Last Z Trade Hubs Guide — Capture, Shop, and Tax Rules
Quick Answer
Trade Hub contests run at 11:00 Apocalypse Time every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and last one hour. Ownership is individual: alliance members do not fight each other inside the Hub, but every survivor builds capture progress separately.
Capturing from outside the Trade Hub area takes at least 15 minutes. Relocating your Headquarters into the area reduces the minimum to 10 minutes, but other survivors can attack you there.
After capture, the Owner stocks the Hub Shop. Alliance members receive early access and 20% discounts, the Owner can later open the shop to the season group, and 10% of Diamonds spent becomes tax for alliance distribution.
Trade Hub Contest Schedule
Trade Hub contests open three times per week:
| Day | Start | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 11:00 Apocalypse Time | 1 hour |
| Wednesday | 11:00 Apocalypse Time | 1 hour |
| Friday | 11:00 Apocalypse Time | 1 hour |
The first week's contests stay inside the home state. Later rounds become cross-state contests.
During a cross-state contest, you cannot attack a Headquarters from another state when that Headquarters is outside the Trade Hub area. Moving into the Hub area shortens capture time, but it also makes the Headquarters attackable inside the contest zone.
How Trade Hub Ownership Works
Trade Hub ownership belongs to one survivor, not to the alliance as a shared owner.
Alliance members do not fight each other inside the same Hub, but their capture progress is calculated independently. Coordinate around one intended Owner instead of letting several members split the highest progress.
| Headquarters position | Minimum capture time | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Outside the Trade Hub area | 15 minutes | Slower capture; protected by the cross-state outside-area attack restriction described in the event rules |
| Inside the Trade Hub area | 10 minutes | Faster capture; Headquarters can be attacked by other survivors |
If the Hub is unowned, the survivor with the highest capture progress when the contest ends becomes the Owner.
If the Hub already has an Owner, a challenger must reach 100% capture progress before the contest ends. If nobody reaches 100%, the existing Owner keeps control.
After ownership is confirmed, alliance members who contributed capture progress at that Hub receive a participation reward.
How Many Trade Hubs Are Available?
The Season 3 layout checked on state 403 shows 10 Trade Hubs per selected state map: one Lv.3 Hub, three Lv.2 Hubs, and six Lv.1 Hubs.
| Hub level | Hubs available | Practical decision |
|---|---|---|
| Lv.3 | 1 | Highest shop quantities and the main high-competition target |
| Lv.2 | 3 | Mid-tier target when the alliance cannot secure or defend Lv.3 |
| Lv.1 | 6 | Most available and the safest fallback for participation, ownership, and shop access |
The list also lets players switch between states in the same season group and inspect each Hub's level, coordinates, current Owner, and alliance before choosing a target.
How the Hub Shop Opens
After a contest, the Trade Hub Owner taps Stock to fully replenish the shop for the week. Alliance members receive early access and better prices.
Owner Exclusive items can only be purchased by the Owner. Other alliance members can buy the regular stock at a 20% discount. The Owner may later open the shop to the public; after that, every survivor in the same season group can buy with Diamonds.
Shop stock is first-come, first-served. The shop screen shows a total daily limit of 10 purchases across all Hub Shops, and that daily limit resets at 11:00 Apocalypse Time.
Each player can purchase an item of the same type once per day. The account also has a 10-purchase daily limit across all Hub Shops. Both limits reset at 11:00 Apocalypse Time.
How Trade Hub Tax Works
The Shop Tax Rate is 10%: one tenth of the Diamonds spent on successful Hub Shop purchases is collected as tax for that Hub.
Tax is tied to the current Owner's tenure. When the shop sells out or the Owner steps down, the accumulated tax is granted as Tax Bonus Red Packets. The Owner can distribute those packets to alliance members through alliance chat.
At each tally, every 10,000 Diamonds in the tax tally converts into one Tax Bonus Red Packet. The rule panel also says a positive amount below 10,000 counts as one packet.
Do not buy a weak item only to create tax. The buyer pays the displayed Diamond price, while the Owner controls distribution of the alliance tax packets.
