Golden Rule: Gems are the most valuable F2P currency in Kingshot. Spending 10,000 gems incorrectly is the difference between a full Hero Roulette 10-pull and nothing. Hero Roulette and VIP Time are the only purchases worth your gems. Everything else is a trap.
Gems are Kingshot's premium currency, and how you spend them determines whether you progress efficiently or waste months of accumulation. This guide breaks down every gem purchase, ranks them by value, and shows you exactly where to invest.
Gem Spending Priority (F2P)
Recommended Split:
- 70% Hero Roulette (13,500 gems per 10-pull)
- 20% VIP Time (10,000 gems per 30 days at VIP 4+)
- 10% Second Construction Queue (one-time or temporary)
Never Spend Gems On:
- Resource packs
- Speedups
- VIP XP directly
- Random gear chests
- Alliance help packs
Why This Works: Hero shards are the hardest F2P power source to replace later. VIP Time only starts paying off once your VIP level has meaningful perks, and the second construction queue is the one builder-speed exception worth gems during push windows. Everything else can be earned through gameplay.
Tier List: Every Gem Purchase Ranked
S-Tier: Must Buy (Core Investments)
1. Hero Roulette (13,500 gems per 10-pull)
- Best gem-to-value ratio in the game
- Focused shard farm for the current roulette hero
- 10-pulls are discounted versus single spins
- Target the roulette hero that matches your server generation
- Long-term power ceiling depends on hero quality
Priority: Absolute #1 gem sink for all players
2. Second Construction Queue (1,000 gems for 2 days, OR one-time $2.99 USD / $3.99 CAD Construction Queue Pack for permanent)
- Doubles your building efficiency
- F2P: use the 1,000-gem 2-day version during major upgrade pushes
- Permanent unlock is only available as a paid pack — best one-time low-spender purchase in the game
Priority: #2 for active players, skip if casual
F2P Tip: Save 13,500 gems before pulling Hero Roulette. A 10-spin bundle is cheaper than ten single spins and moves you toward roulette milestones faster. Do not expect a full hero from one 10-pull — roulette is mainly a featured-hero shard farm.
How to Earn Gems (F2P Methods)
Full source-by-source breakdown lives in the Free Resources guide — it tracks every daily gem stream down to the exact amount. The short version: an optimized F2P account earns roughly 650-1,400+ gems/day, which works out to ~20,000-30,000 gems/month once you factor in VIP level, alliance strength, and the event calendar. That number also lines up with what the VIP guide uses for its own monthly budget math.
Gem Spending Strategy by Player Type
F2P Gem Strategy
Monthly Gem Budget: 20,000-30,000 gems
Allocation:
- Hero Roulette: bank most of it toward your next 162,000-gem milestone run, spread across the months between events
- VIP Time: 3,000-10,000 gems during active event weeks only, skip below VIP 4
- Reserve: whatever's left carries forward to the next Roulette event
Timeline:
- Saving continuously at 20,000-30,000 gems/month, a full 162,000-gem milestone run takes roughly 6-8 months of pure F2P income
- Time the spend to land on the roulette hero your roster actually needs — skip events for heroes you don't need and let the gems keep stacking
- VIP Time and the second construction queue rental are the only things worth interrupting that savings for
Rules:
- Never spend gems on speedups or resources
- Save for full 10-pulls only (no single pulls)
- Only activate VIP at VIP 4+
- Second construction queue if you play 6+ hours daily
Patience Pays: A fully active F2P player who saves between events can typically fund a full 120-spin milestone run each time Hero Roulette comes around for their target hero. Treat that as steady shard progress on one hero at a time, not a promise of a maxed hero from any single event.
Second Construction Queue Analysis
Cost Options:
- Temporary (2 days): 1,000 gems
- Permanent unlock: One-time Construction Queue Pack — $2.99 USD / $3.99 CAD via the in-game shop (this is a real-money purchase, not a gem unlock)
Value Calculation:
- Doubles building efficiency
- Saves weeks over long-term progression
- Essential for competitive players
F2P Recommendation:
- Spend 1,000 gems for the 2-day version during major Town Center pushes
- Skip during slow periods
- The permanent unlock is only available as a paid purchase — F2P stick to the gem version on push days
Low Spender Recommendation:
- Buy the permanent Construction Queue Pack ($2.99 USD / $3.99 CAD) — single highest-ROI low-spender purchase in the game
- Once you own it, you never need to spend gems on builders again
Verdict: 9/10 value for active players, 6/10 for casual players
Hero Roulette Deep Dive
Why Hero Roulette Is #1 Priority
Cost: 1,500 gems per single pull, 13,500 for 10-pull (10% discount, corroborated by community spend trackers)
Guaranteed Rewards:
- Roulette gives hero shards and milestone rewards, not a guaranteed full hero from every 10-pull
- The important planning targets are discounted 10-pulls and larger milestone chests
- Do not plan around unverified pity claims from other games
Milestone Spins (confirmed in-game):
- Milestone rewards land at spin 5, 15, 35, 70, and 120
- Spin 120 is the last milestone tier — most players treat it as the practical cap for an event, though nothing stops you from spinning past it once milestones run out
- Plan your gem budget around hitting the next milestone, not around a specific hero drop
- Have 162,000 gems saved to comfortably hit the spin-120 milestone (12 discounted 10-pulls), before your 3 free daily spins even factor in
Why 10-Pull Only:
- Single pulls: cost more over time
- 10-pull: 13,500 gems instead of 15,000 gems for ten singles
- Milestone progress: easier to plan when you spend in clean 10-spin blocks
ROI Comparison:
- 13,500 gems on Hero Roulette: featured-hero shard chances plus milestone progress
- 13,500 gems on speedups: Save maybe 3-4 days (worthless long-term)
- 13,500 gems on resources: Get 3-4 million resources (farmable in 2 days)
Long-Term Impact:
- A higher-star roulette hero meaningfully outperforms a low-star hero of the same generation
- Speedups used: 0% power after time passes
- Resources bought: 0% power after you spend them
Tracked shard yield, two real runs: on Petra, roughly 0.57 shards per spin from the wheel itself, plus 100+ more from the milestone tiers, netting ~165 shards for a full 120-spin run. On Zoe, 193,000 gems bought 121 spins (stopping at the 120 milestone) for 175 shards total — enough to take her from Unrecruited to 3 stars, not a max. Both point to the same reality: one event gets you a solid star jump on one hero, not a maxed roster. See the full breakdown in our Hero Summoning guide.
