# Passive guide

> When each stat upgrade is worth picking. Tips for 22 passives in tibo.dog, each linked to its full wiki page.

Source page: https://www.tibodog.wiki/guides/passives · Wiki updated 6 Nov 2026, 03:55 UTC · Game version 75 (`main-CSuyb4iv.js`, data synced 5 Nov 2026, 21:45 UTC)

Breadcrumb: [Main page](/) › [Guides](/guides)

When each stat upgrade is worth picking. Every tip below is the same text as on that passive's page, which also has the numbers and sources.

## [Bacon Bits](/passives/bacon-bits)

- Boss HP is multiplied ×3 from 16:00, ×4 from 18:00 and ×6 from 20:00 (see [Bosses](/bosses#boss-hp)). Bacon Bits is worth considering if your build struggles with those late bosses.
- Because it multiplies before crits, it stacks with [Hot Sauce](/passives/hot-sauce) and [Sour Cream](/passives/sour-cream) rather than competing with them.
- Every elite drops a chest, and chests are the only way to evolve (see [Chests](/chests)).

## [Big Bowl](/passives/big-bowl)

- Magma Croquette needs Big Bowl at level 5 and a Spicy Croquette in hand when you open a chest (see [Evolutions](/evolutions#item-evolutions)).
- Area helps most with pools, novas and other attacks that hit everything in a zone. It does less for single-target shots.

## [Butter Pat](/passives/butter-pat)

- Because damage bonuses add up, each level of Butter Pat is a slightly smaller relative gain than the one before: level 1 is +10% over no bonus, while level 5 is about +7% over level 4.
- Elite damage ([Bacon Bits](/passives/bacon-bits)), crit chance ([Hot Sauce](/passives/hot-sauce)) and crit damage ([Sour Cream](/passives/sour-cream)) multiply with this stat instead of adding to it.

## [Butter Socks](/passives/butter-socks)

- [Julienne Dash](/weapons/julienne-dash) and its evolution Waffle Cut attack on each dash, so extra charges mean more attacks in a burst.
- [Tot Stampede](/weapons/tot-stampede) counts distance walked and fires every 40 units. Dash movement counts toward that distance: each tick adds Tibo's movement up to 12 units.[sim-BkfBhQfw.js: `Math.min(12,A(a.x[o]-a.px[o],a.y[o]-a.py[o]))`] One 48-unit dash is enough for a tot.

## [Chives](/passives/chives)

- The fire-rate gain grows with each level: going from 28% to 35% reduction is a bigger relative speed-up than going from 0% to 7%.
- If you also run GPU, remember that a faster cooldown does not reduce GPU heat per second. See [GPU](/passives/gpu#how-it-works).

## [Fertilizer](/passives/fertilizer)

- XP gain pays off over the rest of the run, so it is worth more the earlier you take it. Late in a run, when most of your weapons and passives are already maxed, extra levels matter less.
- Fertilizer works well with [Potato Magnet](/passives/potato-magnet), which brings gems in from farther away.

## [Four-Eyed Spud](/passives/four-eyed-spud)

- Take Four-Eyed Spud for Loaded Dice or All-Seeing Spud, not to improve the dice themselves.
- The 4th card is the most visible gain. Each extra card gives you more choice on every level-up for the rest of the run.

## [Golden Fry](/passives/golden-fry)

- Gold only helps if you spend it. Golden Fry fits runs where you plan to use the Fry Cart, Potato Crates or the Dog Kennel often.
- Crate prices rise with each crate bought (see [Potato Crate](/points-of-interest#potato-crate)), so extra gold buys fewer extra crates later in a run.

## [GPU](/passives/gpu)

- Cooling of 2.6–2.8 per second keeps pace with two weapons that fire constantly, but not with three. Measured at GPU level 1 over 180 s with Peeler and Small Fry given once each: Peeler + Small Fry (seed `s2`) added 2.0 heat per second and never throttled. The starting Seeker Sprouts + Peeler + Small Fry (seed `s3`) added 2.9–3.0 heat per second and throttled 3 times, or 2 with Chives at level 5. A full set of fast-firing weapons overheats; weapons that only fire when a target is in range add less.
- Each level raises the heat cap and the cooling rate, so levelling GPU makes throttles rarer. The throttle itself always lasts 3 s.
- GPU's +1 projectile stacks with [Sprouting Eyes](/passives/sprouting-eyes) and [Extra Eye](/items/extra-eye).

## [Gravy Heart](/passives/gravy-heart)

- Gravy Heart scales healing that is a share of max HP, such as a revive's 50% max HP (see [Stats](/stats#healing-and-revives)). Flat healing, such as the 30 HP from a snack, stays the same.
- [Mezzaluna](/weapons/mezzaluna) and [Moon Cleaver](/weapons/moon-cleaver) hit harder the more HP Tibo is missing, as a share of max HP. More max HP neither helps nor hurts that bonus directly.

