The image above is from an Otomo campaign, roughly 30 turns in. Considered too, is the length of time needed to reach the respective tech and the strength of the pre-requisites needed to research first.

In the following section’s tier list, these factors are taken into account. This means, for example as either a Christian faction or Ikko buddhist, heavily leaning on Chi’s religious arts will generally benefit your gameplay as a whole since these factions are designed to excel in these areas. You should aim for research to fit your current situation on the campaign map, with a little hindsight and ambition towards future/final goals for your faction.

The deeper arts in the tree require pre-requisites in order to unlock them, therefore as the player you need to decide whether to specialise in one area or adopt a rounded approach, becoming medicore in all aspects, allowing a more flexible strategy at the expense of powerful but limited bonuses. Chi focuses on economy, public order, trade and religion. Research in Shogun 2 has two trees that focus on seperate aspects: Bushido for military bonuses as well as arts that unlock new military buildings, units, formations and tactics. This guide is intended for newer players and those of intermediate level. Since the game was released for free during a short period in April last year, many new players have picked up the 2012 classic. Therefore the game forces you to choose between the two paths, Bushido (military focused) and Chi (Economic and Civic focused) and might leave you lacking in one side without balance. You cannot research all of the arts in every campaign - indeed, only in the longest campaigns with many bonuses to research will you be able to achieve this goal. Each art in Shogun 2 takes a long time to complete, making prioritisation necessary. I have written this in order to provide a complete breakdown of the most important research (also referred to as arts or technology) to obtain during the campaign for each game. Welcome to this definitive guide for Shogun 2’s main campaign.

Total war shogun 2 guide