Castle Clash Resources Guide

There are many types of resources in Castle Clash, with different ways to use, obtain, and lose each type. This guide contains a practical summary of each resource with the best way to use it and the most efficient way to get it. I have listed the resources in order of how important/scarce they are, which basically means resources near the top of the list are ones that you should carefully conserve because they can constrain your advancement.

Overall, gold and mana production tend to be useless, as these resources are not very useful in the mid to late game: since all the upgrades take so long to complete, you'll have much more gold and mana than you can use unless you use Gems to speed the process, which you shouldn't be doing because you should buy heroes instead.

Gems
Best use: buying heroes at the Hero Altar (cost is 150 gems per hero, but hero received is random)
Other uses: speeding up building construction, research, or unit recruitment
Best way to get: daily checklist
Other ways to get: achievements, in-app purchases, downloading free apps from the "Free Gems" section
Ways to lose: (none other than spending)

Honor Badges (HB)
Best use: leveling up heroes
Other uses: buying heroes at the Hero Altar
Best way to get: Arena (passive collection over time, plus 40 HB per win and 6 HB per loss)
Other ways to get: clearing dungeons, winning raids against other players, buying or earning through "Free Gems" certain numbers of Gems
Ways to lose: losing raids that you initiate against other players

Hero Shards (HS)
Best use: buying heroes at the Hero Altar (can choose which hero to hire, cost varies by hero)
Other uses: donating to guild fund
Best way to get: clearing dungeons (for farming HS, focus on skull dungeons - see this page for more details)
Other ways to get: buying or earning through "Free Gems" at least 230 Gems in one day (resets daily at midnight EST)
Ways to lose: (none other than spending)


Experience (EXP)
Best use: leveling up heroes - EXP split evenly among heroes that participate in a particular battle, even the ones who die
Other uses: (none)
Best way to get: winning raids against other players
Other ways to get: dungeons
Ways to lose: (none)

Gold
Best use: upgrading troops and heroes
Other uses: upgrading magic, upgrading walls, upgrading buildings, buying magic spells
Best way to get: raids against other players
Other ways to get: harvesting from gold mills, dungeons
Ways to lose: being attacked by other players

Mana
Best use: hiring troops
Other uses: upgrading buildings
Best way to get: raids against other players
Other ways to get: harvesting from mana mills, dungeons
Ways to lose: being attacked by other players

Icicle Manicure

New York had its first major snow of the year over the weekend. The ground turned (very briefly) white, and though the snow is mostly melted by now, the inspiration for this manicure remains. The Icicle Manicure is an elegant white and silvery ombre style that is subtle enough to wear to work, but fun enough to enjoy, too.

Nail polish needed:
- Soft pearly white
- Silver or blue glittery color (sheer is best)
- Clear top coat

Optional materials:
- Acrylic nails and nail glue (I use fake nails because I have a bad habit of picking at my natural nails when they get longer, so they never grow out. Acrylics prevent me from reaching my real nails to pick!)

Directions:
Step 1: Apply acrylic nails (if desired, otherwise skip this step)

Step 2: Paint each nail completely with two coats of the soft white base. Let dry after each coat before applying the next.

Step 3: Using the sheer sparkly color, paint the top 2/3 of each nail with one coat. This looks better if you make a messy line at the bottom instead of going straight across. Let dry completely.

Step 4: Again using the sheer sparkles, paint the top approximately 1/3 of each nail with a second coat. Make the line messy again. Let dry.

Step 5: If the color gradation to the tips isn't very pronounced, you can do another coat of sparkles just at the very tips. Otherwise, proceed to the last step.

Step 6: Cover with two layers of clear top coat.

A closer look at the finished result. I love how the color fading is just enough to be seen, but not too overwhelming.