Five currencies do five jobs. Mixing Crystals up with Tickets is the expensive mistake.
| Currency | Pays for | Repeatable source |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | Rods, bait, merchant goods, Spirit attempts | Selling fish |
| Gems | Banner summons, and 50 Gems per rod craft | Secret fish and daily tasks |
| Tickets | Banner summons | Daily easy and hard Ticket quests |
| Crystals | Trait rerolls at 5 per item | Quests and codes |
| Essences | Skill damage upgrades | Skill Upgrades NPC and that NPC's quest |
Crystals versus summons
The banner notes say Crystals do not buy summons. A separate FAQ says Crystals are spent on banners as well as rerolls. Until the summon screen takes them, treat Crystals as reroll currency. Nanjiang on Beginning Isle is the reroll vendor.
13KActives used to pay 400 Crystals at Level 200. It is expired. Do not hold a grind for that code.
Gem math you can check
Sanguine Fish pays 20 Gems. Most secret fish pay 3 to 5, and four of them pay 10. One craft attempt is 50 Gems. That is the published price, not a drop rate. At 20 Gems a Sanguine Fish, three of those fish cover one attempt only if you spend the Gems and nothing else does.
Cash sinks
Late Cash sinks are large: 300M for the Maoshan Rod, 200M for River Suppression, 200M for the Maoshan Orb, 200M for Apex Eagle Hunt, and 100M for the Taoist Orb. A full clear of both roaming merchants is 700M if you buy every listed good once. The Spirit is a separate sink at 50M per attempt.