Last Updated on by Samuel Franklin
Legends of Idleon Priority Task & Merit Shop Guide
The task and merit shops open up a wealth of account upgrades in Idleon and investing in the correct priority order is key to maximum efficiency. Allowing you to unlock unique boosts in the merit shop for all your characters and recipes to expand the usage of your anvil these challenging tasks should not be overlooked on your path to Idleon end game.
The large number of options can quickly create analysis paralysis and decision fatigue though as players struggle to determine the best unlocks for their account. With this Idleon task and merit shop guide I’ll provide some clear priorities so you can spend your hard earned trophies and ribbons without fear of hurting your account growth. In this merit shop guide I’ll detail the basics of the system, the priority order for each merit shop in order and the recipes to focus from the recipe unlocks screen and reasons why each is an important (or unimportant) purchase. I recommended reading this guide in conjunction with the Idleon wiki on tasks as this provides all the raw stats and information behind this guide. Refer to our other Idleon guides for further tips to progress your game account.
Idleon Tasks & Merit Shop Overview
Like other Idleon mechanics there are several layers of depth to the task and merit shop system to learn. The basics of the system that are important to be aware of are:
- Progress in this mechanic is shared across all characters on your account.
- Each world has a unique task board that has 9 different challenges and its own unique merit shop.
- There are two different currencies that players earn by completing these challenging tasks. These are trophies that are spent in the recipe unlocks screen and ribbons that are spent in the specific world merit shop.
- The 9 different challenges have links to the specific world activities and world boss. The top 6 challenges on the tasks board are general in nature, the bottom left is always related to the world boss, the bottom middle is related to game achievements (implemented in October 2021) and the bottom right is a daily challenge.
- The daily challenge refreshes every 24hrs at the same time as your other Idleon resets and earns trophies only. It is still worth checking these tasks daily and completing those that don’t require significant effort as you’ll need many trophies to unlock everything.
- Task completion can be claimed through the codex quick reference, you do not need to visit the task board.
- Once you accumulate the appropriate amount of trophies you’ll gain a recipe unlock, these can be banked endlessly but each recipe unlock requires more trophies.
- In order to access higher recipe unlock tiers you’ll need to purchase a certain number of recipes in the previous tiers.
W1 Merit Shop Priority (Blunder Hills)
Despite being the first merit shop there are a number of important upgrades here to assist your account progression even beyond the early game so don’t sleep on earning ribbons and spending them. Players will be able to access the merit shop after they reach level 14 and talk to Grasslands Gary.
The W1 merit shop priority is:
- Amarok Equipment (whenever available until max)
- New Star Talents (level 1 only)
- Blunder Hills Respawn (max)
- Goblet of Hemoglobin (3 purchases initially and then more to help in W3 progress if necessary)
- +% EXP Gain (max)
- Boss Keys (max)
- Inventory Bags
The reasoning behind this order is:
- Amarok equipment is your best mid game armour set so you should always unlock this when it’s available. Unlocking extra recipes does require you to complete the Such Rock Very Dog Wow challenges that require you to defeat Amarok under various conditions. The last one requires you to defeat Chaos Amarok which is a longer term goal than the others and will unlock the pendant.
- Unlocks the Just EXP (experience boost) and Frothy Malk (food and potion boost) star talents which you can’t obtain from other means and are worth adding to your special talents tab. One point is required here as the bosses will not drop these until you have a point invested in this merit shop item. Given you can easily farm these bosses and you only need one star talent drop for all your characters do not buy more than a single level in this as they will be wasted. You can delay this purchase until around level 45-50 as that is likely when you’ll be able to kill Baba Yaga if you wish.
- More spawn means more AFK kills per hour that can improve the amount of experience gained and resources you gather. A simple but effective purchase that applies to all your characters.
- Points here unlock a potent star talent that gives you some life back when killing a monster (active and AFK). This talent is critical in progressing through W2 and W3 with the survivability boost it offers. I recommend 3 points here initially which is sufficient to get through W2 and make a start at W3 and you can make additional purchases if you need additional survivability at that point (community numbers range between 3 and 6 purchases due to your other account upgrades). Be aware it has diminishing returns as you get closer to the maximum level.
- While only applying to your lowest level character additional experience is always useful in Idleon and helps your new characters catch-up to your established characters. It stays effective throughout the game though as even when all of your characters are over level 100 the lowest will still benefit from this.
- With a daily source of boss keys once you do the appropriate quests on your characters there really is no need for this merit purchase. That being said though it can be a good way to get more boss keys for farming their drops so still worth grabbing eventually but simply not strong enough to beat out other options noted above.
- If you make it this far and have maxed everything else (including Goblet of Hemoglobin) you can put any remaining purchases into this merit shop option. The first few points are basically useless as every character can easily acquire the first few bags although the last few bags (E, F and H) can mean you don’t have to complete some quests to acquire them on all characters.
W2 Merit Shop Priority (Yum-Yum Desert)
W2 offers a second merit shop with more challenges and purchase opportunities from Desert Davey. This merit shop requires level 35 and a basic quest to craft each class specific weapon and features tasks related to alchemy, the post office and Efuant.
