darkSpyro

Should I just use gems on more Skylanders or should I buy items or stuff?

I would never use gems to buy skylanders. They can be "spun" for with gold, which is much easier to obtain. Yes, you cannot choose the skylander you obtain through spinning, but skylanders are really not worth the gems. You're better off saving for companions and giant houses and things like that, I think....

I don't spend gems in something It is possible to obtain in other ways. Save as many gems as you can!

I would first spend my gems on companions or items that generate gems. Shrines are also worth it. Try to buy stuff when they are discounted. Everything is discounted at some point.
If like me you don't have a lot of skylander toys to start with, I think it can be worth spending gems on some skylanders, but only when discounted and not just on any skylanders. Swappers are good for instance as they generate gems from bats. Also, if you are going to send gems, try to pick skylanders with "dual use". For instance, if you need an undead skylanders, pick legendary night shift as you can also use it in the hall of legends. If you need a sidekick, get Barkley who can also go in tree Rex house, open giant chest. I think he also benefits from tree Rex number 1 fan bonus Lthough I am not 100% sure.
Good luck with your game.

Yes..you need number one fan companion for tree Rex which generates the house. You can use Barkley, Tree Rex and Giant Tree Rex in there.

Wise words.. Gold after a short period is easier to generate.. Roll for skylanders and avoid spending gems unless there is a very rare skylander you cannot get by any other means. Houses for skylanders and companions are the way to go.

Should I buy #1 fan and Barkley so?

If you don't have too many skylanders to start with, especially if you don't have a sidekick and no or not many giants, and you can get them discounted, I would.

Just be patient and save your gems for companions. #1 Fans are nice, but they are not critical.

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I would never use gems to buy skylanders. They can be "spun" for with gold, which is much easier to obtain. Yes, you cannot choose the skylander you obtain through spinning, but skylanders are really not worth the gems. You're better off saving for companions and giant houses and things like that, I think....

That is excellent advice that i have taken to heart . You will have to wait a bit before you have more money then you can spend . If you have collected any toys stick their webcode in and summon them .
Swop force Skylanders that cover all elements give an excellent gem payout , they might be an exception to this rule .

Spending gems on companions who give you gems or sometimes give you gems is a good idea .

Companions , Shrines , Radiant energy fields are great in my opinion .

If you buy those special houses , i think its a good idea to buy the ones that cater to multiple skylander types like Dark house , Scout or cadets , dragon , bird house . Personally houses are not on the top of my list .

Radiant energy fields are really not the best investment. Later on they lose their value - you gain a new regular field every level and energy eventually becomes not a problem. Maybe if you are really energy starved now. Might be a better use to save the gems and hope you can get Ole Mac when he comes up for a holiday. Then energy will never be a problem again.

As for spending gems, you might want to save up for now. Nothing is on sale until at least tomorrow, and likely July 4th will bring some deals you will probably want to take advantage of - it is frequently rewarding to wait. Nothing is worth spending them on at full price unless you have an abundance.

One thing to consider, if you have Diggs AND catch a 50% off skylanders sale, it's actually cheaper to buy them with gems. 4 days of the the market is 100 gems for 2 million gold. 150 gems is 6 days and 3 million gold. During the last sale I bought up the remaining skylanders that were 100 or 125 (iirc) and then rolled for the last 2 or 3 that were more expensive (swappers).

I have one giant and one sidekick and a alter ego, rest ate normal.

Quote: Kalamath

One thing to consider, if you have Diggs AND catch a 50% off skylanders sale, it's actually cheaper to buy them with gems. 4 days of the the market is 100 gems for 2 million gold. 150 gems is 6 days and 3 million gold. During the last sale I bought up the remaining skylanders that were 100 or 125 (iirc) and then rolled for the last 2 or 3 that were more expensive (swappers).

Good comparison. I would still not spend gems on skylanders as there are many things that can be purchased with only gems and it is much easier to accumulate the gold.

