I’ve spent weeks playing Task Bar Hero as part of my daily work routine, and after pouring over 300 hours into the desktop auto-battler, it’s safe to say it sits among my favorite idlers. Micromanaging the tiny pixel heroes at the bottom of my screen has also brought out the best worst parts of my ‘number must go up’ broken gamer brain, so I have some thoughts on what a Task Bar Hero tier list looks like.
Task Bar Hero tier list
(Image credit: Nugem Studio, Tesseract Studio)
After clearing all four difficulty modes and micromanaging my little guys all the way to max level (level 101), this is my definitive Task Bar Hero tier list for the current meta. While I bought both DLC classes, I want to highlight that both of my top picks (Ranger and Priest) are free.
Class tier list
Swipe to scroll horizontally
S-Tier
Ranger
A-Tier
Priest
B-Tier
Hunter, Sorcerer
C-Tier
Slayer
D-Tier
Knight
Choosing your Task Bar Hero(es)
- Ranger is the definitive best Task Bar Hero class right now, but I’ll get into more of that below
- Priest is incredibly versatile, easily fulfilling the roles of both tank and healer
- You can swap Ranger for Hunter, though I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’ve gotten lucky gear drops
- Sorcerer is the perfect third hero for double DPS teams with his beefy AoE
- If you want a more traditional tank, spend the $5 to invest in Slayer over Knight
- Avoid blowing resources on Knight. As it stands, he’s painfully outclassed in harder difficulties and a literal deadweight in Torment
Task Bar Hero best teams
A few notes on assembling your team
- Redeem the free Priest DLC for access to a perfectly serviceable F2P team
- DPS is king in the current meta. Tough fights rarely call for heavy investment into armor upgrades, and even with better pieces, extra sustain won’t last long
- Build for attack speed on Ranger and Hunter, or cast speed on Sorcerer
- Add elemental resistance to armor. It doesn’t hurt to hit the 75% cap, especially on tanks
- Use one of the three-man teams for the early to mid-game, then swap to the ranger solo strategy for Torment difficulty
(Image credit: Nugem Studio, Tesseract Studio)
The DPS Heavy, for a Priestly carry to the end
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Class
Priest
Ranger
Sorcerer
Role
Tank/Healer
DPS
AoE-heavy DPS
Priest starts to out-tank both the Slayer and Knight with very little investment. You may struggle early in some of the mid-tier difficulties, but with a few lucky gear upgrades she should start holding on just long enough for Ranger and Sorcerer to chew through enemy waves. Prioritize leveling her Blessing of Might skill to rush a damage boost for the entire team.
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While your Sorcerer burns through the entire enemy wave’s HP, a speedy Ranger should have no problem finishing off the frontlines within one or two shots.
(Image credit: Nugem Studio, Tesseract Studio)
The Holy Trinity, for safely cruising through early to mid-game
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Class
Slayer
Priest
Ranger
Role
Tank
Healer/Off-Tank
DPS
Pick Slayer over Knight for his party buffer, Commander’s Cry, and an easy ticket to more damage. With him in the tank position, funnel your better armor into keeping him alive and leave gearing Priest for last. She should survive hanging back in the middle while casting heals and Blessing of Might.
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Ranger is the best pick in a single DPS team and the star of the show. Prioritize her for any damage upgrade materials, and remember to boost her attack speed whenever possible. Sorcerer won’t carry a 3-man team as the only DPS, but if you’ve gotten lucky with Hunter weapon drops, you can swap her in over Ranger. She’s not my first pick, but she’ll work until you find better upgrades for Ranger.
(Image credit: Nugem Studio, Tesseract Studio)
The Solo Ranger, for farming the endgame
Not only is Ranger the best class and my only S-tier pick, but she’s also fully capable of ripping through enemy waves all on her own. When you reach Torment difficulty, it’s often better for her damage if you send her in alone.
Take levels like Torment 2-8 for example, where you encounter waves of exploding Fire Elementals. Bringing two extra characters can throw off Ranger’s DPS by staggering enemies’ HP and positions, and your other allies will quickly die to the mobs anyway. They also get Ranger killed in the process, but you can avoid a wipe by sending her in alone so she’ll have a clean shot with perfectly timed cooldowns and auto-attacks.
I found it was easier to farm most Torment difficulty stages with Ranger alone, or at least it was until I had the rest of my party fully kitted out in upgraded endgame gear. In the current meta, you’ll never go wrong funneling all of your resources into gear upgrades for Ranger, so prioritize her first to make farming for other Task Bar Hero characters a breeze.
More Task Bar Hero tips
(Image credit: Nugem Studio, Tesseract Studio)
Tips for spending gold, upgrading runes, and leveling the Cube
- Rush the two extra Runes of Command at the bottom of the Rune grid so you can level three heroes at a time as early as possible
- Also, pick up the Rune of Awakening early to give your team access to their second skill
- Hero attack damage runes found in the lower right of the grid are helpful too, along with runes that upgrade XP gains
- The Rune of Brevity in the grid’s top right corner makes a huge difference in grinding with its “Stage Wave Count -1” effect. It’s one of the major upgrades that really accelerated my team’s growth around starting around levels 50-60, and snowballed me into the later stages
- Keep your inventory tidy by using junk gear to level the Cube, don’t waste gold early on excessive inventory slot upgrades or extra stash pages
