Regardless of whether you’re an F2P player, an occasional spender, or someone who regularly supports the game with your wallet – most gem-spending strategies are surprisingly similar. That’s why this guide takes a universal approach.

Many tips and priorities overlap across all playstyles, so we’ve simply ranked them from most to least important.

In Whiteout Survival, gems are the most valuable currency.
They allow you to rapidly develop your base, unlock additional features, obtain event heroes, and gain a real advantage in PvP and rankings.

With gems, you can:

  • speed up your VIP level progression,
  • instantly finish construction (not recommended),
  • obtain key heroes from events (e.g. Lucky Wheel),
  • activate a second builder,
  • and gain many other advantages.

Every player – whether playing for free (F2P) or spending real money (P2P) – will eventually face the question: how do you earn gems, and what’s the best way to spend them?
This guide will walk you through the answers step by step.

πŸ“₯ How to Earn Gems in Whiteout Survival?

πŸ“˜ Free Sources of Gems

  • 🏰 Alliance – Participation and Technology Research
    Being part of an active alliance means daily and weekly rewards, including gems. For placing at the top of the alliance rankings on the first day, you can earn up to 300 gems per day and an additional 1,500 gems weekly – but this requires consistently contributing to alliance tech research.
  • πŸ—ΊοΈ Fortresses and Strongholds – Capturing Buildings on the Map
    Just by capturing a structure, you can earn several hundred gems along with other valuable rewards.
  • πŸ“† Daily Missions
    While completing daily missions, you can open chests that contain gems – the main Chapter Quests also provide a steady flow of gems.
  • βš”οΈ Arena (PvP)
    Just by completing the 5 free attempts, you can earn at least 100 gems per day, plus weekly rewards – around 200 gems depending on your ranking.
  • 🧍 Chief Approval
    If your Chief Approval rating goes above 90%, the game rewards you with gems. Citizen satisfaction depends on your base condition – comfort level, a stocked bar, and the Festivity Order all boost the rating.
    Additionally, answering citizen questions grants you a small amount of gems.
  • 🎯 Special Events
    Most mini-events reward a decent amount of gems for meeting certain milestones. For example, Arms Race gives 4,200 gems for reaching the third point threshold.
  • πŸ’Έ Bank Deposit
    If you’ve made any real-money purchase at least once, you can access the 24-hour deposit feature, which increases your investment by 5% over a single day.

πŸ’³ Paid and Premium Ways to Earn Gems

  • 🎁 Bundles Available During Limited-Time Events
  • πŸ“… Subscriptions
    The game offers monthly/weekly benefit cards that often include a fixed amount of gems you can claim daily. Worth considering if you take the game seriously and your money a bit less so πŸ˜‰
  • πŸ›’ Shop Bundles – e.g. Dawn Fund, VIP Pack
    Most bundles offer extras like VIP points and a set amount of gems. Occasionally, you can find a really good deal.
  • πŸ’° Real Money Purchases
    The in-game shop offers gem bundles. If you care about fast progression and have the budget, you can buy them. I wouldn’t recommend relying on them as your main gem source, but they can serve as support.

πŸ” What to Spend Gems On – Best Investments

πŸŽ–οΈ VIP Progression – The Most Important Early Goal

  • πŸ“Š VIP Point Cost
    You can exchange 2,000 gems for 1,000 VIP XP. You also earn VIP XP daily through logins and from the Alliance Shop.
  • πŸ“ˆ Which VIP Level Is the Most Worth It?
    The biggest milestone is VIP 7 – it gives you a daily Mythic General Shard and strong buffs: like an extra marching queue (VIP 6) and an additional team slot (VIP 5).
    Whales usually aim to reach VIP 12 as quickly as possible.
  • πŸ” Spending 250,000–300,000 gems to reach VIP 7 is the best-scaling investment in the game.

πŸ”„ Lucky Wheel – Heroes and Shards

  • ❔ How Does the Lucky Wheel Work?
    Each event lasts 3 days, and you get one free spin per day. You can buy up to 120 spins, which costs 162,000 gems (13,500 for a 10-spin with one free spin included).
  • πŸ’Ž How Many Gems Do You Need?
    120 spins β†’ 162,000 gems
    To get a ~4β˜… hero, you’ll need about 3 events (486,000 gems)
  • πŸ‘ Is It Worth It for F2P Players?
    Yes! It’s one of the best places in the game for F2P players to spend gems.
    The key is to spin only when you have enough gems to do all 120 spins (to claim all the milestone rewards).

πŸ—οΈ Second Builder – Accelerate Your Progress

  • πŸ”“ How to Activate It?
    You activate it in-game: 1,000 gems = second builder for 48 hours.
  • πŸ•’ When Is It Worth Buying?
    Definitely during periods of rapid base development – especially in the early stages of the game when growth is fast. Later on, the pace slows due to limitations in acquiring Fire Crystals.

βš”οΈ Arena – Daily Challenges and Ranking

  • ❔ Is It Worth Buying Extra Attempts?
    You get 5 free attempts daily. You can buy up to 5 additional ones. The first costs 100 gems, and each subsequent attempt becomes more expensive (up to 800 gems for the fifth extra try).
    The higher your ranking at the end of the day/week, the more Arena Tokens you earn. The more tokens you have, the more often you can afford a new Legendary item for your Hero.

πŸͺ VIP Shop – what Worth Buying?

  • Chief Stamina: 100 gems for 10 stamina (max 5 per week)
  • Advanced Teleporters: 2,000 gems each (max 2 per week)

πŸ›οΈ Hall of Heroes – Only for P2W?

  • βš™οΈ How Does This System Work?
    You spend gems to buy tokens, which you exchange for Mythic Hero shards. However, the cost is higher than that of the Lucky Wheel.
  • 🧐 Who Is It Worth It For?
    Only for whales – players who spend large amounts and want immediate access to specific heroes.
    F2P or casual players – you’re much better off sticking with the Lucky Wheel.
  • For F2P players with a solid strategy: buy 100 Badges with gems, summon the desired Hero (e.g. Reina from Gen4), and upgrade her stars using Mythic Universal Hero Shards.

❌ Common Mistakes – What Not to Spend Gems On

  • β›” Speeding up buildings, research, or training – One of the most common mistakes. Gems disappear quickly, and the benefit is short-lived. Instead, use free speedups and plan ahead.
  • 🚫 Buying resources (steel, food, wood) – You can gather, fight for, or produce resources on your own. Buying them with gems is a waste.
  • πŸ’€ Healing wounded troops with gems. Always better to use free heals, wait for natural recovery, or get help from allies.
  • 🎑 Spinning the Lucky Wheel one at a time. Doing 10 spins at once gives you a 10-spins for the price of 9. At 120 spins per event, that saves you 18,000 gems!
  • πŸ”‘ Recruiting Heroes with gems – by purchasing platinum or gold keys directly with gems.
  • πŸ“‰ Spending on Hall of Heroes without a plan – This system is expensive. Focus on VIP and Lucky Wheel first, as they’re more cost-effective. Leave Hall of Heroes for later and only if you have the resources to upgrade the hero quickly.
  • 🎟️ Randomly buying extra Arena attempts – Only do this if you’re seriously aiming for top rankings (TOP 100+).