I like radiant fields when they are on sale for 49 gems but they are a luxury and should not be a priority for new players. I respectfully disagree with Dark fhoenix on houses. All the ones cited by DF are the ones I'd steer clear of. They are all extremely expensive and their payouts are poor. If any of the giant houses (that you have matching giants for) are purchasable, go with those. Same with alter egos (like Surfer Slam Bam's Hut). I'm not sure how available any of those are, however. But save gems for when they are available. Search the boards for threads on the best companions to get. I recall there being good discussions out there on this. Here are a few:

//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=98308
//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=98561
//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=87927
//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=92908

Also, let's not forget elemental shrines which should also be purchased when they go on sale and maybe should be the priority expenditure for new players. Best to buy the ones whose elements match the crops you like to plant, since the shrines give a crop bonus on the matching element days.

(By the way, I barely play the game any more but I just love this strategy stuff too much to stay away completely. Of course, I'm not the best strategist out there (where's Qanai?) but I'm pretty good at getting discussions started at least.)

Quote: midas73

(By the way, I barely play the game any more but I just love this strategy stuff too much to stay away completely. Of course, I'm not the best strategist out there (where's Qanai?) but I'm pretty good at getting discussions started at least.)

Quote: Qanai

Quote: Kalamath

One thing to consider, if you have Diggs AND catch a 50% off skylanders sale, it's actually cheaper to buy them with gems. 4 days of the the market is 100 gems for 2 million gold. 150 gems is 6 days and 3 million gold. During the last sale I bought up the remaining skylanders that were 100 or 125 (iirc) and then rolled for the last 2 or 3 that were more expensive (swappers).

Good comparison. I would still not spend gems on skylanders as there are many things that can be purchased with only gems and it is much easier to accumulate the gold.

Oh, there he is!

Quote: Qanai

Quote: Kalamath

One thing to consider, if you have Diggs AND catch a 50% off skylanders sale, it's actually cheaper to buy them with gems. 4 days of the the market is 100 gems for 2 million gold. 150 gems is 6 days and 3 million gold. During the last sale I bought up the remaining skylanders that were 100 or 125 (iirc) and then rolled for the last 2 or 3 that were more expensive (swappers).

Good comparison. I would still not spend gems on skylanders as there are many things that can be purchased with only gems and it is much easier to accumulate the gold.

Having said that, this might be very good advice for late stage players with less things to spend gold or gems on. I'm still accumulating gold both for Island purchases and I have a few top end houses left to purchase. Assuming more new sklyanders get added to the game, I might wait to spin and see if I have sufficient gems.

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I respectfully disagree with Dark fhoenix on houses. All the ones cited by DF are the ones I'd steer clear of. They are all extremely expensive and their payouts are poor.

You are the Master , Master Midas . I mentioned they were not really on my list and i only reached lvl 27 before my game crashed .

My Hall of legends has was very very helpful. If is the best i will stick to it . I will wait for the wishing well to gimme gimme .

Quote: Deathstroke

I have one giant and one sidekick and a alter ego, rest ate normal.

In that case, if I was to spend gems on skylanders, I would get a swapper or two, and then spin or trade for the rest. I would wait until they were on sale and if possible get one that is a dark or even better a legendary to give you options.

Quote: spicemill

Quote: Deathstroke

I have one giant and one sidekick and a alter ego, rest ate normal.

In that case, if I was to spend gems on skylanders, I would get a swapper or two, and then spin or trade for the rest. I would wait until they were on sale and if possible get one that is a dark or even better a legendary to give you options.

Take this with a grain of salt, as many of the changes mentioned were implemented when I could easily afford them, so my guess at the gameplay is estimated.

I still would not spend gems on a swapper. At lower levels, I would summarize the focal points of the game as:

1) Develop a gold income
2) Develop a gem income

I list gold income first because gold is much more achievable and will enable you to develop the gem income. You need gold to buy islands, clear islands, buy mabu houses, and buy Skylanders. I'd keep these priorities until producing about 500,000 gold per day (profit - after paying for energy production). That's a skylander spin every 10 days. Things to help with this are collecting enough wish stones to get halls of legends and win B&Bs from the well. B&Bs can alleviate the problem of continually running out of space and forcing you to upgrade lower-grade houses.

After making enough gold, I'd shift focus to developing a gem income. Up to this point, the only gems I'd spend would be for gem-producing companions and giant/alt/sidekick houses - I only check in 2-3 times per day, so dark houses/dragon lairs didn't make sense for me early on even had they been on sale. I did enough totem collection and won enough shrines through quests that I didn't need to buy shrines, but they are not a bad investment if you're not getting enough wish stones every month to get the alt + some top prizes. Also, any companion that indirectly contributes to gem production (e.g. Whiteclaw) is worth looking at. Doing these things will also increase gold production and all the spinnable skylanders will then easily be achievable.

