There are many ways to spend gems in Rise of Kingdoms, and some of them are high leverage while others are not very good. I will go over the best ways to get value with your gems.
I will give you a list of goals to achieve with your gems, particularly if you are a newer player. Gemming your VIP is critical because it delivers a huge amount of gem value back to you. At VIP 10, you get one legendary Commander sculpture, at VIP 12 you get two, and at VIP 14 you get three every day. If you plan on being a long-term player of this game, getting to VIP 14 will help you bank three legendary Commander sculptures per day, which will give you good progression on your account. Another worthy objective is spending your gems on your state forum, which allows you to get free-to-play armament value. Spend gems on the Sage’s testimony, which costs 10 gems per pop and is necessary to upgrade the state forum. It’s critical to get to level 10 on your state forum quickly, but if you have additional gems to spend, getting to level 19 or 20 is really good so that you can start to get seven daily dispatch chances.
Some events are super high leverage and give you disproportionate value, such as the Wheel of Fortune, the More Than Gems event, and the Strategic Reserve event. If you have a more developed account, you can consider some advanced considerations, such as gemming for speedups or saving gems for future events. If you are a big spender, you can make some whale moves, such as maxing out commanders, getting legendary sculptures, and purchasing VIP points.
It’s also essential to know where not to spend your gems, such as on the daily special offer or on the treasure of the kingdom event. Finally, there are ways to get more gems, such as through daily objectives, daily chests, alliance gifts, and purchasing gems. Remember that gem spending is critical in this game, and make sure to prioritize your goals and objectives.
Gems play a crucial role in this game and are more valuable than in other games. One of the first things you should consider doing with your gems is to upgrade your VIP. By reaching VIP 10, you receive one legendary Commander sculpture per day, at VIP 12, you get two, and at VIP 14, you get three. This translates into significant gem value, making it essential to upgrade your VIP as soon as possible if you plan to play the game for the long term.
Although higher VIP levels are also beneficial, it becomes increasingly expensive to go beyond VIP 14, which requires approximately 750,000 total VIP points. Another excellent way to spend your gems is on the state forum. The state forum provides access to powerful armaments that can be obtained for free by participating in the forum. To quickly upgrade your state forum, you will need to spend some gems on Sage’s testimony, which costs 10 gems per item.
Although it’s essential to purchase some Sage’s testimonies to upgrade your state forum, it’s unnecessary to gem all the way to the max level. At around level 19 or 20, you can start to receive seven Daily Dispatch chances, which is a great way to farm up the equivalent of gems. Additionally, it’s possible to obtain Sage’s testimonies for free, so you don’t need to spend too many gems on them. The state forum was recently updated, and you can unlock it at Castle Level or City Hall Level 21.
If you’re already progressing in the game, you’re likely reaping the rewards and benefiting from your efforts. However, if you’re new to the game, there are other tasks that you should prioritize. For instance, to unlock tier 5 troops, you need to work on upgrading your Castle. Upgrading the Castle requires a rare item that is difficult to obtain through farming. You can purchase the books of the Covenant for 10 gems each from my shop, or you can spend hours on end attacking barbarian forts to acquire them for free. Typically, players who aim to unlock T5 troops will spend gems on the books of the Covenant.
Here’s what the Sage’s testimony looks like, and while we’re on the topic, let’s discuss the Masters blueprints. Once you reach City Hall level 25, your focus should be on upgrading other buildings to level 25. To do that, you’ll need Masters blueprints, which cost 2,000 gems each. But don’t worry, I have some good news regarding the value you can get from buying some of these blueprints, and we’ll get to that in just a minute.
Of course, there are other ways you can spend your gems, such as maxing out your commanders and equipment. We’ll cover these advanced considerations and events in more detail later on. As you can see, there’s a lot to do in the game, but as a new player, you should focus on building a strong foundation before delving into the more advanced features.
Priorities for New Players
As a newer player, I believe that your number one priorities should be VIP and getting your state Forum to a good place. While it may be tempting to rush to unlock T5 troops, tier 4 troops are still very powerful. Additionally, you can still get a lot of great research in your Academy leading up to T5 troops just from having an Academy level 24. However, getting your Academy to 25, which requires having your Castle at 25, will give you a research speed boost, so it is a worthy project to work towards.
