The High College, Priced in Azurite
The High College simulator lets you set a level on each research and tells you what it costs. That answers "what does this cost". It does not answer the question you ask before you start: what does the whole thing cost, and where does the money go?
So this is the same 31 researches, summed. Every figure is computed from the table that drives the simulator.
The total
| Researches | 31 |
| Levels across all of them | 260 |
| Azurite to max everything | 378,710 |
That is the number the simulator shows when you press FILL, and it is the sum of every level of every line.
29 levels cost nothing
Of the 260 levels in the table, 29 cost zero azurite — 11% of them.
They are not scattered randomly. They sit at the top of the cheap resource lines: Manage Food I and Manage Wood I both have levels 4 and 5 priced at zero, and the pattern repeats across the Manage family.
The practical reading: on those lines, stopping at level 3 leaves stat on the table for free. There is no reason not to finish them.
Where the azurite actually goes
Grouped by family, sorted by total cost:
| Family | Researches | Azurite |
|---|---|---|
| Superior Angel Attack | 2 | 32,070 |
| Superior Angel HP | 2 | 32,070 |
| Elite Blade | 2 | 32,070 |
| Invasion Blade | 2 | 32,070 |
| Elite Shield | 2 | 32,070 |
| Invasion Shield | 2 | 32,070 |
| Melee Attack | 2 | 29,810 |
| Ranged Attack | 2 | 29,810 |
| Melee HP | 2 | 29,810 |
| Ranged HP | 2 | 29,810 |
| Superior Leadership | 2 | 19,590 |
| Manage Stone | 2 | 12,430 |
Six families tie at exactly 32,070 — the Angel lines and the Blade and Shield lines. Four more tie at 29,810. The table is built in matched pairs, which is why the totals repeat.
The 29x gap
The most expensive single research and the cheapest are not in the same league:
| Research | Azurite | Levels | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most expensive | Superior Angel Attack II | 23,020 | 10 |
| Superior Angel HP II | 23,020 | 10 | |
| Elite Blade II | 23,020 | 10 | |
| Invasion Blade II | 23,020 | 10 | |
| Elite Shield II | 23,020 | 10 | |
| Cheapest | Manage Stone I | 5,020 | 5 |
| Manage Iron I | 5,020 | 5 | |
| Manage Food I | 4,250 | 5 | |
| Manage Wood I | 4,250 | 5 | |
| Rally Decree I | 800 | 10 |
Rally Decree I costs 800 azurite for ten levels. The most expensive lines cost 23,020 for the same ten. That is a 29x difference for the same number of clicks.
Whatever Rally Decree does for you, it is the cheapest ten levels in the building — by a wide margin, and by a distance nothing else in the table comes close to.
What the numbers say, and what they do not
They say where the azurite goes: the Angel, Blade and Shield families are over half the bill, and the resource-management lines are close to free by comparison.
They do not say what is worth buying. A cheap research that does nothing for your play is still wasted azurite, and the table has no opinion about that — it only has prices. Use the simulator to try an order and see what it costs before you commit.
If you want the same treatment for the buildings, the cost tables are added up here.