If you’ve ever grinded through Clash Royale challenges and saved up hundreds of gems only to blow them on a random chest that gave you nothing useful, you’re not alone. Figuring out what to spend gems on in Clash Royale is one of the most common questions new and mid-tier players ask, because bad spending choices can set your progression back weeks or even months. Most players don’t realize that gems are far more valuable when used strategically, instead of being wasted on impulse purchases that don’t move the needle on your trophy count or card collection.
Top Priority Purchases: What to Spend Gems on in Clash Royale First
The first thing you should always save for if you play regularly is Pass Royale tiers. For 500 gems, you get access to dozens of exclusive rewards including magic items, thousands of gold, exclusive emotes, tower skins, and multiple premium chests that would cost you thousands of gems if bought separately. Even if you only play a few times a week, you can easily complete all Pass Royale tiers before the season ends, so it’s always worth the investment.
Next up are discounted magic items in the daily shop. When you see items like the Book of Books, Magic Coin, or a stack of wild cards for your main deck marked 30% off or more, grab them immediately. These items let you skip weeks of grinding to upgrade your core cards, which is the fastest way to climb higher trophy brackets.
Third on the priority list are paid challenge entry fees. The Classic Challenge costs 100 gems to enter, and if you hit 10 wins, you walk away with 2000 gold and 100 cards, including rare and epic drops. That’s 3x more value than spending 100 gems on a regular giant chest from the shop, even if you only get 6 or 7 wins per run.
You don’t have to stick strictly to this order if you have a specific goal, like upgrading a legendary card to level 14 for a tournament. But for most players, following this priority order will give you the biggest return on every gem you spend.
Ways to Stretch Your Gem Budget Further
You don’t have to spend real money to build up a big gem stockpile in Clash Royale. Completing daily quests, winning crown chests, placing high in clan wars, and finishing special event challenges can net you 50 to 200 gems a week without much extra effort. Many players miss out on free gems by skipping clan war battles, so make sure you play all four of your weekly war attacks if you’re in an active clan.
Lots of players like to take short breaks between Clash Royale grinds to avoid burnout, especially when they’re stuck on a losing streak and can’t earn more gems from challenges. Casual, fast-paced mobile games are perfect for these 5 to 10 minute breaks, as they don’t require much focus and let you reset your mind before jumping back into ranked matches. Many players I know enjoy playing Rummy Grand during these breaks, as it’s a fun, low-stakes card game that fits neatly into short gaps between Clash Royale sessions.
Avoid impulse buys at all costs. It’s easy to see a limited-time emote or a rare card in the shop and want to spend gems on it immediately, but that’s how most players waste their stockpiles. If you see an item you want that’s not on your priority list, wait 24 hours before buying it. More often than not, you’ll realize you don’t actually need it, and you can save those gems for something that will help you progress faster.
You should also wait for seasonal sales on shop items. Every few weeks, Supercell runs 50% off sales on popular magic items and chest bundles, so you can get twice the value for the same number of gems. If you don’t need an item immediately, hold off until the next sale to stretch your budget even further.
Purchases You Should Never Waste Gems On
There are dozens of items in the Clash Royale shop that look tempting, but give almost no value for the gems you spend. If you want to avoid throwing away weeks of saved gems, stay away from these purchases entirely:
If you’re still unsure what to spend gems on in Clash Royale, sticking to the priority list we shared earlier will never steer you wrong. I’ve seen so many new players blow 1000 gems on a random legendary chest early on, only to get a duplicate legendary they don’t even use. That same 1000 gems could have covered two Pass Royale tiers, or 10 entries into the Classic Challenge that would have given them 10x more resources.
Legendary King’s Chests are also almost never worth the cost, even when they’re on sale. The odds of getting the specific legendary card you need for your main deck are less than 10%, so you’re almost always better off saving for a Book of Books that lets you pick exactly the card you want to upgrade.
Gem Spending Strategies for Free to Play vs Paying Players
If you’re a fully free to play player, you should be extra strict with your gem spending. Your only priorities should be Pass Royale, discounted magic items for your main deck, and challenge entries. Don’t waste any gems on cosmetics until you’ve fully upgraded your main deck to level 14, because that’s the only thing that will help you climb higher trophy brackets consistently.
Mid-tier players between 4000 and 6000 trophies should focus most of their gem spending on wild cards for their main deck. Upgrading your core cards even one level can give you a huge advantage over opponents, so it’s worth saving up for wild card bundles when they go on sale. You can also spend a small number of gems on extra clan war attacks if your clan is close to winning a war, since the end-of-season rewards for top clans include lots of free magic items and gems.
If you spend real money on gems occasionally, you can afford to be a little more flexible with your spending. You can splurge on a limited-time tower skin or emote bundle you really like, as long as you’ve already covered your progression priorities for the season. Just don’t make the mistake of spending all your paid gems on cosmetics first, or you’ll end up falling behind other players who are using their gems for upgrades.
No matter if you’re free to play or spend money on the game, being intentional about what to spend gems on in Clash Royale will help you hit your goals much faster. Even small mistakes, like spending 100 gems on a chest once a week, can add up to thousands of wasted gems over the course of a year.
At the end of the day, the best choices for what to spend gems on in Clash Royale always come down to your personal goals. If you want to climb to the top of the leaderboards and compete in tournaments, focus all your gems on progression items that will make your deck stronger. If you just play for fun with friends, you can spend a small portion of your gems on cosmetics that make the game more enjoyable for you. Either way, avoiding the common wasteful purchases we covered will help you get the most out of every gem you earn, without having to spend extra real money to keep up with other players.
