Splinterlands: 5 Things you need to know as a Beginner

Splinterlands has been the talk of the town in the blockchain gaming community for quite some time. If you discovered this gem recently, you are either a crypto nerd who's always on the hunt for great projects, a gaming geek who heard about this very cool blockchain game, or a random internet user looking for some exciting games to earn money. With over 500k active users every day, Splinterlands is undoubtedly the most 'happening' play-to-earn blockchain game I've come across to date. The game has so much to offer - DEC/SPS, Splinters, Summoners, Monsters, Guilds, etc. While this is all very exciting, it can often be overwhelming for new users. This blog is aimed to point you in the right direction.

Note: Every Splinterlands battle that you win rewards you with Dark Energy Crystals (DEC), which is the game's reward token.
You MUST meet these two conditions to start earning DEC:

• Buy the Summoner's Spellbook ($10 USD)
• Get into Bronze II League (a recent update)

Here are my five key specifics you need to be aware of as you dive into the Splinterworld!

1. Analyze and understand the game inside out

When I started playing Splinterlands, I just wanted to quickly start earning. I skipped all the tutorials and battled for hours hoping to earn some DEC. After hours of struggle, I finally realized that a Summoner's Spellbook is required to start earning. (silly, I know!)

The point is - with countless features this game has to offer, one can easily be muddled.

Luckily, Splinterlands provides a very detailed 'How to Play' tutorial along with the ability to practice without affecting your ranking.

Also, don't forget to get yourself familiar with the concept of Summoners, Monsters, and their abilities - Strategizing around them will bring you victories!

2. Thou Shalt Finish the Daily Quests!

I'm a sucker for free rewards, and with Splinterlands, you get rewarded every day by completing a quest. The number of reward chests is based on the league you're in. Don't get your hopes up with these daily rewards as they might not give you what you expect. Usually, you'll find some free DEC or one of the potions. Then there are unexpected times when you might bump into cool cards!
Fun fact- I acquired my first epic card (AxeMaster) from one of the chests from Daily quest!

Note: If you miss a quest, don't worry as it carries forward to the next day. In that case, you can complete two quests in a go!
Also, if you're struggling on a quest - you have a chance to refresh it with a new quest (applies once per day).

3. Aim for top leagues for Season Rewards

This is where I get all excited. Season Rewards are the finest and most extensive set of rewards earned by players at the end of each Splinterlands season, which ranges from 12-16 days. Your reward chests are based on the league you're in before the season ends. In order to move up in the leagues, you need a certain rating and power. Higher the league you're in, the better your end-of-season rewards.

4. Security: Don't let your account slip away!

With all your time, efforts, and investment poured into the game, the last thing you want is some stranger on the internet fleeing away with all your hard-earned collectibles. Here are a few things you should be certain of to fully secure your account.

• NEVER share your password or Hive Keys with anyone.
• Use Brave, the official browser of Splinterlands.
  Learn more about Splinterlands and Brave's partnership here
• Get the Hive Keychain extension for your browser.
  Keychain for Hive provides you with secure and seamless access to Splinterlands, without having the risk of exposure of your account password or Hive Keys.
  The setup is very simple -
  • Download the Hive Keychain extension here
  • Request your account keys on Splinterlands
  • Enter/Import them into the Hive Keychain extension.

Now you can easily login into Splinterlands and other Hive platforms using Hive Keychain without having to enter your password!

5. Make Wise Card Rental/Purchase Decisions!

As a player as well as an investor, what I'm about to say might be hard to swallow for some of you - Don't buy everything that's hot on the market.
If you're an elite investor with no financial limits, please skip this point. But if you're on a limited spend capacity like myself, you need to acquire assets that provide you with the most value for every dollar spent. This would mean buying the cards you actually need. Start with renting different monsters, summoners and testing their abilities in battles. Now shortlist the cards that you rely on for most of your battles and aim to buy those specific cards when you can.

For instance - I realized that the magic attack using a water summoner has been a very common tactic against me lately. I needed monsters with certain abilities to counter such attacks. So, I purchased monsters with void and void shield ability to reduce the damage from magic attacks.

This not only allowed me to own these cards as an investment (which doubled my asset value in a few months), but I was also able to use them successfully against all the Water-Magic attacks!

Tip: If the price of your desired cards seems too high on Splinterlands, try placing a bid on third-party markets such as Peakmonsters. You might get some of your favorites for a steal!

Do you have any recommendations for beginners as they land their foot in the game? Leave them in the comments section below.

Stay tuned for more Splinterlands content. Until the next one, KEEP BRAWLING!!