Last War Age of Oil F2P Strategy: Upgrade Priorities and Tech

Entering the Age of Oil in Last War shifts late-game progression away from general farming toward strict oil budgeting. Because crude and refined oil cannot be acquired in unlimited quantities without spending money, free-to-play (F2P) commanders must prioritize in-base production buildings first, restrict research spending exclusively to their primary squad, and keep resource crates unopened until major duel events.

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Infrastructure Upgrade Priorities

Your base infrastructure determines your baseline daily oil income and conversion speed. Neglecting production buildings creates a compounding research bottleneck that stalls progression.

Bring your internal Oil Wells to their maximum level before committing oil to secondary upgrades. These wells provide steady hourly generation that cannot be plundered by enemy tile attacks. Keep your Oil Refinery upgraded to match your incoming crude output so conversion keeps pace with daily research demands. Upgrade storage capacity based on your schedule: if depots cap out while you sleep or work, passive income is permanently lost.

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Research Spending: Combat Nodes vs. Utility

The oil tech tree requires massive amounts of refined oil, making a completionist approach unviable for non-spending accounts. Allocate refined oil based on immediate return on investment.

Focus on Your Primary Squad

Invest refined oil exclusively in the combat nodes that benefit your main squad lineup:

• Target Dominant Stat Boosts: Prioritize percentage-based attack, damage reduction, and squad lethality for your front-row tanks and back-row damage dealers.
• Avoid Multi-Branch Dilution: Do not spend refined oil on secondary marches (such as an underdeveloped Aircraft or Missile team) while your main lineup still has available upgrades. Spreading oil across multiple squads lowers your competitive power in Warzone Duel matchups.

Vet Economic Tech by Payback Period

Economic nodes in the oil tree often promise gathering speed or production buffs, but many require astronomical oil costs to unlock.

• Skip Convenience Nodes: Pass on march speed enhancements, stamina adjustments, or basic resource boosts.
• Apply the 60-Day Rule: Calculate the total oil cost of an economic tech node against the daily increase in oil it generates. If the node requires more than two months of continuous production to recoup its own research cost, bypass it and invest that oil directly into squad combat stats.

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Daily Oil Gathering Operations

Oil resource nodes on the world map are far scarcer and more contested than iron or farmland. Optimize gathering marches to secure external crude safely:

1. Deploy Dedicated Farm Squads: Send your second and third squads to gather oil while keeping your strongest primary squad stationed at base for defense and rally support.
2. Gather Inside Alliance Territory: Always harvest oil tiles located within your alliance's boundary lines to benefit from the alliance gathering speed buff and reduce march exposure.
3. Time Long-Duration Nodes: Dispatch gathering squads to high-level oil tiles right before extended offline periods to avoid idle march time.
4. Stack Gathering Boosts: Activate gathering speed items from the alliance shop or VIP perks prior to dispatching your marches across high-tier nodes.
5. Withdraw During War Events: Clear out of exposed gathering tiles on contested borders during active kill events. Losing a full march of troops costs significantly more in recovery than the oil gathered from that node.

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Resource Protection and Duel Event Timing

Because oil is heavily contested, exposing refined oil makes your base a high-priority target during Enemy Buster and cross-server clashes.

• Keep Resource Chests in Your Bag: Never open oil crates, selector boxes, or event reward bundles until the exact moment you start an upgrade. Bagged resources cannot be scouted or looted during enemy base attacks.
• Sync Upgrades with Event Scoring: Do not trigger expensive oil research or building projects at random times. Save major oil expenditures for the corresponding days of the Alliance Duel and Arms Race cycles—such as Tech Research Day or Base Building Day. This ensures your spent oil converts into milestone rewards, universal speedups, and diamonds that fund your next progression tier.