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FragPunk runs on three separate currencies that do not convert into each other the way you’d expect: FragPunk Coins are bought with real money, Gold is earned just by playing, and Glunite Coins are a smaller earned currency reserved for everyday cosmetics. This guide breaks down what each one actually buys, where it comes from, and walks through the one decision that trips up most new players — whether to pay 488 Coins or grind 18,888 Gold for the same Lancer.
Developer Bad Guitar Studio (published by NetEase) built FragPunk as a 5v5 tactical shooter where the core hook is a feature known as Shard Cards, which change the whole scenario of a round. The currency system sits underneath that: three main currencies plus a handful of smaller, purpose-locked ones for events, ranked play and club rewards. This guide focuses on the three that actually matter for day-to-day decisions.
TL;DR
- FragPunk Coins are the only currency you buy with real money, and they unlock Lancers instantly, premium cosmetics and the Battle Pass.
- Gold is earned for free through matches and missions, and it’s the free path to the same Lancers, plus sticker fusion and Relics.
- Glunite Coins are also earned for free, but they only cover common-tier cosmetics like basic skins, banners and headwear.
- You can convert Coins into Glunite, but there’s no route back from Gold or Glunite into Coins.
- The Battle Pass returns the Coins you spent on it as you level up, so its economics don’t work like a normal store purchase.
| Currency | How You Get It | What It's For | Buyable With Real Money? |
|---|---|---|---|
| FragPunk Coins | Direct purchase only, or via membership bonuses | Lancers, premium skins, Battle Pass, some other currencies | Yes — this is the only paid currency |
| Gold | Matches, missions, events | Lancers, sticker fusion, Relics, some store items | No |
| Glunite Coins | Matches, achievements, events, club exchange | Common skins, banners, headwear, weapon skins | No (Coins can convert into it, one way) |
Where to Get Coins, Gold and Glunite in FragPunk
Gold and Glunite share the same earning loop: you get a small amount of both from finishing matches, and more from daily missions and events. Gold is acquired by doing missions, and otherwise, after every match, a small amount will be awarded to you based on your performance in the match, and if you have won or lost. Glunite works similarly — earning Glunite Coins is simple, just play matches, but you can also pick up extra coins by completing Achievements through the Challenges tab. Coins never drop from gameplay in any meaningful amount; FragPunk Coins can only be obtained via direct purchase in the Store, aside from occasional membership bonuses or compensation gifts.
There’s also a low-effort freebie worth grabbing daily: the game offers a Daily Free Bundle that costs 0 FragPunk coins, found in the Items tab of the Store, guaranteeing 50 Gold and 50 Glunite Coins. It’s small, but it’s free every single day and easy to forget.
Warning
Currency conversion only runs one direction. You can spend Coins to buy Glunite, but nothing converts Gold or Glunite back into Coins, and nothing converts Gold into Coins either. Once you’ve spent real money and turned it into Glunite, that value is stuck at the cosmetic tier.
| Source | What You Get | Requirement | Who It Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playing matches | Gold + Glunite | None, scales with performance | Everyone, passive |
| Daily Free Bundle | 50 Gold + 50 Glunite | Claim once per day | Anyone logging in regularly |
| Daily/weekly missions | Gold + Glunite + Battle Pass Tokens | Complete the listed tasks | Players with 20+ minutes to spare |
| Membership subscription | Coins + bonus Glunite via Scavenger Imp | Paid monthly or annual sub | Players already spending on Coins |
| Direct Store purchase | Coins bundles | Real-money payment | Anyone who wants Lancers or cosmetics now |
Step-by-Step: Deciding What to Spend Each Currency On
Follow this sequence to get it done fast.
-
1
Check the Daily Free Bundle first
claim the free 50 Gold and 50 Glunite before touching your wallet or your saved balance.
-
2
Decide if you actually need a Lancer
if a new Lancer is the goal, compare the Gold price against your Coins balance before spending either.
-
3
Save Gold for Lancers, Relics and sticker fusion
these are the only confirmed uses for Gold, so don't let it sit unused if you're close to one.
-
4
Spend Glunite on common skins as they show up
it's the free-to-play cosmetic currency, and it doesn't stack toward anything bigger, so there's no reason to hoard it.
-
5
Treat Coins as the one currency with no free source
only buy Coins for something you specifically want (a Lancer now, a specific skin, or the Battle Pass), not to "stock up."
Best Ways to Earn Gold and Glunite Fast
None of these are secret shortcuts — Gold is your main grindable currency in FragPunk, earned by simply playing matches, finishing daily missions, or completing events, and for free-to-play users it’s the core of long-term progression. There’s no fast way to bypass the Gold grind without spending real money on Coins instead.
| Method | Speed | Effort | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily missions + Daily Free Bundle | Fast, compounds daily | Low | Anyone logging in most days |
| Regular matches (casual or ranked) | Steady, scales with time played | Medium | Players who already play often |
| Event challenges (rotating, e.g. Porcelain Hunting-style events) | Bursty, limited window | Medium | Players who check the events tab |
| Club Supplies exchange | Slow, monthly cap | Low | Players already in an active club |
| Membership subscription | Fast for Coins, not free | None (paid) | Players already spending money |
The Lancer Price Fork: 488 Coins or 18,888 Gold
This is the one decision almost every FragPunk player eventually has to make, and it’s stated plainly in-game: you can always purchase Lancers directly, either with Gold or FragPunk coins, and each Lancer costs the same — 18,888 Gold, or 488 FragPunk Coins — if you’ve exhausted the free ways to get a Lancer Statue, this is your only option. It’s a straight trade between money and time, and the two paths aren’t remotely close in speed.
