Calculate the exact number of drone parts needed to upgrade your tactical drone in Last War: Survival. Enter your current and target levels below.
How Drone Parts Work in Last War: Survival
Drone Parts are one of two resources (alongside Battle Data) used to level up the Tactical Drone at the Drone Center. The drone system uses a split cost structure: from level 1 to 150, parts are consumed only at every 5th level (5, 10, 15, 20, etc.), with per-milestone costs ranging from 5 parts up to 6,000 parts. After level 150, the system shifts entirely and parts are required at every single level, starting at 500 per level and increasing by 100 for each 10-level band (so 600 per level from 161 to 170, 700 from 171 to 180, and so on up to 1,400 per level from 241 to 250).
This two-phase system means upgrade planning changes dramatically at level 150. Before 150, you only spend parts 30 times across 150 levels. After 150, you spend parts 100 times across just 100 levels, and each individual cost is higher. The total parts from level 1 to 150 comes to roughly 28,045, while 150 to 250 requires an additional 95,000, bringing the lifetime total to approximately 123,000 parts for a fully maxed level 250 drone.
Complete Drone Parts Cost Table (Levels 1 to 150)
The table below shows every milestone where drone parts are required in the pre-150 phase. Costs are charged when upgrading through the milestone level (e.g., the cost at level 5 is paid when going from level 5 to 6).
| Milestone Level | Parts Cost | Cumulative Total |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 10 | 10 | 15 |
| 15 | 20 | 35 |
| 20 | 30 | 65 |
| 25 | 40 | 105 |
| 30 | 50 | 155 |
| 35 | 60 | 215 |
| 40 | 80 | 295 |
| 45 | 100 | 395 |
| 50 | 120 | 515 |
| 55 | 140 | 655 |
| 60 | 160 | 815 |
| 65 | 180 | 995 |
| 70 | 200 | 1,195 |
| 75 | 250 | 1,445 |
| 80 | 300 | 1,745 |
| 85 | 350 | 2,095 |
| 90 | 400 | 2,495 |
| 95 | 450 | 2,945 |
| 100 | 500 | 3,445 |
| 105 | 600 | 4,045 |
| 110 | 700 | 4,745 |
| 115 | 800 | 5,545 |
| 120 | 1,000 | 6,545 |
| 125 | 1,500 | 8,045 |
| 130 | 2,000 | 10,045 |
| 135 | 3,000 | 13,045 |
| 140 | 4,000 | 17,045 |
| 145 | 5,000 | 22,045 |
| 150 | 6,000 | 28,045 |
Post-150 Drone Parts Costs (Levels 151 to 250)
After level 150, the system changes from milestone-based to per-level. Every single level now requires parts. The cost per level starts at 500 and increases by 100 for each 10-level band.
| Level Range | Parts per Level | Band Total (10 levels) | Cumulative from 151 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 151 to 160 | 500 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 161 to 170 | 600 | 6,000 | 11,000 |
| 171 to 180 | 700 | 7,000 | 18,000 |
| 181 to 190 | 800 | 8,000 | 26,000 |
| 191 to 200 | 900 | 9,000 | 35,000 |
| 201 to 210 | 1,000 | 10,000 | 45,000 |
| 211 to 220 | 1,100 | 11,000 | 56,000 |
| 221 to 230 | 1,200 | 12,000 | 68,000 |
| 231 to 240 | 1,300 | 13,000 | 81,000 |
| 241 to 250 | 1,400 | 14,000 | 95,000 |
Combined with the 28,045 parts needed for levels 1 through 150, reaching level 250 requires approximately 123,045 total drone parts. The sharpest cost escalation occurs at level 120, where per-milestone costs jump from 800 to 1,000, and again at level 125 where they leap to 1,500. After level 150, the transition to per-level billing effectively quadruples the rate of parts consumption compared to the milestone system.
Drone Skill and Skin Unlocks by Level
Leveling the tactical drone is not just about raw stats. Certain milestones unlock drone skills and cosmetic skins that provide both functional and visual upgrades.
