There is a ton of information out there designed to get you started right on your Splinterlands journey, but because of the nature of the blockchains on which Splinterlands was born, these resources can often be hard to locate.
The purpose of this article is to point you toward the posts, articles and sites that will be most useful to you as you begin with Splinterlands. Whether you are a player, a collector or investor, it would be a good idea for you to keep this post handy. Veteran players can use it to guide new players in the right direction without having to explain it all to them piece by piece. Collectors can use it to understand the basics of the game and learn the important differences between the hundreds of unique Splinterlands cards in the game today. Investors can use it to educate themselves to make the best possible decisions before converting their money into Splinterlands assets such as Land, Cards, Dark Energy Crystals and more.
I will do my best here to organize these links into various categories of information and by order of importance, but I already know that it will fall short of perfection. While this post will point you in the right directions, it will certainly not cover everything. For over two years, the Splinterlands community has earned rewards for creating content of their own, everything from Share-your-Battle posts that present layers of strategy, to in-depth market analyses that offer heaps of non-investment advice. ;)
As Splinterlands continues to grow, I'm asked every day by new players and collectors for these resources. It is my intention with this post to present a definitive Starter's Guide to Splinterlands. These links will be focused on one thing: People who are new to the world of Splinterlands.
If you don't want to read through it all now, that's fine, but do not forget that it's here on Publish0x. Bookmark the article if you need to. It will save you a ton of time when explaining the game and introducing new players in the future, and I will update it with additional links as they become available.
So let's get started!
1. Essentials
These links are absolute essentials for anyone who wants to be in the know about Splinterlands at all times. Through exploring them you will find all the assistance you need to get started in the game. These are our home bases.
Splinterlands.com - This is the game's official website and home base. Here you can play the game, participate in tournaments, trade on the market, view your collection or take the official Tutorial. You can also open and transfer packs, move Dark Energy Crystals and more.
Splinterlands Discord Community - The Discord community is the first and largest interface for real-time interacting about Splinterlands, as well as where our devs and creators spend most of their time. Tech Support can be reached quickly there any time of day, and if no one on the team is immediately able to help, one of our many helpful community members will assist you there. If you are new to Splinterlands and are not yet familiar with Discord, I HIGHLY recommend becoming familiar with it and joining the Splinterlands server.
Splintertalk.io - Splintertalk is the official blog of Splinterlanders. It is an interface to the Splintertalk Tribe and a second layer token built on HIVE called SPT (Splintertalk). Content at Splintertalk is 100% Splinterlands, and creators earn rewards in the form of the SPT token when their fellow community members upvote their posts. New players should find the Splintertalk blog quickly so they can check out all the valuable content that is being created around the game. The quickest and easiest way to see the posts that are most valued by the community is by visiting the "TRENDING" tab.
Official Splinterlands HIVE Blog - The official blog, in which updates come directly from co-founder Matt Rosen, can be found at any interface to the HIVE blockchain. Our favorite of these is Peakd.com. When you upgrade your Splinterlands account buy purchasing the $10 Summoner Spellbook, you will be able to login here with your HIVE (Splinterlands) account and start creating content of your own.
There are regular official Splinterlands contests run from this blog, and it is where you will find updates the moment that they are released. But do not fear, news is also shared across social media and through our other channels.
Official Splinterlands Twitter - Twitter has become the best place to quickly share updates and news from Splinterlands, and many of our players have created Twitter accounts simply to stay up to date on what's happening in Splinterlands. When something happens that our community needs to know about, I personally share it to Twitter first, because of the numbers of people we are able to reach there.
2. Secondary Markets and Tools
The following list of links are to tools that aren't necessary at the very beginning of your Splinterlands journey. Still, learning about them as quickly as possible will benefit you greatly and all serious players of the game are very familiar with these helpful sites.
Peakmonsters.com - Peakmonsters is the original secondary market for Splinterlands. This site was developed by the same people that created Peakd.com, the leading interface to the HIVE blockchain that was mentioned above. It is very intuitive and adds several layers of functionality to the Splinterlands market game. On Peakmonsters you can make purchases in bulk, create bundles or sets of cards to sell, even rent or lease cards for passive income from the excess in your collection.
Lots of players who want to play at higher leagues than their financial situations allow use the rental market to borrow entire winning collections for each season, hoping that the rewards they will earn for winning outweigh the costs of renting the cards (usually for pennies a day) - they usually do, and the rental market at Peakmonsters is extremely popular.
HIVE-Engine - HIVE-Engine is one of the most important secondary markets for Splinterlands. It is a decentralized exchange (DEX) on which you can trade tokenized Land, Packs, Dark Energy Crystals and more. While I cannot recommend that a player new to crypto should try to tackle this on their first day in the Splinterlands, they should attempt to learn how it works as quickly as possible.
