Skip to content

Priority Tier List

Use this as a priority map, not a blind buy order. A high score means the system solves repeated bottlenecks across damage, hauling, mithril, artifacts, gates, and reset speed. If you need a next click, start with the How To Use table, then use the scores to break ties.

Priorities by Stage

Stage	Usually Prioritize	How To Use The Scores
First runs	Start speed, Miner damage, Runners, and one focused damage branch.	Use the score table only to break ties after the obvious problem is fixed.
Mithril blocked	Spelunker's Guild, den support, mithril-luck, and Great Forge routes.	A lower damage score can beat a higher damage score when the missing resource is mithril.
Prestige cycle	Permanent start speed, den rewards, runner support, and route unlocks.	Permanent value often beats current-run value when it shortens every reset.
Late gate	Alchemy, Forge Artifact, special artifacts, keys, and focused burst.	Gate requirements can outrank ordinary stats because missing one item can stop progress completely.

Scoring Model

score = 0.25 x run-speed impact + 0.20 x bottleneck coverage + 0.18 x unlock leverage + 0.14 x currency leverage + 0.13 x scaling depth + 0.10 x risk control

Component	What It Measures
Run-speed impact	How much the choice shortens a normal run: faster mountain kills, faster hauling, fewer dead seconds after reset, or more value deposited per minute.
Bottleneck coverage	How many common blockers it solves: damage, hauling, mithril, artifact access, den clears, special gates, hazard downtime, or reset speed.
Unlock leverage	How many important pages or systems depend on it. Route unlocks like Alchemy, Manufactorum, Forge Artifact, and Runners score well here.
Currency leverage	How strongly it improves gold, mithril, PP, soul, or artifact flow. Rare-resource fixes score higher than small flat damage if rare resources are the long-term gate.
Scaling depth	How well the choice keeps mattering after more tiers, workers, prestige, artifacts, or ascension ranks are added.
Risk control	How much it reduces failure states: runners stunned, ore reclaimed, expeditions dying, timed mountain failures, falling rocks, or scattered loot.

Mathematical Basis

The weights come from run throughput: clear speed only matters when the resulting ore, mithril, PP, artifacts, and gate progress actually reach the player before the next bottleneck.

Check	Formula Or Comparison	Tier Impact
Mountain health pressure	mountain health scales like base health x 1.115^mountain level.	Flat damage loses rank later unless it has multipliers, fire fields, percent-health style effects, or permanent scaling behind it.
Collection cap	realized gold per minute is limited by min(ore value created per minute, runner and machine collection throughput).	The Maw, Runners, Bulldozers, and Gyrocopters score high because uncollected ore does not become upgrades.
Mithril progress	mithril chance grows from a base 3% term plus a 6% term capped around 18 mithril-luck steps, then advances with damage share dealt to the mountain.	Spelunker's Guild, den rewards, mithril-luck prestige, and mithril artifacts outrank side damage when mithril blocks buys.
Firefield ceiling	Infernal Symphony reaches 1 + 25 x 0.06 = 2.5x affected damage when the firefield cap is raised.	Flameworks ranks high because the fire path amplifies other attacks instead of only adding another flat hit.
Early miner damage comparison	8 base damage x 3.0 damage x 3.0 Slayer x 1.48 Mithril Pickaxes x 25 fire-rate multiplier = 2,664 before crits and special projectiles.	Miner's Guild is excellent early, but its overall tier is pulled down because the late game needs rare-resource and gate engines too.
Artillery late damage comparison	100 base cannon damage x 2.0 payload x 6.25 fire-rate multiplier x 2.5 firefield amplifier = 3,125 before crits and support bonuses.	Artillery Hall has real late burst, but the setup cost keeps it below the broader engines.
Demolition expected value	expected TNT output improves with shorter cycle time, package damage, rain chance, Big Bomb chance, crit chance, and Powder Hall support.	Demolition Shack is strong when focused; partial buys rank lower because the branch needs several multiplicative pieces.
Gate value	a required gate artifact can be worth more than a current-run stat because missing it can block Great World Spire progress completely.	Gate artifacts score high on unlock leverage even when their immediate damage value is smaller than a normal combat artifact.

