While the game is quite playable F2P, to get ahead in competitive events and/or to play with Premium Equipment and Premium Heroes (both of which make the game more interesting and less tedious) you will need to spend some money on the game (*1) - whether it’s worth doing so depends on how much you enjoy the game and how much you are able (and willing) to spend.
There are many options for spending money:
- The Battle Pass (`10$) and Super Battle Pass (30$) - when you consider the overall benefits (which includes increased drop rates for equipment and upgrade material in addition to the rewards unlocked using pass points), these are generally the best value for money if you are able to afford them
- Purchasing gems - as the games’ hard currency, these are the most versatile
- Purchasing bundles - either of one type (e.g. some number of Gold Crates or Summon Keys) or combos (e.g. Gems + Gold Crates + Summon Keys); if the bundle offers something that you would otherwise spend your gems on, the bundles usually offer better value than buying gems - especially when on discount or BOGO
- Purchasing random equipment - the best value is the Player Level Equipment Track but that’s a one-time offer.
- Epic (50$) or Legendary (100$) Gun and Tinkering Kits - the Gun kits advance the rarity of weapons and are the fastest (albeit most expensive) way to advance your Premium Weapons (can also be used for Free weapons but that would be a waste); likewise the Tinkering kits advance Armour and Gear. Sometimes available at a discount (at least 20%) or on BOGO
- Flash offers to purchase equipment - usually offered when you are close to fusing up an item (e.g. buy 1 Legendary X and fuse it up to Mythical)
If you are buying gems, you should be aware of the different value propositions on offer:
| Offer | Price (*2) | Gems | Gems/$ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player Level - Gems Track | 20 |
29,000 |
1,450 |
One-time offer, you need to get to Level 40 to get all the gems |
| Daily Gems | 5 |
4,000 |
800 |
1,000 gems immediately and 100 gems/day for 30 days (*3) |
| Piggy Bank (Silver and above) | 18 - 188 |
~10k - ~25k |
539 - 663 |
Seems to be offered once per season |
| Buy One Get One offers | 5 - 100 |
2k - 56k |
400 - 560 |
On offer from time to time, either as a holiday promotion or as an offer in the shop. I have omitted the lowest offer (2x320 for 3$) as the Monthly Gems is a better deal |
| Special Promotions | Varies | Varies | Varies | Usually at least 20% cheaper than normal |
| Regular Gem purchase | 5 - 100` | 1k - 28k |
200 - 280 |
Again, omitting the lowest offer (320 for 3$) |
Depending on your budget, these are my recommendations:
- Buy the Player Level Gems Track offer (if you can’t afford this, save up until you can); if you can redeem the Gems during a Gem Collection event you can unlock more rewards
- Buy the Battle Pass (many players seem to decide based on the “Exclusive” reward on offer, but nowadays I find the alternate reward (10 Gym Passes instead of unlocking a Regular hero or an Epic Gun/Tinkering Kit instead of a less-popular Premium Equipment) more attractive)
- Buy the Super Battle Pass
- Buy the Daily Gems offer (if possible, wait until there’s a Gem Collection Offer and buy as many as you can afford)
- If you can afford to spend more
- Buy Gems on Piggy Bank or BOGO to unlock the Premium Equipment you want (note: It’s unlikely that Piggy Bank, BOGO or Discounts will be available during Gem Collection events)
- Buy Recruitment Poster bundles to unlock Restricted/Premium Heroes (will write some recommendations on this later)
- Buy Gym Pass bundles to star up Restricted/Premium Heroes
Notes
*1 - You can earn gems for free, but not enough to unlock Premium Equipment unless you are really lucky (and the odds are stacked against you) or are really patient (like 10-12 months of grinding to unlock 1 Premium item) and unlocking Premium Heroes is even harder.
*2 - These are USD prices rounded up for clarity; prices outside the US are usually higher
*3 - You can buy upto 6 at once (giving 6,000 gems immediately) but you won’t be able to buy again until the “Days remaining” drops (I think it has to drop to 150 to be able to buy again)