Common reasons players seek a reset:
| Reason | Explanation | |--------|-------------| | Poor early choices | New players often waste points on weak techs (e.g., increased gold from tents instead of rushing farms or snipers). | | Try a different strategy | One run might focus on mass soldiers & towers; another might rush snipers & shocking towers. | | Achievement hunting | Some achievements (e.g., “No Stone Workshop”) require not taking certain techs – impossible if already unlocked. | | Harder challenge | Deliberately limiting techs for self-imposed difficulty (e.g., no ballistas). |
This is the only true "reset" for the campaign. You must wipe your campaign progress entirely to reclaim your points.
CampaignSave_0.sav or similar.Vererdict: This is a nuclear option. You lose all mission progress, but you regain the ability to re-spend your points. This is useful if you spent 5 hours going down a dead-end tech path (like over-investing in Tesla tower range before building farms).
Let's summarize the answer to the keyword "they are billions reset tech tree" :
The developers of They Are Billions (Numantian Games) designed the tech tree to force consequence. Every point spent is a strategic bet against the infected horde. If you bet wrong, the colony dies. And sometimes, the only reset button is the Main Menu.
So, before you rage-delete your save file, ask yourself: Is my tech tree bad, or is my strategy bad?
If it’s the tech tree, wipe it. Start over. Build walls. Build farms. And remember: The infected are billions. Your tech tree is one. Choose wisely.
Before you click "Research" on a tier-4 upgrade (like Titan or Thanatos), Save your game manually.
This is a manual "undo" button.
| Action | Feasibility | Risk | Keeps points? |
|--------|-------------|------|----------------|
| Official reset button | ❌ Not available | – | – |
| Delete TechTree.sav | ✅ Yes | Low (loses all progress) | No |
| Edit save file manually | ⚠️ Possible | High (corruption) | Yes (if done carefully) |
| Use third-party save editor | ✅ Recommended | Medium (backup first) | Yes |
| Start new Windows profile | ✅ Yes | Very low | No |
Best for most players: Delete TechTree.sav and start over – you’ll re-earn tech points quickly while playing smarter.
For minimal loss: Use a community save editor to uncheck specific techs while keeping your total points. they are billions reset tech tree
In the official campaign for They Are Billions, there is no native option to reset or respec your tech tree once you have successfully completed a mission.
The game locks in your choices immediately following any victory. Because this design can lead to permanent progression roadblocks, it remains one of the most heavily debated features among the game's community. 🚫 The Hard Lock Problem
The strategy game features a rigid progression system in its campaign. Players unlock technologies using research points gathered during missions.
The mechanic: You can freely undo and test tech purchases between missions. However, once you successfully beat a mission with those technologies equipped, they become permanently locked.
The consequence: Poor early-game choices—like neglecting core economic upgrades or passing on the Farm tech—can make later missions nearly impossible.
The developer's intent: The permanent lock was designed to force players to live with their tactical decisions and prevent them from constantly rebuilding perfect tech specs for every individual map. 🛠️ Community Workarounds
Because players can easily sink dozens of hours into a campaign only to find themselves completely "soft-locked," the community has developed several workarounds.
In the unforgiving steampunk apocalypse of They Are Billions
, a single bad research choice can feel like a death sentence for your entire campaign. Unlike many modern strategy games, the developers intentionally designed the tech tree to be permanent and immutable once a mission is successfully completed.
Here is a deep look into why the "no-reset" rule exists, how to work around it, and the essential strategies to avoid a campaign-ending soft lock. The Design Philosophy of Permanence
The campaign's tech tree is built on the principle of high-stakes commitment. Research points are a finite resource earned from colony, tactical, and swarm missions. Common reasons players seek a reset: | Reason
Tactical Weight: By making choices permanent, the game forces you to plan your entire campaign from the first mission.
Risk of "Soft Locking": If you over-invest in early-game luxuries (like starting units) while ignoring critical mid-game defense (like Shocking Towers), you may find later missions physically impossible to beat on higher difficulties.
Limited Respec: You can only change your mind about a technology before you complete a mission with it. If you purchase a tech and then lose or restart the mission, your points are returned, allowing for a "single-use" trial. Methods to "Reset" the Tech Tree
Since there is no official in-game button to respec, players must rely on external tools or save-file manipulation.
External Reset Tools (Mods): The most reliable method is the TAB-research-tree-reset tool available on GitHub and the Steam Workshop. This .exe utility cracks the save file's encryption to refund all spent research points.
Save File Backups: Proactive players often create manual backups of their save files before spending large amounts of points. If a chosen path proves non-viable, they can revert to the older save.
Starting Over: For many purists, the only "true" way to fix a broken tech tree is to restart the campaign. This allows you to apply knowledge of upcoming mission requirements to a more optimized build. Strategy: Avoiding the Reset
To avoid needing a reset, prioritize "Essential" technologies that provide high utility across all maps:
They Are Billions no official way to reset the tech tree once you have successfully completed a mission
. Research choices are permanent to encourage replayability through different builds.
However, you can use these workarounds to fix a "broken" build: Soft Resets & In-Game Mechanics Failed Mission Re-selection : If you spend research points but This is the only true "reset" for the campaign
the next mission (or do not beat it yet), the game allows you to undo those specific recent purchases and spend them elsewhere. Difficulty Adjustment
: If your tech choices have made the campaign too difficult to progress, you can lower the difficulty of the next mission to push through and earn more points for better upgrades. Hero Mission Completion
: Ensure you have found all hidden research point collectibles in Tactical (hero) missions, as these are often the primary source of extra points. External Tools (PC Only)
If you are stuck and do not want to restart the entire campaign, the community has developed unofficial tools to modify save files: TABRTreset Tool : A popular community-made utility designed specifically to reset research trees on Steam and other versions. Cheat Engine / Trainers : You can use external software like Cheat Engine
to manually add research points to your save, allowing you to unlock the rest of the tree. Backup Save Files
: For future playthroughs, manually back up your save files in Documents\My Games\They Are Billions\Saves before committing to major tech branches.
They Are Billions , the technology tree locks permanently upon completing a mission, offering no native, in-game option to reset campaign choices. Players can, however, use external third-party tools like the TAB-research-tree-reset Steam Workshop mod or manipulate save files to force a reset. Steam Community Technology Tree Progression Guide (Edited)
Here’s a concise review of the “Reset Tech Tree” feature in They Are Billions (campaign mode):
Here is the good news. In Survival Mode, the tech tree is not permanent. Many players confuse the Survival "Research" tab with the Campaign tech tree. They are different.
In Survival, you start a new map (e.g., The Frozen Highlands, The Caustic Lands). You begin with a set of starting technologies (basic tents, basic rangers, wooden stakes). As the game progresses, you build a Research Center building. This allows you to research upgrades during that specific run.
Resetting here is trivial:
But what if you want to change your starting conditions? Survival allows you to select "Starting Technologies" in the game setup menu. If you want to remove a starting tech (like starting with a Soldier instead of a Ranger), you simply:
This is the closest thing to a "Tech Tree Reset" in vanilla Survival. You are customizing the initial loadout.