That being said, realistically, it’s going to take you a long time to get there, so it’s important to focus on getting value over time through events. The most important event for you to keep an eye out for is the More Than Gems event, which is a two-day event where you get rewards for spending up to 25,000 gems per day. While there isn’t one currently live at the time of this recording, there is a calendar of all the events planned for 2023, which can be found on my Discord server (pinned in one of the general chats), courtesy of Loyalty King.
During the More Than Gems event, you can spend upwards of 50,000 gems and get extra rewards, including speed ups and legendary Commander sculptures, just for doing something you would have done anyways. So, if you’re going to be spending gems on VIP, Sage’s testimonies, Masters blueprints, or books of the Covenant for your Castle, the best time to do it is during one of these events.
It’s important to note that you do get value from having VIP and a higher level state Forum, so don’t delay too much waiting for More Than Gems. Use the calendar to plan ahead and take advantage of the events. Additionally, there are holiday events that are also great for getting rewards, so make sure to participate in those as well.
Holiday Events (7k Gem Event):
One of the most high-leverage events in the game is the 7,000 gem event. It’s recommended to always have 7,000 gems on hand so that you can participate in this event. By spending these gems, you can upgrade the reward tier of the event, which typically yields almost all your gems back in gem tokens. In addition, you can receive 35 legendary Commander sculptures, materials, and speed ups, making it an extremely high-leverage event. Even if you’re a free-to-play player, it’s best not to get caught without 7,000 gems on hand. If a holiday event is running and it’s not a 7K gem event, you can take the risk of spending your gems and try to save up by the time another one shows up again. However, it’s still recommended to keep those 7,000 gems on hand.
Other Events:
There are other events in the game, such as Holy Knight and Wheel of Fortune, where you can spend a lot of gems. It’s important to look at the reward tiers of these events, especially if you are spending very little or are a free-to-play player. For example, in Holy Knight’s Treasure, there’s a treasure chest that you can unlock for getting to 10 spins, which gives you legendary blueprints. In The Wheel of Fortune, you can get five legendary Commander sculptures. If you do your free spinning and a few extra spins, you can unlock the rewards for the 10th spot. This is the best way in the game to accumulate sculptures and get some blueprint fragment choice chests.
If you have enough gems and your other projects are in good shape, it’s recommended to participate in these events for high-leverage rewards. You can even do these events up to the maximum number of spins to get the highest tier reward, such as 15 legendary Commander sculptures on the Wheel of Fortune and nine blueprint choice chests on Holy Knight’s Treasure. Only super whales would continue spinning beyond that point.
Overall, it’s important to keep an eye on the various events in the game and participate in them strategically to get the most value.
Trap Events – Let’s Talk About Dal Rook’s Puzzle Box and Esmeralda
First of all, let’s discuss the Trap events in Rise of Kingdoms. One such event is Dal Rook’s Puzzle Box, which features Esmeralda. I must confess that I have been completely wrecked every time I do Esmeralda, and subsequently Dal Rook’s puzzle box. This event is mostly designed for big whales who require epic blueprint fragments, research speedups, and other such rewards. If you are someone who has a progressed account with lots of legendary equipment, then this event will start to drop off in value very quickly if you don’t require the epic fragments.
If you don’t need resource speedups or building speedups, then this event is probably not worth spending gems on, even up to the 10-spin spot. Hence, it is advisable to avoid spending gems on this event unless you need the rewards.
Card King Event
Another event that used to show up in older kingdoms and occasionally appears in new kingdoms is the Card King event. To get the most value from this event, it is recommended that you do the free exploration of each level. If there is a universal legendary commander sculpture in the card king for the level you’re playing, it could be of really high value.
Advanced Account Considerations
Let’s talk about some advanced considerations for your account. When you look at my account, you’ll notice that I have a lot of commanders. Do I really need to be spinning the Wheel of Fortune to work on more commanders? While I like getting value over time, there comes a point where you should probably consider maxing out your commanders instead of just spinning the wheel endlessly for every single commander that comes out. You should have a defined plan for how many marches of each troop type you want to make. For example, on my restart account, I have three infantry, one archer, and one cavalry, and I worked on those until they were all in a really good spot. As a result, I have really good commanders on my restart account to the point where I don’t really need more commanders.
