Ah, the shop! It was time to detail what was going on in this virtual mall. As a beginner, you might be tempted to spend some real money or some hard-earned gems in the shop, without being sure of what is actually worth it.
You can access the shop from the bottom right of your screen.
Once clicked, you’ll get to the shop main menu, which by default shows the gem sales.
GEMS
Gems are one of the game main resources. You can earn them through guild tasks (link pending, grr), treasure hunts and kingdom tributes.
But if you wish, you can also buy them in bulk at the shop for real money.
Here are the following gem prices in euros, but note that there might be some slight variation if you’re using another form of currency:
- 15 for 1.99
- 50 for 4.99
- 110 for 9.99
- 300 for 24.99
- 650 for 49.99
- 1500 for 99.99
So, should I buy some?
Well it depends on how you wish to spend your gems! Gems are then used to buy other products, such as keys and hero costumes, which we will detail. But it’s your money, my friend, do whatever you please!
KEYS
The second panel brings you to the key shop.
The keys sold are actually magic keys.
Two types of key currently exists within GoW:
- Iron Keys
- Magic Keys
Iron keys can be earned through guild tasks, kingdom tributes and treasure hunts, and sometimes even appear randomly during a match. They give you access to 3 troops, one of them being at least a rare. There is a small chance iron keys will grant you an epic or a legendary troop.
Magic keys can only be acquired through the shop, or through treasure hunts. You won’t get them any other way. They also give you 3 troops, one of them being at least an ultra rare, and increase the chance of getting an epic or a legendary troop.
Here are the magic key prices:
- 1 key for 15 gems
- 3 keys for 42 gems
- 7 keys for 95 gems
- 15 keys for 180 gems
- 40 keys for 450 gems
So, should I buy some?
Yes and no. 
When you’re a high level player with enough gems in the bank and all the costumes you need, investing in magic keys is actually quite good, since you increase the chances to get new epic and legendary troop when new kingdoms are released, and gems are otherwise not really useful any more.
When you start playing, I’d advise to buy a costume first, because they will have more impact on your game experience. And magic keys don’t guarantee you any epics or legendaries, they only increase the odds! You can very well get the troop you need from basic iron keys.
On the other hand, opening a lot of keys and getting all kind of new and exciting troops when starting the game is pretty fun! 
As I said earlier, it’s your money on the line, not mine! 
GOLD
The third panel will bring you to the gold sale.
Here you can exchange your gems for gold as thus:
- 1 000 gold for 15 gems
- 3 000 gold for 42 gems
- 10 000 gold for 130 gems
- 30 000 gold for 240 gems
Gold is used within the game to buy kingdoms, go to battle, contribute to guild tasks and purchase iron keys.
You earn it from kingdoms, tributes, fights (especially invades), the Arena and treasure hunts.
So, should I buy some?
That one is entirely up to your (im)patience. I don’t feel that this is a necessity, especially if you successfully invade a lot, because you will be able to make enough to buy whatever you need.
On the other hand, if you want to start the game with a 1 000 iron keys and all the kingdoms available, this is definitely a good option for you!
COSTUMES
Costumes are armours for your hero which, aside from some obvious pleasant aesthetic purpose, give you access to all kind of bonuses.
Armour bonus can grant you more:
- Experience
- Souls
- Gold
Each bonus is applied whenever you do something on the map (aside from treasure hunt and tributes, as far as I know).
For instance, the bonus will be applied on rewards when you complete challenges or the Arena, increasing what you would normally get.
Here is a list of all possible armours, by price:
50 gems
- Archmage Armor - +50% experience
- Assassin Armor - +50% souls
- Dwarven Armor - +50% gold
100 gems
- Steampunk Armor - +25% gold and +50% experience
- Viking Armor - +50% gold and +25% souls
- Vampire Armor - +50% souls and +25% experience
250 gems
- Pirate Armor - +75% gold and +50% experience
- Lion Armor - +50% souls and +75% experience
- Spider Armor - +50% gold and +75% souls
500 gems
- Celestial Armor - +50% gold, +100% souls and +50% experience
- Dragon Armor - +100% gold, +50% souls and +50% experience
You will notice that no armour will give you +100% experience.
So, should I buy some?
This one is a big yes for me.
If you don’t intend to spend a lot of gems in the game, I advise you to still save at least 50 gems to buy one of the first armours of the shop.
Which one is better?
This is up for debate. When I started playing, I bought the Assassin Armour for its soul bonus. Souls are a very important resource since they enable you to upgrade your troops: more souls means more troops to try out in your line-ups, and quicker kingdom levelling.
But the other bonuses are really sweet too.
Experience helps you increase your masteries faster, and therefore you can gain access to new weapons more quickly. Gold enables you to buy more kingdoms, more iron keys, to battle more and to level up your guild tasks faster. It’s a virtuous circle.
Choose according to what feels more important to you and your game experience. If you want to rush kingdoms and battles, focus on gold bonus. If you want to level up your troops and kingdoms quickly, focus on soul bonus. If you want to gain access to the biggest mastery weapons, focus on experience. There are no wrong choice here, it all depends on your gameplay!
SOULS
The next tab brings you to the soul shop.
Here is a breakdown of soul prices:
- 150 souls for 30 gems
- 750 souls for 140 gems
- 1 500 souls for 260 gems
- 3 000 souls for 500 gems
- 7 000 souls for 1 000 gems
Souls are used to level up your troops, and thus, to level up your kingdoms.
So, should I buy some?
I have no idea if it’s worth it. The soul shop was put in place when I had already leveled up the majority of my troops, so I didn’t feel the need for it.
As a newcomer, you can always get souls from disenchanting extra cards, from the Arena and from your guild tasks. You need to take into account that leveling up troops is expensive, and even 7 000 souls are not enough to fully bring 3 common troop to level 15. So I’m not sure it’s really worth the 1 000 gems, which you could use to buy the two best armours in the game!
But just like for gold, I guess it depends on how impatient you are to level up your troops!
REWARDS
The last tab brings you to the rewards page.
Rewards are bought with glories: this resource is earned through invading/defending, treasure hunts, tributes, and through your daily reward bonus (according to your invading rank).
The rewards are rerolled every Monday, when the PvP ranks are reset.
In general, you’ll be able to buy souls, treasure maps, and one or two of the following: troops and weapons.
The weapons are considered “event-tied”, in that you won’t get them through masteries, and it might not be available again any time soon. Note that you can only get one of each weapon, since you only have one hero!
The troops can be obtained through chests, but are only added to the chest pool a few months after the event. So it’s a good idea to always buy at least one of them! Especially since you’ll need them to level up your kingdom, whether you include them in your line-ups or not.
So, should I buy some?
You should always buy at least one of the troops, and I’d also advise you to always buy the weapon.
Treasure maps can be earned through other means, so you might not feel the need to spend glories for them. (See the Treasure Hunt Guide for more info on getting treasure maps.)
Souls are actually nice to buy if you need to finish leveling up a troop. 10 glory points are not expensive and it might help you out in a pinch.
Additional info given by @LummoxJR:
One addition worth pointing out: From time to time the game gives you special offers. For new players who’ve decided they like the game enough to spend a little on it, the starter pack is a very good buy. However, you should buy it before making any other real-money purchase, or it will go away.
If you have any question, feel free to ask them in the thread and I’ll do my best to answer them!
