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.
Starting Shop Titans can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Shop Titans is a simulation game built around Blueprint crafting and energy and Item quality and fusion. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Soldier | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Knight | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Thief | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Cleric | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Sorcerer | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Knight. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Sorcerer as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn 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.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Blueprint crafting and energy works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to 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.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Arming Sword: it's the most accessible early upgrade. 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.
Step 4: Understand 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.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to 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.
Essential Mechanics Explained
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.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Leaving crafting slots idle overnight because you were saving resources for something better tomorrow
2. Selling Superior and Flawless items to walk in customers when the player market pays far more for fusion material
3. Gearing one favourite hero to Legendary and leaving the rest in Normal, which just moves all the breakage onto everyone else
4. Stacking a party with Fighters because they survive, then failing the Power checks on boss dungeons that need damage output
5. Spending on decoration ahead of counter upgrades
Racks and stalls matter, but the counter is what actually processes sales.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Blueprint crafting and energy and Item quality and fusion
- Choose Knight as starting build
- Clear Howling Woods main content
- Acquire Arming Sword or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Troublin Lair
- 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.
- 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.
Tips for New Players
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
More Shop Titans Guides
- Shop Titans Shop Titans Overview
- Shop Titans Best Builds
- Shop Titans Tier List
- Shop Titans Walkthrough
- Shop Titans Tips & Tricks
- Shop Titans Weapons Guide
- Shop Titans Combat Guide
- Shop Titans Boss Guide
- Shop Titans Maps & Locations
- Shop Titans Crafting Guide
- Shop Titans Classes & Characters
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