Spending Wisely

## Real Money

A premium account is the best real-money purchase you can make, as the extra deck slots and extra card reward at the end of battles really makes a difference. On top of that, a second crafting slot is unlocked. Another great purchase is the "Triumph of Conquerors" pack. Triumph is one of the most useful weapons in the game, and plays a key role in both PvP and PvE. After that, the 30 days of gems deal is your best bet for a steady stream of gems. The other bundles that come up on the map as you progress are also useful, but not as important as Triumph.

## Gems

Gems are an in-game currency used for different enhancers. They can either be bought in exchange for real money, or gathered by completing daily quests and watching ads. The ads are set up in time blocks, so you can watch around 3 every 4 hours. However, the number of ads can also be limited by the ad network we get them from, based on various factors (skipping or cancelling lots of ads, no ad that fits into the super-detailed personality profile they have on you, etc.) which we have no control over.

* Initially, most players advise saving up gems to buy characters for 100 gems from the store. Every character is unique and has value in certain situations - Laarn is generally the consensus "best buy" but Achae and Violeta get quite a bit of play. Morverro and Rosaria have their uses, but probably shouldn't be prioritized for beginners. Remember that every character also comes with some cards as you level them up.
* Card/Epic Card Packs and the daily card sale are not the most efficient use of gems - buy them only if you want to greatly accelerate your progress. The daily card sale isn't *that* inefficient, and saves time, so if it's a card you need and really want now, then totally go for it!
* Instead, **training packs are the best way to expand your card base**. It will take more time, but you will get the runes you need to craft the exact cards you want with greater gem efficiency than buying cards outright (plus, you get bonus crafting materials). However, it will take more time to use this approach, since you need to craft cards.
* Arms/War chests will help you get gear, but it's expensive. Craftable gear is more than sufficient for most circumstances, especially as you're still progressing through the story. The rest of the epic and mythic gear can come with time (and farming) from chests you find during battles - if you would rather spend money than time, then this is your way to do that. **There is nothing unique in these chests that cannot be found by farming and event chests**.
* Instead, beginners and intermediate players looking to accelerate their gear acquisition are likely better off getting metal crates to get cold steel, which can be used to craft epic and mythic gear.
* Herbalist bags are great to quickly get potion-crafting materials (and for Arms Race tasks!), but should be viewed more of a time-saver than anything else. Everything in them can be farmed.
* Heroic legacy is, in almost all cases, not a good use of gems unless you desperately need treasure charts or *really* want to accelerate your character leveling and/or access to imperial gear
* The other major use of Gems is for **Gauntlet**
	+ It costs 10 gems for each attempt after your first one (up to 5 total). This might not be the best investment for beginners (unless you think it's fun!), but once you can consistently make deeper runs where you beat at least 3 or 4 bosses, it's probably worth it. The ability cards and gear you can get from Gauntlet (and the achievements) are very useful, and include some of the best Mythic equipment in the game!
	+ Gauntlet Supply chests also are fine uses of gems, but you'll eventually acquire quite a few of these from other events, so probably not needed unless you need to restock a specific Gauntlet support potion
* For players with premium accounts, buying extra deck pages for 100 gems each is also a great investment. Having more slots to freely experiment with different builds and/or save ones that work well for specific levels (e.g. Legion Quests) is a great time-saver and the convenience is worth it!

## Gold

* The best use of gold is to purchase card packs. You are guaranteed an rare card in every pack, an epic card in every 8 packs, and a mythic card in every 50 packs . The "counters" for epic and mythic cards operate independently (getting a mythic doesn't affect the epic countdown), but they will reset if you get a card before the timer reaches 1 (so if you open an epic card on your 6th pack, you will need to open 8 more packs to guarantee the next epic. You won't get a guaranteed epic after 2 more packs)
* Potions are never a bad investment if you are short on munder berries - you should always have a stock of these, as they can turn the tides of a battle. It's recommended that you prioritize using your berries to craft vitality brews (and buy needed healing potions), since the latter are a bit cheaper.
* For beginners, buying "single" cards from the store that you really like/need for coins is also a good investment to help boost your deck early on (in a non-random way). Eventually, you won't need to do this anymore because you'll be able to craft rares and will have full play sets of all commons/uncommons.

## War Tokens

* Ability cards and equipment available in the war shop *cannot* be crafted or obtained any other way
* Most veterans recommend prioritizing getting a few copies of the rare priest "wings of war" ability card - it has great utility at all points in the game, including early game. The other rare cards have more limited use
* When you're at a point that you want to focus on a raid defense, buying a banner and a map is probably your next bet investment. Then look for landmarks and/or allies that will complement your defense strategy.
* After that, you should be advanced enough in the game to make a judgment call for what works best for you. There are some powerful pieces of equipment and epic ability cards in the war store that certainly could be good uses of tokens later in the game.
* Buying card packs is not a recommended use of war tokens. Save them for things that can be only be bought by war tokens