Task Bar Hero (TBH)

TBH Nightmare Farming Routes Guide - Best Stages for XP, Gold & Gear

Stop wasting time on stages that are too slow to reward. Find your personal optimal Nightmare stage and target-farm exactly what you need: XP, gold, Soul Stones, or gear.

Nightmare difficulty XP / Gold / Soul Stones Stage optimization Online and offline farming

The core problem: Higher Nightmare stages are not always more efficient. A stage that takes 10 minutes to clear can give worse XP per hour than a 3-minute lower stage with decent drops. Test your clear time first, then use the community planner to rank your options.

Step-by-Step Farming Optimization

1 Find your safe ceiling stage

Play your highest Nightmare stage you can clear consistently - rare deaths, under 4-6 minutes per run. Note the exact clear time.

Do not force stages where you die repeatedly. Backtrack to a safer stage, gear up, and return. Enable Auto-Retry in settings for passive offline progress.

2 Use the community farming planner

Go to taskbarhero.net/tools/farming. Import your save file (auto-fills your level and XP bonus). Input clear times for a low baseline stage (e.g., 1-1) and your current ceiling stage. Filter to Nightmare and your current Act.

The planner ranks all stages by XP per hour and gold per hour using datamined drop rates. This is the fastest way to confirm whether to stay or move stages.

Community top picks - levels 30-35
1-7 NM 1-3 NM 2-7 NM 2-9 NM 3-9 Normal
3 Run your optimal stage in batches

Once you have your top stage, run it 10-20 times per session. For multi-Act sessions: cycle Act 1 end into Act 2 key maps without resetting the world. For offline farming, set a slower but higher-reward stage like 2-9 Nightmare with Auto-Retry on.

4 Set up your party for the farming goal

Knight for sustain: forgiving clears, good for learning new Nightmare stages. Offensive classes (Priest, Ranger, Sorcerer) for faster clears and better XP rates when you know the stage well. Upgrade Rune Tree, Cube passives, and pets as you collect drops. Craft gear from drops rather than waiting for perfect items.

Targeted Farming by Goal

XP and Gold
Repeat highest-density safe stage (1-7 or 2-7 NM, or 3-9 Normal if faster). Offline farming favors higher-reward stages like 2-9 NM. Run in batches.
Soul Stones
Focus end-of-Act stages (1-8, 1-9 NM). Target boss chests specifically. Drop rates improve later in Acts - players report 10-13% at Act 1 end stages.
Gear and Materials
Act 1 for early Rune drops. Act 2 for mid materials and Ingots. Act 3 for Void and Arcana tier. Craft from drops as you go.
Pets and Cube
Farm pet-unlock mobs at specific stages (e.g., Bat mob in 1-8). Upgrade Cube passives continuously as Cube materials drop from Act-specific stages.

Key Decision Points

Nightmare vs. lower difficulty? Nightmare gives better item levels and loot quality (gated at Lv 35-50). But test your XP per second first - high Normal stages often win on raw speed for early-game grinding.
Push stage or farm current? Push when upgrades no longer improve clear time or survivability. Farm when you hit a wall for gear, levels, or Soul Stones. Item level gates make early low-stage farming low-value.
Online vs. offline? Online play favors fast Normal clears for active sessions. Offline idle farming favors higher-reward Nightmare stages with Auto-Retry enabled.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

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Forcing the absolute highest stage - slow clears destroy efficiency even if drops are slightly better per run.

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Skipping clear-time testing - raw stage number does not equal best farming stage. Always time your actual runs.

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Ignoring Auto-Retry - leaving it off wastes offline progress that adds up significantly over hours.

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Over-farming low stages before you hit item level gates - low stages have poor drop quality until you reach Nightmare thresholds.

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Not using the wiki farming planner - players consistently say it gives the most accurate personalized stage recommendation with your own save data.