My Dino Empire Base Upgrades & Research

Your base is the factory floor of My Dino Empire. Dinosaurs only print Bones when they have pens to work, research only matters when it changes luck or throughput, and floors or podiums only pay off when the staff and Cash pipeline can use them. This guide orders pens, research, plot level, crusher, market, and floors so upgrade Cash compounds instead of vanishing into the wrong button.

Bone Bandits! launched the experience on September 9, 2026 as an AFK-friendly incremental with offline earnings and six-player servers. UI labels move with patches; the priority logic below stays useful even when a menu renames itself. New players should complete Getting Started and understand How to Roll plus Bones and Cash before dumping banks into late floors.

Upgrade pillars (in priority order)

1. Pens and spots

Empty spots are zero income. Whenever Cash can unlock another pen or spot for less than a speculative roll binge, prefer the unlock. Fill every new spot immediately with your best stored digger. Expanding capacity multiplies every future AFK minute — see AFK Farming for leave-ready setup.

If you are choosing between one more roll pack and a pen that lets a strong stored rare finally work, buy the pen.

2. Research that raises luck or dig efficiency

Community systems highlight research touching luck, podiums, floors, and plot level. Early ranks that improve hatch luck or bone yield usually beat cosmetic podium flexes. Buy research in small ranks when the cost is lower than the frustration of a dry roll session. After luck is “good enough” for your stage, redirect Cash into pens and plot progression.

Do not max every research node blindly. Skip branches that only change visuals until income upgrades are caught up.

3. Plot level

Plot level gates broader base power. Treat it as a campaign objective: whenever a plot requirement is the only blocker for more pens or better research tiers, funnel Cash there. Plot progress is quieter than rolling but often decides whether your next hour of digs is capped.

4. Crusher

The crusher is part of the bone processing fantasy community scripts mention alongside sell flows. Use it when crushing improves Cash per bone or clears clutter that blocks efficient selling. If crushing is optional and slow for your stage, plain selling may win — measure one timer with crush and one without. Details on conversion timing live in Bones and Cash.

5. Market trips

Market visits are for pruning and opportunistic gains: selling excess weak dinos, buying missing utility, or taking patch-specific deals. Never strip your active pens bare for a market swing. Keep income anchors placed, trade the leftovers, return, and re-fill spots before AFK.

6. Floors and showcase

Extra floors and showcase boosts look impressive and can matter once the lower pillars are healthy. Unlock floors when you have dinos and Cash flow to use them; chase showcase boosts when they are free or cheap relative to a pen. Vanity-first building is how accounts look busy while Cash/min stays flat.

Suggested spend brackets

Starter Cash (including RELEASE / BONES codes): pens + rolls to fill them + cheapest luck research. Redeem via Codes and How to Redeem Codes.

Early mid game: alternate pen unlocks with controlled roll budgets; keep plot level from stalling; unlock crusher interactions once bone volume justifies them.

Mid game: research ranks that clearly change luck or yield; market cleanups of commons; first meaningful floor when pens above are staffed.

Later: showcase and premium floor cosmetics after income anchors from the Dinosaurs Tier List are locked in and egg spend follows the Eggs Tier List.

Research decision cheat sheet

Ask three questions on every research purchase:

1. Does this increase Bones/min or hatch quality within the next session?
2. Is a pen or plot unlock cheaper for the same power spike?
3. Will I still have a Cash floor for rolls after buying it?

If the answer pattern is yes / no / yes, buy the research. If a pen is cheaper for more power, buy the pen. If the purchase deletes your roll floor and pens are already full of weak fillers, sell Bones, prune dinos, then revisit.

Podiums, lucky wheel, supply drops, and group rewards

Side systems feed the base without being core upgrades:

• Podiums — progress them when research or quests require it; do not starve pens to flex.
• Lucky wheel / supply drop / daily / playtime — claim on login; convert rewards into placed diggers or Cash.
• Group reward — join the Bone Bandits! group when you want their reward track and code pings.
• Showcase boost — enable when it buffs income; verify with a short timed dig test.

These are accelerators around the base plan, not replacements for pens and plot level.

Floors without staff are a trap

A multi-floor base with half-empty pens earns less than a single well-staffed floor. Before buying a floor:

• Confirm you have diggers waiting in storage that deserve spots.
• Confirm Cash/min can recover the spend within a reasonable AFK window.
• Confirm you are not delaying a plot gate that unlocks better everything.

Coordinating upgrades with rolling

Upgrades and rolls share one Cash pool. A clean session order is: sell Bones → claim free rewards → buy the single highest-priority unlock (pen, plot, or luck rank) → roll only with leftover Cash above your floor → place → stop. That order is the practical handshake between this page and How to Roll.

If you later automate clicks, remember upgrades still need sane priorities — Scripts and Auto Farm cannot fix a base that buys floors before pens. Always weigh Roblox ToS risk yourself.

Patch awareness

Economy tweaks can reorder which research node is “cheap power.” After client updates, re-read Updates and November 2026 Update, then re-time Bones/min. Community guidance on the Tier List Hub will lag real patches; measure your own plot.

Base upgrade checklist before you log off

• All pens filled
• Bones sold or crushed per your best timed method
• Next unlock target written down (pen, plot, research)
• Market leftovers handled without stripping anchors
• Free rewards claimed
• Showcase / boost toggles left in the income-positive state

Build the factory, then hire with rolls. My Dino Empire crowns players who unlock capacity on purpose — not emperors with empty thrones on every floor.