Splinterlands Journey - Sharing Three Years Of Gaming With The Batt...

I joined Splinterlands three years ago... and have been a roller-coaster of fun! Let me tell you more about the strategic auto-battler multiplayer digital-collectible trading card game on the Hive blockchain!

Don't get discouraged by the fancy words, because Splinterlands is simple to play! You will try to create the most optimal 7-card deck, using your available cards, and fight against opponents.

More wins will bring a higher ranking and better prizes, as each won battle will count towards to end of season rewards. The players are rewarded with daily chests and season chests, with a chance for tokens, potions, cards, merits and even packs.

I joined on the 26th of December 2020, that's 1050 days ago, and this timeframe is just the beginning of an never-ending saga. I learned some stuff the hard way, as I was to stubborn to ask for help and opinions.

I am now sharing my story to help the battle mages of tomorrow, and to help YOU up your game as fast as possible. The dashboard can be overwhelming to a new player, with information oozing from every corner.

Cluster 1 (lime green) contains the information regarding the current season, such as when it ends, how many season chests were farmed during the season and how much SP is required to reach the next reward chest.

Cluster 2 (orange) contains the battle mage ranking details, with the place in the leaderboard, current level, next level requirements and the booster multiplier.

The battle tab (red) shows the remaining energy and when the next energy point will be added, while the Daily Tab (blue) will contain the details about daily points and rewards. The daily focus is listed here, details about the quest, how many chests are currently farmed and how much focus points are needed to reach the next reward.

The battle log (purple) contains the recent battles, with details about the team used and player ranks. Battles can be shared and watched from this tab, making it easier to analyze the tactics.

My honest advice is to enjoy the game. Dream big but don't get upset if you don't win many battles. The community is the best place to learn more, with useful intel available on forums, Discord channels, and social media groups.

What challenges did I faced, and how did I overcome them? I struggled to win in the first days, as I dived into the game without researching the gameplay and tactics.

I was ready to fight for glory, crypto and NFTs... as my Splinterlands knowledge was limited! I thought that I will use my Hearthstones or Might & Magic experience to boss the game but I was wrong! My first ranking wasn't Bronze... was Loser!

This battle mage apprentice was both naïve and arrogant! Lost several battles until I learned that ranged monsters can't attack from the first position, and many more until I fully understood the tactics and abilities. Therefore my crash course for new players is ... tank, then casters, and the ranged at the back

I battled hard for 4 months and in April 2021 I reached Silver III, and this motivated me even more. It took 214 battles and 80 wins to reach the level, which shows that a 37% win ratio can be good enough to fly through the ranks!

I am glad I am able to constantly reach the top Silver tiers, and most of the time the daily rewards are good. There's not always a 100% card drop like below, but it kept decent over the last seasons.

Was amazing to get 6 cards from only three chests, and I hope that hopefully I can keep the bar that high. The new players will have to settle with less chests, but this is part of the growing!

The system is bulletproof, as lower levels could win a similar number of chests as the big guns. The focus points system and the season chests has a different set of requirements depending on the level of the battle mage.

Here is one of my good seasons, when I farmed 25 reward chests. The bounty was acceptable, with 13 chests unwrapping cards. The beauty of higher levels is that the number of cards in the chest can vary, and some had even three cards inside.

I collected 25 cards from the 13 chests and upgraded some of my soulbound cards. It is going quite well with the Gladiator summoners, as most of them are already at level two or above.

Another top advice is to get Rebellion packs and lower the gap between you as a new player and the OGs. The Rebellion set is scheduled to be released in less than a month, with the big reveal on the 5th of December

The new set contains 96 new cards, including two limited-edition promo cards and nine Legendary airdrop cards which will be distributed via a completely re-imagined system.

Each pack contain five randomly cards from the Rebellion set, with at least one rare card. The Legendary and Alchemy potions can be used to increase the chances for Legendary or Gold Foil cards at the same rates as previous sets as well.

New abilities, new summoner mechanics, and dual-element concept will land on the Splinterlands! The special summoners will be able to summon cards from two basic elements on the same team. The Splinterlands will burn and we will be ready!

