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Shop Titans Guide: Complete Strategy & Tips

Complete Shop Titans guide covering builds, strategies, progression tips, and everything you need to master the game.

Researched and editorially reviewed. Updated .
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Shop Titans is Kabam's free to play shop management RPG, on Steam since 5 May 2020, where you craft gear and sell it to the adventurers walking through your door. You run blueprints through workers, haggle at the counter, then send heroes into dungeons to bring back components for the next tier. There are 18 hero classes to recruit and blueprint lines that run from the tier 1 Squire Sword all the way to tier 16 pieces like the Unearthed Blade.

This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.

Core Mechanics

Blueprint crafting and energy

Every item comes from a blueprint with an energy cost, a resource cost and a craft timer, and all three climb by tier. The sword line alone runs Squire Sword, Arming Sword, Gladius and Cutlass up to tier 16, and higher tier blueprints consume finished lower tier items as ingredients.

Item quality and fusion

Items craft at Normal quality and can be pushed up through Superior, Flawless, Epic and Legendary. Fusion combines lower quality copies into a higher one, with a Flawless needing 5 Superior items and 2 Lesser Moonstones, and the Superior, Flawless and Epic steps all succeed while Legendary sits at 50 percent.

Counter haggling

Customers arrive with an offer and you can accept, haggle or refuse. Haggling risks the sale but raises the take when it lands, and counter upgrades at levels 6, 11 and the 16 to 20 range are the thresholds that change how much volume you can process.

Hero questing in dungeons

Heroes and Champions are sent into dungeons to bring back components. Each area has Easy through Extreme difficulty gated by party Power, from Howling Woods at 0 Power on Easy to endgame content demanding tens of thousands.

Guild city investment

Guilds pool gold into shared city buildings and run events such as Lost City of Gold on top of that. A player driven market lets you buy and sell components rather than farming every one of them yourself.

For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Shop Titans combat guide.

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Builds Overview

BuildTierPlaystyleKey Stats
SoldierAVersatile approachBalanced stats
KnightAVersatile approachBalanced stats
ThiefAVersatile approachBalanced stats
ClericAVersatile approachBalanced stats
SorcererAVersatile approachBalanced stats

For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Shop Titans builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.

Equipment Guide

EquipmentWhy It MattersBest For
Squire SwordThe tier 1 sword and the first blueprint most players craft.Opening counter stock and as a component for later sword blueprints.
Arming SwordThe tier 2 sword, revealed by crafting enough of the tier below it.Early counter sales and opening the path to tier 3.
GladiusTier 3, and the point where a sword needs steel as well as iron.The transition from pure gold income into component management.
CutlassTier 4, and it consumes a finished lower tier sword alongside its raw materials.The mid early game, once you have spare crafting slots to chain.
ExcaliburA tier 12 sword sitting alongside Titan Sword and Opulent Brand in the same tier.Late game selling and gearing your highest Power heroes.

Squire Sword: The tier 1 sword and the first blueprint most players craft. It stays relevant long past tier 1 because higher tier blueprints consume finished lower tier items as ingredients.

Arming Sword: The tier 2 sword, revealed by crafting enough of the tier below it. That unlock by volume pattern repeats across every blueprint line in the game.

Gladius: Tier 3, and the point where a sword needs steel as well as iron. The widening component list from here is what pushes you into sending heroes on quests for materials.

Cutlass: Tier 4, and it consumes a finished lower tier sword alongside its raw materials. Plan two crafting slots for it, one feeding the other.

Excalibur: A tier 12 sword sitting alongside Titan Sword and Opulent Brand in the same tier. By this point a single item is worth more than an entire early game shop takes in a day.

Full breakdowns in our Shop Titans weapons guide.

Location Progression

LocationLevel RangeKey Rewards
Howling Woods0 to 2,000 PowerEarly crafting components, first quest completions, access to Troublin Lair
Troublin Lair250 to 3,000 PowerBoss components, progression into Aurora Caves
Aurora Caves250 to 3,500 PowerMid tier components, the Yeti King Throne unlock
Whispering Bog500 to 4,500 PowerComponents for tier 5 and higher blueprints
Bleakspire PeakPlayer level 62, tier 11 contentTier 11 components, the Bleak Chest

Howling Woods: The first quest area, split into three sub zones. Easy requires 0 Power, so your starting heroes can walk straight in, while Extreme demands 2,000 Power from the same party later on.

