Strategy & Tips

TL;DR — Enter at Low cost tier. Lock long, prefer AutoMax. Compound royalties through the Furnace when you expect growth; collect for liquidity. Spread entries over time. Verify everything via Security.

ClaimRush rewards timing, commitment, and patience. Experienced players focus on when to enter, how long to lock, and whether to compound or collect. For mechanics, see Core Concepts.

At a glance

Decision	Rule of thumb
Best time to take the Crown	Low cost tier (cheapest entry for the same mining rate)
Best lock duration	AutoMax for primary positions; shorter locks only for tactical exits
Compound vs collect	Compound if you expect more takeovers; collect for spendable ETH
Patient entry	Make Offer when the bonus is currently low
Patient exit	List Lock with a realistic minimum payout
Risk control	Spread entries over time; extend early; review bot sessions

Timing takeovers

After each takeover, the cost doubles then decays over roughly one hour toward the floor. The app shows the current tier: High, Mid, or Low. See The Crown for a full worked example of the decay timeline.

The strategy: The best entries come during Low tier — you risk the least ETH for the same mining opportunity. Right after a takeover the cost is expensive and falling fast. Within 30-45 minutes it’s usually near floor.

Tip: Set a Radar alert for “Cost: Low” so you get notified when the window opens instead of watching the screen.

Under contention: When multiple players compete for the Crown at the same time, reverts are normal. Your ETH is safe (minus gas). Retry quickly or wait for the rush to pass.

Eternal Lock as a starting strategy

Eternal Lock is the fastest way to establish a compounding position. One action creates a 365-day AutoMax lock and configures shareholder royalties to auto-compound into it. After forging, shareholder royalties can route through the Furnace, lock with a bonus, and compound into that position while the destination remains eligible.

When Eternal Lock is the right choice:

You are new and want the most direct entry into the Furnace loop.
You want a long-term, hands-off compounding position from the start.
You prefer to pay ETH and let the protocol handle the rest (token conversion, locking, auto-compound setup).

When a custom Furnace entry is better:

You want to lock more or less than 1,000 CLAIM equivalent.
You want a shorter duration or a fixed-duration lock instead of AutoMax.
You already have an existing lock and want to add capital to it rather than create a new one.
You hold CLAIM and want to lock directly without an ETH-to-CLAIM conversion.

Eternal Lock + custom entries are not mutually exclusive. Many players forge an Eternal Lock first for the auto-compound setup, then use standard Lock Now or Make Offer for additional entries at different sizes and timings. The auto-compound destination continues targeting the Eternal Lock regardless of other locks you create.

See The Furnace — Eternal Lock for the full mechanics.

Locking strategy

The Furnace rewards commitment. Longer locks earn more in two ways:

Higher bonus. A 1-year lock gets the full duration weight (100%). A 30-day lock gets only 5%. The bonus difference is dramatic.
More veCLAIM. Your veCLAIM balance = CLAIM locked x time remaining / 1 year. More time remaining means more veCLAIM, which means a larger share of royalties.

AutoMax is the default for a reason. It keeps your lock permanently at 1-year remaining, so your veCLAIM never decays and your bonus is always maximized. On top of that, AutoMax locks receive automatic extension bonuses from the keeper — your position grows without manual action while AutoMax remains enabled. Most experienced players use AutoMax on their primary lock and only disable it when they’re ready to start the exit process (1-year countdown).

When shorter locks make sense: If you want to test the waters with a small position, a 90-day or 180-day lock lets you exit sooner. But the bonus is significantly lower, and your veCLAIM decays throughout.

Example: A 1-year AutoMax lock at a 40% bonus yields roughly 17x the royalty-earning power of a 30-day lock with the same CLAIM. See The Furnace — The bonus engine for a full worked example.

Compounding vs collecting

When you earn ETH royalties as a Baron, you choose: Collect ETH (liquid) or Collect & Lock (compound through the Furnace).

