event. Convert your stockpile of T9 troops into T10 via promotion. Celebrate.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Upgrading all barracks to 30 — only one needs to be 30
• Racing HQ 30 while Tech Centre lags at 28 or 29 — the four T10 research nodes will not appear
• Splitting Valor Badges across two troop types — doubles your timeline. Pick one (usually Tank), finish it, then start on the next
• Padding upper Special Forces nodes that aren't on the T10 path — every badge spent off-path is a day added to your unlock
• Burning stamina outside events — save it for Zombie Invasion
• Training T10s from scratch when you have T9 stock sitting in your barracks
• Ignoring dead-base farming because "it's boring" — it is free coin
• Opening resource chests early — resources in your base can be stolen; resources in your inventory cannot

Related Guides

• HQ Progression Guide — the full path to HQ 30
• Tech Centre Research Guide — research priorities by phase
• Waterfall Training Guide — the core promotion mechanic you will rely on
• Zombie Siege Guide — your biggest coin event
• Resource Management — protecting and compounding what you earn