Be sure to tap on the oil lamp on the right side of the main screen once per day. This gives you a chance to rub the magic lamp, and when you do, you get rewards. This also moves you closer to both personal achievements, which happen when you reach milestones with the lantern light, and when you help to reach a server-wide milestone, which combines the lamp scores of everyone on your server for a prize.
In the Union and in other places, you can get New Vizier Clothes, Hat, and Rings. Their purpose isn’t explained very well early on in the game, but they’re necessary to take your empire to the next level. Once you complete an entire set of the New Vizier items, though, your level cap for your Viziers will increase from 100 to 150. An easy way to acquire these items is to contribute to your Union with diamonds frequently to earn group tokens.
To get to the setting area, tap on your sultan, and then check the options menu on the bottom of the screen. From there you can switch servers, enter gift codes (which usually come from support or, on rare occasions, Facebook events), block other users, or mess with the music and sound effect settings, as well as the language settings. Under “Account” you can link the game to your Facebook or Game Center accounts, as well as switch to an entirely different account (as opposed to the same account on a different server with the other option).
If you haven’t yet linked you account to Facebook or to Game Center, there are benefits to doing so. Link them and then go to the Bind button on the main menu to claim your rewards, which consists of 500K each gold and soldiers, as well as a full set of New Vizier items, allowing you to immediately upgrade on of your Viziers to the level 150 cap.
If you are going to make an in-app purchase, one of the best bang-for-buck purchases that you can make is the subscription card. The monthly card can earn you a certain amount of rewards instantly, plus more per day. In addition to more overall diamonds, they will earn you the same mount of VIP points that a one-time purchase of diamonds would, as well.
if you have a load of diamonds to spare, go to the Packs area and purchase some of the limited-time special offer packs. These come with a large quantity of rewards, such as tomes, coupons for resources, rings, and earrings, as well as various orbs (energy, vitality, etc) and seals (imperial, levy, etc). The special offers regenerate on a timed basis, about once a week, so wait awhile if you don’t like what you see.