Build and Crush Garage Research Priority Tier List

Garage Research is the progression spine of Build and Crush. Every level opens new parts, better plant slots, or soil upgrades that change which crates you should farm. Spending research points randomly feels fine for an hour, then you hit a wall: R2 seeds sitting in inventory with no soil to plant them, or a garage full of parts you cannot connect because joint research lagged behind.

This priority tier list tells you what to unlock first across early, mid, and late game. Pair it with the full walkthrough in our Garage Research guide and cross-check which parts those unlocks enable on the parts and crates tier list.

Tier list methodology

We rank research nodes by return on time invested:

• Does the unlock immediately improve crush income?
• Does it unlock a higher crate tier or plant slot?
• Does it gate other high-value nodes?

S priority nodes should be purchased the moment you can afford them. A nodes follow within the same session. B nodes are strong but can wait until S and A queues are clear. C and below are convenience or cosmetic—pick them up during downtime.

Early game (first sessions) — S and A priorities

S tier early unlocks

Expanded inventory and build limit — More parts on the crusher means higher vote scores in public lobbies. This is the single best first purchase if offered at level one.

Basic joint and axle research — Without flexible connections, even good drops from crate plants cannot form stable vehicles. Unlock these before chasing rare harvests listed on the parts tier list.

First plant slot upgrade — A second active crate plant doubles passive income. Run one common or purple chest while you crush manually with the other maturing.

A tier early unlocks

Starter soil tier II — Required before mid-tier purple seeds reach full yield. Skipping soil feels invisible until harvest totals drop by half.

Vendor discount or sell bonus — Early currency is tight; any node that improves sell values accelerates the next S-tier purchase.

Map reward multiplier (if available) — Early access patches occasionally add bonus nodes. Grab them when visible; they compound every crush session.

Mid game — R2 and purple bridge

S tier mid unlocks

R2 soil authorization — Gates the entire R2 crate line. Until this is unlocked, R2 seeds from events or trades cannot reach full potential. This is the mid-game bottleneck—rush it.

Advanced piston / actuator branch — Powers drillers and sweepers that need timed extension. Mid-game maps introduce layered structures; static blocks stop working.

Third plant slot — Lets you rotate commons, purples, and one R2 simultaneously. Coordinate timing using tips from crate plants if you maintain a separate farming guide.

A tier mid unlocks

Reinforced chassis materials — Unlocks plates that survive co-op crush feedback when eight players stack physics on one build.

Blueprint import capacity — More saved slots matter once the Blueprints machine update spreads trending designs. Even without imports, extra layouts help A/B test research-heavy builds.

Co-op bonus research — Small percentage gains add up when grinding with friends; pick up before solo-only cosmetic nodes.

Late game — Godly and optimization

S tier late unlocks

Godly soil tier — The capstone for godly crate farming. No other node matches its long-term value if you play daily.

Legendary joint stress tolerance — Prevents catastrophic failures when godly drillers torque oversized frames.

Max plant slot tier — Final slot for dedicated godly rotation while R2 and purple backups run in parallel.

A tier late unlocks

Specialized weapon sub-trees — Hyper-focused drillers or wide sweepers depending on your preferred best builds archetype.

Research point recycle or refund QoL — Helpful when patches reshuffle trees during early access.

B tier and below — Pick up between grinds

Cosmetic garage themes, emote slots, and duplicate stat nodes that stack diminishing returns land here. They are fine once S and A queues for your current phase are empty.

Phase-by-phase unlock checklist

Phase	Unlock first (S)	Then (A)	Defer (B+)
Early	Build limit, joints, 2nd plant	Soil II, sell bonus	Cosmetics
Mid	R2 soil, actuators, 3rd plant	Reinforced plates, blueprint slots	Emotes
Late	Godly soil, stress joints, max plants	Weapon sub-trees	Themes

Common mistakes to avoid

Maxing weapon research before soil — Players open godly sweepers they cannot plant at full yield. Always align soil tiers with the crate tier you farm most.

Ignoring joints for shiny blocks — Decorative plates do not matter if the build falls apart on the first bump.

Copying creator trees blindly — Streamers may unlock for content variety. Follow this list unless your playstyle is purely creative non-crush.

Keeping your tree updated

Garage Research receives balance passes during early access. When Unsquared adds nodes or re-prices existing ones, we update this tier list and the Garage Research guide. After each patch, re-run your plan: if a former B node now gates R2 soil, it jumps to S automatically.

Use this page as a checklist, not a rigid script. If you mostly play co-op, bias toward chassis and co-op bonus nodes. Solo farmers should bias plant slots and soil one phase ahead of their current crate inventory.