Research and production Hearts of Iron IV Guide
Last update: 29 June 2016
The game allows you to appoint additional consultants and companies that will significantly increase the research speed of specific technologies and will allow you gain additional modifiers associated with produced units. For each of the following sections the panel offers a single slot. In some cases you won't have multiple choices and the only available one will be to simply fill the slot, or wait with making the decision.
Tanks
In this case you don't really have a choice. If you are focusing on developing armored units you should fill this slot as quickly as possible, so that your tanks are better and the research speed is increased. It all depends on your own vision of your army and whether armored units are a key aspect of the "puzzle".
Tank manufacturer
Icon | Description | Commentary |
 | Tank research time -10% Armorer units - reliability +5% Cost: 150 | A standard political power cost in exchange for a reduced research time of new types of tanks. Note that the tanks manufactured when the deal is active will increase the reliability of tanks. |
Navy
Similarly to the armored units, navy does not give you any choice when it comes to this position. If your country has access to the sea and you are interested in developing your own powerful fleet, you should think about cooperating with this manufacturer as quickly as possible. You can, of course, postpone it in time as the producer doesn't give you anything other than reduced research times. It all depends on the amount of research teams you have at your disposal and if you are planning on constructing new ships.
Navy manufacturer
Icon | Description | Commentary |
 | Navy research time -10% Cost: 150 | A very weak point of the government. You would be expecting more from a navy manufacturer (especially in comparison to the tank one), while the developers prepared a single bonus of reduced research time. This can be useful if you are planning on severely expanding your fleet, but otherwise it's not worth the price. |
Air
The first group of research and production that gives you some alternatives. In the case of new unit projects it all depends on which units are you planning to use in combat. Depending on which group of units you are most interested in, you should hire one of the following designers. You won't really be able to make a decision during the early stages of the game (and you shouldn't focus on that either). Wait until you've used all of the unit types in combat and then make your decision about the type of designer you want to use.
Light plane designer
Icon | Description | Additional |
 | Air research time -10% Cost: 150 | Fighter: Agility +10% Maximum speed +10% |
Commentary: If you decide to manufacture light planes you should definitely use the services of this designer. By doing so your planes will gain increases stats. The benefits your units will get won't tilt the balance of the battle, but having them definitely won't hurt you either.
Medium plane designer
Icon | Description | Additional |
 | Air research time -10% Cost: 150 | Heavy Fighter: Reliability +20% Tactical Bomber: Reliability +20% |
Commentary: In this case your units gain increased reliability. The size of the bonus can make a significant difference, especially because it affects two types of planes. This is one of the universal solutions that concerns the development of both fighters and bombers. It all depends on whether you will use those units in combat.
Heavy plane designer
Icon | Description | Additional |
 | Air research time -10% Cost: 150 | Strategic Bomber: Bombardment +10% |
Commentary: an option focusing solely on bombers. Increased damage caused by bombardment are definitely going to be useful and they will increase the chances of destroying defensive structures before your land units attack. If you want to be able to decrease the enemy advantages, you should definitely use this designer.
Naval planes designer
Icon | Description | Additional |
 | Air research time -10% Cost: 150 | Naval Bomber: Range +10% Sea attack +10% |
Commentary: in this case there are the following requirements: your country must have a coastline and you must want to focus on developing naval planes. If you aren't interested in naval combat there's no point in wasting political power on this one.
Equipment
As far as the equipment manufacturer goes, you can select from three different specialists. Each one of them offers acceleration in a different branch of units and it all depends on which one you want to use the most. However, you need to wait for a little before starting this, as the game offers access to the basic variants of this equipment - if you want to start researching the following from the beginning of the game, you will be punished with severe penalties.
Icon | Description | Benefits |
| Infantry equipment designer Cost: 150 | Research time: Small arms -10% |
| Artillery designer Cost: 160 | Research time: Artillery -10% |
| Vehicle designer Cost: 160 | Research time: Vehicles -10% |
Commentary: Each type of a designer will reduce the time needed to complete a research by 10%. This is not a huge value, but in conjunction with other bonuses provided from different fields it can significantly decrease the total time of a research. If you are focused on developing infantry you should start by selecting the designer associated with it. Later on you can add artillery and mechanized units to the infantry. During the game you should swap designers in accordance of your current needs.
Industry
The game allows you to decrease the time needed to manufacture inventions associated with enginery and industry. You can assign only a single slot, which is why you should constantly change them in accordance to your needs. Depending on your current needs you should change corporations, but remember that each change will cost you.
Icon | Description | Benefits |
| Industrial Conglomerate Cost: 150 | Research time: Industry -10% |
| Electronical Conglomerate Cost: 160 | Research time: Electronics -10% |
Commentary: at the first glance you should take advantage of the industry bonus, as this is the only way you will be able to develop a solid foundation for future military actions. Electronics are also important, but it's primarily situational, which is why you won't gain significant benefits from it during the early game.
Military Theorist
A single slot in the panel can be used for a military theorist. His job concentrates on development of a specific group of units. Thanks to every single one of them you will gain a passive military experience and research time reduction bonus associated with specific doctrines.
Description | Benefits |
Military Theorist Cost: 150 | Army experience+0,05 /day Land doctrine research time -7% |
Navy Theorist Cost: 150 | Navy experience+0,05 /day Navy doctrine research time -7% |
Air Theorist Cost: 150 | Air experience+0,05 /day Air doctrine research time -7% |
Commentary: at the beginning of the game you will have access to a large amount of land units, which is why you should focus on the military theorist. You should create army as quickly as possible and start recruiting units. By doing so you will generate army experience from the very beginning of the game and you will be able to focus on selection of other types of units. You shouldn't make this decision at the beginning of the game, but about a year before the military conflict, when you've decided that types of units you will be focusing on.