## [Hot Sauce](/passives/hot-sauce)

- With a ×2 crit multiplier, a 23.1% crit chance raises average damage by 23.1%. With Sour Cream at level 5 (×3), the same chance gives +46%. The two passives are worth more together than apart.
- Because of the curve, extra crit points from items add less once you already have Hot Sauce.

## [Masher Grip](/passives/masher-grip)

- Knockback is defensive: pests pushed away take longer to reach Tibo. The effect is largest on light pests, which have little or no mass.
- Meteor Russet's crater hit carries knockback 1.2, so Masher Grip also pushes pests away from where a meteor lands.[sim-BkfBhQfw.js: `J(e,n.crater[t],n.itemSrc[t],-1,1.2)`]

## [Potato Magnet](/passives/potato-magnet)

- [Gem Sling](/weapons/gem-sling) and Gem Catapult fire a wedge for each XP gem Tibo picks up, so a wider pickup range keeps them firing while Tibo stays away from the crowd.
- A larger range lets Tibo collect XP without walking into pests to reach it. It pairs naturally with [Fertilizer](/passives/fertilizer).

## [Root Network](/passives/root-network)

- Enemy damage grows over the run (see [Enemy scaling](/enemy-scaling)) while recovery stays the same, so Root Network matters most early. Late in a run, armor or dodge is likely to do more for survival.
- Pressure Cooker also heals (“Each enemy it burns heals Tibo.”), which suits a sustain build built around Root Network.

## [Rotten Spud](/passives/rotten-spud)

- A bigger crowd should also mean more kills and so more XP gems, on top of the higher XP multiplier. Whether that is worth tougher pests depends on how comfortably your build clears.
- Kaboom Spud's explosions hit for half the dead enemy's max HP (“25% of kills explode, hitting nearby enemies for half the dead enemy's max HP.”). Curse raises enemy max HP, so it also makes those explosions stronger.
- Moon Cleaver hits harder the more HP Tibo is missing, which suits a riskier, cursed run.

## [Salt Shaker](/passives/salt-shaker)

- The bonus multiplies each weapon's own speed, so weapons with a base speed of 0 gain nothing. That includes ground pools, auras, beams, chains, mines and strikes such as [Root Spikes](/weapons/root-spikes); check the speed on each weapon's page.
- Faster shots reach distant pests sooner, which may help against fast or spread-out pests.

## [Slow Cooker](/passives/slow-cooker)

- Duration is most useful for weapons whose effect lasts a set time, such as ground pools and orbits, and for freezing or burning builds.
- Because of the hidden base, the in-game “+10% weapon duration per level” is 10 points on top of 125%, not 10% of the current total.

## [Sour Cream](/passives/sour-cream)

- Take Sour Cream after you have a real crit chance, usually from Hot Sauce. Before that it mainly serves as the catalyst for Hashnado.
- Crit damage has no diminishing returns, unlike crit chance, so once you crit often it keeps its full value per level.

## [Sprouting Eyes](/passives/sprouting-eyes)

- Levels 2 and 4 add nothing by themselves. They are still needed to reach levels 3 and 5.
- Sprouting Eyes at level 5 and GPU together give +4 projectiles to every weapon that uses amount.

## [Spud Sneakers](/passives/spud-sneakers)

- Several weapons work off distance walked, so walking faster makes them fire more often: [Tot Stampede](/weapons/tot-stampede) every 40 units and [Spud Fence](/weapons/spud-fence) every 60 units.
- [Tater Twirl](/weapons/tater-twirl) spins at a pace equal to Tibo's actual speed divided by the base 62, capped at 2.[sim-BkfBhQfw.js: `i=60*A(n.x[r]-n.px[r],n.y[r]-n.py[r])/e.cfg.player.baseSpeed;return Math.max(t.crawl,Math.min(t.maxPace,i))`] Walking at Spud Sneakers level 5 speed gives a pace of 1.4 instead of 1.

## [Starch Plating](/passives/starch-plating)

- Armor is strongest early. If you take Starch Plating for defence, take it early rather than late.
- Fry Volcano fires when Tibo is hit, and armor lowers what each of those hits costs, so the two fit together.

## [Thick Skin](/passives/thick-skin)

- Hot Streak and Wildfire Roast lose two flames each time Tibo is hit (“A hit puts out two flames”). Dodged hits do not count, so Thick Skin helps keep the streak going on top of being their catalyst.
- Unlike [Starch Plating](/passives/starch-plating), dodge chance does not weaken as enemies get stronger. It works the same against a boss at 20:00 as against a pest at 0:00.
- [Porcupine Spud](/items/porcupine-spud) and [Fry Volcano](/items/fry-volcano) fire when Tibo is hit, so a dodged hit does not trigger them.

## Sources

Game version 75: `main-CSuyb4iv.js` / `boot-CPW8VVmR.js` / `sim-BkfBhQfw.js` from https://tibo.dog/, researched 2026-11-05. See [Versions & updates](/versions).
- Tips sections of the linked wiki pages; each page lists its own sources