Besides the four village resources, the game has coins. The difference matters: resources live in each village's Warehouse and can be plundered; coins belong to the lord. They count for your whole account, take up no Warehouse space and are never stolen in a raid: attacking another player yields resources, not coins.
Bronze and silver
The everyday coins.
- Where they come from: battles against PvE targets on the map (fighting players earns no coins), quests and achievements, selling equipment to the Merchant and dismissing heroes you no longer want.
- Where to spend them: recruiting and reviving heroes at the Hall of Heroes, buying items in the Merchant's Shop, upgrading and reforging equipment, and the Common Potion, paid in silver.
Silver is worth more than bronze. If you're short on one and have plenty of the other, the Merchant swaps them (see Merchant and Exchange).
Essence
The equipment coin.
- Where it comes from: mostly from attacks on PvE targets and from quest, achievement and event rewards. Battles against players pay no essence.
- Where to spend it: upgrading equipment (each Forge level makes the upgrade's essence cheaper), raising an item's tier, opening an attribute slot, reforging at the Anvil, and in Technology: researching from tier II on, the Doctrine Reform and renouncing the Oath.
It tends to be your hero's bottleneck in the mid game. Save it for the items you'll use for a long time.
Cash
The premium coin.
- Where it comes from: buying it with real money, in the Cash section of the Shop. Large purchases come in gradually: above a daily cap per account, the rest stays pending and is released day by day. Some quests, achievements and promo codes also pay cash.
- Where to spend it: speeding up or finishing construction, sounding the Call at the Hall of Heroes (it refreshes the candidates), opening Chests, buying Omens decks, the Peace Pact, the Life Potion, the Shop's category chests, Exchange trades and, in Technology, the top levels of tier III, every Oath level and Finish research.
Gem dust
The cutting coin. It comes from dissolving gems you don't use and from some prizes, like the Colossus's. It's spent on cutting a gem's effect and on adding a second affix. Both depend on your Forge level, shown on the Forge page.
Guild Seals
Donating to your guild earns Seals: village resources go in through the Tribute, and bronze, silver and essence through the Sacrifice. Each donation credits the Seals twice: to the Treasury, which the guild spends on the Order Tree and on leveling up, and to your personal balance, spent in the guild Bazaar. The Colossus and the Guild War also pay personal Seals.
Your personal balance belongs to your seat in the guild: if you leave, you lose what you had.
Where coins change hands
Bronze, silver, essence and cash also work as currency in the Auction House, where the seller picks which one they accept bids in (see Square and Auction House).