The W2 merit shop priority is:
- Efuant Equipment (whenever available until max)
- Obol Drop Rate (level 1 only then max after AFK Gains)
- Gem Drop Rate (level 1 only then max after AFK Gains)
- New Star Talents (level 1 only)
- Yum-Yum Desert Respawn (max)
- +% AFK Gains (max)
- Arcade Ball Gains (max)
- Boost Convert Better Darnit
The reasoning behind this order is:
- Similar to Amarok equipment the Efuant equipment provides a pathway forward into W3 so purchasing this as it becomes available is your first merit shop priority. These are tied into defeating Efuant under various situations and will slowly unlock overtime when you can achieve them. The first 3 unlocks are the most impactful to your progress but the remaining 2 are still worth obtaining.
- Getting one point early means you can start earning Obols from monster drops. The sooner you can start acquiring these the better as you’ll need as many as possible to reach higher powered Obols and fill up your individual character and family slots. After you max AFK Gains you can come back and max this as Obols are always useful to your account although free to play players may want to prioritise gem drop rate instead depending on what gem shop purchases you are missing at this point.
- A single purchase means you can start earning useful gem currency from all the boss farming that is in your future and slowly adds up across 100s of Amarok and Efuant kills. While useful the other talents are simply too good to pass up so come back and max this after AFK Gains. As noted above the priority between maxing obol or gem drop rates comes down to your preference of what you need more but also consider that this purchase requires boss farming while the Obols upgrade is effective on all enemies.
- Just like the W1 merit shop this gives you the opportunity to acquire some new star talents so one point is a must but beyond that is wasted. Note that the W2 minibosses are a significant challenge so delaying this point until you begin to kill them regular is perfectly reasonable. The star talents unlocked are Pulsation (mana gain) and Cardiovascular (card drop rate).
- Boosting respawn rate across the W2 maps this is a must have to boost your AFK kills which is always useful for experience and resources.
- AFK gains represent the bulk of your gains in Idleon for most players and at max is a solid boost that you’ll instantly notice for your characters.
- Extra arcade balls can be maxed at this point. While this system does give you some good potential to gain stat boosts, money, resources and gems there are other methods (like achievements) to acquire boosts to arcade ball speed and you’ll have better total account gains by investing in the other options noted above first.
- Any remaining points can be placed in here although is not a useful purchase that you’ll be using.
W3 Merit Shop Priority (Frostbite Tundra)
The cold Frostbite Tundra has a familiar formula for the merit shop with players talking to Iceland Irwin and finishing an introductory quest that requires you to obtain melty cubes. Given these come from the second W3 monster (Frost Flake) there might be a small delay between reaching W3 and unlocking this merit shop. Tasks include challenges across salt refining, cogs, shrines, printing, worship, traps and W3 boss kills.
The W3 merit shop priority is:
- Chizoar Equipment (whenever available until max)
- Telekinetic Storage (level 1 only then max after everything else)
- Build/Food Slot (max)
- Talent Book Library (max)
- Refinery Salt Costs (max)
- Printer Sample Size (max)
- Frostbite Tundra Respawn (max)
The reasoning behind this order is:
- W3 is no exception when it comes to boss gear being important and this will be a top priority. Note that it is a long road to this boss though so don’t hoard all of your points until you get there.
- Telekinetic Storage is an insanely useful special talent that transfers everything in your inventory to your storage chest (but destroys everything on the ground). One purchase is sufficient given the cooldown is relatively low and its use case is to let your characters deposit their AFK gains without having to return to town and back to their current map.
- Both build and food slots are invaluable to your progress as you’ll be able to leverage construction for additional gains and give your characters additional food items to AFK longer in tough areas.
- The talent book library is a great option for gains to your damage and often skill efficiency as well depending on your classes available library books. These benefits give you better AFK gains and also mean higher printer samples so I find it a stronger option then the printer sample purchase alone.
- Refining salt is a staple of W3 progression and this merit can take the sting out of the refining costs as you progress. Only place points in here as needed based on your current salt refining progress and rank though.
- Next comes printer sampling as this will make your life easier as your printer becomes an insane 3D printing machine capable of acquiring key resources for salts and efficiency gains at a higher rate.
- Lastly you’ll want to invest in the AFK gains of W3 mobs to boost your late W3 experience and rare drop farming that you’ll be doing.
W4 Merit Shop Priority (Hyperion Nebula)
The W4 merit shop in the Hyperion Nebula is focused on the skills offered in this space themed world and unlocked after talking to Nebula Neddy and finishing his basic quest to acquire purple mush caps, tv remotes and half eaten donuts from the first 3 monsters of the world. Tasks include challenges around cooking, breeding, lab, achievements and W4 boss kills.
The W4 merit shop priority is:
- Troll Equipment
- Hyperion Nebula respawn (max)
- Spice Spillage (level 1 and max last)
- Lab connection range (max)
- Egg capacity (max)
- Crystal monster (max)
The reasoning behind this order is:
- Boss equipment has been consistently powerful and is no exception when it comes to the W4 boss known as the troll and is also the required armour necessary for W5 armour.
