TBH: Task Bar Hero is deceptively deep for a game that runs in your taskbar. Getting your formation right early makes a massive difference to how fast you clear stages, how much loot you accumulate, and how smoothly your idle progress compounds over time. The three-hero lineup of Priest, Ranger, and Sorcerer is the strongest setup available right now, and getting each character's skills and gear pointed in the right direction is what separates players who stall out in Act 2 from those breezing through Act 3.
What is the best formation in TBH: Task Bar Hero?
The short answer: Priest in Slot 1, Ranger in Slot 2, Sorcerer in Slot 3. This combination covers every major role in one tidy package. The Priest absorbs damage at the front, the Ranger and Sorcerer deal sustained damage from a safe distance, and the Priest's Blessing of Might amplifies both of them simultaneously.
The Priest is a free DLC addition and the single best character in the game. There is no competitive formation that leaves her out. If you have not added her to your library yet, do that before reading another line.
You can switch heroes and reorder your formation at any time through the Formation tab. Swapping positions uses arrow buttons beside the character portrait and does not trigger the 60-second deploy cooldown, so rearranging your lineup is free and instant.
Formation screen hero slots
Slot 1: Priest
The Priest works as both a frontline tank and a support amplifier. She takes hits so the Ranger and Sorcerer never have to, and her aura skills stay active passively once equipped.
- Skills: Choose either Wrath of Heaven or Heal, then pair with Blessing of Might
- Wrath of Heaven turns her into a melee damage dealer on top of her support role
- Heal makes her extremely difficult to kill, especially useful when pushing new stages
- Blessing of Might is non-negotiable: it buffs every hero in the formation and is always active on equip
- Gear priority: Scepter and Tome. Look for Max HP, Armor, and Damage Absorption. If running Wrath of Heaven, Lightning Damage and HP Regen bonuses are worth picking up
Slot 2: Ranger
The Ranger's value is her attack speed. Rapid Fire is not an activated skill; it triggers based on her attack cadence, which means it fires constantly without any manual input. Paired with a fast bow setup, she chews through single targets reliably.
- Skills:Arrow Rain and Rapid Fire
- Gear priority: Bow and Arrows. Focus on Attack Speed, Critical Chance, and Critical Damage
Because Rapid Fire scales off attack speed rather than a cooldown, investing in Attack Speed gear has a direct multiplier effect on her damage output. Prioritize it over raw Attack stats.
Slot 3: Sorcerer
The Sorcerer handles area-of-effect damage and elemental coverage. Fireball and Ice Orb together hit different enemy types and spread damage across groups, which is exactly what you need when the Priest is holding aggro on a cluster of enemies.
- Skills:Fireball and Ice Orb
- Gear priority: Staff and Orb. Cooldown Reduction and Area of Effect Damage are the top stats. Critical Chance, Critical Damage, and elemental damage bonuses (like Fire Damage Enhancement) all stack well on top
Sorcerer skill selection screen
How do skills and gear unlock over time?
Some of the skills listed above require heroes to be above level 10 before they become available. Rushing to equip them before your characters are ready is not possible, so early on you will be working with Tier 1 options. That is fine. The formation structure stays the same; you are just filling in the skill slots as they open up.
Gear quality matters more than gear level in many cases. The Hero-dric Cube's Synthesis feature lets you combine 9 items of the same rarity to produce a higher-rarity result. The level of the output is determined by the level range you set in the dropdown, not by the level of the items you put in. You can use lower-level gear as synthesis fodder and still produce a result within a higher level range, as long as the items are within 5 levels of the minimum of that range.
For early progression, save your Gold rather than spending it on Synthesis. Getting your Rune Tree formation slots unlocked is the bigger priority. Once Gold becomes less scarce and item drops start overflowing your inventory, Synthesis becomes a genuine upgrade path.
What should you prioritize in the Rune Tree?
The Rune Tree is where long-term power comes from, and the order you spend Gold matters a lot early on. The two Formation slot Runes sit directly south of your starting position and should be your first targets. A full three-hero formation clears stages faster and generates more loot than any other single upgrade you can make.
The second active skill slot Rune costs 50,000 Gold and sits to the right of the third Formation slot Rune. It is worth getting, but it is a lower priority than filling your formation. Having two skill slots only helps if your heroes have the levels and skill points to fill them meaningfully.
For a deeper breakdown of which Rune nodes to unlock and in what order, the TBH: Task Bar Hero guide on unlocking hero slots covers costs and priorities in detail.
The final nodes in each Rune Tree direction carry costs ranging from 1 million to 50 million Gold. These are endgame targets. Do not stress about them early; they exist for when Gold has no better use.
How does farming efficiency work?
Clearing the highest available stage is not always the most efficient way to farm. Faster clears on slightly easier stages can produce more loot per hour than grinding through a difficult one at a slower pace. After testing different setups against the same stage pool, the Priest plus Ranger plus Sorcerer lineup consistently outperforms Knight-based formations for farming speed because the raw DPS output is higher.
The Portal window, accessible via the blue portal icon in the bottom-right of your main TBH window, lets you fast-travel to any previously completed stage. Hover over individual stages to see the region level and identify good farming targets relative to your current power.
If you are carrying a lower-level hero to power-level them, keep in mind that characters gain the most XP within a specific stage range relative to their level. One or two strong heroes can push stages up gradually to keep the leveling curve optimal for the weaker member.
Portal fast travel stage list
Should you use the Steam Market?
Once you are farming consistently, high-rarity gear (Immortal and above) can be listed on the Steam Market for real Steam Wallet credit. Legendary items may sell for a small amount, but Immortal-rarity pieces are where meaningful returns start. Strip any decoration, engraving, or inscription slots before listing since items must be in their base state to go on the market.
Items sent to the Steam Trade Ship leave your in-game inventory until either sold or delisted. Delisted items return to your Steam Inventory and can be reclaimed through the in-game mailbox, which refreshes on a 10-second cooldown. For the full farming-to-selling workflow, check the TBH: Task Bar Hero guide on earning Steam money.
Quick tips worth knowing
- Auto-retry toggle: There is an auto-retry on stage failure button in the bottom-right of the main window next to the menu button. Blue means it retries on failure; grey means it drops you to the previous stage automatically.
- Pets are always active: Pet passive effects apply whether the pet is deployed in your formation or not. Equip them cosmetically if you want, but unlock them as soon as possible for the passive bonuses.
- Skill refunds are free: There is no cost to reset skill assignments. Experiment freely with different skill combinations on each hero without worrying about wasting resources.
- Red dots on heroes in the Formation screen mean unspent skill points or unassigned skill slots. Clear them before pushing new stages.
For everything from your first class choice through Cube mechanics and party composition, the TBH: Task Bar Hero beginner's guide has you covered from day one. The full collection of strategy guides is also available at the TBH: Task Bar Hero guides hub if you want to go deeper on any specific system.