TBH: Task Bar Hero Guide to Classes and Gear

What is TBH: Task Bar Hero and how does it work?

TBH: Task Bar Hero is a compact idle RPG that runs directly from your Windows taskbar, quietly grinding through 120 stages while you get on with your day. Six playable classes, nearly 6,000 gear items, 197 runes, 214 skills and passives, and a deep crafting system called the Hero-dric Cube sit underneath what looks like a tiny pixel fighter. The game connects idle loot progression to the Steam Market, so the grind has real-world value if you play it right. This guide breaks down every major system so you know exactly what to prioritize.

The 6 playable classes: which one should you pick?

TBH: Task Bar Hero has six classes available at launch: Knight, Ranger, Sorcerer, Priest, Hunter, and Slayer. Each plays differently and brings a distinct role to your party once you unlock additional hero slots.

For new players, the Knight is the safest starting pick because survivability keeps your party alive through early stages without needing optimized gear. The Ranger is the go-to choice if you want damage output from the start. Check the best Ranger build guide and the best Knight build guide for detailed ability priorities and gear recommendations for each.

All six playable classes

How does the Hero-dric Cube work?

The Hero-dric Cube is the central crafting hub in TBH: Task Bar Hero. It houses eight distinct functions, each tied to a different way of upgrading or transforming your gear and materials.

Cube functions explained

• Synthesis combines materials or gear into higher-quality outputs.
• Alchemy converts materials using specific recipes.
• Crafting builds new gear from raw materials.
• Decoration applies cosmetic or stat-modifying effects to equipment.
• Engraving adds permanent stat bonuses to gear pieces.
• Inscription writes additional properties onto items.
• Extraction strips materials or effects from gear for reuse.
• Offering sacrifices items in exchange for specific rewards.

The Cube is where most of your late-game power comes from. Farming gear is only half the loop; processing that gear through the right Cube functions is what actually pushes your stats forward. Extraction in particular is worth understanding early, since it lets you recover materials from gear you would otherwise discard.

What are Runes and why do they matter?

The game has 197 runes covering a wide range of stat upgrades, party bonuses, and passive effects. Runes are your primary progression layer outside of gear drops. They affect everything from hero attack damage to gold income and experience gain.

Two of the most impactful early rune investments are unlocking your second and third hero slots. Running a full party instead of a solo hero dramatically increases your clear speed and survivability across all 120 stages. The full breakdown of costs and unlock order is covered in the hero slots unlock guide.

How do stages and gear drops connect?

TBH: Task Bar Hero has 120 stage entries across multiple acts. Each act has its own visual setting and escalating enemy difficulty. Stage boxes (60 total in the database) drop from specific stages and contain gear, materials, and other rewards.

Gear has 10 grade tiers. Higher-grade gear drops more frequently from later stages, and rarer items carry more valuable stat rolls. The gear database tracks 5,760 items across all slot types, which gives you a sense of how much variety the loot pool contains.

The game's idle loop means your heroes keep clearing stages while the game runs in the taskbar. Optimizing your rune build and party composition before going AFK is what separates players who progress steadily from those who stall out at the same stage for days.

What are pets and how much do they help?

There are 8 pets in the game, each providing bonuses to gold income, experience gain, or chest drop rates. Pets are a passive layer of progression that compounds over time, so equipping the right one early makes a noticeable difference by the time you reach later acts. For a ranked breakdown of every pet's bonuses, the TBH pets tier list covers which ones are worth prioritizing.

Pet bonus comparison screen

Status effects, buffs, and combat systems

The game tracks 6 status effects and 29 buffs. Status effects apply during combat and can come from skills, gear affixes, or enemy attacks. Understanding which status effects your build applies or resists matters more as stage difficulty increases.

Skills and passives (214 total) are split between active abilities that trigger during combat and passive bonuses that apply permanently. Each class has its own skill pool, and the interaction between active skills and passive bonuses is where most of the build depth lives.

How does the Steam Market connection work?

High-rarity gear that drops during your idle runs can be listed on the Steam Market and converted into Steam Wallet funds. This makes TBH: Task Bar Hero one of the few casual games where consistent play has a tangible return beyond in-game progression. The full process for farming sellable gear and understanding which items have market value is explained in the earn Steam money guide.

Where should you start if you're new?

The priority order for new players looks like this:

1. Pick Knight or Ranger as your starting class.
2. Invest early runes into your main class's core damage or survivability stats.
3. Unlock your second hero slot as soon as the rune cost is reachable.
4. Start running the Hero-dric Cube's Extraction function on low-value gear drops.
5. Equip a pet as soon as one becomes available.
6. Push stages until you hit a wall, then reassess your rune priorities.

For a full walkthrough of the opening hours including starting class advice, Rune priorities, and party composition basics, the TBH beginner's guide covers everything in sequence. The full collection of strategy guides is available on the TBH: Task Bar Hero guides hub.