Tier	Score Range	How To Read It
S-tier	90-100	Build-defining. Usually fixes a recurring bottleneck and opens or feeds multiple later systems.
A-tier	80-89	Very strong when your run is ready for it. Often needs support or a specific phase.
B-tier	70-79	Good, but either phase-limited, support-dependent, or less universal.
C-tier	60-69	Useful in narrower situations. Do not buy it ahead of a clearer bottleneck fix.
D-tier	Below 60	Rarely the right priority unless a specific challenge or route demands it.

Overall System Tier List

Tier	Score	System	Why It Scores There	Component Scores
S-tier	95	The Maw logistics + Runners	Highest-priority system because it turns broken rock into usable gold and prevents loose ore from becoming the real cap on damage. Runner speed, carrying capacity, gathering speed, dodge, and Maw pull all multiply realized income.	speed 100 / bottlenecks 100 / unlocks 84 / currency 94 / scaling 96 / risk 88
S-tier	92	Great Forge artifact engine	Forge Artifact, Runesmiths, Ritual Power, runes, and mithril forging create a major late progression bridge from mithril and soul into artifacts and gate progress.	speed 88 / bottlenecks 96 / unlocks 100 / currency 98 / scaling 93 / risk 70
S-tier	91	Spelunker's Guild den economy	Spelunkers, Treasure Hunters, mapping, den loot, mithril, and artifact rolls solve the rare-resource bottleneck that raw damage cannot solve by itself.	speed 90 / bottlenecks 92 / unlocks 92 / currency 100 / scaling 88 / risk 76
S-tier	90	Laboratory scientists and Alchemy	Best when the goal is gates and late scaling: Scientists feed laser math, Cyberdwarf chains, discounts, Alchemy, and Philosopher's Stone progress.	speed 86 / bottlenecks 90 / unlocks 100 / currency 92 / scaling 98 / risk 68
S-tier	92	Prestige reset engine	Permanent start-speed, runner, miner, den, artifact, mithril, and gate unlocks compress every future run. This scores high because the same PP keeps paying after reset.	speed 96 / bottlenecks 92 / unlocks 86 / currency 100 / scaling 96 / risk 72
A-tier	88	Manufactorum machines	Bulldozers and Gyrocopters stabilize high-output builds by adding heavy hauling, runner protection, repair, anti-rock tools, and machine scaling.	speed 86 / bottlenecks 86 / unlocks 90 / currency 84 / scaling 92 / risk 90
A-tier	83	Flameworks fire path	Strong direct damage route when funded deeply: Flamers, burn effects, fire fields, and Flamelord's Wrath fireballs make it one of the cleanest main-damage plans.	speed 94 / bottlenecks 88 / unlocks 72 / currency 80 / scaling 90 / risk 60
A-tier	81	Artillery Hall burst path	Excellent late burst with Duke Cannons, Nuke, Air Strike, Bullet Ballin, and Nuclear Research, but it scores lower than the engines because it is expensive and more timing-dependent.	speed 88 / bottlenecks 80 / unlocks 76 / currency 68 / scaling 92 / risk 82
A-tier	80	Demolition Shack TNT path	High expected damage once cooldown, package damage, Big Bomb chance, Powder Hall, and mapping are all funded. It needs logistics because explosions create ore piles fast.	speed 90 / bottlenecks 85 / unlocks 78 / currency 76 / scaling 86 / risk 50
B-tier	79	Ballistics Workshop projectile path	Best as a supported harpoon/turret package with multishot, den momentum, fire links, and railgun support. Partial investment scores worse than a complete fire or TNT plan.	speed 84 / bottlenecks 82 / unlocks 76 / currency 76 / scaling 84 / risk 64
B-tier	76	Miner's Guild early pickaxe path	Excellent in the first loop, then becomes a support or specialized C.L.U.S.T.E.R.P.I.C.K. route. The overall score averages early dominance with later specialization.	speed 86 / bottlenecks 78 / unlocks 74 / currency 80 / scaling 72 / risk 48
B-tier	72	Shrine / Meadhall / Geode Sanctum	Useful support systems once the core loop works. They rank lower because they usually amplify a plan instead of becoming the first plan.	speed 70 / bottlenecks 72 / unlocks 70 / currency 74 / scaling 76 / risk 68

