(Image borrowed from playtolearn.online)
So I decided to dive into Splinterlands this week and I'm here to tell you about my experience so far. Coming from a background that has never really played card games, like Magic, Yugio and Pokemon, it has been an interesting experience.
First thing I learned: Is it free to play. Yes. Will you make any progress. Probably not. To combat free bots, used to scalp the free to play rewards off the system, they have implemented a 1-time purchase item called the Summoner's Spell Book. Costs $10.00. You want it, for 2 reasons. One, it opens the way to earn reward points and sps. Second, they give you 3000 Credits, so you are actually only spending $7.00 on the book, cuz Credits cost about $1.00 per 1000.
Second point about the credits is a key thing because you start off with NO CARDS. Oh, if you look in your items, you will see a whole slew of cards that they call Starter Cards, denoted by having an S stamped on them (I call them Shadow Cards, because you can use them, but you don't actually OWN them). Why is that important? Because you only really earn RP (Reward Points) based on the battle contribution of your own cards. Starter cards count AGAINST your Reward Point earnings. That's where the Credits come in.
However, don't make the same mistake I did. I went to the market and BOUGHT all the unique cheapest cards my 3k credits would afford me, and though I can win a Reward Point here and there, I still have to rely on many Starter Cards to make a team strong enough to win, which goes against my earnings. Somebody tipped my off to the beginner's secret and I wish they would have found me before I spent my credits. LEASES! (Renting Cards)
I suggest choosing one type of team to play with for a while, say... Fire or Water, as a beginner. Go and do free battles with the different types until you get a solid feel for a card you really want for all your battles, probably a Fire or Water summoner that you like to use all the time, to start with. Then, go and rent it for a week. Now you have a card that you own to use in battles. May not get you any points yet, but you have the start of a Points earning team. Watch what others use, how they use them, go check out some beginner's youtube videos, etc and get a feel for which cards you would likely use over and over. When you are sure, rent it for a week. Stick to one type to start. That will give you the most cards in one deck and stretch your credits out longer. After you get a solid team of rented cards that win battles every once in a while, you will start to see you get a reward point here and there.
From this point, it's just a matter of refining your team and gameplay till you make a solid team for the type you have chosen. If you see a card that is not in your Starter Cards, go the the Market > Rent section and find it.
OH! Quick Tip on begginer's rentals. On the Rent page for a card, change the sort to price^. That will show you the cheap level 1 cards that haven't been leveled up yet. When renting, you pay a base fee of price times the number of cards that have been merged for levels. When just starting the game, unless you plan to throw money in, just sort by price^ and get you a cheap level one.
I hope this shortens the learning curve if you would like to try the game. You can jump to the game by clicking here >>> SplinterLands <<< and you will also help me out by being my referral in the game.
Good Luck and I hope to give an update soon.