Brought to you by pandafox in collaboration with Blockraiders Guild
Hello dwellers of the multiverse! Below I’m going to give you some short info on how to get started with Splinterlands.
First, I would like to point out that I’m just a regular player that started last year, and would now like to share some things I’ve learned since then.
So, let’s get started with the basics………
What is Splinterlands?
Splinterlands is a trading card game that runs on the Hive blockchain. The beauty of the game being built on HIVE is that there are no gas fees. Players instead have resource credits (RC) that decrease with transactions made in game but regenerate over time. Splinterlands has been around for a few years and it was originally called Steem Monsters. The game allows players to battle monsters in exchange for rewards (DEC, credits and rewards cards). Players can level up cards by combining two or more of the same card.
Dark Energy Crystals (DEC), the in-game token, can be earned by winning battles, selling cards, or renting cards out to other players. DEC can be traded on Hive Engine and Uniswap or used to purchase game assets.
Currently the game is mostly browser-based although there is also a mobile app available on Android, with an iOS release pending approval, it doesn’t work as good and it’s still a little buggy so my advice would be to play the game on browser if you can.
How to get started?
In order to get started playing the game, you need to purchase the Summoner’s Book. A Summoner’s Book is $10. This will give you some basic ghost cards that you can use to play with. These cards are non-tradable and you can’t rent them out but they let you enter battles even without owning anything.
Account Registration:
Go to splinterlands.com and click Log In
Click Create Account to create a new account
Next enter the e-mail address you would like to use for the game, if you have a referral (mine is: mangomonsters or you can use the guild referral: blockraiders) you would like to use, simply enter the players in game name that you want to use for a referral. Check the Privacy Policy and then click CONTINUE
On the next screen you can set a password for your account
After this you have the option to try the tutorial or skip it and dive directly into the game. If you are unfamiliar with card games, I would recommend you do the tutorial to get a feeling of what the game is like and if it is for you.
Once you do the tutorial if you feel like it’s a game you would enjoy playing you can buy the 10$ Summoner’s Book
Click the Buy Spellbook button on the battle page
You can buy a Summoner’s Book with PayPal or with crypto. I bought mine very easily with BUSD. You just need the appropriate amount in your METAMASK and some BNB for gas fees.
For buying with BUSD, click CRYPTO on the Spellbook button and select BUSD. Then click MAKE PAYMENT on the screen that appears. Congratulations! You are now a Splinterlands summoner!!
If you don’t like BUSD they accept a wide variety of other crypto as payment: BTC, DEC, SPS, LTC, WAX, EOS, TRX, HIVE, HBD, BCH, ETN, GAME, BAT, SAND, UNI, GALA, ENJ, DAI, LEO. For LEO and HIVE you can use HIVE SIGNER. WAX - WAX CLOUD, SCATTER or ANCHOR.
You could also pay with PayPal but I’m unfamiliar with the process because I haven’t used it.
Basics of p2e system:
The Play to Earn system is gated by 2 systems, CP (collection power) and ranking (Points you get for winning matches). There are 5 leagues in Splinterlands: bronze, silver, gold, diamond, and champion. The higher you go the better the rewards are.
In order to start earning DEC for every victory, you need to reach at least Bronze II. In order to reach Bronze II, you need to have at least 1000 Card Power. You can get those either by renting, or by buying cards to get you started. Currently you can buy cards worth 1000 Card Power for less than 10$ or rent them for 0.022$. You can view the power for each card when it is in your inventory. Card power is represented by burn rate. In the image below the Marrow’s Ghost card has 10 points of card power.
Card Power varies depending on rarity, edition and foil type.
You’ll find below an image that breaks it down depending on rarity, edition and foil type.
Power Chart for Cards
While in Bronze, you don’t get any DEC rewards in daily chests and the card drop is lower. In Silver it starts to be worth playing the game because you get DEC rewards in daily chests and the card drop is higher. So, it’s advisable to get out of Bronze fast for better earnings. From Silver onwards the number of reward chests also increases, in Silver III you get 2 chests, Silver II gives you 3 chests, Silver I 4 chests and so on.
In addition, you also earn additional loot chests at EOS (end of season). Below you’ll find an image which shows how many loot chests you can earn for each league depending where you place at season end.
How to buy or rent cards when you’re just starting?
In order to buy cards or rent when you’re starting, the easiest method is to buy some CREDITS and then use the in-game market to buy what you need. Simply click the plus button where the credits are and then select your preferred method of payment, PayPal or crypto.
Does using Referrals give any advantage?
Referrals don’t give any bonuses, except to the person whos’ referral you are using. For example, if you would use my referral, I would get 5% for the Spellbook you bought and for packs if you buy them with credits.
