FAST ANSWER

A node-by-node early route instead of a vague direction map, with current costs, prerequisites, and a decision rule for what to buy after the full formation.

Prioritize the Rune Tree path that unlocks hero slots two and three before spreading points across small combat bonuses.

TBH Rune Tree: the route to three heroes

The Rune Tree is permanent account progression. It opens when your first hero reaches level 3, and its branches improve every hero rather than only the class currently on screen. The early mistake is buying attractive combat numbers while the account is still limited to one body.

The south path: exact slot route

Step	Node	Current reported cost	Result
1	Rune of War	100 Gold	Opens the early south route
2	Rune of Growth	200 Gold for the first level	Prerequisite for the first Command node
3	Rune of Command	1,000 Gold in current community data	Unlocks Hero Slot 2
4	Rune of Expansion ×2	Check your client	Prerequisites for the later Command node
5	Rune of Command	150,000 Gold	Unlocks Hero Slot 3

The first slot is cheap enough to buy as soon as the menu opens. After that, keep a separate “slot 3” Gold target. Do not confuse a class unlock with a Hero Slot: owning Priest, Hunter, or Slayer does not create a deployable position by itself.

Why slot 3 comes before small damage nodes

An extra hero adds attacks, equipment stats, experience gain, and another role in every run. A 5% stat node only improves the heroes you already have. The slot is therefore a throughput purchase, not a tier-list recommendation.

The second active-skill slot

The Rune of Awakening route to a second active-skill slot is listed at 50,000 Gold in current guides. Buy it after slot 3 by default. Move it earlier only if both deployed heroes have a real second skill ready and your failure is skill uptime rather than missing party capacity.

What each branch is actually for

Branch	Choose it when…	Do not buy it when…
South	you still have a locked Hero Slot	you already have three slots and a more urgent economy wall
North-west	Gold from kills, bosses, or Alchemy is delaying the next purchase	you are dying before rewards arrive
North / far north	you lose chests because you are away or inventory is full	you still cannot clear the stage that supplies the chests
North-east	your completed runs are short on chest frequency or capacity	you are failing boss checks, not loot checks
East / south-east	the party reaches the boss but misses the damage or survivability check	you are still playing with an empty formation slot
West / south-west	a new hero needs levels or the account is XP-limited	Gold is the only reason progression stopped

Current community maps label the branches by direction, but node names and prices are safer than a screenshot of the tree. The layout can move after a patch.

An economy-first order that does not waste the 150k goal

1. Buy the cheap prerequisites and Hero Slot 2.
2. Deploy a second hero immediately; do not leave the slot empty.
3. Take only low-cost Gold or boss-reward nodes that shorten the trip to 150,000.
4. Alchemize marked surplus; do not Synthesize gear you could equip.
5. Buy Hero Slot 3.
6. Buy the second active-skill slot if the skill tree supports it.
7. Add auto-open, chest, combat, or XP branches based on measured failure.

If the game is open while you work, auto-open chest runes can be more valuable than another small combat node. If the game is closed, offline reward runes matter more—but offline time is not a substitute for active chest farming.

Sources and evidence

• Official TBH Steam listing — official game and progression-system context.
• TBH hero-slot walkthrough — route to slots 2 and 3 and the 150,000-Gold wall.
• TBH.City Rune of Command — datamined community values for the later Command node; not an official developer reference.
• TBH tips and tricks — branch purposes, auto-open, offline rewards and second-skill context.
• TBH Rune planner — community map for checking prerequisite paths.

Always compare a high-cost node with the tooltip in your own client. This page records the route and the reason for the purchase; it is not a promise that the price will remain unchanged.