When to compound: If you believe the game will keep growing (more takeovers, more ETH flowing in), compounding gives you more veCLAIM, which earns a larger share of future royalties. The Furnace bonus amplifies this — you’re not just reinvesting, you’re reinvesting with a bonus on top.

When to collect: If you need liquidity, if you want to take profits, or if the bonus is currently low and you’d rather wait for a better window.

Back-of-envelope math: If you have 0.1 ETH accrued and the bonus is 30%, compounding converts that ETH to CLAIM and locks it with a 30% bonus on top — so you lock ~30% more CLAIM than you could have bought outright. That extra bonus CLAIM keeps earning royalties indefinitely on AutoMax.

Auto-compound automates Collect & Lock via an authorized keeper. Set it up once on your primary AutoMax lock and the keeper processes eligible auto-compound. See Royalties (Barons) — Auto-compound for setup details.

Managing multiple locks

Most players settle on one or two locks. Here’s when each approach works:

One primary lock (AutoMax): Most direct setup. All compounding flows into one place. Maximum bonus, maximum veCLAIM, one lock to monitor.

Multiple locks: Useful if you want different time horizons — for example, one AutoMax lock for long-term compounding and one shorter lock for experimenting. But each lock below AutoMax decays independently, and managing multiple auto-compound destinations adds complexity.

When to merge: If you’ve accumulated several small locks, merging them into one concentrates your veCLAIM. Merging is irreversible — the resulting lock gets the combined principal and inherits the longer duration. Mixed AutoMax / non-AutoMax pairs are allowed: if exactly one of the two locks has AutoMax on, the survivor keeps AutoMax and is reset to the maximum duration (and AutoMax stays reversible — you can toggle it off later). The Furnace also pays an extension bonus in CLAIM on the duration delta and deposits it directly into the surviving lock, so merging a shorter lock into a longer one (or a non-AutoMax lock into an AutoMax lock) earns you bonus CLAIM as part of the same transaction. A minBonusOut slippage guard lets you bound the bonus you accept; pass 0 to skip the guard.

Tip: Keep your auto-compound destination lock healthy: not listed on Market, not expired, not near-expiry (at least 7 days remaining), and owned by your connected wallet. If the destination becomes ineligible, auto-compound pauses until you fix it.

Market strategy

The Market lets you exit or enter lock positions through the Furnace.

Sell now vs List Lock: Sell now gives you instant CLAIM liquidity but at a discount (the Furnace applies a dynamic spread). Listing lets you set a minimum payout floor and wait — if the Furnace quote improves, your listing settles automatically. Use Sell now when you need funds now; use List Lock when you can be patient.

What makes a realistic listing: Look at the current Sell now quote for your lock. Your listing minimum payout should be higher than today’s Sell now quote (otherwise, why not just sell now?) but realistic enough to fill before expiry. Very aggressive minimums may never settle.

Make Offer (patient entry): If the bonus is currently low and you want to wait for a better window, Make Offer lets you escrow CLAIM with a target bonus. When conditions improve, the Furnace executes automatically. This is the patient alternative to Lock Now.

Risk management

Don’t play with funds you can’t afford to lose. ClaimRush is a paid onchain game. Token prices move, smart contracts can have bugs, and locked CLAIM is not instantly withdrawable.
Spread entries over time. Rather than locking everything at once, enter in stages. This smooths out bonus fluctuations and reduces timing risk.
Watch for ve decay. If you’re not on AutoMax, your veCLAIM decays as the lock approaches expiry. Extend early to maintain your royalty share and earn an extension bonus on your existing capital — waiting until the last week means you’ve already lost most of your earning power.
Review bot permissions regularly. If you use automation, check your active sessions in Advanced → Bot access. Revoke sessions you no longer need. Use short expiries.
Verify everything. Use the Security page (app footer) to verify contract addresses and check pause status. Only use claimru.sh — reject other hostnames.