Which hero to actually pull, generation by generation, lives in our Hero Summoning guide — it has the full roulette-vs-not breakdown for every gen, kept in one place so it doesn't drift out of sync with this page.
Common Gem Mistakes
Gem Traps F2P Players Fall Into:
- Buying speedups during early game (waste 20,000+ gems in first month)
- Single Hero Roulette pulls (worse gem efficiency than 10-pulls)
- Activating VIP Time below VIP 4 (4,000 gems wasted on weak buffs)
- Buying resource packs (millions of gems wasted on farmable materials)
- Random gear chests (RNG nightmare, terrible value)
- Not saving for 10-pulls (instant gratification kills long-term power)
- Spending gems on alliance help (these accumulate naturally)
- Buying VIP XP directly (10x worse value than earning through events)
Emergency Gem Uses (Acceptable Exceptions)
The rules above are the default, not a religion. The real exceptions players run into aren't random math problems — they're about timing a spend you were going to make anyway so it does double duty.
1. Events That Score Points for Spending
- Alliance Mobilization, KvK prep days, and seasonal events regularly convert gem-funded actions — VIP activation, speedups, Hall of Heroes pulls — directly into event points
- If you were going to make that purchase anyway, hold it and land it during one of these windows instead of a random Tuesday
- Verdict: Worth it — same purchase, plus points you'd otherwise leave on the table
2. The Final Day of Arena Season or Hall of Governors
- Extra arena attempts are a bad deal on a normal day — you're paying gems for maybe one reward tier
- On the last day of the season, or the last day of HoG, that same gem spend can swing you from top 100 to top 50, and that gap is where the real rewards are
- Verdict: Worth it on the final day only. Doing this daily is the trap, not the exception.
3. Advanced Teleports, If You're Actually Competing
- Stockpiling teleports from the VIP shop is wasted gems for most accounts
- If you're realistically pushing for a top finish in Eternity's Reach or leading Swordland Showdown movement, the mobility earns its cost
- Verdict: Good value for serious competitors, skip otherwise
4. Shields — Almost Never With Gems
- The honest fix here isn't a purchase, it's your alliance: an active alliance's city bonus plus its alliance shop covers shields for free
- Gem-bought shields are what you're paying for when that part of your setup is missing, not a normal expense
- Verdict: Fix the alliance gap instead of buying around it
Never Acceptable:
- Arena attempts past the first 2-3, once you've already cleared the reward tier you were aiming for
- Convenience packs at VIP-shop markup — 50 stamina for 500 gems is a real example players flag as a bad deal
- Pushing VIP past your realistic ceiling as F2P (VIP 9-12) — those gems buy several more Hero Roulette cycles instead
Gem Income Maximization Tips
Daily Habits:
- Complete all daily quests (never miss)
- Participate in alliance daily events
- Check-in to alliance building
- Patrol all territory nodes
Weekly Priorities:
- Alliance Championship (major gem rewards)
- Kingdom leaderboard events
- Expedition progression
- Weekly mission completion
Monthly Focus:
- Growth mission path (huge gem bonuses)
- Battle Pass free tier (1,500-2,500 gems)
- Event milestones (track event calendars)
Avoid:
- Missing daily check-ins (lose 50 gems/day = 1,500/month)
- Inactive alliances (miss 500-1,000 gems/month)
- Skipping events (lose 2,000-5,000 gems/month)
Net Effect: Active players earn 2-3x more gems than casual players
Is It Ever Worth Buying Gems?
Pure F2P Stance
Can You Compete Without Buying Gems?
Yes, but slower progression.
F2P Power Ceiling:
- Can reach 80-90% of whale power
- Takes 2-3x longer
- Requires perfect gem management
- Competitive in alliance events
Verdict: F2P is viable IF you never waste gems on traps
Putting It All Together
Gems are Kingshot's most valuable F2P currency. Spend most long-term gem savings on Hero Roulette 10-pulls, use VIP Time only when your VIP level and activity justify it, and rent the second construction queue during active build pushes. Never buy speedups, resources, or random chests.
Key Takeaways:
- Hero Roulette 10-pulls are #1 priority (13,500 gems)
- Never buy speedups or resources with gems (biggest trap)
- Only activate VIP Time at VIP 4+ during active play periods; the extra march queue starts at VIP 6
- Second construction queue: 1,000 gems for a 2-day rental (F2P push days), or $2.99 USD / $3.99 CAD one-time Construction Queue Pack for permanent (low-spender best buy)
- F2P can earn 20,000-30,000 gems per month through events
- Single pulls waste gems - always save for 10-pulls
For F2P progression tips, see our F2P Strategy Guide. For hero selection, check our Hero Tier List.
For long-term account progression, we strongly recommend reading our Master Academy Guide to unlock Pan and Valora's passive rewards.
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