Troublin Lair: The first boss dungeon, fought against the Troublin Chief. Easy starts at 250 Power and Extreme at 3,000, which makes it the first genuine check on whether you have geared your party or just recruited it.

Aurora Caves: Three sub zones running from 250 Power on Easy to 3,500 on Extreme. It feeds directly into the Yeti King Throne boss fight, which spans 600 to 5,000 Power.

Whispering Bog: The third multi zone area, 500 Power on Easy up to 4,500 on Extreme, followed by the Cursed Witch Hut boss fight against Toadwitch at up to 7,500 Power.

Bleakspire Peak: A late dungeon unlocked with gold at player level 62, added alongside the tier 11 content update. Extreme difficulty here asks for Power in the tens of thousands.

See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.

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Tips That Actually Matter

  1. Never leave a crafting slot empty. Shop Titans is a throughput game and idle slots are the one loss you cannot buy back later, because time is the only resource gold does not purchase.
  2. Rotate the resources you craft with so no single bin drains while others sit at capacity. Spreading crafts across iron, wood, leather and herbs keeps every bin producing value.
  3. Prioritise counter upgrades to level 6, then 11, then the 16 to 20 range. Those are the points where the counter's benefits step up rather than creep.
  4. Quality does more than raise price. Higher quality gear breaks far less often, so a hero wearing five Legendary pieces and one Normal will keep losing the Normal one and nothing else.
  5. Fusion is the real power curve. Five Superior items and two Lesser Moonstones make one Flawless, and the Superior, Flawless and Epic fusion steps all succeed while Legendary lands half the time.
  6. Merchant level 27 unlocks the Sol Tower and the fusion mechanics behind it. Aim at that milestone rather than micro optimising heroes before it, because the whole economy shifts around it.
  7. Keep your Fighter, Rogue and Spellcaster counts roughly equal. Dungeon design assumes a mixed party, and a stacked one hits Power walls that better gear alone will not solve.
  8. Certain tiers of Superior, Flawless and Epic items sell for up to ten times base value on the player market because other players need them as fusion material. Check the market before selling to a walk in customer.
  9. Boss dungeons gate the next area. Troublin Lair, Yeti King Throne, Cursed Witch Hut, Mushgoon Arena and Sun God's Guardian each sit between the multi zone areas, so gear checks arrive on a predictable rhythm.
  10. Blueprints unlock by volume. Crafting a set number of one item reveals the next in that line, which means deliberately spamming a cheap low tier item is often the fastest way to open a new tier.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Leaving crafting slots idle overnight because you were saving resources for something better tomorrow.
  • Selling Superior and Flawless items to walk in customers when the player market pays far more for fusion material.
  • Gearing one favourite hero to Legendary and leaving the rest in Normal, which just moves all the breakage onto everyone else.
  • Stacking a party with Fighters because they survive, then failing the Power checks on boss dungeons that need damage output.
  • Spending on decoration ahead of counter upgrades. Racks and stalls matter, but the counter is what actually processes sales.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Shop Titans free to play?

Yes, on Steam since 5 May 2020, published by Kabam Games. It carries in app purchases including premium workers such as Mundra the Moon Dragon, but the core loop runs without them.

How many hero classes are there?

Eighteen, spread across Fighter, Rogue and Spellcaster groups. Classes also promote, so Soldier becomes Mercenary, Knight becomes Lord, Cleric becomes Bishop and Sorcerer becomes Warlock.

What are the item quality levels?

Normal, Superior, Flawless, Epic and Legendary. Fusion moves items up that chain, with Superior, Flawless and Epic fusions succeeding every time and Legendary succeeding half the time.

Which workers craft what?

Blacksmiths make swords, quick blades and heavy armour. Tailors make accessories plus light and medium armour. Carpenters make bows, staves, maces, shields and some accessories. Herbalists make potions. Blacksmith and Tailor unlock during the tutorial, the rest are hired at level gates.

How do dungeons work?

You send Heroes and Champions on quests to bring back components. Each dungeon offers Easy, Medium, Hard and Extreme difficulties gated by party Power, and completing one enough times unlocks the harder modes and the next dungeon along.

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