Walkthrough Guide — Acts 1–3 Progression & Rune Tree Tips

TBH: Task Bar Hero walkthrough — concise, stage-by-stage strategy and general tips for clearing Acts and tiers.

This walkthrough summarizes reliable tactics for progressing through Acts (Normal → Hard → higher tiers), how to build teams and handle common stage gimmicks, and specific stage strategies for Floors 9–15 and selected Hard/Expert encounters.

Core progression principles

• Acts are gated: each Act has Normal, Hard, and higher tiers. Do not skip Normal for an Act — it unlocks essential progression (party size, automation, materials) and skipping causes hard walls.
• Offline vs Active matters: closing the game is not the same as minimizing; plan play sessions around active opportunities (skill timing, chance steps, and map weapon windows).
• Rune Tree and progression systems unlock party size, automation, inventory, and offline rewards that accelerate later Acts. Prioritize unlocking core progression nodes before chasing late-game units.

Team composition and roles

• Main attackers: bring 1–3 high-damage units that can exploit chance steps (CS) and finish priority targets. Place your strongest single-target attacker closest to boss spawn or attack squares to attract aggro when useful.
• Debuff/support: include units that apply enemy damage taken bonuses (e.g., enemy -DEF, -ACC, or buffs that increase beam/physical damage taken) and units that provide shielding or support-defense to squishier carries.
• Range balance: many stages favor long-range (range 5+) attackers who can attack from safe tiles and exploit enemy short ranges. If a stage has strong support attacks, include sway (sway/knockback-like) or long-range denial to avoid counter-support.
• Slot parity: some Expert/Higher-tier strategies require full UR teams. Substitute similar-role units cautiously — match debuff types (beam/physical/special) when replacing.

Combat fundamentals and movement

• Use Chance Steps (CS) carefully: stepping CS squares often enables burst or setup. Reserve CS for moments that convert support attacks or let your main attacker reach priority targets.
• Positioning: many stages reward occupying attack tiles and avoiding enemy buff zones. Sometimes it’s optimal to hold support/debuff units at max range without attacking until their debuff will apply to the boss via support attacks.
• Enemy reinforcements: pre-place units on enemy reinforcement spawn squares to shift spawn positions or deny buffs (this can prevent certain enemy MAP weapon combos or explosive phase triggers).

Stage-specific strategies (Floors 9–15, selected tiers)

Floor 9

• Theme: "Bael" altar stage — big passive buff from a stationary, frail Bael gives an area attack-power buff.
• Priority: move your force toward Bael to take advantage of its buff early; long-range attackers can clear reinforcements and use CS to funnel enemies into Bael’s buff range for easier 3rd-turn waves.
• Danger: guard nodes that raise defense or heavily reduce attack on some tiles: avoid entering those until you control the flow. If you reach reinforcements quickly you can clear the stage by turn 2–3.
• Tip: If you kill the central VIP and clear all enemies, the stage ends immediately.

Floor 10

• Theme: mixed enemy with a wide-range MAP weapon (Neo Zeong style) and powerful supporting ship that buffs the whole enemy team.
• Priorities:
  • Take out the global buffer (Neel-like ship) quickly with CS-enabled range 5 attackers.
  • If the map weapon threatens many units, force it to target other enemies by reducing their count/positioning so it clears enemy units instead of your team.
  • Include at least one MAP-weapon-capable unit to neutralize artillery turrets or clear clumps.
• Tip: place CS-2 units on range-5 tiles to guarantee early removal of the global buff.

Floor 12

• Theme: mixed ground with a boss pair (Qs and Pene) where killing them is the win condition.
• Priorities:
  • Attack tiles matter: attack is the best defense, so prioritize occupying attack tiles to deny enemy turns.
  • First turn increases reinforcements; it’s acceptable to ignore some enemy pockets and go directly for the Qs & Pene pair because the stage is won upon their defeat.
  • Use sway-heavy units to avoid painful support attacks. Pre-positioning on their spawn squares can offset reinforcement placement.
• Tip: focus on brute-forcing the objective if your attackers are strong; otherwise, play conservatively to avoid giving them extra support chains.