The Rebellion Summoners will also feature a new mechanic called Summoner Tactics, where players can choose between two sets of buffs or debuffs after both players reveal their teams. Forget all the current successful tactics, as new ones will emerge!

The Rebellion set will also introduce four new unit abilities: Armored Strike, Corrosive Ward, Flank, and Lookout. he new abilities will enhance certain elements, making the team's synergy more... deadly!

Armored Strike - The units with this ability will gain an ADDITIONAL Melee attack using the Armor stats
Corrosive Ward - For me this is Acid Thornes and the nemesis to Repair! You can't Repair something that's been melted into acidic goo! When the unit with this ability is hit by melee attack, will do 2 damage to the attacker's Armor AND will also reduce the max Armor of the attacker by 2.
Flank - If the unit with this ability is in the first position, then the unit in the second position gains the Reach ability. Imagine the synergy created by this new ability, making the first two units work together to bring down the enemy tank
Lookout - Say Hello! to scouts that shield your support units! The card with this ability will help adjacent allies to take one less damage from Sneak, Snipe, and Opportunity attacks.

More advices for beginners? Play and enjoy each battle, read and master the tactics, and make sure you don't get upset when you lose! When you win... you win! When you lose... you learn!

There are many guides for newbies, and lot of people sharing tips in the Battle Mage and Social Media challenges! Watching battles will always provide a good learning experience, helping you to see why some tactics are better than others.

The chances of winning the battle are higher if you adapt well to the battle rule. Use the right cards and you can guarantee the win, use the wrong and you will face a painful defeat!

But sometimes... only sometimes... you can go against the tide and use the opposite of what the battle-rule asks for. You wouldn't use rangers if they will get strike back after they attack and you wouldn't use casters when Reflect Magic is active... but I just did that!

I went for Quora Towershed in this limited mana battle, and I went for an extreme battle plan. The Equal Opportunities battle-rule will give the the opportunity ability to all monsters, and they will attack the unit with the lowest heath, from any position.

Lobb Lowland: -1 Speed & +1 Gladiator cards

Quora Towershed: Pseudo-Tank Caster with Bloodlust and Heal

Venari Marksrat: Ranged with Martyr

Djinn Biljka: Caster with Camouflage

I wanted to say that my opponent didn't expected magic in this game, but having the Failed Summoner and the Unicorn Mustang made me think different. However, my lowest health unit was the Venari Marksrat, placed with grace between Quora and the camouflaged djinn.

Quora casted a spell, got hit by the reflection, and then took down the first enemy with a melee attack. Bloodlust activated and all stats were boosted by one, as she got the first kill!

The Unicorn Mustang delivered the deadly blow to the Venari Marksrat and both my remaining units got boosted by Martyr. Djinn Biljka targeted the Hill Giant, and got hit back by the spell reflection.

This battle went against the tides, and that was the beauty of it... was unpredictable and insanely entertaining. Quora healed herself, and hit twice the Venari Knifer. She got damaged by the spell reflection and then by the Thorns damage, but took down another enemy and had another dose of bloodlust!

Biljka casted another spell towards the big friendly giant, and was left with only one health after the reflect. The Unicorn Mustang failed to hit Quora and then the Hill Giant did the same.

New round... same pattern! Quora heal herself, casts a spell and gets damaged by the reflection, and then unleashes a powerful melee strike. The Unicorn survived thanks to his Void ability, that reduced half of the spell damage, and kicked back.

Not only Djinn Bilka couldn't deliver the deadly blow on the Mustang... same Void that kept it alive... but also got eliminated by the reflected spell! Kamikaze! Same pattern again... with Quora sealing the fate of the Mustang and getting all pumped up against the Hill Giant! See the full battle here!

Learning points? A stronger card could ignore the battle-rule dynamic and turn the game in your favor, as long as will survive long enough. The healing factor kept Quora alive long enough to stack bloodlusts, and the Martyr boost also played an important role! Now go and enjoy some battles my young padawan!