Gem Spending Guide: How to Spend Gems Without Wasting Them

TL;DR: Gems are the most scarce resource in VvW for free-to-play players. The difference between a smart gem spender and a wasteful one can be 100,000+ gold in equivalent value per season. This guide ranks every gem sink from best to worst, tells you exactly what to never buy, and calculates your realistic F2P gem income so you can plan ahead.

"Gold buys gear. Gems buy time. Spend both like you earned them."

Where Gems Come From

Before discussing spending, you need a clear picture of your gem income. VvW has five gem sources for non-purchasing players:

F2P Weekly Gem Accumulation

A realistic estimate for an active free-to-play player who logs in daily, completes available quests, participates in events, and maintains a Silver ELO rank:

• Daily login (7 days): 35 gems base + 10 streak bonus = 45 gems
• Weekly quests (varies): ~8 gems average
• Arena weekly reward (Silver): 8 gems
• Event weeks (Blood Moon, Eclipse War): +20–30 bonus
• Non-event weeks: ~40–50 gems/week
• Event weeks: ~60–80 gems/week

Over a 4-week month, expect 200–260 gems from free activities. Plan your spending budget around this number. Casual players (login 3–4 days/week, fewer quests) should expect closer to 120–150 gems/month.

Gem Sinks Ranked by Value

Every place you can spend gems ranked from best to worst return on investment. This ranking was built from community testing and gold-equivalent value calculations.

1. 1
   Extra Inventory Slots (best early game) — 50 gems per +5 slots Each inventory slot unlocked permanently. More slots = more items looted per farm session without returning to town = more gold/hour. The first two purchases (slots 1–10 extra) have the highest ROI of any gem sink in the game. If you're new, this is your first spend, no exceptions. At full inventory you lose loot, which means you lose gold. Buy these before any other gem sink.
2. 2
   Battle Pass Premium Upgrade — 500 gems (if active season) The Battle Pass has free and premium tracks. Premium unlocks exclusive cosmetics, bonus gold rewards (typically 5,000–8,000 gold total across the pass), and a Rare gear piece at the final tier. If you plan to play actively for the entire season, the gold rewards alone make this close to break-even. See the break-even analysis below for exact numbers.
3. 3
   Socket Additions (+1 socket per item) — 100 gems each Every item has a base socket count (Common = 0, Uncommon = 1, Rare = 2, Epic = 3). Gem-purchased socket additions add +1 extra socket up to a cap of base+2. A well-socketed Epic item with 5 rune sockets can dramatically outperform a Legendary with 3 sockets. Priority: add sockets to your weapon first, then chest armor, then helmet. Skip socketing Common/Uncommon gear — you'll replace it quickly.
4. 4
   Auction House Listing Fee Bypass — 25 gems per listing Normally, AH listings have a 3% seller fee deducted on sale. The gem bypass waives this fee entirely. At high gold values — selling Legendary gear for 50,000g — the 1,500g fee saved is worth approximately 12.5 gems at current gold-to-gem ratios. Only use this for items valued over 40,000g. Never use it for listings under 10,000g; the math doesn't work.
5. 5
   XP Elixirs — 40 gems for 24h +30% XP XP elixirs are conditional value. Outside of Blood Moon, their value is moderate — accelerating your level progression by roughly 1–2 days per elixir. During Blood Moon (+25% XP stacks additively with the elixir's +30%), their value increases significantly. If you must buy elixirs, buy them right before Blood Moon and activate at event start. Outside Blood Moon, only buy if you're within 2–3 days of level 80 and want to prestige faster.

What to NEVER Spend Gems On

These are confirmed gem traps — sinks that provide far less value than their gem cost suggests.

• Rushing timers: Crafting timers, dungeon cooldown resets, and respawn skips cost 10–50 gems for seconds to minutes of saved time. The opportunity cost is enormous. A crafting timer rush that costs 30 gems = 60% of your weekly gem income for one craft saved. Never worth it.
• Cosmetics as a F2P player: Cosmetics are pure vanity — zero gameplay value. If you're spending real money, cosmetics are a fine choice. If you're F2P, a cosmetic skin costs 200–800 gems (1–4 weeks of gem income) with zero return. Prioritize every gameplay-impacting sink first.
• Premium currency exchange (gems to gold): The in-game gems-to-gold exchange rate is approximately 1 gem = 12 gold. Your inventory slot upgrade (50 gems) adds enough farming efficiency to earn 2,000–3,000 gold per week extra — equivalent to 167–250 gems at the exchange rate. The exchange is the worst possible use of gems.
• Summon/gacha pulls: VvW's companion gacha has a terrible F2P rate. Companion summon costs 80 gems for a single pull with a 2% Legendary rate. The expected Legendary cost is 4,000 gems — over 3 months of free gem income. Earn companions through quests and faction reputation instead.
• Bank (storage) slots after the first 20: Extra bank storage beyond 20 slots has diminishing returns. At 20 bank slots you can store all your gear sets comfortably. Further bank expansion is luxury spending reserved for players who have exhausted every other gem priority.

Priority Spending Table by Player Type

Battle Pass Break-Even Analysis

The premium Battle Pass costs 500 gems (~2–3 months of F2P gem income). Here is what it returns and whether the math works:

At typical gold-to-gem conversion (1 gem ≈ 12 gold), 500 gems of gold = 6,000 gold. The Battle Pass returns 8,000–10,000 gold in tangible rewards plus equivalent gem value — meaning it is break-even to slightly positive for active players who complete 80%+ of tiers.

It is a poor investment if you complete fewer than 50% of Battle Pass tiers. The gold rewards are back-loaded toward tiers 60–100. Casual players who cannot reliably complete the pass should skip it.

One-Time Offer: The Starter Pack

VvW's Starter Pack (available once per account, lowest price point) typically includes 200–300 gems plus gold and gear. If you plan to spend any real money at all, the Starter Pack has the best gems-per-dollar ratio in the entire shop by a significant margin. Buy it once if you're going to spend — do not buy it multiple times as subsequent purchases do not repeat.