Task Bar Hero

Rune Tree Priority Guide

Which nodes to buy first, how to rush the 3rd hero slot, and the economy-first path that funds everything else.

Updated June 2025 Early to Mid Game Economy-First Path
Core Problem

The Rune tree has dozens of nodes and gold is scarce. Spending on combat branches early means missing the 3rd hero slot unlock - the single biggest power spike in the game. Buy the wrong nodes and you slow yourself down by hours. Follow the economy-first path: party slots and gold runes before combat stats.

Unlock Priority Order

1
Party
Unlock 2nd Hero Slot (Rune of Command - south path)
Cost: cheap/early
Add Priest immediately to your starter Knight. Farm Act 1 bosses aggressively and sell junk for gold.
Why: Doubles damage, healing, and loot. The fastest return on any early investment.
2
Party
Unlock 3rd Hero Slot (2nd Rune of Command - further south)
Cost: ~150,000 gold
The biggest early wall. Sell gear via Alchemy, run boss stages for sellable stones. Avoid cube synthesis spending until this is done. Add Ranger for the ideal trio: Knight + Priest + Ranger.
Why: 3 heroes multiply XP, gold, and clear speed. Pays for itself fast. Worth delaying almost everything else.
3
Skills
Unlock 2nd Skill Slot (Rune of Awakening)
Cost: ~50,000 gold
Enables better ability combos - Priest alternating heals and buffs, Sorcerer running Fireball + Hydra simultaneously.
Why: More active power without heavy investment.
4
Economy
Gold and Economy Runes (north-west yellow/orange branches)
Rune of Wealth + gold per kill + boss gold
Prioritize flat gold bonuses first, then % multipliers. Max the cheap early ones like Rune of Wealth as soon as you can.
Why: Funds everything else. Gold runes beat pure combat runes in the early game.
5
Growth
EXP and Growth Runes (blue/left-lower branches)
Hero EXP nodes first
Hero EXP first (or swap priority with gold nodes if your gear is already decent). Then Cube EXP for better synthesis results.
Why: Faster leveling = stronger heroes = faster zone clearing.
6
QoL
Automation and QoL (far north purple/green branches)
Auto-chest + inventory/stash expansion
Enable auto chest opening ASAP to reduce busywork. Expand inventory and stash slots. Offline rune is low priority - active taskbar mode is far better for chest drops.
Why: Clears the friction that slows gold and gear collection.
7
Combat
Combat Stats (red branches - attack, armor, movement speed)
After economy is rolling
Only after gold and EXP engines are running. Movement speed is the most impactful stat here once you have solid gear - it enables one-shot mob clearing.
Why: Combat runes scale with good gear; buying them early with weak gear is wasted gold.

Key Decision Points

Gold runes vs EXP runes - which first?
If your gear is weak, lean more into gold nodes. If gear is decent, shift priority to EXP. The gap between them is small once economy is running.
Should I level nodes multiple times early?
Early flat bonuses are fine to level once. Later, switch focus to % multipliers for scaling. Avoid over-leveling low-impact nodes - unlock new branches first.
Is it worth unlocking the offline rune?
Only if you frequently close the game. Active taskbar farming gives chests and gear drops that offline mode cannot. For most players, offline runes are a late-priority unlock.
Tip: Keep the game open in your taskbar at all times while farming gold for the 150k 3rd slot unlock. Offline mode gives gold/XP but zero chest drops, which is where gear comes from.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid These
  • Spending gold on cube synthesis or low-tier gear before unlocking the 3rd hero slot
  • Going straight into combat/DPS runes early - ignores party slots and slows everything
  • Closing the game for offline mode instead of background taskbar farming
  • Neglecting inventory and stash expansion - clogs the whole loot pipeline
  • Not selling junk gear regularly during the 150k gold push for the 3rd slot
  • Over-leveling low-impact nodes instead of unlocking new branches first