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TBH: Task Bar Hero Wiki

tips

TBH is an idle-friendly RPG that runs from your taskbar; smart long-term choices and light active play outpace frantic grinding. These tips focus on what to prioritize, how to build reliable teams, and how to manage gear and automation so your account scales smoothly.

Early priorities (first hour → first 10 hours)

  • Claim the free Priest DLC from the Steam store before your first session. Priest changes early-game meta.
  • Pick Knight (safe) or Ranger (fast clears) as your first hero. Either will carry you to Runes/Cube.
  • Reach Level 3 to unlock the Rune Tree and Level 4 to unlock the Hero-dric Cube as your immediate goals.
  • Spend early gold on Rune nodes that unlock hero slots and automation rather than small stat increases. Prioritize Rune of Command (extra hero slots) and Far North automation (auto-open chest).
  • Enable Auto-retry in settings immediately so failed runs restart automatically.
  • Use the Portal to backtrack and farm earlier comfortable stages if you hit a wall—don’t force a stage you can’t clear.

Party composition and formation

  • Unlock the third hero slot as soon as feasible. Three heroes are the single biggest early-game power spike.
  • Recommended beginner trio (works through early and mid-game): Knight (frontline tank) + Priest (heal/buff) + Ranger (backline DPS).
  • Two-hero early cores: Ranger + Priest or Knight + Ranger. Ranger + Priest is best for gold farming; Knight + Ranger is safer if survivability is an issue.
  • Always run a dedicated frontline tank once you can. Tanks anchor the formation so ranged DPS can fire safely.
  • Positioning matters: tanks in front, Rangers and Sorcerers in back. You can reorder heroes without cooldown; deploying a new hero has a cooldown.
  • If a stage is survivable but slow, favor more DPS; if dying quickly, favor Knight/Priest.

Runes and automation

  • The Rune Tree is the core progression engine. Your first Rune spending should unlock extra hero slots and automation (auto-open chests, offline rewards) before minor stat nodes.
  • Unlock Rune of Repose (offline rewards) only as a supplement — offline play grants XP/gold but yields zero chests, so it cannot replace active chest-farming.
  • Rune of Awakening (extra skill slot) is especially important for Priest to enable Heal + Blessing of Might.
  • Auto-open chests is a key automation rune to enable for AFK loops; otherwise you lose a lot of potential loot while idle.

Active vs offline play

  • Active (game open on Steam) gives full chest and loot rates. Offline grants partial XP/gold but no chests.
  • Short active sessions (20–30 minutes) are usually far more valuable than long offline stretches because chests are the main source of gear and materials.
  • Run optimized AFK loops: farm your last comfortable stage, enable Auto-retry, enable auto-open chest via runes, use Cube Alchemy to convert overflow gear to gold, and lock BiS items before auto-fill.

Cube, Alchemy, and Synthesis (item progression)

  • The Cube unlocks at level 4 and is the central tool for shaping gear. Learn all Cube modes before using Auto Fill.
  • Early-game Cube use: switch to Alchemy and sell duplicate whites/greens for gold to fund Rune purchases.
  • Synthesis combines nine items of equal rarity to make one of the next rarity. Raise your Cube synthesis level before fusing high-level gear—insufficient synthesis tier can downgrade results.
  • Use Cube on BiS pieces after Act 1 gear; rerolls consume resources, so budget for long AFK farming.
  • Alt + Left Click locks items so Auto Fill/Alchemy won’t pick them—use this to protect pieces you intend to keep.
  • Never fuse your best piece when testing a recipe. Double-check all nine slots; there is no equipment lock.

Inventory, Stash, and socketing

  • The Stash is for crafting materials, Soul Stones, and saved gear you can’t equip yet. Keep decoration, engraving, and inscription materials you may use later.
  • Don’t trash "good white" items early—white/common bases are useful for later synthesis and crafting.
  • Preview what a material adds before socketing; match sockets to class roles (attack speed/crit for Rangers, spell power for casters, heal/buff stats for Priest).
  • Cube Removal requires gear to be unequipped and destroys the material on extraction—save best gems for long-term pieces.

Skill trees and respec

  • Prioritize core active skills and survivability passives for tanks first. Specialize trees rather than spreading points thin.
  • Respec skill trees after major changes or patches. Unlock extra skill slots (Rune of Awakening) when useful for heroes like Priest.

Economy and the Steam Market

  • Prioritize early investments that increase drop rate and gold rather than small DPS bumps—more loot and gold accelerate long-term growth.
  • Use the Steam Community Market to buy missing pieces if RNG refuses, and sell unwanted Arcana+ items there. Purchased items arrive in the in-game mailbox—claim them.
  • When listing items: enable Steam Guard/mobile confirmations, check recent sales, and list during peak hours for better movement.

Difficulty and act progression

  • Each Act has Normal → Hard → higher tiers. Clear an Act on Normal before pushing difficulty to avoid steep walls.
  • Soul Stones are required to attempt Act bosses. A Soul Stone is only consumed on a successful clear; failed attempts do not use it. Boss loops are good sources of mid-game loot.

Advanced gearing discipline

  • On Brutal and above, specialize each hero’s gear to their role: stack crit/attack speed for DPS, HP/defense for tanks, sustain stats for supports.
  • Use the Cube to push class-matching stats and stop trying to be “good at everything” on a single hero.
  • Raise synthesis level before fusing Act 2+ weapons and never fuse crucial endgame pieces until synthesis tier is safe.

Quality-of-life troubleshooting and tips

  • If the game window disappears or scale breaks after monitor changes, press Shift+F11 to reset scale and Shift+F12 to reset window position.
  • If stuck: portal back to farm, enable Auto-retry, then farm gold for Runes and gear rather than grinding a boss you can’t clear.
  • Treat TBH as a long-term idle project: build foundations (third hero slot, formation, Cube basics), then let passive time and automation do heavy lifting.

Use these rules of thumb as you learn the systems: unlock slots and automation first, farm chests actively for gear, use the Cube responsibly, and specialize heroes rather than creating jack-of-all-trades builds.