The Item Research Squad is a gameplay feature introduced in Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny, which allows the player to send idling units to explore an item's Item World and get various rewards.
Disgaea 6[]
This feature is unlocked at the start of Episode 3. The player can choose an item from the inventory, and then choose units to explore its Item World. Beware that units in a research squad cannot be used in battle. Exploration progresses when the player completes battles, and as the squad explores the item they'll encounter various enemies, treasure, and other random events. Note that it is possible to call back an expedition that hasn't finished, gaining the rewards that have been obtained so far.
Various things can be gained from research:
- Increase the explored item's level.
- Units in the research squad gain EXP/Mana/Class Proficiency from defeating enemies.
- Get various Weapons, Accessories and consumable Items.
- Find and subdue additional Innocents.
- Gain Extracts for the Juice Bar.
Before each exploration the player can select which type of reward they want the squad to prioritize gaining.
Disgaea 7[]
The system has been simplified, as the player only chooses an item and it's then explored by NPCs. Because of this, the player has to make use of the Escort Duty Squad to strengthen the explorer units and get better rewards.
The research squad will progress 1 floor per stage cleared by the player, ending the exploration after clearing all floors in the Item World. On top of gaining levels for the item, they can also find all sorts of items, Innocents and Juice Bar resources.