Gems and VIP Pass

This is a "Pay To Play" game and they make their money by selling gems (mostly) to the players.  Many players do not want to spend money on the game, and that is fine.  But if this is your approach, understand that you will progress in the game very slowly.  Consider purchasing gems occasionally to make your advancement go faster and have more fun playing for a longer time.

Buying Gems:
- In the Shop you can always buy gems.  The best rate is 10,000 gems for $100.  That is a lot of money and there are other ways to get gems at a better rate, but not in this quantity.

- Each week there are special sales that will pop up.  They often offer gems at the rate of $10 per 1000 gems, with the added bonus of including other loot such as rare Ascension items, Training Heroes, and Combat items.

- A highly valuable purchase is a VIP pass.  For $5, you get a whole month (30 days) of daily perks
       - 30 gems (30 x 30 = 900 gems a month)
       - 3 Loot Tickets
       - 1 Emblem
       - 1 extra Daily Summons
   And an extra Builder, so you can be improving 2 buildings at once in your Base every day.  This is a great deal and I never let my VIP pass expire.  For $50 you can buy the Annual VIP pass and get two months for free each year.