My referral is: mangomonsters. If you use it I’ll lend you some Pelacors or Venari cards to play with until the end of season, so it will be easier to build up strategies and get more wins. Just let me know you used it and I’ll delegate them to you. For bigger purchases, if there’s enough credits raised, I’ll use 50% of those to buy cards off the market and send them to you.
Blockraiders guild also has an official account which they would like to use to establish their guild base. Their official referral for that is: blockraiders. If you wish to help the guild with referrals, the funds raised will be used by Blockraiders to buy assets for the guild that then will be delegate to members that need them, helping everyone grow easier. Blockraiders is a growing guild, that will offer multiple benefits to their members in the future.
Is this a good time to start Splinterlands?
Yes, arguably this could be one of the best times to do it, due to the simple fact that there’s an influx of new cards on the market and consequently prices have dropped. In addition, on the 17th of January, Splinterlands had a general sale for packs of cards. There are still over 8 million packs available, if you're feeling lucky you can buy one and open it to try your luck on getting some rare cards. One pack is 4$, with a chance to get airdropped cards depending on the number of packs you bought. During the launch of new packs, card prices go down and then they gradually go back up once all packs have been sold and cards become scarcer due to people leveling them up and burning some of them in the process.
How can I buy packs of cards?
The first thing you need to do is buy a Spellbook, this way the game will automatically create for you a HIVE account where all your assets are stored.
You can buy packs on the Splinterlands website. You can only buy them with credits, so make sure you prepare beforehand. Credits are the in game stable coin for Splinterlands, so you don’t have to worry about volatility, 1 000 coins = 1 $ USD. You can buy credits the same way you bought the Spellbook, with PayPal or with crypto.
If you buy 100 packs you get 10 bonus packs but you will need to have a VOUCHER for every bonus pack in order to get it.
My advice is to only open your packs if you have enough Legendary and Alchemy Potions for each pack that you open. Legendary potions double the chance for legendary cards and alchemy potions double the chance for gold foil cards. One pack contains 5 cards so you will need 5 Legendary Potions and 5 Alchemy Potions. Potions drop pretty often from loot chests so you can get them for free that way or by buying them in the store (not recommended).
How to earn in Splinterlands
The simplest way to start winning is by playing ranked games, each time you enter a battle and win you earn DEC. The amount of DEC earned from battles is based on your Rank, League, Earning Rate, Guild bonus and cards you own (gold cards give a 10% bonus for every card you play with).
Rent out the cards you don’t need to other players. Take your cards that you don't use often and rent them out to other players. Even if you rent them you still securely retain ownership of your cards while generating DEC for yourself!
You can list and sell the cards you don't need at the Splinterlands Market! Cards are quite liquid, if you put them up for sale expect to sell them in less than a day! Of course expensive cards like the infamous prince Julian that sold for 50 000$ will take much longer.
Earning in-game assets will get you Splintershards Airdrops (SPS), which you can then stake for a 37% APR.
Every day, Splinterlands has different tournaments available. Most have some sort of fee to enter, but there are also tournaments for beginners available, starting from a cost of 1 DEC. By winning tournaments, you have the opportunity to win prizes like DEC, Cards, Packs, Other NFTs and more!
Climb the Splinterlands Leaderboard! All season top players are rewarded with DEC prizes. Winnings for top players start at 2 000 DEC and can go up to 200 000 DEC for champion leagues.
Earning is not easy and those that only invest in the Spellbook will have a hard time making a lot of profit with just that. In order to climb the ranks and win better rewards you need good cards that you will need to rent or buy, but the game is very fast paced and fun so in just 30 minutes/day you could do your daily quest and earn some DEC. With a bit of luck, you could get very valuable cards in daily chests that you could sell, rent or use to help you win matches.
Can scholarships be used?
Yes, at the time of writing Splinterlands allows scholarships, Blockraiders is investigating into a scholarship program and will publish more details later.
For any more questions or information, I’ll be happy to help on the Blockraiders Guild Discord Channel, or you can just check out the official Splinterland Discord, the community is very friendly and there is always someone willing to answer questions and help new players out. 😊
It goes without saying that this is not financial advice and like everything in the crypto world it entails a great deal of risk. Don’t invest more than you can lose.
Follow BlockRaiders on social media:
Website: https://blockraidersguild.com/
Discord: https://discord.gg/xJXt7BjuPq
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlockRaidersG
Medium: https://medium.com/@blockraiders
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100025530318287
BlockRaiders referral link to Splinterlands: https://splinterlands.com?ref=blockraiders
Author’s referral link to Splinterlands: https://splinterlands.com?ref=mangomonsters