On the Coins side, the cheapest bundle that actually covers a Lancer is the one priced at 505 Coins for $4.99 — so the real-money cost of skipping the grind lands close to five dollars, plus whatever’s left over in your balance. On the Gold side, outlets tracking match rewards have cited rough per-match payouts around 150 – 200 Gold per match, though this figure isn’t officially published and can shift with performance, events and season changes. Taking the middle of that range as a rough guide, saving 18,888 Gold works out to somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 – 125 matches. For someone playing four or five matches a few evenings a week, that’s realistically several weeks of normal play before a single free Lancer unlocks — not a weekend project.
What This Means If You Play a Few Evenings a Week
If your Gold also goes toward sticker fusion or Relics along the way, that timeline stretches further, because none of that Gold income is exclusive to saving for a Lancer. Paying 488 Coins skips all of it instantly. Whether that’s worth roughly five dollars depends entirely on how badly you want that specific Lancer now versus in a month or two of normal play.
Why the Battle Pass Doesn't Work Like a Normal Purchase
Buying the Battle Pass looks like a standard Coins purchase, but the economics are different in a way a lot of players miss. FragPunk Coins are used across the game to purchase premium cosmetics, items, Lancers, other currencies, and the Battle Pass, and purchasing the Premium Battle Pass will gradually give back all the coins you have spent to buy it as you advance through it. That means the Coins you spend on the pass aren’t gone the way Coins spent on a skin are — they trickle back to you tier by tier, effectively making the pass closer to a loan against your future Coins balance than a straight purchase.
Tip
Because the pass refunds its own cost over time, the real question isn’t “is the Battle Pass worth 488 Coins” — it’s “will I actually play enough matches this season to reach the tiers where the refund kicks in.” If you stall out halfway, you’ve effectively paid for tiers you never touched.
On top of the refunded Coins, there’s a separate bonus for players who fully max out a pass: to acquire Battle Pass Tokens, players simply need to level up the current Battle Pass, and once leveled up all the way, each additional level rewards players with 100 Battle Pass Tokens, regardless of whether they have purchased the Battle Pass or not. That overflow reward exists whether or not you bought the premium track, which is worth knowing before assuming the free track has nothing left to offer late in a season.
The spread is small — larger bundles give a few extra Coins per dollar, nothing dramatic. It’s not a reason to spend more than you’d planned; it’s just useful to know the value curve is nearly flat.
Currency Rewards and What You Can Actually Unlock
Relics Are Another Gold Sink Worth Knowing About
After you reach level 15, you can also spend your Gold to unlock new Relics, which you can use during the starting phase of a match when you’re setting the rules to get some buffs. If you’re saving toward a Lancer, Relics are one more thing quietly competing for the same Gold balance.
| Reward | How You Get It | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| New Lancer | 488 Coins or 18,888 Gold | Only two ways in — money or time |
| Common skins, banners, headwear | Glunite Coins | The realistic free-to-play cosmetic path |
| Premium skins, Lancer/weapon cosmetics | Coins | Locked behind real-money spend |
| Sticker fusion | 500 Gold per fusion | Quietly drains Gold you might want for a Lancer |
| Relics (passive round buffs) | Gold, from account level 15 | Competes with Gold saved for Lancers |
Common Misconceptions About FragPunk Currencies
Myth: Gold and Glunite Are Basically the Same Currency
They’re earned through similar activities, which is exactly why people conflate them, but they don’t overlap on spending. Gold buys Lancers, sticker fusion and Relics; Glunite buys common cosmetics. Stockpiling one doesn’t help you afford anything the other one covers.
Myth: The Battle Pass Is a Pure Loss If You Don’t Finish It
Not exactly — the pass refunds Coins as you climb tiers, so the real cost is proportional to how far you get, not the sticker price you paid up front. The risk is stalling out before the refund catches up, not the purchase itself.
Myth: You Can Just Convert Currencies to Skip the Grind
Only one conversion path actually exists, and it runs one way: Coins into Glunite. There’s no mechanic that turns Gold into Coins or Glunite into anything more valuable, so grinding Gold and hoping to “trade up” to Coins simply isn’t an option.
Our Take: Is FragPunk's Currency System Worth the Confusion?
The three-currency split is functional once explained, but the game does a poor job explaining it up front.
Coins-for-money, Gold-for-time, Glunite-for-small-cosmetics is a workable system on paper, and it does let free-to-play players reach every Lancer eventually. The problem is volume, not design logic: Fragpunk coins, which are the default premium currency, but also Glunite Coins, Gold, Ultimate Materials, Membership Coins, Battle Pass Tokens, Ranked Coins, Club Supplies, Curiosity Pop Cans, Weapon Skin Keys, Lancer Skin Keys, Sticker Packs, and Original Pop Cans is a lot to stack on top of three currencies that already confuse new players. The important stuff, like Lancers, is still locked behind a real cost either way — Gold or Coins, time or money. None of that is a reason to overspend Coins out of confusion; it’s a reason to learn the three main currencies first and ignore the smaller ones until an event actually asks for them.