What Each Trade Hub Level Sells
The assortment changes by Hub level. Owner Exclusive stock is limited to the individual Owner; the regular version is available through normal shop access. A dash means the Diamond price was hidden after the item sold out or was below the captured screen area.
Lv.1 Hub Shop
| Item | Bundle | Regular price | Visible 20%-off price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Orange Hero Fragment — Owner Exclusive | 8 | — | — |
| Universal Orange Hero Fragment — regular | 5 | — | — |
| Steel | 15 × 30K | 2,250 | 1,800 |
| Badges | 1,000 | — | — |
| EXP Chest | 6 | 1,440 | 1,152 |
| 1h Construction Speedup | 5 | 500 | 400 |
| 1h Research Speedup | 5 | — | — |
| 1h Universal Speedup | 5 | — | — |
Lv.2 Hub Shop
| Item | Bundle | Public price |
|---|---|---|
| Universal Exclusive Equipment Fragment — Owner Exclusive | 10 | — |
| Universal Exclusive Equipment Fragment — regular | 6 | — |
| Power Cores | 150 | — |
| Badges | 1,500 | — |
| EXP Chest | 9 | 2,160 |
| 1h Construction Speedup | 5 | 500 |
| 1h Research Speedup | 5 | — |
| 1h Universal Speedup | 5 | — |
Lv.3 Hub Shop
| Item | Bundle | Regular price | Visible 20%-off price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Random Purple Tactical Plugin Chest — Owner Exclusive | 3 | 9,375 | 7,500 |
| Random Blue Tactical Plugin Chest — regular | 12 | — | — |
| Golden Wrenches | 14 | — | — |
| Badges | 2,400 | — | — |
| EXP Chest | 15 | 3,600 | 2,880 |
| 1h Construction Speedup | 5 | 500 | 400 |
| 1h Research Speedup | 5 | — | — |
| 1h Universal Speedup | 5 | — | — |
Higher Hub levels increase the important bundle sizes: 1,000 / 1,500 / 2,400 Badges and 6 / 9 / 15 EXP Chests at Lv.1 / Lv.2 / Lv.3. Lv.1 supplies Steel, Lv.2 adds Universal Exclusive Equipment Fragments and Power Cores, and Lv.3 adds Tactical Plugin Chests and Golden Wrenches.
Diamond Decision Table
| Situation | Best action |
|---|---|
| You are the intended Owner | Build the highest capture progress; alliance members should support without assuming their progress is shared |
| Your Headquarters can be protected inside the Hub area | Relocate to use the 10-minute minimum capture time |
| Your alliance cannot protect an exposed Headquarters | Stay outside and plan around the 15-minute minimum |
| Your alliance owns the Hub | Use early access and the 20% ally discount before public opening |
| An item solves a real bottleneck at a good price | Buy if it does not break your Diamond reserve |
| You are buying only to create tax | Keep the Diamonds; tax benefits are controlled and distributed by the Owner |
| Your account has used 10 Hub Shop purchases today | Wait for the 11:00 Apocalypse Time daily reset |
FAQ
When are Trade Hub contests?
Trade Hub contests start at 11:00 Apocalypse Time every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each contest lasts one hour.
Is a Trade Hub owned by a player or an alliance?
Ownership is individual. Alliance members do not fight each other inside the Hub, but every survivor's capture progress is calculated separately.
How long does it take to capture a Trade Hub?
The minimum is 15 minutes when your Headquarters is outside the Trade Hub area and 10 minutes after relocating inside it. Moving inside makes the Headquarters vulnerable to attacks from other survivors.
How many Trade Hubs are available?
The Season 3 layout checked on state 403 shows 10: one Lv.3 Hub, three Lv.2 Hubs, and six Lv.1 Hubs.
What discount do the Owner's allies receive?
Alliance members with early access receive a 20% discount on purchasable regular items. Owner Exclusive items remain limited to the individual Owner.
What is the Trade Hub daily purchase limit?
Each player can purchase an item of the same type once per day and can make 10 total daily purchases across all Hub Shops. Both limits reset at 11:00 Apocalypse Time.
What is the Trade Hub tax rate?
The Shop Tax Rate is 10% of Diamonds spent on successful purchases. Accumulated tax becomes Tax Bonus Red Packets that the Owner can distribute to alliance members.