Welcome to The Tower - Idle Tower Defense workshop upgrade priority guide! Labs are the foundation of your long-term progression in the game, and your success will largely depend on how efficiently you upgrade them. In this guide, we'll walk you through the best workshop upgrade strategy to maximize their benefits. With OSLink, you can farm endlessly no matter where you are and keep your lab research running 24/7, fast-tracking your progress in The Tower - Idle. So let's start.
Understanding the Lab: Dos and Don'ts
In The Tower, Labs become available early in the game, but you'll start with only one slot. You can unlock up to five Lab slots using diamonds, and this is one of the best investments you can make. The Labs are accessible from both the main menu and during a run, allowing you to adjust research and start new upgrades without exiting your run.
Every completed workshop upgrade provides additional multipliers for specific stats. However, as you progress, the research cost in coins will increase. Thankfully, coins are easy to farm, so the real limitation is the research duration.
If upgrades take too long, you can speed them up using gems, but this is not recommended for The Tower idle beginners due to the high cost. The gem cost scales non-linearly (e.g., 1.5x speed for 1 hour = 15 gems, but 2x speed = 80 gems per hour), making it an expensive choice best saved for crucial upgrades or to unlock new card slots and cards.
What You Should Avoid Upgrading
Some upgrades in the Lab are not worth your time. Avoid Range, as increasing it can mess up popular effective builds and be difficult to fix later. Health Regen and Absolute Defense are also not very useful, as they take too long to become effective. You can invest a little in them if you really want, but they should never be a priority.
Research Priorities: What to Upgrade First
Even with just one Lab slot, prioritizing your upgrades correctly is the main workshop upgrade strategy you should follow. Unlocking additional Lab slots makes things easier, but the order of importance remains the same. Here’s how to approach research:
Early Game Priorities
1. Game Speed – Max this out first! The cap is 5x speed, and it's essential for farming coins and making the game progress faster. Always have this running in your first Lab.
2. Attack Speed – Once Game Speed is maxed, focus on Attack Speed. Having high attack speed at all times allows your towers to trigger more attacks per second, greatly improving damage output.
3. Critical Hits (if you have crit-related cards) – If you have one of the best The Tower Idle Defense cards that reward extra coins for critical hits, upgrading crit chance is a solid investment. Knockback effects also pair well with crits.
Mid-Game Priorities
4. Lab Speed – As your research time increases (some upgrades take days to complete!), you’ll need this to cut down research time significantly. However, don’t rush it too early, most early research is short, so you can wait until you unlock at least two Lab slots before investing heavily in this.
5. Economy Upgrades – Slots 3 and 4 should be used for economic growth.
- Cash Per Wave – Good for early runs but not crucial later on. Keep this at around level 10.
- Coins Per Kill Bonus – One of the best economy upgrades. It multiplies your coin gains per enemy defeated, making it a top priority.
- Interest – While some players think interest is useless, it can be helpful in shorter runs (under 100 waves). Don’t over-invest, but around 1,000-1,500 max interest can give you an edge.
- Workshop Discount – Reduces the cost of workshop upgrades, indirectly saving coins. It’s not game-changing, but it’s a nice bonus.
Late-Game Priorities
6. Fifth Lab Slot (Once Unlocked) – This should remain flexible. Use it based on your current needs:
- Buy Multiplier – Helps with easier upgrades during runs.
- Orb Speed (For Blender Build) – Faster spinning orbs = more enemy kills.
- Defense % – One of the most important defensive upgrades. Your goal should be at least level 23, which allows you to reach 98% Defense Max during runs.
- Light Speed Shots – A fantastic upgrade that makes bullets instantly hit enemies, improving damage output and target priority.
Advanced Strategies & Additional Key Researches
Once you've covered the basics, here are some additional upgrades and strategies to consider:
- Critical Factor & Super Critical – If you’re focusing on damage, evenly distribute your research points between Damage, Critical Factor, and Damage Per Meter. These will stack well together.
- Golden Tower Bonus – If you have this research available, it’s a great alternative for boosting your economy instead of focusing purely on Coins Per Kill.
- Chrono Fuel Damage Reduction – Helps in surviving longer runs.
- Extra Orbs & Orb Adjuster – Essential if you're using an Orb-heavy build.
- Garlic Thorns – A must-have for dealing with vampires, as it damages them every second based on Thorn Damage.
- Target Priority Upgrade – Ensures that your towers focus on high-threat enemies like vampires and special enemies.
- Perk Unlocks – Unlock perks as soon as possible! The best first perk choices are Coin Bonus or Game Speed Bonus.
- Banning Useless Perks – Ban Health Regen, Absolute Defense, and Bounce Shot, as they are not worth it.
Optimizing Lab Research Timing
To maximize efficiency, plan your research times carefully. Start long research before sleeping or during long periods of inactivity, and avoid queuing up short 1-hour research when you're about to sleep.
Choose research that will finish when you're available to queue up the next one. For example, if you’re going to be busy, pick a research time that extends slightly beyond your busy period to avoid unnecessary downtime.
Running the Game 24/7 for Better Progress
Once your Labs are set up, pushing beyond wave 100 becomes much easier. However, since the game needs to run for hours, you won’t be able to use your device for other tasks. The best solution is to set up a second device or use remote access.
OS Link makes this simple by allowing you to control your game from another device. Whether you're playing on a phone, PC, or another mobile device, OSLink lets you check in remotely, keeping your workshop upgrade strategy uninterrupted.
With easy setup, you can also restart runs if your build fails while AFK farming anytime from anywhere. With a 700+ minute free trial, you can try it for yourself and fast-track your progress in The Tower - Idle Tower Defense.
Conclusion
With the right research priorities and smart upgrade choices, you’ll maximize your Lab’s potential and push further in The Tower - Idle Tower Defense. And with OS Link, you can keep your progress running 24/7, ensuring no time is wasted. Set up OS Link Labs and enjoy hassle free AKF farming today!
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