The Best Real Money Purchases In Heroes vs Hordes

Chris "Kolz" Kolmar 2/11/2025

Hey heroes, Kolz here!

Today, I will walk you through how I would spend $100 in Heroes vs Hordes. Over the past year, I've spent about $400 on this game, but it should have only been $200 if I had been more efficient.

So, I'm going to show you how not to make the same mistakes I did.

I'll break down two hypothetical annual budgets: One for $100 and another for $200. That's less than $20 a month for either option, or you know, Netflix.

Both budgets use the same core purchases, but the larger budget allows for more fun spending.

Frankly, you could honestly stop at $25 and beat the entire game. It would just take longer.

Step 1: The No Ads Pack ($20) - The Single Best Value

The No Ads Pack is hands-down the best purchase in the game. 100 million percent worth it.

Before I had this, I had to watch ad after ad—those awful, god-awful mobile game ads—just to do basic things. I'd set my phone down, let it play an ad, pick it up again… It was a miserable experience. With the No Ads Pack, that's all gone.

Now, reshuffling during a run? Instant.

Claiming daily rewards? Instant.

Anything that requires watching an ad? Gone.

If you plan to play this game at all, this is mandatory. If you have $20, buy this immediately. It will save you hours of your life.

Step 2: Expedition Starter Pack ($5) - Boost Your Pets

After the No Ads Pack, the next must-buy is the Expedition Starter Pack. This gives you an extra expedition slot for your pets, which is absolutely huge for progression.

Pets are a major part of this game, but leveling them up is a grind. The extra expedition means you'll be passively getting more rewards over time. I didn't realize how cheap it was ($5!), or I would have bought it months ago. If you're playing long-term, this is an easy, easy buy.

At this point, we're at $25 spent, and you're already in a way better spot than a free-to-play player. Put in the time, and you'll unlock all the content in the game over time.

However, there's a straightforward, efficient way to make the grind faster.

Step 3: Hero Pass ($10/month) - Worth It If You Play Daily

The Hero Pass is totally worth it if you're playing regularly. It gives you:

Extra daily energy, letting you do two more runs per day (60 extra per month)
Dungeon torch bonus, making dungeons more frequent with more loot
Upgrade on start, for a nice early power spike
Extra loot, which is a great value over time

This is all about efficiency.

The extra energy alone is worth it if you're trying to progress quickly. It also lets you sleep more—since your energy cap increases, you won't feel forced to wake up in the middle of the night just to use your energy (not that you should be playing at 3 AM, but, you know… priorities).

Six months of this pass ($60) brings us to $85 total spent. With the No Ads Pack and the Pet Expedition Starter Pack, with six months of grinding, you've fully unlocked the game for $100.

Not To Mention VIP 5.

VIP Perks and Autoplay - Putting The Game on Auto Pilot

VIP perks are only offered to players who spend money on the game. They start at $5 for VIP 1 and roughly require doubling to level up. While I will have an explainer on VIP eventually, for our purposes, it's important to point out that you get VIP level 5 for spending about $80, depending on the current (USD vs Euro).

That means, after our six months of battle passes, we will be at VIP 5, which unlocks Auto Mode for Normal & Hard Mode and a 3rd pet expedition. It also offers other bonuses around energy limis and regeneration.

Auto Mode for Hard Mode is a feature that will save you hours of your life. You can put a farm run in auto, step into a meeting, and have it done when you walk out.

It's my most used feature.

The additional pet expedition is worth way more than the $5 we paid for the starter pack. And the energy changes will let you grind more.

The game is basically unlocked at this point, all for $85, unless you get the itch to spend some more…

The Optional $100: The Lucky Wheel - Best Way to Get Heroes

After putting in all that time, you're going to really want a specific hero, or at least I did. For me, it was Santa or Leprechaun to go with Monk to clear end game content.

Lucky for me, a Lucky Wheel came up lucky.

Every few months, they release a Lucky Wheel with four heroes on it, each with a 0.5% chance per spin, plus pity pulls guaranteeing at least one hero.

If you're spending another $100, the Lucky Wheel is where I'd put it.

When I did this, I hit a super lucky streak and got all four heroes within 50 spins (which was like a 0.5% chance). Normally, though, after 100 spins, you'll at least get one hero from pity and probably another from rolls.

The one exception would be the Clockwork Mage. I have her as the best hero in the game at the moment, and you could consider spending the $100 necessary to guarantee to get her during another event like Lucky Draw.

And that's how I'd cap out my $200 budget. While I think these are great values, it's also important to make sure not to avoid any traps.

What NOT to Buy

Based on my experience, I would not buy any of the following:

Hero Shard Offers - Way overpriced.
Weapon Token Offers - You'll get these through the Arena naturally.
Area Packs - Just wait and grind, you don't need these.
Any random offers - just stick to known good deals.

Other Worry Considerations

If you don't want to allocate that $100 to heroes, there are three other worthwhile considerations to spend with immediate or longer-term benefits. These are probably worth in my book:

Permanent Faction War Boosts - Only applies to one league, but it's PERMANENT. Just make the league you choose count, as it will really help you accelerate towards 2 and 3-star heroes in it.
Game Speed Boost - Combined with the Hero Pass, it could save you hours of your time for $10 a month.
Daily Gems - The most efficient way to get gems, but it requires patience. This brings the cost of the 17,00 gems for a Hero in Lucky Draw down to $45 from $100, but it takes 3 months.