📚 Megabonk Tome Tier List: Best Tomes by Build
Master the Holy Trinity and all 23 tomes for exponential power scaling
Reviewed for v1.0.69 | Updated July 29, 2026Tome Effects, Unlocks, Tier and Build Fit
Use this table for fast build decisions; the full 23-Tome cards below explain strengths, drawbacks and synergies. Tier is build priority rather than an official ranking. Need the factual roster instead? Open the Tome effects and unlock database.
Showing all 23 Tomes
| Tome | Current effect | Unlock | Tier | Best builds | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 XP Tome | +7% XP Gain | Break 20 pots in one run | S | Every build; early snowball | View guide |
 Cursed Tome | +3.5% Difficulty | Beat a Stage Boss in under 5 minutes | S | Leaderboard, kill farming, XP | View guide |
 Luck Tome | +7% Luck | 0.01% chance to drop from an enemy | S | Fox, reward snowball, long runs | View guide |
 Cooldown Tome | +7.5% Attack Speed | Default | A | Universal DPS, proc and Lifesteal | View guide |
 Damage Tome | +0.08× Damage multiplier | Default | A | Universal damage scaling | View guide |
 Agility Tome | +15% Movement Speed | Default | A | Calcium, kiting, speed conversion | View guide |
 Precision Tome | +7% Crit Chance | Default | A | CL4NK, Dicehead, Giant Fork | View guide |
 Quantity Tome | +1 Projectile | Fire 5,000 projectiles | A | Projectile and multi-hit builds | View guide |
 Size Tome | +10% Size | Default | B | Area and projectile coverage | View guide |
 Health Tome | +25 Max HP | Default | B | Tank, Athena and HP scaling | View guide |
 Shield Tome | +25 Shield | Default | B | Shield, Athena and Aegis builds | View guide |
 Armor Tome | +12% Armor | Kill 5,000 enemies as Sir Oofie | B | Tank and mitigation builds | View guide |
 Bloody Tome | +10% Lifesteal | Kill 12,500 enemies | B | Rapid-hit sustain and Athena | View guide |
 Thorns Tome | +15 Thorns | Block 250 attacks with Aegis | B | Athena, retaliation and tank builds | View guide |
 Duration Tome | +15% Duration | Upgrade Axe to Level 10 | B | Noelle, persistent effects, projectiles | View guide |
 Attraction Tome | +75% Pickup Range | Use Shrine of Succ 8 times | B | XP collection and stationary builds | View guide |
 Regen Tome | +40 HP Regen per minute | Default | B | Sustain and recovery | View guide |
 Evasion Tome | +10% Evasion | Default | C | Defensive and low-HP builds | View guide |
 Golden Tome | +12% Gold Gain | Default | C | Shop and Gold farming | View guide |
 Silver Tome | +12% Silver Gain | Default | C | Meta-progression farming | View guide |
 Knockback Tome | +20% Knockback | Default | C | Crowd control and Black Hole unlock | View guide |
 Projectile Speed Tome | +15% Projectile Speed | Default | C | Projectile and ranged builds | View guide |
 Chaos Tome | One random stat reward | Charge every Charge Shrine across all 3 stages of one Tier 3 run without leaving the zone | C | Flexible, high-variance runs | View guide |
✨ The Holy Trinity ✨
Core foundation for competitive play and high-score runs
🎯 Why the Holy Trinity Dominates Competitive Play
This combination creates an exponential feedback loop where each tome amplifies the others:
Cursed Tome spawns massive enemy counts → more enemies drop more XP gems → XP Tome multiplies experience gain enabling constant leveling → Luck Tome ensures each level-up provides Epic/Legendary choices → better upgrades create stronger characters → faster kills generate more XP → even faster leveling.
Community Consensus: Essential strategy for leaderboard attempts and 100K+ kill runs.
HIGHEST PRIORITY
XP Tome
+7% bonus XP per level
Faster leveling means more upgrade choices, creating exponential growth. Maximum level 99 provides massive XP multiplier.
HIGH PRIORITY
Cursed Tome
+3.5% difficulty per level
Increases enemy quantity, health, speed, and strength but floods map with XP gems and improves drop quality.