I was fortunate in that when they introduced the swappers, I was already in a good position to spin for them, but prior to that, I spun for every skylander after my first 7 (I have 2 figures, and then I got to level 20 before they removed the free spin every 5 levels).

How does on go about making a gold income?

Either I spend gold to get energy or energy to get gold and break even.

Running airship missions is mildly profitable. Elemental sanctuaries are even better, and they pay out better depending on the level of the skylander (higher level=better payout). Eventually acquiring giant and alter ego houses helps a ton, as do halls of legends (since they have no energy cost). Finally, elemental shrines add a 10% bonus to gold for anything done with skylanders of that element, so they're very nice boosters. Oh, and there are companions that can increase gold production too (like #1 fans, Gorm & Tuk, etc.)

Bottom line is it takes patience. The other legitimate solution is to buy some gems and then buy some houses/companions to speed things up. Good luck!

Is it worth investing gems on a legendary?

I don't think so. I'd just wait to spin for them. Maybe it makes sense if there is a big sale AND you have a hall of legends to put that skylander into.

One downside to spinning for skylanders--as long as there are "regular" sklyanders to spin for, it's nearly impossible (and maybe actually impossible) to spin for any skylander with a bonus (legendary, dark, mini, giant, swap force, etc.) so it takes a lot of spins to get the "better" ones.

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Finally, elemental shrines add a 10% bonus to gold for anything done with skylanders of that element, so they're very nice boosters.

Does the bonus stack if you have more than one shrine of a given element? Like, if I have 2 Fire shrines, will I get a 20% gold bonus on fire days?

Yes, the bonuses stack.

To be clear, I think those 10% bonuses only work on if the element of the day matches. So if you have a fire shrine, and it's a fire day, then sending your fire skylanders on adventures will grant the bonuses. Same goes for crops. If you plant the fire crop, you will get bonus additional energy. Since elemental days are completely random, this is less helpful than it used to be, when you were more or less guaranteed to get a fire element day every 8 days or so.

So I have 318 gems right now and have no clue what to buy, since people say don't buy Skylanders with gems but with gold and don't buy items since I can get them from the well.

What to do...

Do you have capybara king, Hyde, diggs, ruggles/ermit?

I'm not sure what's currently available in the store, but it might benefit to save for when they are available. Also, if they make any alt/giant houses available, the standard price is 350 gems.

I have ruggles and capybara king and Hyde are the only two in my price range.

In my opinion, they are good companions to invest in. But also, don't feel that you have to spend because you have 300+ gems. It is good to have gems saved up so you can use them when something good comes on sale like shrines, expensive companions (diggs, ol'mac...) or possibly some of the better skylanders.

Almost level 33 and I have no Capy King yet .

Spending gold for energy: the shortest-timed crops yield the best ratio of crops to gold. Downside, you have to check often. It's generally a good trade-off to match element of the day.

Spending energy for gold: most of the shortest-timed adventures yield the best ratio of gold to crops. Use bonused skylanders.

There's other things you can get to augment those basics: gigantus bonuses giants, shrines give bonuses, whiteclaw increases chests.

The system is designed that you don't break even, it's just small profit at first until you get enough quantity or enough bonuses that it goes fast.

I am at this phase as well. I need the gold for the new islands so I'd rather spend gems as it works out to be cheaper from a gold perspective. I did use real money to buy diggs a while back but its been worth it as it's been much easier building up my houses when I could grab the legendary skylanders on sale.

If you have 7 or more Life Skylanders buy the Life linking tower.You get 75 gems back and a Life Shrine.

I cannot wait for the air tower . The life tower was one heck of a profitable gem bonus . Buy it even if you dont have lots of life skylanders . You will sooner or later get all the skylanders you need ,

Quote: Dark fhoenix

Almost level 33 and I have no Capy King yet .

I got Capy last week (I'm new to the game). Wasn't too excited by the 2-3 gems per day he offers. But Whiteclaw (buy for gold) nearly doubles the number of chests, so 5-6 gems per day is awesome.