Splinterlands

Written by

Jaylance Lorete

About author

Jaylance Lorete is a content writer at P2E News. He fell in love with gaming since he was a child. When play-to-earn games became popular, he instantly got hooked with the industry.

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What is Splinterlands?

Splinterlands is a digital trading card game that offers players a chance to fully own the rights to their digital collectible cards. The game runs on the HIVE blockchain and each card in the game is an NFT that can be traded, sold, or purchased through the game’s ecosystem.

The game features two types of cards: Summoners and Monsters. Both Summoners and Monsters vary depending on their elements, skills, and stats.

A player can only pick one Summoner per battle and using the chosen Summoner, a player can choose up to 6 other Monsters to accompany the Summoner to battle.

There are many Summoners and Monsters in the game. Here we can see Alric Stormbringer as a Water Summoner card in Splinterlands as an example.

There are more Monsters in Splinterlands than Summoner cards and this is mainly because a player can choose up to 6 Monster cards per battle compared to just 1 Summoner card per battle. Here we can see Pit Ogre as a Fire Monster card in Splinterlands as an example.

Through the diverse and unique collection of cards in Splinterlands, players are able to experience a competitive world of trading card games and, more importantly, earn by playing the game. Players can earn Dark Energy Crystals ($DEC), the in-game token of the game, and Splintershards ($SPS) just by playing the game!

Splinterlands Gameplay

Players can immediately start battling in Splinterlands as soon as they access your account. Players will have the option to either challenge a friend, practice against other players or bots or immediately participate in ranked battles.

Ranked battles in Splinterlands are split into two formats: Modern and Wild. The two formats have similar gameplay mechanics and rules but the only difference is that, in the Modern Ranked format, the only allowed cards to be used are those from the newer and recent sets.

• Modern Format
  • Only recent and newer card sets will be available to play.
  • This format might favor the newer players or players who have most of the recent card sets.
• Wild Format
  • All cards are allowed to be played.
  • This format might favor veteran players as they have gathered more cards from past expansions.

The core gameplay of Splinterlands revolves around deck building and countering your opponents’ cards. At the beginning of the match, both players are given time to choose their eligible cards for the battle. Take note of the word “eligible” because most matches will have card restrictions!

After the preparation phase, the battle will commence and will be simulated. Players are allowed and encouraged to watch the simulation to learn more about positioning and deck building. Whoever wins the match gets the rewards alongside some bonuses depending on win streaks and card bonuses.

How to Get Started in Splinterlands?

To get started in Splinterlands, one must have a HIVE blockchain wallet and a Summoner’s Spellbook to start earning rewards from the game. Do not worry though! Once you successfully purchase the Summoner’s Spellbook and upgrade your free-to-play Splinterlands account, your HIVE account will be created alongside your purchase!

Important!

This is an important phase so make sure to secure your account credentials and account keys!

It will cost a player $10 to purchase a Summoner’s Spellbook and it can be done through Paypal, or through the 20+ cryptocurrencies accepted by Splinterlands.

Upon purchasing the Summoner’s Spellbook, the player will receive 3000 credits which can be used to rent or purchase cards in the marketplace to start the player’s journey in the ecosystem.

If you are looking to play the game first without cashing in some money, do not worry! Splinterlands can be played free through its free-to-play version. Just take note of the following differences:

• Free-to-play (No Summoner’s Spellbook)
  • No battle rewards earned.
  • No Tournaments available.
  • No trading in the marketplace.
  • Ineligible to join guilds.
• Upgraded Account (Purchases Summoner’s Spellbook)
  • Eligible to purchase card packs, cards, and land.
  • Earn $SPS and $DEC in the game.
  • Earn through Daily Quests and Seasonal Rewards.
  • Eligible to join Tournaments.
  • Deploy transactions through the HIVE blockchain.
  • Eligible to create or join guilds.

How to Earn in Splinterlands?

There are many ways to earn in Splinterlands. Among those are rentals, selling cards, earning $SPS through battles, daily quests, seasonal rewards, and tournaments.

Rentals can be a good way to earn some extra $DEC in Splinterlands if you have excess cards. Kindly note that in renting cards, the rented cards will temporarily be delegated to the renting player and will not be available in your collection until the end of the agreed rental duration.

Selling cards also rewards you $DEC but since you are selling the card, once purchased by another player, the card will now belong to the new owner and will not be available in your card collection anymore.

To rent out or sell cards to other players, simply go to your card collection and choose the card you want to rent out to other players. Then, simply select the ‘List for Sale or Rent’ option.

Splinterlands players mainly earn $SPS tokens from playing the game and this is where most of the earnings from the game may come from. There are several factors that affect the amount of $SPS token rewarded per battle.

• League
  • The higher the player’s league is, the higher the rewards.
• Energy Capture Rate (ECR)
  • For every completed battle, a player’s ECR decreases and will consequently, reduce the amount of $SPS obtainable per win.
  • ECR regenerates at a rate of 25% per 24 hours.
• Win Streak
  • If a player has a winning streak of 2 or more in a row, the player receives bonus reward shares per succeeding win.
• Card Bonuses (Set and Foil Bonus)
  • Players can earn 10% more reward shares for every Alpha or Promo card, 5% more for every Beta card, and 10% more for every Gold Foil card used in a ranked battle.
• Guild Bonus
  • A fixed amount of bonus $SPS can be obtained by a player based on the guild’s level.
• Focus Cards
  • Daily Focus are daily quests that can be done by a player. If a player uses Focus-related cards in the battle, a 10% bonus per Focus-related card used will be provided.
• Use of Starter Cards (Non-NFT Cards)
  • The amount of $SPS earned per win gets reduced if a player used a starter card for that battle. The reasoning behind this is to further incentivize those who invested in NFT assets.

Most importantly, the base amount of the $SPS token rewarded per battle won depends on the following formula.

Note

Reward Shares = (Rating x (1 – % of starter cards))^3 / 1000) x ECR x Bonuses

Lastly, players can also earn additional cryptocurrency through tournaments and seasonal rewards. This is to further elevate the competitive scene of the game and test the skills of players.

For tournaments, a fixed entry fee is often required by tournament organizers and this is paid through $DEC as shown in the example below. Then, prizes for winners are often distributed through $SPS or $DEC.

For seasonal rewards, loot chests are rewarded to players depending on their league rank and the number of claimable loot chests gathered throughout the season.

Splinterlands Collection Power System

There exists a system in Splinterlands wherein players are gated by the extent or ‘power’ of their card collection. Through this, players with insufficient power in their card collections will not be able to progress further in the league ranking system.

Collection Power is computed through the total Card Power that your collection possesses. A player can view the individual power of each of their cards through the card descriptions.

There are ways to increase your collection power:

1. Purchasing Cards from the marketplace
2. Renting Cards from the marketplace
3. Another player delegating or sending cards to you.