Drone Skill Unlock Levels: Level 31, Level 51, Level 71, Level 91, and Level 111. Each skill unlock adds a new active ability to the drone's combat rotation. These abilities fall into categories including movement/defense (shielding at the start of battle), attack (boosted rear-row damage), and interference (extended damage duration). Because skill unlocks are so impactful, pushing to these breakpoints should take priority over leveling past them. For example, reaching level 91 is significantly more valuable than going from 92 to 110 in terms of combat effectiveness per part spent.
Drone Skin Unlock Levels: Level 1, Level 50, Level 100, Level 150, Level 200, and Level 250. Skins grant minor stat bonuses (typically ATK and critical rate) in addition to their visual changes. The level 150 and 200 skins are considered the most meaningful stat-wise for mid-to-late game players.
Best Sources for Drone Parts
Drone parts come from a variety of sources, each with different yield rates and refresh cycles. Below is a breakdown of the primary acquisition methods ranked by consistency and output.
Radar Missions: The single largest repeatable source. Purple and orange rarity missions yield the most parts per run. A useful strategy is to complete radar missions ahead of time, then collect the rewards during VS Day 1 (Radar Training Day) or Arms Race Drone Boost phase to double-dip on event credit.
Alliance Store: Spend alliance contribution points on drone parts. Output scales with how active your alliance is, so joining a highly active alliance that participates in duel events and donations is one of the best long-term decisions for drone progression.
VIP Store and Campaign Store: Both offer drone parts on rotating stock. VIP store access depends on VIP level, while campaign store uses campaign tokens earned from the main campaign stages.
Honor Store: PvP-earned honor points can be converted to drone parts here. Competitive players who consistently place well in arena or cross-server events accumulate honor faster.
Drone Parts Factory: Unlocked through Age of Oil research at HQ level 30. Produces up to 6 parts per day passively. While the daily output is small, it adds up over weeks and months with zero active effort.
Events (Drone Day and Limited Events): Periodic in-game events, particularly Drone Day, award large batches of parts for completing event objectives. These are typically the highest single-payout sources but are time-limited and require planning to maximize.
Upgrade Priority Strategy
Not all drone levels deliver equal value. Because skill unlocks at levels 31, 51, 71, 91, and 111 add entirely new combat abilities, the parts-per-power ratio is best when you push to those breakpoints first. Between skill unlocks, the stat gains per level are linear and relatively modest. This means a player sitting at level 88 should save parts for the push to 91 rather than slowly incrementing through 89 and 90, since the skill unlock at 91 delivers a disproportionate combat boost.
After level 150, the calculus changes. There are no new skill unlocks beyond 111, and the only remaining milestone rewards are skins at 200 and 250. At this stage, each level delivers a consistent incremental stat gain and the main consideration becomes resource efficiency. Players in the 150 to 200 range should focus on maximizing their passive drone parts income (factory, daily tasks, alliance store) while saving event rewards for large batch upgrades that push through multiple levels at once.
Beyond level 250, further drone leveling requires completing specific Tech Research nodes. This effectively gates drone progression behind base development, making HQ level and research lab upgrades a prerequisite for continued drone investment.
Drone Skill Chip System
Separate from the drone parts upgrade path, the Skill Chip system (unlocked on server day 85) adds another layer of drone customization. The drone has four chip slots: Initial, Attack, Interference, and Defense. Initial and Defense chips activate at the start of battle (primarily shielding effects), while Attack and Interference chips trigger each time the drone bombs.
Chips are upgraded through star rating (synthesizing duplicate chips) and level upgrades (using identical chips or upgrade components). The Combat Boost system, introduced in a later update, replaces individual chip level upgrades with a unified progression that benefits all active chips simultaneously. At Combat Progress level 10, the first troop's chip system unlocks; level 150 unlocks the second troop, and level 300 unlocks the third.
Because the chip system operates on a completely separate resource track from drone parts, players should invest in both simultaneously rather than treating them as competing priorities. Chips provide percentage-based multipliers on top of the base stats gained from drone leveling, so the two systems compound on each other.