Prestige Tier List

Tier	Score	Prestige Choice	Why It Scores There	Component Scores
A-tier	88	Swift Start + Marching Orders	Top first-run PP spend if the next run is slow because ore waits on runner travel. Starting runners plus speed converts into earlier gold, fewer dead seconds, and less reclaim pressure.	speed 100 / bottlenecks 96 / unlocks 72 / currency 92 / scaling 84 / risk 70
A-tier	89	Fated Finds + Undermined Foundations	Best when dens already die reliably. Lower den health and guaranteed artifact output increase the value of every den route.	speed 88 / bottlenecks 90 / unlocks 86 / currency 100 / scaling 88 / risk 76
A-tier	87	Alchemy / Manufactorum / Ritual Power	These are route unlocks, so their score comes from opening new systems rather than immediate damage per second. Buy them when the run can fund the system they unlock.	speed 82 / bottlenecks 88 / unlocks 100 / currency 88 / scaling 94 / risk 64
A-tier	83	Greyglitter Leylines + Mithril Prospects	High tier whenever mithril blocks upgrades. Mithril luck is valuable because it feeds many later systems instead of one weapon line.	speed 80 / bottlenecks 88 / unlocks 82 / currency 98 / scaling 86 / risk 58
B-tier	79	C.L.U.S.T.E.R.P.I.C.K. and weapon-line prestiges	Powerful only when matched to your active line. The math is excellent after prerequisites, but buying off-plan weapon prestige wastes PP.	speed 88 / bottlenecks 78 / unlocks 80 / currency 74 / scaling 90 / risk 52

Artifact Tier List

Tier	Score	Artifact Group	Why It Scores There	Component Scores
A-tier	88	Philosopher's Stone, The Nauglamir, Arkenstone	Gate artifacts get maximum unlock leverage because missing one can hard-stop Great World Spire progress no matter how much damage the build has.	speed 76 / bottlenecks 94 / unlocks 100 / currency 96 / scaling 90 / risk 70
A-tier	82	Mithril Compass + Greyglitter Dowsing Amulet	Best mithril pair because one improves den mithril and the other improves mithril-luck. Take them when mithril, not raw gold, is blocking the next buy.	speed 80 / bottlenecks 88 / unlocks 82 / currency 98 / scaling 82 / risk 56
B-tier	77	Bob-omb's Idol + Foebane	High damage-per-condition artifacts: Bob-omb's Idol boosts demolition probability, while Foebane helps den killing where den rewards matter.	speed 88 / bottlenecks 82 / unlocks 70 / currency 76 / scaling 80 / risk 50
B-tier	78	Belt of Giant Strength + Hermes Sandals	Runner artifacts are stronger than they look because capacity and speed improve realized gold per trip. Hermes needs future dodges, so it is best in hazard-heavy runs.	speed 84 / bottlenecks 80 / unlocks 64 / currency 82 / scaling 76 / risk 84

How To Use The Tier List

If This Is Happening	Best Player Read
Mountains are dying slowly	Use the highest-scoring damage system you can actually fund: Flameworks, Demolition Shack, Artillery Hall, or a supported Ballistics Workshop.
Ore piles up or disappears	The Maw and runner math beat more raw damage. Damage that is not collected does not become upgrade currency.
Mithril blocks the next buy	Spelunker's Guild, mithril-luck, den rewards, and mithril artifacts outrank side damage.
You need the late gate path	Alchemy, Forge Artifact, special mountain artifacts, and the Great World Spire checklist outrank ordinary economy.
A tier looks high but feels weak	Check whether the prerequisite system is actually built and funded. A high-scoring route unlock is weak if you cannot afford or use the route it opens yet.

Practical Ranking Rules

Rule	Application
Do not compare run-only damage against permanent reset speed at the wrong time.	Permanent start bonuses usually win early because they shorten every future attempt, while late run-only damage can win once gates and artifacts are the target.
Hauling is part of damage math.	If a damage upgrade creates more loose ore than runners and Maw pull can handle, its real value is capped by collection speed.
Unlocks are allowed to outrank immediate stats.	Alchemy, Manufactorum, Forge Artifact, Ritual Power, and Runners score high because they open systems with many downstream payoffs.
Required gate artifacts get special treatment.	A small stat artifact can be better for the current minute, but a required spire artifact can be worth more for the run objective.
Treat B-tier as usable, not weak.	B-tier usually means phase-limited or support-dependent. A B-tier system can be the best buy when it directly fixes the problem slowing your run.