Part of the Base Building Series:
- HQ Requirements: Check the complete upgrade prerequisite list.
- Buildings Reference: Plan useful supporting upgrades.
Quick Answer
Check current Prosperity, maximum Prosperity and the amount required for the upgrade. If your maximum is below the requirement, you need qualifying building upgrades that increase that maximum. Waiting for recovery cannot carry the current value above its cap.
If the maximum already meets the requirement but current Prosperity is lower, investigate recovery and settlement condition. A decoration showing a per-minute Prosperity benefit affects recovery; do not mistake that rate for an increase to maximum Prosperity.
Diagnose the Block in Three Numbers
Open the blocked upgrade and write down its exact Prosperity requirement. Then inspect your settlement's current and maximum values. Use the same units throughout: 21.5 million is 21,500,000, not 21,500.
| Situation | What it means | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum is below the requirement | The settlement's capacity is insufficient | Find building upgrades with a displayed Prosperity increase |
| Maximum is high enough, current is too low | You have a recovery shortfall | Review settlement damage and recovery |
| Current meets the requirement | Prosperity is probably not the remaining block | Recheck buildings, resources and other prerequisites |
For a hypothetical HQ upgrade requiring 21.5 million, consider these cases:
- 19 million current / 20 million maximum: you need at least 1.5 million more maximum Prosperity. Recovering the missing one million only gets you to 20 million.
- 19 million current / 22 million maximum: your cap is sufficient; current Prosperity is 2.5 million short of the requirement.
- 21.6 million current / 22 million maximum: the Prosperity condition is met. Buying a recovery decoration will not fix an unmet building prerequisite.
These numbers demonstrate the calculation; they are not requirements for a particular HQ level. Use the live upgrade panel and the HQ requirements reference for your own stage.
Find the Cheapest Useful Building Upgrades
Open the upgrade preview on several buildings and record the Prosperity increase, not just the Battle Power increase. Include supporting buildings you may have neglected while rushing HQ.
Make a small comparison:
| Candidate | Prosperity gained | Resources needed | Displayed time | Other benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building A | Copy from preview | Copy from preview | After your active reductions | Does it unblock another requirement? |
| Building B | Copy from preview | Copy from preview | After your active reductions | Does it improve a system you use? |
| Building C | Copy from preview | Copy from preview | After your active reductions | Will you need its next level soon? |
Suppose two possible upgrades would add 80,000 and 120,000 in this illustrative comparison, while your cap shortfall is 100,000. The larger upgrade can clear the cap requirement by itself; the smaller needs a second job. But if the larger consumes a scarce resource needed for HQ, two cheaper upgrades may still fit better. Compare the complete path, including prerequisites, rather than a single attractive number.
Avoid a permanent “always upgrade this building” rule. The best choice changes with current building levels, resources, builders, buffs and your next required upgrade. The base-building hub helps keep the short-term Prosperity fix aligned with your longer progression plan.
What Decorations Actually Do
Some decorations advertise a Prosperity recovery rate. A label such as +5,000/min is a rate, not a one-time addition of 5,000 to the maximum. Read the precise benefit before buying or placing an item.
A recovery item can be useful when the cap is already sufficient and you need to restore the current value. It does not solve the first example above, where the maximum itself is too low. This is why apparently sensible advice to “buy more decorations” can fail to unblock an HQ upgrade.
Also keep Paradise Isle's Splendor separate from settlement Prosperity. Similar-looking decoration systems do not imply that points earned in one are interchangeable with the other's building requirement. Check the exact name and destination of a benefit before spending event currency.
Recovering After an Attack
Inspect whether the settlement is still under threat or damaged before using consumables to rush recovery. If another attack is likely, arranging appropriate protection and returning to a safer position may matter more than accelerating a recovery number immediately.
Use the displayed recovery rate to estimate the wait only after understanding what that rate measures. As a simple example, a 300,000 shortfall at a constant net 5,000 per minute would take 60 minutes. That assumes no additional damage or rate change. It is arithmetic, not a promise that your settlement recovers at that speed.
Troop recovery is a separate task. Healing a Hospital queue may restore your army without resolving a building's Prosperity prerequisite. Follow the Hospital and Enlistment guide for that problem and the protection guide before another vulnerable period.
Check the Remaining HQ Requirements
After fixing Prosperity, reopen the upgrade panel. A prerequisite building, resource shortfall or occupied construction queue may still prevent the upgrade. Do not spend speedups on the Prosperity plan and assume every other condition will resolve automatically.
Before opening resource items, total the cost of the qualifying upgrades and the HQ upgrade itself. A plan that raises the cap but consumes all the resources reserved for HQ can create another delay. Keep this distinction in your resource budget.
FAQ
Why does waiting not increase Prosperity enough for HQ? Your maximum may be below the requirement. Compare the cap with the required value; recovery alone cannot solve that gap.
Do decorations increase maximum Prosperity? Do not infer that from a recovery-rate label. Check the item's exact effect; a per-minute recovery bonus is different from a cap increase.
Does training more troops fix low Prosperity? Do not substitute Battle Power growth for a Prosperity requirement. Use upgrades whose preview explicitly shows the required Prosperity benefit.
Why is HQ still blocked after Prosperity is high enough? Inspect every other condition in the upgrade panel, including prerequisite buildings, resources and construction availability.
Key Takeaways
- Compare current, maximum and required Prosperity before spending.
- Use building previews to calculate the complete route past a cap shortfall.
- Treat recovery rates, Battle Power and island Splendor as separate values.