HIGH PRIORITY
Luck Tome
+7% Luck per level
Increases probability of Rare, Epic, and Legendary upgrades from level-ups and chests. Value compounds dramatically over time.
S-Tier: Mandatory for Competitive Play
The Holy Trinity - foundation of most top leaderboard builds
XP Tome
HOLY TRINITYFaster leveling = more upgrade choices = exponential growth throughout entire run.
✓ Strengths
- Affects entire run duration
- Compounds with every level
- Enables 100K+ kill runs
- Universal across all builds
✗ Considerations
- Doesn't directly improve combat
- Requires other tomes to maximize
- Nerfed in v1.0.12
Cursed Tome
HOLY TRINITYCreates target-rich environment flooding map with XP gems and gold.
✓ Strengths
- Dramatically better drop quality
- More enemies = more XP/gold
- Synergizes with XP Tome
- Worth difficulty increase
✗ Considerations
- Significantly increases difficulty
- Requires defensive foundation
- Can overwhelm beginners
Luck Tome
HOLY TRINITYMultiplicative value—higher luck early = better upgrades for entire run.
✓ Strengths
- Compounds dramatically over time
- Affects all future upgrades
- Enables legendary item drops
- Long-term highest value
✗ Considerations
- No direct combat improvement
- Value delayed until leveling
- Rare drop requirement
A-Tier: Essential Combat Tomes
Core combat stats that directly improve performance
Cooldown Tome
COMBAT✓ Strengths
- Attack Speed is King stat
- Multiplies on-hit effects
- Increases lifesteal healing rate
- Critical for Kevin builds
✗ Considerations
- Lower priority than Holy Trinity
- Diminishing returns at high levels
Damage Tome
COMBAT✓ Strengths
- Universal damage increase
- Scales with all weapons
- Essential for all builds
✗ Considerations
- Lower priority than utility stats
Agility Tome
MOBILITY✓ Strengths
- Essential for slower characters
- Better dodging = survival
- Faster XP collection
- Critical for Calcium
✗ Considerations
- Less value on fast characters
Precision Tome
COMBAT✓ Strengths
- Essential for CL4NK builds
- Enables Megacrit builds
- Synergizes with Giant Fork
✗ Considerations
- Build-specific (crit only)
- Wasted without Giant Fork
Quantity Tome
COMBAT✓ Strengths
✗ Considerations
- Less value on single-hit weapons
- Can cause performance issues
B-Tier: Situational Utility Tomes
Valuable for specific builds but not universally essential
Size Tome
UTILITY✓ Strengths
- Essential for Aura builds
- Increases AoE coverage
- Perfect for AFK strategies
✗ Considerations
- Makes you easier to hit
- Can be detrimental
Health Tome
DEFENSE✓ Strengths
- Synergizes with Beefy Ring
- Direct survivability increase
✗ Considerations
- Less value than damage
- Defensive playstyle only
Shield Tome
DEFENSE✓ Strengths
- Regenerating defense layer
- Good for CL4NK
✗ Considerations
- Kevin disables regen
- Situational value
Armor Tome
DEFENSE✓ Strengths
- Synergizes with Sir Oofie passive
- Permanent damage reduction
✗ Considerations
- Diminishing returns
- Defensive builds only
Bloody Tome
SUSTAIN✓ Strengths
- 100% lifesteal = near-immortality
- Synergizes with poison builds
- Works with poison tick damage
✗ Considerations
- Requires high attack speed
- Build-specific
Thorns Tome
DEFENSE✓ Strengths
- Essential for Athena builds
- Passive damage reflection
✗ Considerations
- Only works when taking damage
- Build-specific (Athena only)
Duration Tome
UTILITY✓ Strengths
- Critical for freeze builds (Noelle)
- Extends Aura/Lightning coverage
✗ Considerations
- Situational benefit
- Build-specific value
Attraction Tome
UTILITY✓ Strengths
- Quality of life improvement
- Faster XP collection
✗ Considerations
- Low priority tome
- Convenience over necessity
Regen Tome
SUSTAIN✓ Strengths
- Passive healing over time
- Synergizes with Holy Book
✗ Considerations
- Less impactful than lifesteal
- Slow healing rate
C-Tier: Niche or Low-Priority Tomes
Situational value or lower priority compared to other options
