Idleon Merit Shop Priority & Recipe Unlocks Guide - Games Finder (2024)

Last Updated on February 27, 2024 by Samuel Franklin

The task and world specific merit shops provide a wealth of powerful account upgrades in Idleon with the best priority offering faster account progression. Allowing you to unlock unique account boosts in the and recipe unlocks for new anvil items these challenging tasks are often overlooked by new players and an important factor in reaching end game.

The large number of options can quickly create analysis paralysis and decision fatigue though as players struggle to determine the best unlock priority order for their account. With this Idleon task and merit shop guide I detail my personal recommendations from thousands of Idleon hours so that you have clear priorities for your hard earned trophies and ribbons. In this merit shop guide I’ll detail the basics of the system, the priority order for each world merit shop and the recipe unlock focus along with the reasons why each is an important (or unimportant) purchase. Refer to my other Idleon guides for further tips to progress your game account.

Table of Contents:
–
– W1 Merit Shop Priority
– W2 Merit Shop Priority
– W3 Merit Shop Priority
– W4 Merit Shop Priority
– W5 Merit Shop Priority
– Tasks Recipe Unlocks Priority

Idleon Tasks & Merit Shop Overview

The task and merit shop basic details 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 (first 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 that makes it worthwhile 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:

1. Amarok Equipment (whenever available until max)
2. New Star Talents (level 1 only)
3. Blunder Hills Respawn (max)
4. Goblet of Hemoglobin (3 initially and then extra as necessary when you are unable to reach 100% survivability before maxing after boss keys)
5. +% EXP Gain (max)
6. Boss Keys (max)
7. Inventory Bags

The reasoning behind this order is:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. More respawn results in higher AFK kills per hour that can improve the amount of experience gained and resources you gather and is an effective purchase that applies to all your characters.
4. Points here unlock a potent star talent that gives you some HP 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 start in W3 and you can make additional purchases if you need additional survivability at that point. Be aware it has diminishing returns as you get closer to the maximum level.
5. 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.
6. With a daily source of boss keys once you do the appropriate quests on your characters this merit purchase is a low priority although still worth acquiring due as the small number of additional boss keys can be used for equipment or gem farming. This farming is efficient in terms of speed and drops much later in the game though so not an initial priority.
7. If you make it this far and have maxed everything else (including Goblet of Hemoglobin) you can put any remaining purchases into the bag unlock 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 greater 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:

1. Efuant Equipment (whenever available until max)
2. Obol Drop Rate (level 1 only then max after AFK Gains)
3. Gem Drop Rate (level 1 only then max after AFK Gains)
4. New Star Talents (level 1 only)
5. Yum-Yum Desert Respawn (max)
6. +% AFK Gains (max)
7. Arcade Ball Gains (max)
8. Boost Convert Better Darnit

The reasoning behind this order is:

1. Similar to Amarok 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.
2. 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 a large number to reach higher powered Obols and fil 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.
3. A single purchase means you can start earning gems from all the boss farming that is in your future and slowly adds up across 100s of Amarok and Efuant kills. 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.
4. Just like the W1 merit shop the new star talents option will start dropping Pulsation (mana gain) and Cardiovascular (card drop rate) after a single point with additional points not particularly useful until you start hunting a perfect 100 level book later on. Note that the W2 minibosses are a significant challenge so delaying this point until you begin to kill them regular is perfectly reasonable as well.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Extra arcade balls can be maxed at this point. While this system does give 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.
8. Any remaining points can be placed in Boost Convert Better Darnit although this is not a valuable.

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 is 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:

1. Chizoar Equipment (whenever available until max)
2. Telekinetic Storage (level 1 only and then max after everything else. Skip until last if you have Ram pet companion)
3. Build/Food Slot (max)
4. Talent Book Library (max)
5. Refinery Salt Costs (max)
6. Printer Sample Size (max)
7. Frostbite Tundra Respawn (max)

The reasoning behind this order is:

1. 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 save all of your points until you get there as there are some other powerful bonuses in W3.
2. Telekinetic Storage is a highly 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. If you have the Ram pet companion that allows you to access storage from anywhere you can skip this entirely for now and obtain it last solely for the passive carry cap buff it provides when you invest star points here.
3. 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 the tough W3 areas.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Next comes printer sampling as this will make your life easier as your printer becomes your primary method of acquiring key resources for salts and other needs.
7. 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:

1. No Bubble Left Behind
2. Troll Equipment
3. Hyperion Nebula respawn (max)
4. Spice Spillage (level 1 and max last)
5. Lab connection range (max)
6. Egg capacity (max)
7. Crystal monster (max)

The reasoning behind this order is:

1. The sooner you gain the extra bubbles from this merit the better for your overall account progression as alchemy is fundamental to progress in a wide range of Idleon mechanics. While expensive the free alchemy levels will multiple your progress each and everyday which makes the corresponding lab node equally vital to have turned on at your daily reset time.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Grabbing a single point in Spice Spillage gives you a chance to collect space when claiming AFK gains. 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.
5. 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).
6. 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 otherwise limited without buying gems.
7. Lastly max crystal monster chance as this will give you some guaranteed crystals each day that have useful cards and other drops.

W5 Merit Shop Priority (Smolderin Plateau)

The W5 merit shop in the Smolderin Plateau offers another wave of achievements and merits for the lava themed world and is available after a short quest from Lava Larry. The achievement rewards for W5 are some of the strongest and tasks include challenges around sailing, boat upgrades, divinity, gaming and slab.

The W5 merit shop priority is:

1. Kattle equipment (max)
2. Sailing loot pile capacity (max)
3. Smolderin Plateau respawn (max)
4. Stat Overload (varies)
5. Atom upgrade cost reduction (max)
6. Skill EXP (max)
7. Tab 4 Talent points (max)

The reasoning behind this order is:

1. Boss equipment has always been powerful in Idleon and the Kattle boss equipment is no exception as it provides drop rate and damage on the equipment pieces.
2. Additional sailing loot pile capacity provides a significant boost to overall sailing gains as it helps you store larger chest piles over longer periods of AFK. Given the strength of sailing artefacts particularly this makes it an important priority to speed up sailing progression.
3. Additional AFK gains per hour for mob farming in W5 has a range of benefits that make it hard to ignore from pushing portals, gathering monster materials or taking a printer sample from this world.
4. Stat Overlord provides potentially 300 all stat to your character which can boost damage and skilling potency although depending on your progress you may not have sufficient star talent points available to take advantage of this. For this reason I would scale your investment into this based on the star talent points you have free on your characters noting the max talent increases by 30 for each merit purchase.
5. With some huge atom costs in the atom collider (available from W3 construction) this can save hundreds of thousands of atoms. This means you’ll unlock the powerful atom related boosts sooner but also have a greater atom pool available for alchemy pushing instead.
6. Skill EXP to sailing, divinity and gaming might be tempting as a new player landing in W5 but players already have access to a range of other methods to boost experience in these skills (primarily specialised class talents). Levels in sailing and gaming also only have a minor impact on your account and while divinity levels are useful there are easy other sources of obtaining a similar boost with an Elemental Sorcerer and the large alchemy bubble available first.
7. While newcomers to W5 might be tempted by these talent points before the options listed above you’ll often be better off focusing on levelling your characters instead of spending your precious W5 merit points here.

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). 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 priority guide you’ll be able to efficiently unlock the correct recipes to not delay your progress through the key items for your anvil. 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 reasonably effective and you will eventually have enough trophies to unlock everything anyway.

The principles approach to recipe unlocks is as follows:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Lastly, you’ll want to focus on utility items such as equipment that boosts efficiency or inventory expansion bags. You may also need to focus on items from prior levels if they are a prerequisite crafting item for one of these.
5. 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 also focus on the gem purchases.

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.

1. Steel Axe, Birch Longbow and Quarterstaff
2. Dirty Coal Miner Baggy Soot Pants
3. Copper Fish Rod and Copper Netted Net
4. Iron Fishing Rod and Reinforced Net
5. Hide Shirt
6. Blunderbag
7. Icing Ironbite
8. Sleek Shank
9. Purple Tee
10. Black Tee
11. 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.

1. Royal Bayonet, Spiked Menace and Starlight
2. Gold Pickaxe and Golden Axe
3. Gold Fishing Rod and Gilded Net
4. Bandage Wraps
5. Enforced Slasher, Pharaoh Bow and Crows Nest
6. Viking Cap, Sleek Coif and Witch Hat
7. Sandy Satchel
8. Cavern Trekkers, Angler Boots, Logger Heels and Bandito Boots
9. Bullet
10. Platinum Pickaxe and Plat Hatchet
11. Plat Fishing Rod and Platinet
12. Sizeable Food Pouch
13. Slurpin Herm
14. 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 stockpileI 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).