This is an advanced consideration, once you’ve knocked out the basic projects like your shape forum, your VIP, your castle, and your master’s blueprints. Do you really need more commanders? I am hoarding gems on this account, waiting for an equipment-related event where I can dump a bunch of gems. It will probably be the Holy Night’s Treasure event. I’m also waiting for some inscription and Armament-based events, which are supposed to be coming soon. I’ll talk more about those later on.
The reality is that I actually don’t improve this account much by getting more commanders. While more commanders are good, I already have Guan with Alex, Sargen with CJ, Trajan with Skippy, Nevsky and Joan, Budaka and Esong. I could also bring Ethel fled back to the mix. I have 11 legitimate legendary commanders, but I only run five marches in the field. So, at some point, you need to consider where you really need to spend your gems. I keep enough Universal Legendary Commander sculptures on hand that if I need to, I can max out commanders as they come out, but I don’t have to spin the wheel like crazy for them. I can save my gems for other things.
Now, this leaves a number of things that you can do with your gems. But just remember that once you get to a certain point, you need to consider whether or not you really need more commanders. Having a defined plan for your troops and commanders will help you make better decisions about where to invest your resources.
More Traps You May Not Know About When Spending Your Gems
You may be surprised that I didn’t talk about some traps that could drain your gems quickly, such as The Courier Station and the VIP Shop. The truth is, these places are not the best to spend your gems unless there is a significant discount of around 80% off. Otherwise, you should save your gems for events like The Wheel of Fortune or Holy Night’s Treasure, where the value is way higher.
The Mysterious Merchant is another trap that you should avoid unless you are after some achievement points. Refreshing the shop and clearing it out may seem enticing, but it’s probably not worth it in terms of the value you get from the items.
The VIP Shop is also a place that most people should not be spending gems. It only becomes valuable for high-level accounts with a significant amount of gems. For low spenders or free-to-play players, The Wheel of Fortune or Holy Night’s Treasure offer better value.
As for me, I spend a lot of money on my main account and buy all the materials and some of the speed ups from the VIP Shop. However, I avoid buying the 5-minute speed ups as they are terrible value. Instead, I go for the 24-hour speed ups, which offer higher value.
There is one other thing that I consider a whale move, which is buying Hammers in the Hunt for History event with gems. Unless you need just a few hammers to progress further, it’s not worth spending gems on this event.
During a More Than Gems event, I usually pick up some 10% boosts, with defense being my preferred stat. The final place where you can still spend gems is not really a place, but rather an event. The Gem Supply event offers a decent value, but it’s still not the best way to spend your gems.
In summary, be careful where you spend your gems and always consider the value you get from the items or events. Don’t fall into the trap of spending gems just because you can.
Action Points:
One of the action points to keep in mind is to get good value. However, you must be out of action points before you can spend gems on this. It would be strange to spend all your AP if you are not pushing rank one for Honor in a kvk. If you are pushing rank one for Honor, it is super worth spending gems on AP. In the past, it was possible to do this without spending all your potions, and it was a high leverage move. However, you can’t do that anymore.
Future Considerations:
Two things to keep in mind for future iterations are arm events and traveling. Developers have teased that there will be events related to armaments, and you might be able to enhance an existing armament in the future. You could recycle most of your armaments, and you can spend your gems on enhancing them. This is where you can get the biggest gains. This could be super high leverage, and a YouTube search for “chiscoll gems State forum” would provide more information.
Getting More Gems:
There are several ways to get more gems. One way is to battle barbarians and AOE farming, which is extremely time-consuming but can get you a lot of gems. Take advantage of quests whenever they show up in daily events. The stages of the mightiest Governor also give you a little bit of gems when you get to the highest tier. You should get that done. Another way to get gems is to search around the map and farm gems on your main account. You can clear gem nodes in about 10 minutes, and you can get up to three to four thousand gems a day by doing this.