- With large portal opening requirements the extra respawn can help you progress maps, acquire resources and improve experience gained. Note that the Capital P NPC on the Jelly Cube map has some quests that are made slightly harder with this upgrade depending on your class and damage. If you feel you have rushed to W4 you can delay obtaining this upgrade until after the quest is complete as it does have some important account rewards.
- Grabbing a single point in Spice Spillage gives you the ability to collect your spices by claiming AFK gains on your characters (chance to activate). If you don’t mind manually claiming spices though you can skip this until a little later as it’s more of a convenience than a boost and you may want lab connection first if it gives you enough to activate another jewel.
- Lab connection range can be a bottleneck to obtaining important nodes or jewels to progress your account. Place points as necessary and eventually max this talent as it is one of the few sources of connection range which is the range at which your lab uploaded characters can connect to nodes and jewels (not the range between characters).
- More eggs means more experience and opportunities to acquire pets, while an expensive upgrade an extra 2 eggs will quickly provide an exponential benefit over time. This can be prioritised higher if you are a free to play player as sources of expanding egg capacity are limited without buying gems.
- Lastly max crystal monster chance, this will give you some guaranteed crystals each day although is weak compared to your other options and not game changing.
Idleon Tasks Recipe Unlocks Priority
A second mechanic to the tasks you complete and gives you the opportunity to spend all those trophies you’ll be earning (referred to as points (PTS) in the recipe unlock window). This is the reason that you’ll want to diligently complete the respective daily quests of each task board as the cost can quickly become significant with increasing requirements with every single purchase. For a full list of purchasable items refer to the Idleon tasks unlocks wiki page, note that many unlock purchases actually provide two unlocks.
With this below recipe unlocks guide you’ll be able to efficiently unlock the correct recipes to not delay your progress through the key items for your anvil. For the broad principles to unlocking items you’ll want to factor in the following. Given each Idleon account progression is different I recommend using these principles when unlocking recipes, I’ve also included a step by step guide beneath these principles for those that prefer a focused list to follow. If you are in doubt even just following from top to bottom as the items are presented within Idleon is actually reasonably effective.
The principles approach to unlocks is as follows:
- Firstly, always unlock the best weapons you can craft with your current access to materials as this has the greatest boost to your progression through content.
- Secondly, focus on unlocking new skilling tools as they will boost your gains of resources and is the second important factor (after weapons) of your Idleon progress. Note that each of these also come with increased capacity pouches for the respective skill.
- Thirdly, there are a number of items needed for quest and game progression broadly. An example of this is the Icing Ironbite that is needed to fight the W2 boss. While listed as third on this principle list you’ll likely have ample trophies from your core progress to unlock these as necessary.
- Lastly, you’ll want to focus on utility items such as equipment that boosts efficiency or inventory expansive bags. You may also need to focus on items from prior levels if they are a prerequisite crafting item for one of these.
- Anything leftover is generally not worth acquiring until the late game where you have everything else already unlocked. This means items without a significant utility, low value equipment (e.g. does not offer significant stats, used in another recipe or a post office potential order). At this point I’d focus on the gem purchases instead.
Idleon First Recipe Unlocks Column
For the first column I recommend the following recipe unlock order. Note that only the first item unlock is listed for ease of reference and any item not included can be skipped completely.
- Steel Axe, Birch Longbow and Quarterstaff
- Dirty Coal Miner Baggy Soot Pants
- Copper Fish Rod and Copper Netted Net
- Iron Fishing Rod and Reinforced Net
- Hide Shirt
- Blunderbag
- Icing Ironbite
- Sleek Shank
- Purple Tee
- Black Tee
- Gems
Idleon Second Recipe Unlocks Column
For the second column I recommend the following recipe unlock order. Note that only the first item unlock is listed for ease of reference and any item not included can be skipped.
- Royal Bayonet, Spiked Menace and Starlight
- Gold Pickaxe and Golden Axe
- Gold Fishing Rod and Gilded Net
- Bandage Wraps
- Enforced Slasher, Pharoah Bow and Crows Nest
- Viking Cap, Sleek Coif and Witch Hat
- Sandy Satchel
- Cavern Trekkers, Angler Boots, Logger Heels and Bandito Boots
- Bullet
- Platinum Pickaxe and Plat Hatchet
- Plat Fishing Rod and Platinet
- Sizeable Food Pouch
- Slurpin Herm
- Gems
Idleon Third Recipe Unlocks Column (And Beyond)
For the third column and onwards you’ll likely be swimming in available unlocks at this point so the order is less relevant and won’t slow down your progression. That being said if you are still struggling to keep up with enough unlocks you should incorporate daily task completion into your daily activities and focus on other merit tasks to acquire the currency necessary. While building up a stockpile I would follow the principles of obtaining weapons first and skilling tools when you need them as a priority followed by the likes of armour and utility items (inventory expansions or food).
