Gems and Mastery in Volleyball Legends: What They Do and How to Farm Both
Two progression currencies confuse more new players than anything else in Volleyball Legends: gems (the earn-by-playing money) and mastery (the style-specific grind with the mysterious “skip” items). Here’s what each actually does and the honest math on farming them.
Gems: The Play Currency
Gems come from playing matches, completing quests and season progression — not from codes, which pay Lucky Style Spins instead. That distinction matters: your spin economy and your gem economy fill from different faucets, so redeeming every code doesn’t touch your gem income and grinding gems doesn’t spin the gacha.
Realistic gem farming is unglamorous:
- Play matches you can win. Wins beat losses for progression across the board, and quest lines clear faster when you’re not tilted.
- Clear quests deliberately — check the quest list before queueing and pick the mode that advances two at once (Ranked quests while a style Mastery challenge also wants Ranked wins is the classic double-dip).
- Ride the season track. Season pass tiers hand out both gems and Lucky Spins; the pass refreshes each season (Season 17 opened July 1), so late-season is use-it-or-lose-it time.
Mastery: The Style Grind
Mastery is per-style progression that only some styles have:
- All 3 Ultras (Akari, Hakka, Ronin) — Mastery upgrades their Ultra Special directly; Akari’s Mastery 5 unlocks Double Dash.
- 6 of the 18 Secrets — Hidari, Kazana, Roketto, Taichou, Timeskip Okazu and Yogan. Roketto is the first Secret to ship with its track at release.
- ENCHO (Evo) progresses differently — a 6-point Skill Tree earned through Ranked quests, not Mastery.
Each track runs five tiers of stacked challenges (score X times, win Y Ranked games, MVP Z times…), with tier-5 requirements that read like part-time jobs — 200+ Ranked wins is standard.
What Mastery Skips Are
A mastery skip is exactly what it sounds like: an item that skips a Mastery quest tier, pulling a style’s power spike forward without the grind. Because Ultra styles gain functional upgrades from Mastery (Akari at Mastery 3 gains its spike boost; at 5, Double Dash), a skip on an Ultra is worth far more than a skip on a Secret whose track is mostly bragging rights. If you’re deciding where to spend one: Ultra first, always.
The Efficient Path
- Pick one Mastery target at a time. Challenges only progress on the equipped style; rotating styles rotates your progress to zero.
- Stack objectives: queue the Ranked mode that your current Mastery tier, your season quests and your gem quests all want simultaneously.
- Weekend discipline still applies — Mastery is a play-time sink, but your spins should still wait for the 2× Luck & Pity weekend regardless.
Related
The beginner guide explains why none of this matters before Level 15, and the FAQ covers the short-answer versions of both systems.