TBH Stage Farming: stop farming the wrong stage

TBH has 120 stages across 3 Acts and 4 difficulties. The game does not hand you a “best stage” button because the answer changes with hero level, clear speed, difficulty, and whether you want Gold, EXP, gear, or a pet monster.

TBH stage farming loop: measure clear time and rewards before choosing a farm

The three-minute farm test

Use the same formation and repeat a candidate stage three times. Record:

clear time;
deaths or failed retries;
Gold per clear;
EXP per clear;
chest type and number collected;
monster count if you are farming a pet.

Then calculate reward per hour, not reward per clear:

reward per hour = reward per clear × 3600 ÷ clear seconds

If the stage is over your hero’s level range, apply the game’s reward penalty. A flashy endgame stage can produce less EXP per hour than a lower stage with a clean, repeatable clear.

Reference values from the current stage database

The table below is Normal-mode base data from the community database. It is useful for comparing stage shape; difficulty and bonuses change the final result.

| Stage | Level | Waves | EXP / clear | Gold / clear | What it is good for | | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- | | A1-8 Cemetery | 10 | 78 | 26,966 | 5,796 | Early gear and Bat farming | | A1-9 Cursed Land | 11 | 91 | 59,813 | 10,071 | Strong Act 1 active farm | | A2-4 Bug Nest | 16 | 105 | 151,300 | 14,440 | Giant Fly farming and Act 2 entry | | A2-5 Scorching Dunes | 17 | 105 | 153,438 | 13,419 | Giant Fly farming route | | A2-9 Pharaoh’s Crypt | 21 | 128 | 585,796 | 38,929 | High Act 2 EXP/Gold before the boss | | A3-6 Burning Ravine | 28 | 153 | 1,763,626 | 91,213 | Hell Golem farming route | | A3-8 Citadel of Ruin | 30 | 180 | 2,798,571 | 160,444 | Late Normal EXP and Gold | | A3-9 Core of the Abyss | 31 | 198 | 2,969,576 | 160,725 | Highest Normal-stage reward, slower clear |

Boss stages are special checks, not automatically good farms. They have a boss reward and zero normal waves, so compare them separately from a wave stage.

Pick by goal

Gold

Use a wave stage you can clear quickly and repeatedly. In the current Torment table, A3-9 has the highest expected Gold per clear, but it only wins if your formation can handle its clear time and survival. A lower stage such as A3-6 or A2-9 may produce more Gold per hour for a less-developed account.

EXP

Stay near the hero’s effective stage level. The TBH.City calculator explicitly applies an over-level EXP penalty; it can rank a lower stage above your highest unlocked stage. Leveling a replacement hero is a different farm from pushing your main carry.

Gear and chests

Use the lowest completed stage that drops the item level or chest type you need, then optimize clear time. Do not rely on offline rewards for a gear session; current player documentation reports that offline progress is mainly Gold/EXP while active chest collection happens while the game is running.

Pets

Choose the stage by the required monster count, not the pet name. For example, the current database maps Bat to A1-7/A1-8, Giant Fly to A2-5, Fire Elemental to A2-8, Hell Golem to A3-6, and Ghost to A3-4. See the pet table for exact reported counts and bonuses.

Portal and auto-retry routine

Use the blue Portal icon to return to a completed stage. Turn on auto-retry for a farming session, but check the first few runs: if the party fails, auto-retry can hide that you are collecting no useful reward. When a run fails, move one step down, stabilize the farm, then upgrade one variable.

Sources and evidence

TBH.City Stages database — 120-stage map, current reward values and Act/difficulty structure.
TBH.City Farm Calculator — reward-per-hour model, over-level penalty and clear-time calibration.
TBH pet database — monster-to-pet routes and per-run counts.
TBH tips and tricks — active versus offline reward behavior and auto-retry context.

The values above are snapshots from an independent datamined/community database. Verify the current stage tooltip before using a route for a long session.

Quick answers

Is the highest unlocked TBH stage always the best farm?

No. Reward per hour depends on clear time and an over-level penalty. A lower stage that clears quickly can beat a slow stage near your ceiling.

What should I farm for gear?

Choose a completed stage whose item level matches the gear level you need, then prefer the fastest reliable clear that still drops that level and produces the chest type you want.