Hole Is Mine Upgrade Priority Guide

Hole Is Mine offers more than three hundred upgrades. Without a priority list, it is easy to buy shiny nodes while the Hole stalls. This page tells you what to buy first across the major trees so Shelly, Mini’Ohs, and the bag throw stay aligned with the collect–upgrade–Incursion rhythm. Use it beside Early Game Builds, the Equipment Tier List, and the interactive-feeling Upgrade Checklist.

Priority philosophy

Buy the upgrade that removes today’s bottleneck. Then reassess. Do not pre-purchase Infinite Hole dreams during Depth 5. Campaign structure covers roughly forty Depths and about five hours when spend is disciplined; messy trees inflate that timeline. Single-player means you set the pace—priority is how you keep that pace honest.

Tier 1 buys (always early)

1. Carry Mini’Oh power — Damage, haul, or role upgrades that make one Mini’Oh clearly better. Specialize before equalizing.
2. Basic mining speed / strike — Nodes that shorten left-click clear time with WASD positioning.
3. Bag fill or capacity — So Incursions have something to throw.
4. One survival insurance — Enough that sleepers and Depth pressure do not erase every push.

These four pillars mirror the equipment archetypes: mining DPS, collection, throw readiness, and survival. Gear like Heavy/Heaxy Axe, Friendship Wool, Bravery Helmet, and later Holy Blook amplify the same pillars—upgrades should not fight your equipment.

Tier 2 buys (after the loop feels smooth)

• Throw damage and Incursion payout nodes once bags are consistently meaningful.
• Secondary Mini’Oh utilities that wake, support, or gather around the carry—not rivals for the crown.
• Equip-leveling helpers when you own pieces like Holy Blook that reward long sessions.
• Clone Mini’Oh related upgrades only after the carry template is proven; cloning chaos multiplies waste.

Tier 3 buys (mid-campaign and polish)

• Quality-of-life radius, pathing, and comfort nodes.
• Niche Depth-themed resists once you know which walls hurt.
• Duplicate economy nodes that only matter when primary trees are healthy.
• Infinite Hole preparation: multiplicative endgame nodes after the campaign spine is under control.

Tree-by-tree cheat sheet

Mining tree

Open with raw clear speed and axe synergy. Stop dumping here if bags stay empty—swap to collection. Resume mining when walls, not bags, are the complaint.

Collection / Mini’Oh tree

Fund the carry first. Add sleeper wake and role assignment quality next. Read Mini’Ohs Guide before buying every crew-wide percent.

Incursion / throw tree

Unlock reliability before greed. A slightly weaker but consistent throw beats a glass-cannon Incursion you fear to use. Pair with throw-focused gear from the Equipment List.

Survival / blood / equip trees

Bravery Helmet–style durability first. Friendship Wool–style synergy second. Holy Blook and blood/equip leveling third once sessions stretch past the tutorial vibe into multi-Depth pushes.

Sample spend sequences

Sequence Alpha (economy first): Carry Mini’Oh → bag capacity → mining speed → throw payout → helmet/wool survival → axe synergy → clone support.

Sequence Beta (walls first): Mining speed → axe synergy → carry Mini’Oh → bag capacity → throw payout → survival → equip leveling.

Sequence Gamma (Incursion-curious): Bag capacity → throw reliability → carry Mini’Oh → mining speed → survival → payout multipliers.

Pick Alpha if you liked Build A, Beta for axe-forward openings, Gamma if Incursions feel like the fun center. Track which sequence you ran in the Build Planner.

When to respec your plan (even without a respec button)

If a Depth wall lasts more than a few failed pushes, freeze vanity purchases. Identify the bottleneck, buy only that column for a cycle, then reassess. Mark the Depth in the Depth Tracker so you remember which priority flip worked.

Anti-priorities (what not to buy first)

• Equal upgrades for every Mini’Oh.
• Endgame multipliers before bag and mining basics.
• Cosmetic or meme nodes during a hard wall.
• Clone investments before a carry exists.
• Random tree hopping every three minutes.

Linking upgrades to equipment tiers

S-tier axes want mining tree support. S-tier collection items want carry Mini’Oh nodes. Throw S-tier wants Incursion tree reliability. Survival S-tier wants helmet/wool/blood trees that keep digs alive. If your gear says S for throw but your tree is all vanity mining, the build is lying to itself—fix it via Equipment Tier List.

Campaign vs Infinite Hole priorities

Campaign (~40 Depths): bias toward consistency, carry specialization, and Incursion cadence. Infinite Hole: bias toward multipliers, equip leveling (Holy Blook pathways), and clone scaling once the template is perfect. Do not invert those biases early.

Closing

Upgrade priority is a conversation with your current Hole, not a permanent dogma. Keep the four pillars in mind, specialize the carry, and let Incursions fire on full-feeling bags. Return to the Builds Hub for rankings and openings whenever a patch or Depth wall shakes your plan. With disciplined buys across three hundred–plus upgrades, the path into Infinite Hole stays closer to that five-hour campaign promise.