Now, it's absolutely possible to stay 100% f2p or as a limited spender and enjoy the game (although you'll never play in the big leagues). Lords Mobile is a real-time strategy game that throws you in the thick of the chaos and gives you a chance to rise to the top.
LORDS MOBILE HEROES COST FULL
The game and the messageboards are full of people who feel that way and it is utterly depressing! The only way to avoid that is to go in with your eyes open and have a clear plan. Relocators can be purchased in the Gem Mall for 1,500 Gems or in the Guild Shop for 270,000 Guild Coins. Eventually, you're gonna quit, but probably not before you become riddled with bitterness and regret. (If you only spend five dollars on this game, that's a wasted five dollars.) Before you know it, you will have spent way more than you were prepared to and you will force yourself to keep playing (and spending) for a while (sunk cost fallacy is a hell of a drug).
Don't think, "Oh, it's just five dollars." Because it's not gonna be five dollars. You can ask there are people who like to calculate that stuff. If you're bad at math, there are some reddit threads about all sorts of items. Figure out how many troops you're ultimately gonna need to make (and then remake again and again and again because they die.) And before you open your wallet at all, please sit down and calculate how much all of that's gonna cost you. A Tier (3 Tier) Average to good performance.
LORDS MOBILE HEROES COST UPGRADE
Figure out how much it's gonna cost to upgrade or max each of those. This Lord of Heroes tier list is based on late-game (some heroes are good in the early game while some shine in late-game for instance, Dark Mikhail is not good in the early game but do well in the late game) SS Tier (1 Tier) OP/Best Performance. Figure out exactly what kind of gear, heroes, familiars, skins, etc you want. Figure out what you want to build (solo trap, rally trap, rally lead, rally filler, baron/emperor account, etc). A significant amount of it isn't even written down anywhere. Just please stay 100% f2p for a few months first. There's really nothing quite like it and you should definitely try it. That's not to say, don't play this game or don't spend anything on it. You're never really done spending, regardless of which tier of spender you are. You can realistically spend $1m+ on one account and still not be done spending.
People get lured in by $1 or $5 or $20 packs, only to find out that it's money down the drain if you don't buy more. It's useless and it's terrible value for money compared to other purchases. The microtransactions on this game are completely out of control! Let me say this upfront: That $0.99 starter pack is specifically designed to break the psychological barrier you (may) have about spending money on online games. Has its (many, big) flaws - but that's not what I'm here to talk about.