Part of the Troops & Combat Series:
- March Capacity and Slots: How to send bigger armies and more of them at once (You Are Here).
- Troop Formations Guide: The triangle, ratios by activity, and preset discipline.
- Heroes Guide Hub: Troop affinity and where fragments go.
- HQ 1–15 Guide: Fastest Growth Strategy: Building gates and speed-up discipline.
- Research Priorities Guide: The three trees, and where slots and capacity actually live.
- Gathering Guide: What the extra slots are actually for.
- VIP Levels Guide: Where the sixth march slot comes from.
Quick Answer
Two separate things, constantly confused:
- March capacity is how many troops fit in one march. Raised by the Battle research tree, Headquarters level, hero skills, and chief gear.
- March slots are how many marches you can have out at once. Raised by the Leadership line in the Development research tree, with the last one gated behind VIP.
They are in different research trees. Researching capacity does nothing for slots and vice versa, which is the single most common mix-up in the game.
If you're choosing where to spend first: slots before capacity, early on. A second and third march multiply everything you do, from gathering to rally joining. Capacity increases are worth more later, once you have troops to fill the space.
Overview
Almost every activity in this game is march-gated. Gathering, attacking, rallying, and clearing infected all consume a march, and they all run on timers. That makes your march count the real throughput limit on a developing account.
Capacity works differently. It caps how much force you can bring to a single engagement, which matters enormously in combat and barely at all when you're gathering. A half-empty march takes the same travel time as a full one, so unused capacity is pure waste.
Here's the thing that catches people out: these two stats have almost nothing to do with each other, and the research that raises one does not raise the other.
March Slots
Slots come from the Leadership line inside the Development research tree, and that is the main route. One detail worth planning around: Leadership IV requires Research Lab level 23, so the later slots are gated by your lab's own level, not only by resources.
There is a hard ceiling, and it is worth knowing before you plan around it:
| Setup | Maximum marches |
|---|---|
| Leadership research maxed, no VIP | 5 |
| Leadership research maxed plus VIP 8, active | 6 |
That sixth slot is the clearest practical reason for a free account to climb the VIP track, since research alone cannot reach it.
Why slots matter so much early:
- Gathering runs in parallel. Three gathering marches collect roughly three times as fast as one.
- Rally joining needs a free march. If all your marches are out on resource nodes when your alliance calls a rally, you contribute nothing.
- Flexibility. A spare march means you can respond to something without recalling what you're already doing.
[!IMPORTANT] Keep one march free during active alliance hours. The most common way to be a poor alliance member is to be permanently unavailable because every march is parked on a gas node.
March Capacity
Capacity scales from several sources stacking together:
| Source | Effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters level | Base capacity | The foundational gate, like most things |
| Battle research tree | Percentage and flat increases | Steady, reliable, slow. Not the tree that gives slots |
| Hero skills | Percentage increases | Hero-specific; check before investing |
| Chief gear | Percentage increases | Often overlooked, meaningful in aggregate |
| Buildings | Base increases | Tied to troop-related buildings |
None of these individually transforms your march. Together they compound, which is why accounts that keep all five moving pull ahead of accounts that chase one.
Capacity matters most in PvP and rallies, where the size of the force you bring is a direct input to whether you win. It matters least in gathering, where you're limited by node size and time rather than how much you can carry.
If capacity changed after moving heroes, check the Training Area instructor levels. If the number looks wrong only when joining, the rally roles guide separates your personal march limit from the combined rally capacity.
What to Prioritise
A rough order for a developing account:
- Leadership research to your next march slot. The multiplier on everything.
- HQ level, which gates capacity and much else. Covered in the HQ progression guide.
- Capacity research, steadily and in the background.
- Chief gear, once the cheap tiers are available.
- Hero skills that raise capacity, but only on heroes you actually run.
That last point is worth dwelling on. A capacity skill on a hero you never field is worth exactly nothing, and it's a common way to waste fragments.
Filling the Capacity You Have
Extra capacity is only useful if you have troops for it. Two failure modes:
Capacity outruns troop supply. You've researched a big march and can't fill it. Fix: train more, and mix in lower tiers rather than leaving space empty. The formations guide covers tier mixing.
Troop supply outruns capacity. You have troops sitting at home doing nothing. Fix: push capacity research, and check whether you're actually slot-limited rather than capacity-limited.
Diagnosing which one you have takes ten seconds and saves weeks of misdirected research.
F2P vs Spender
F2P accounts should lean hard into slots. Slots are research, research is time, and time is what free accounts have. Three gathering marches running while you sleep is the closest thing to free resources in the game.
Spending accounts get more from capacity, since spending fills marches with high-tier troops faster than research can widen them. The bottleneck for a spender is usually capacity rather than supply, which reverses the priority.
Common Mistakes
Confusing slots with capacity. Researching capacity while wondering why you can't send more marches. Fix: check which stat you're actually limited by.
Parking every march on resource nodes. Leaves nothing free for rallies. Fix: hold one back during alliance hours.
Sending half-empty marches. Same travel time, less output, identical risk. Fix: fill to capacity, mixing tiers if needed.
Investing in capacity skills on benched heroes. Fix: only upgrade heroes you field.
Ignoring chief gear. It's unglamorous and the percentages add up. Fix: work the cheap tiers early.
Related Progression
- Influencer Trap: leading and joining rallies.
- Azurtane Heist: keeping collection marches productive.
FAQ
How do I get more march slots in State of Survival? Primarily through the Leadership research branch, with further slots from account progression. Leadership is the main lever.
What's the difference between march capacity and march slots? Capacity is troops per march. Slots are how many marches you can run simultaneously. Different stats, different sources.
How do I increase march capacity? Stack Headquarters level, capacity research, chief gear, troop buildings, and hero skills. They compound.
Should I prioritise slots or capacity? Slots early, capacity later. Slots multiply your throughput; capacity multiplies your combat weight.
How many march slots can I have? It rises with Leadership research and account progression. Most active accounts work toward the maximum their state's progression allows.
Does march capacity affect gathering speed? It affects how much you carry per trip, not how fast you gather. For gathering, more slots beats bigger marches.
Why is my march not full? Either you don't have enough troops of the type you've selected, or your formation is restricting types. Mix in lower tiers to fill the space.
Key Takeaways
- Slots and capacity are different stats with different sources. Diagnose which limits you before researching.
- Leadership research is the main route to extra march slots.
- Slots first for a developing account; capacity matters more once you can fill it.
- Capacity stacks from HQ level, research, chief gear, buildings, and hero skills together.
- Keep one march free during alliance hours so you can join rallies.
- Never send a half-empty march. Same time, same risk, less output.