Before you upgrade: preparing Aurora and Farhad

Match the Captain to the job

Aurora specialises in construction speed; Farhad specialises in research speed. Prepare the Captain for the action you are about to start, rather than assuming either one speeds up everything.

Prepare before pressing Start

Our recommended routine is to activate the relevant Captain and have them available in the City while setting up the action. Review the Captain’s displayed bonuses and equip items that support the job.

A construction bonus on an item is not a research bonus. Read the individual equipment lines; do not choose an item purely because its colour or Might is higher.

• Decide which building or technology you will start.
• Check its prerequisites and resource cost.
• Activate Aurora for construction or Farhad for research.
• Review the relevant equipment, talents and available City bonuses.
• Reopen the action screen and check the final timer before starting.

Do not begin a long upgrade first and assume that changing your setup afterwards will fix the time you accepted.

Compare the same action

Use one unstarted upgrade as your comparison. Note its displayed duration, change the setup, then reopen that same upgrade. Keep temporary boosts and the target level consistent.

This gives you a useful before-and-after comparison without guessing how the individual percentage bonuses combine. A bonus described as speed should not be read as a straight percentage subtraction from a timer that already includes other bonuses.

Optional bonuses without unnecessary spending

If you already use Premium, its Great Ruler title supports construction and research. Review the title currently selected before a major development session. Only one Premium title can be active, and switching has a cooldown.

The aim is to use bonuses you already have sensibly. A paid feature is not a prerequisite for following this preparation routine.

Start, then organise help and Speedups

Once the setup and final resource cost are correct, start the action. Ask for the help available to you, check the remaining timer, and decide how many Speedups are actually needed for your deadline.

If an event is part of the plan, read whether points come from starting, completing or spending resources. Those are different triggers; a long timer that finishes outside the scoring window may not serve your goal.

Your pre-upgrade checklist

• Correct target and next level selected.
• Prerequisites complete and resources available.
• Relevant Captain and equipment prepared.
• Final duration checked before committing.
• Event objective and finish time understood.

Use the Academy guide, Capitol guide and cost tables to prepare the next step.