Floor 13

• Theme: a spectacle stage where a “master” unit charges forward as part of the scripted flow (entertainment-style).
• Priorities:
  • Let the scripted master make its run; use CS and long movement to follow the path and capitalize on exposed enemies.
  • Avoid placing extra units near the master that would block its scripted action or accidentally trigger two MAP weapons in sequence.
  • Maintain enough movement to keep your team in range for turn 2 and 3, as CS farming can be tight.
• Tip: manual play recommended to ensure debuffs are applied correctly during the master’s movement.

Floor 15 (Goal-format final gate)

• Theme: goal-style stage with stationary boss units (Shining → upon kill respawns God) guarding the designated goal tile.
• Priorities:
  • The goal tile is at Shining’s initial location. Shining and the respawned God do not move; you must destroy them to secure the goal.
  • MAP-weapon units with single-tile melee MAP weapons (Master-type, Phoenix Awakening, Amaterasu-type) are ideal for breaking the goal zone because the weapon is single-tile and bypasses some defenses.
  • Many enemy units have short ranges, so long-range (range 5+) units and support-range boosters are very effective.
  • Stagger debuff providers with maximum range 4: place them into range but do not attack until support chains from your longer-range units will apply their debuff to the boss.
• Final gate note: Shining’s MAP weapon is a 3-tile straight-line attack; God is high-firepower but short-range and has a damage mitigation ability against distant attacks — however, map buff tiles often outweigh that mitigation so kill God quickly with long-range pressure.
• Tip: prepare to finish both Shining and God within the first 2–3 turns to avoid running out of time setting MAP-weapon operatives.

Hard and Expert tier notes

• Hard stages increase enemy HP and add dangerous mechanics (e.g., live-stage gimmicks, enemies with extreme temporary buffs).
• Example Hard gimmick: some events cause ordinary enemies to become “super one-shot” when triggered by a live/crowd ability, granting enormous attack/defense increases. For these, always prioritize MAP weapon lines and block reinforcement spawn points to prevent the buff from triggering.
• Expert stages often demand fully optimized UR teams and precise CS sequencing; recommended team compositions and turn-by-turn scripts can be necessary. If your units aren’t fully geared/UR, grind Normal/Hard for materials first.
• For Expert boss follows: use teams that maximize chance-step outputs, coordinate support attacks to spread debuffs, and ensure attackers have the exact damage type to exploit enemy vulnerabilities (beam vs physical vs special).

Example team templates and tactics

• CS rush template (fast kill): 2 high-mobility attackers + 1 long-range debuffer/support. Use movement to secure attack tiles on turn 1, then CS to converge on the boss on turn 2.
• Siege/Range template (hold and shoot): 2 range-5+ attackers, 1 support that stays at max range to apply enemy damage-taken debuffs without attacking until the attackers’ shots trigger support chains.
• Buff-stack template (debuff bursting): 1 unit that stacks enemy damage taken (DEF- or damage% up), multiple attackers with mixed damage types to exploit stacked debuffs, and a shield/buffer to protect debuff units while they load stacks.

Practical tips and common pitfalls

• Match debuff attributes: some stages require beam/special/physical debuffs to unlock efficient damage windows. When swapping units, ensure the debuff element matches what the guide expects.
• Guard reinforcements spawn squares: occupying them early can shift spawn positions and negate dangerous reinforcement behaviors.
• Use auto-skip rewards carefully: skip rewards give materials, but you should manually run Hard/Expert until you can reliably clear them before relying on skip tokens.
• Manual play for scripted stages: many floors with pathing bosses or tight timing require manual control to apply debuffs and avoid accidental triggers; do not auto these until you have a stable, practiced script.

This walkthrough provides the tactical baseline for Floors 9–15 and the leap into Hard/Expert tiers. For each new Act, complete Normal fully, shore up your Rune Tree progression, and iterate team builds focusing on range, debuff synergy, and precise CS usage.