I was trying to figure out which of several dozen threads this one belongs to be merged with; there are so many.
The classic thread is What exactly is a Gacha? (Read before posting things about "unfair pulls")
This game can be enjoyed in many ways at any budget. The difficult part is accepting the pace of the game – as well as any limitations your budget place on that pace.
There is no reason ever to spend anything in the game. As a free-to-play player, after some months your TC20s will be grinding out 4* heroes and even the occasional 5* hero. You’ve joined an alliance where you are doing respectable damage to the resident titan and helping in wars. Rare ascension mats trickle in from rare quests and other free sources – in fact, you’ll probably find that the flow of mats and the flow of good heroes balance out nicely.
Or you can spend a little around the edges to make the game a little faster and your team stronger. Buy the VIP to get your base built up faster and to provide a steady flow of gems, with which you can make a few summons each month, to supplement the free Epic Hero Tokens that occasionally drop. Maybe spend a little more on the super deals, or when an offer includes rare ascension mat that has been elusive.
Or you can spend a lot. There are people who have spent into the 5- and 6-digits ($) on this game, and there’s always something new to spend on. My suggestion to “spendy” players is (a) set a strict budget and (b) don’t buy gems from the shop directly, but only through deals. Following (b) will greatly help sticking to your budget.
But recognize that spending lots of money doesn’t guarantee you a thing–or, at least, nothing good. Random is random. It’s entirely possible to do 100, 200, 500, 1000 summons and not get the hero you want. That’s the way this game is set up, for better or worse.
Example: in the Atlantis portal tomorrow, I’m really only interested in one hero, Poseidon. He has a 0.3% chance of dropping per summons, so if I make 120 pulls I’ve got slightly better than 30% chance of getting him. That is to say, I have nearly a 70% chance of not getting Poseidon after 120 pulls. Those pulls will give me about an 80% chance of getting at least one Anzogh–or put differently, even after 120 pulls, there’s a 20% chance I won’t get an Anzogh.
So the question is straightforward: is it worth dropping 34,400 gems for a 30% chance at Poseidon, plus an 80% chance at Anzogh, plus 9 non-farmable rare mats? The answer depends on the individual’s budget, interest, bench, etc.
Note that there is no amount of spend that will guarantee a Poseidon.
My cheap-to-play account, which is just VIP and buys an occasional offer, managed to get Poseidon on one of the four Atlantis summons last month. And a Santa from a free token in December. That account is missing a lot of core heroes, and in 16 months of play has yet to score a HotM. Still, I manage to do okay on 10* titans, wars, and am lucky to be in a fun alliance with good people.
If you find yourself disappointed with the outcomes of your spending, the simplest answer is to scale back your spending to a point where you find you’re getting value.