Every fighter in Dueling Grounds starts with the same Katana, and it stays that way until you spend currency. The rest of the arsenal sits behind Coins and Gems, both of which come from duels, the rewards menu, and active codes. Buying and swapping a weapon takes about ten seconds once you know which button opens the right menu.
Quick answer: Click the Weapons icon at the bottom of the screen, pick a weapon, hit the purchase button to pay in Coins or Gems, then press Equip Weapon — the button changes to show the weapon is active.
Coins vs Gems in Dueling Grounds
The game runs on two currencies, and they are not interchangeable in every menu. Coins are the grind currency you pile up from matches. Gems are the premium currency, and they are the only way to buy some of the flashier cosmetics.
| Currency | How you get it | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Coins | Spar and Ranked matches, rewards menu, codes | Weapons, most rotating Store skins |
| Gems | Robux purchases, rewards menu, codes | Weapons, premium and legendary skins |
Match payouts are modest. A win returns roughly 300 to 400 Coins, and even a loss pays out 100 to 150 Coins for showing up. Ranked pays more than Spar, so if you are saving for a 2,500-Coin weapon, Ranked is the faster route.
How to buy and equip a weapon
Confirmation is visual. The purchase button is replaced by the equip option, your Coin or Gem balance at the top of the screen drops by the listed amount, and your character carries the new weapon in the lobby before the next match starts.
Dueling Grounds weapon list and prices
Prices are fixed and do not rotate. The Katana is handed to you on arrival, so everything below is what you are actually saving toward. A Bo Staff also appears in the weapon lineup alongside these.
| Weapon | Coins | Gems | Fighting style |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katana | Free | — | Balanced blade with strong parries |
| Dual Daggers | 1,400 | 95 | Fast, mobile, combo-heavy |
| Naginata | 1,650 | 95 | Long polearm reach and spacing |
| Gauntlets | 1,750 | 95 | Close-range chains and guard breaks |
| Kusarigama | 2,500 | 95 | Chained mid-range control |
| Warhammer | 2,500 | 95 | Heavy smashes, high knockback |
| Curved Swords | 2,500 | 95 | Dual-blade offense |
Note: the Gem price is a shortcut, not a discount. Gems are harder to accumulate than Coins, so most players are better off saving the Gems for cosmetics that Coins cannot buy.
Weapon skins in the rotating Store
Cosmetics live in a separate place. Open the Store button from the same bottom row and you get a daily rotation of weapon skins, including legendary items that are not sold anywhere else. Owning the base weapon is a prerequisite before a skin does anything for you.
Recent rotation entries give a sense of the price bands: the Void Staff at 595 Gems, Draconic Daggers at 495 Gems, and Crowd Pleaser at 400 Gems, next to cheaper Coin options like the Iceborn Warhammer at 695 Coins, Golden Daggers at 445 Coins, and the Christmas Katana at 395 Coins.
Some skins are tied to events and vanish once the event ends, which is why Christmas-themed items show up and then disappear from the rotation. Once bought, a skin is applied from the weapon’s own sub-menu in the inventory, not from the Store.
Free Coins and Gems from the Rewards menu
The fastest early boost is not a match. Open Rewards from the bottom row and two one-time payouts are sitting there: liking the game hands over 500 Coins and 50 Gems, and favoriting it gives 1,000 Coins and 75 Gems. That is most of a Dual Daggers purchase before you have fought anyone.
The same menu holds the code box. Scroll to the bottom of the Rewards panel, type a code into the text field exactly as written, and press Redeem. Codes are case sensitive, so GemsUpdate will not work as gemsupdate.
| Code | Reward |
|---|---|
| GemsUpdate | 1,000 Coins and 100 Gems |
| Oathbreaker | 500 Coins and 100 Gems |
| InnovationAwards | 1,250 Coins and 100 Gems |
A working code credits your balance immediately, and you can watch the Coin and Gem counters at the top of the screen tick up. If nothing happens, the usual causes are a typo, wrong capitalization, a code you have already claimed on that account, or one that has expired. Older codes such as MidSeasonUpdate, WarhammerGrounds, and SeasonOneBegins no longer pay out.
Where the Coins actually come from
Once the reward menu freebies are spent, matches are the only steady income. Spar matches run two rounds and pay the smaller amounts. Ranked runs three rounds per battle, starts everyone at a 400 rating, and pays out both rating points and a larger Coin sum on a win. Even a Ranked loss returns something, so queuing repeatedly is more efficient than sitting in the lobby.
To enter Ranked, walk to the large Ranked sign in the middle of the lobby and stand inside the glowing matchmaking zone until you are paired with an opponent near your rating.
If you are picking a first purchase, the Naginata’s reach makes it the most forgiving upgrade for players who keep getting caught in close-range chains, while the Dual Daggers reward reaction speed and take longer to feel good. Either way, the weapon change is instant and reversible — swapping back to the Katana costs nothing, so there is no penalty for testing a new one in a Spar match before you commit to it in Ranked.
