Use your favourite features in-game with our Desktop AppWelcome to our beginner guide for The Bazaar.
Here we'll breakdown some of the basics to help smooth out your experience, and give you some things to keep in mind during your runs. Whether you're new to auto-battlers or a veteran in the space, there's a lot that makes The Bazaar fresh and unique!
Let’s dive in.
In The Bazaar you will compete asynchronously against the "ghosts" of other players, ultimately trying to earn 10 wins before your run comes to an end. Losing a PvP fight will reduce your Prestige (which acts as an "HP bar"), so it's up to you to see how far you can go.
There are two ways you can play the game; Ranked Mode and Normal Mode. Both of these modes offer the same gameplay experience, but only Ranked Mode allows you to earn cosmetic rewards.
Ranked Mode has a cost of 100 Gems per entry, though players can also earn tickets via the Prize Pass. Gems can be purchased with real money, but they can also be earned via chests, which are awarded in Ranked Mode.
The number of chests you're awarded is based on how many wins you get during the run.
These chests grant loot like hero skins, card backs, rugs, and more.
If you decide to pay for their Subscription, you will receive twice the amount of chests per tier (as displayed in the image below).
Normal Mode is entirely free, but it does not offer any cosmetic rewards. Instead, playing Normal Mode can help you earn XP towards the Prize Pass (also earned in Ranked), which in turn will unlock tickets to play Ranked Mode (free!).
To really maximize the length of your runs, you’re going to want to understand the balance between short term and long term decision making. Some items are greatly beneficial early on, but eventually you'll need to leave it behind and find something better.
If you’re doing well, consider making choices that you can build upon and will provide lasting benefits – such as investing into more Income or Experience.
The majority of your power will come from items, so while it may be tempting to select interesting events, if your build isn't working you'll want to hit up every vendor in hopes of strengthening your board.
However, if you’re in survival mode and you’re low on Prestige, immediate benefits such as Temporary Boosts can help keep you alive.
If you're playing during The Bazaar's Open Beta release, you have access to three heroes: Vanessa, Pygmalien, and Dooley.
Vanessa is available by default as the tutorial hero, while Pygmalien and Dooley can be unlocked with the Gems.
We recommend trying each hero at least 1-2 times so you can get a feel for who you like most, but after that, we consider sticking with one so you can build mastery.
If you're constantly jumping around, it can be hard to develop up your understanding of their different nuances.
After all, each hero has many lines of play that can lead to a wide range of successful builds.
Once you nail down successful runs and build up some comfort, then consider switching to other heroes so you can learn their item pools.
Since there are various ways that give you access to the items of other heroes, it does help to know what you can get from them.
PvE Encounters are by far one of the most impactful parts of a run. Winning a fight gives you additional XP, helping you level-up and grow stronger. In early levels this means expanding your board space, but additionally every level will increase your Max Health and offer a variety of powerful level-up rewards.
However, losing a PvE fight means missing out on precious XP. While you may be tempted to choose the highest tier encounter (the rightmost) for the largest gold and XP rewards, losing can be extremely detrimental and set you far behind on your run.
If you want the best odds of success, be sure to do your research and check out the items and skills of each monster. If you don't feel confident about your build, consider taking one of the "easier" options instead.
Encounters are not created equal, so while the left and middle options are generally easier, there are exceptions. Plus, the matchups will vary depending on your current build, making some fights easier or harder.
Ultimately this is one of the biggest learning curves of The Bazaar, but if you find yourself struggling and you're losing PvE Encounters, that's definitely a key indicator that your build isn't strong enough.
Do you know the difference between Charge and Haste?
Or that Poison bypasses Shields and deals direct damage to Health?
If not, make sure to constantly check them in-game or use our handy reference guide of The Bazaar keywords.
Many of these keywords interact and work together in different ways, so once you learn them, you can really understand what makes good builds tick.
Time and resources aren't infinite in The Bazaar, so you really have to make your choices count.
Because of this, rather than trying to be good at everything, the strongest builds keep focus around a theme.
Whether it's trying to maximize Vanessa's offensive firepower, becoming un-killable as Pygmalien, or using the power of Friends with Dooley, identify your best bet and optimize it.
This is something you'll only get better at in time as you discover and remember what items and skills are out there.
Although losing sucks, you can often learn from your opponents by seeing what item combos they're using.
Another good way to learn build themes and archetypes is by watching top players like Kripparian!
There are a ton of items in The Bazaar that can scale infinitely, it's up to you to find ways to empower them.
Doing so can be especially powerful if you can get the ball rolling early on - however, if you find a stacking item later on in a run, you might want to avoid them.
Here are two examples of how to navigate your stack management.
The 
Lemonade Stand scales your Max Health when you sell Small items.
This makes it a great combo with items that can generate Small items, such as 
Money Tree and the 
Cash Register.
Options like Gumballs and 
Chocolate Bars also become more attractive as you can simultaneously get their base buffs but also feed your stacks.
With Pygmalien's economic power, you can even consider buying every Small item you see so you can sell them.
Pro tip: Items with effects that happen outside of combat (like Lemonade Stand, Money Tree, and Cash Register) activate when they're in your Stash! They do NOT need to be equipped on your main board.
While the Lemonade Stand boosts your defense, the 
Langxian spear scales your offensive power by stacking with victories.
Remember earlier how we mentioned short term vs long term decisions?
Langxian allows you to play aggressively with short term decisions while simultaneously helping you build for the future.
For instance, you can consider opting for the Temporary Damage boost or other instant effects to keep the ball rolling.
Also, if the Langxian is still ramping up, you might want to choose easier PvE fights to help ensure a win.
Just make sure to not tunnel vision, if you end up losing too many fights you'll likely fall behind in Damage, making Langxian no longer worth using.
If you're coming from TFT, you know how important positioning can be - every point of damage and health matters.
Similarly, The Bazaar has a lot of effects and mechanics that incentivize positioning your items correctly.
For example, some skills will buff your leftmost or rightmost item (ex. 
Left-Handed, 
Right-Handed).
There are also a good amount of items that affect or are affected by their adjacent counterparts, such as the 
Duct Tape which triggers when you use an adjacent item.
By pairing it with a fast-casting item like 
Uzi, which has a three second Cooldown, you can get a ton of additional value out of it.
The lesson here is to always check your ordering - there's usually something that can be improved!