Evasion Tome
DEFENSE✓ Strengths
- Essential for Ninja builds
- Chance to avoid damage completely
✗ Considerations
- Heavy diminishing returns
- Unreliable defense
- Build-specific
Golden Tome
ECONOMY✓ Strengths
- Synergizes with Robinette
- More gold for rerolls
✗ Considerations
- No direct combat benefit
- Low priority overall
Silver Tome
ECONOMY✓ Strengths
- Long-term progression benefit
- Meta-currency gain
✗ Considerations
- No benefit to current run
- Lowest priority
Knockback Tome
UTILITY✓ Strengths
- Can create space
- Unlocks Black Hole at level 10
✗ Considerations
- Can push enemies away (bad for melee)
- Not universally useful
Chaos Tome
RANDOM✓ Strengths
- Broad offensive, defensive, economy and utility stat pool
- Fun RNG element
✗ Considerations
- Completely unpredictable
- Can waste tome slot
- Hard to build around
🎯 Tome Priority Strategies by Build Type
🏆 Leaderboard / Competitive
Priority Order:
- XP Tome (RUSH FIRST)
- Luck Tome
- Cursed Tome
- Agility (Movement Speed)
- Cooldown (Attack Speed)
- Damage
⚔️ Damage Focus
Priority Order:
- Damage Tome
- Cooldown Tome
- Precision (if crit)
- Quantity (if projectile)
🛡️ Tank / Defensive
Priority Order:
- Bloody Tome (to 100%)
- Health Tome
- Armor Tome
- Cooldown (for healing)
🍴 Crit / Megacrit
Priority Order:
- Damage Tome (FIRST)
- Precision Tome
- Cooldown Tome
- Quantity Tome
🧀 Poison / Lifesteal
Priority Order:
- Bloody Tome (to 100%)
- Cooldown Tome
- XP Tome
- Damage Tome
🏃 Speed Demon (Calcium)
Priority Order:
- Agility Tome (CRITICAL)
- Cooldown Tome
- Damage Tome
- Quantity Tome
💡 Advanced Tome Strategies
📚 Holy Trinity Execution
Start by securing XP Tome first (break 20 pots immediately). Then pursue Cursed and Luck within first 5-10 minutes. Use Refreshes/Banishes aggressively.
⏱️ Timing Matters
Luck Tome value compounds—get it EARLY. XP Tome affects entire duration—priority #1. Cursed Tome can wait until defensive foundation established.
🔄 Stat Priority Order
Universal: XP → Luck → Movement Speed → Attack Speed → Damage. This prioritizes long-term compound growth.
🚫 Common Mistakes
DON'T ignore Agility on slow characters. DON'T stack damage without Holy Trinity. DON'T take Size on evasion builds.
🎲 Luck Synergies
High Luck = better chest drops. DELAY opening chests until Luck high. Reroll aggressively for legendaries.
⚡ Attack Speed is King
Attack Speed affects EVERYTHING: on-hit effects, lifesteal rate, weapon firing. Most universally valuable combat stat after Holy Trinity.
Best Tomes FAQ
What are the best Tomes in Megabonk?
XP Tome is the strongest early snowball choice for most long runs. Cooldown and Damage are broadly useful combat picks, while Cursed and Luck rise in value for leaderboard and long-run routes. The best final set depends on your character, weapons and mode, so use the filters above rather than treating one list as universal.
What are the best Tomes for an Athena Thorns build?
Start with Thorns Tome, then support it with Health, Armor and Bloody Tome for durability and recovery. Cooldown helps Aegis and other defensive weapons cycle more often; add Damage or XP depending on whether the run needs immediate power or long-term scaling.
Is Cursed Tome always S-Tier?
No. It is S-Tier for prepared leaderboard, XP and kill-farming routes because added difficulty increases density and potential rewards. It can make an underbuilt early run fail, so beginners and short challenge routes may rank it lower.
Should I take Quantity or Cooldown first?
Use Quantity when your core weapons gain meaningful extra projectiles. Cooldown is the safer universal choice because more frequent attacks also improve proc frequency, Lifesteal and coverage for most weapons.
Where can I compare Tome effects without rankings?
The Tomes database is the factual directory for all 23 current effects, unlock requirements and detail pages. This page owns ranking, comparison and build-choice intent.