HIVE-Engine was the first method developed for trading Dark Energy Crystals externally, which makes it possible for Splinterlanders to essentially withdraw their rewards into the currency of their choice (including BTC).
HERE is an important guide for using HIVE-Engine with Splinterlands, for when you are ready.
MonsterMarket - MonsterMarket is another secondary market that some Splinterlands players prefer for their transactions because of the cash-back rewards that can be earned for trading there. I am not personally very familiar with this site, but it is 100% reputable and trustworthy.
SplintX - This secondary Splinterlands exchange was created by a group of college students in the summer of 2020, as part of a summer internship program called Splinterns. Again, I have not used this market myself, but I recommend giving it a look. The interface is incredibly smooth and easy to navigate, and they have awesome collection tools.
Reward Card Print Record - This useful tool was created by kiokizz, one of the more brilliant members of the Splinterlands community. It will always tell you the current status of all Splinterlands Reward Edition cards. This includes how many have been printed, and how much of their total supply has already been distributed. This is how players tell how much time they have left to pick up certain Reward cards in Loot Chests.
Season Report Card Tool - Also by kiokizz, this tool allows players to generate a report card of the most recent season. The card is generated in a handy form that allows for easy posting on the HIVE blockchain, so that they can be shared to Splintertalk or Peakd.com.
3. Strategy/Gameplay Basics
The following is a list of strategy and gameplay articles that I have personally authored. These posts were designed to explain the game to newcomers, and while I fully understand that there are far greater strategists than myself in the Splintersphere, I am posting my own for several reasons. First, I am the Splinterlands Content Director, and it is important to have these resources well-organized. Second, as I said before, it can be extremely difficult and time-consuming to sift through 2 years worth of posts from an entire community to find articles that fit the bill. Third, I do not want to fuss with finding the original authors of all posts, contacting them and asking their permission to share. I hope you all keep this in mind when you prepare to angrily type that I "forgot something" in the comments below. I do ask that you share any useful posts that you may have as links in the comments so that they may always be connected to this Starter's Guide. Thanks!
How to Start Earning - This article describes the simple but necessary step of upgrading to earn rewards, and why it is important for the game.
Splinterlands Rewards Rundown - This article outlines the many ways to earn rewards with Splinterlands.
Card Rarities Explained - This article explains the differences between the various card rarities in Splinterlands.
Buying and Selling Cards - This recent guide was published on my Publish0x blog, Non-Fungible Stew. It describes how to trade Splinterlands cards.
Combining and Leveling Cards - This article explains Splinterlands' system of combining and leveling cards.
Splinterlands Seasons - This article describes the flow of Splinterlands Season play, the heartbeat of the game.
First and Last Cards - the Foundation of Strategy - This post supplies some important strategy info for beginners about the placement of your Monsters on the Splinterlands battlefield. Included are some recommended cards for new players.
Ruleset Rundown - Rulesets are one of the most important variables in a Splinterlands battle. Here is a rundown of all 27 of them (currently in play).
Ruleset Strategy Series - 18 of 27 Ruleset Strategy have been created. In the most recent guide, Close Range, you'll find links to all 17 of the previous guides as well.
Splinterlands and HIVE-Engine - In this post I explain how to get even more from Splinterlands by using HIVE-Engine.
Splinterlands as an Investor - In this post I break down the ways you can "play" Splinterlands without being a player.
Creating a Splinterlands Tournament - This article describes how to create a Splinterlands tournament using the internal system.
The Future of Splinterlands "Crawl" Tournaments - This is where Splinterlands meets ESports. Check it out!
Linking Wallets and Accepted Forms of Payment - This article goes through the various payment methods that are accepted. Since the time of publishing, this list has expanded substantially in terms of cryptos accepted, but the basics are still the same.
COMING SOON...
This job never ends, and the deeper I get, the more essential posts-to-be reveal themselves. So please, if you have good suggestions for strategy and basics articles that you'd like to see me tackle, let me know in the comments below this post. Once new posts are created, I will update this Starter's Guide accordingly! Below are some upcoming plans for articles.
Mana - The Fuel for Splinterlands Summoning - In this upcoming article I will create a strategy guide for various Mana caps, ranging anywhere from 12 to 99.
Abilities - Pay Close Attention - There are dozens of different abilities in Splinterlands, that must be used carefully and in combination with one another. Once I have completed the Ruleset Strategy Series, I will begin exploring them one by one with in-depth strategy guides in a similar fashion.
"Print" Runs and Scarcity - One of the most important aspects of the game is the scarcity of cards, especially since Splinterlands cards will never be reprinted. As cards from previous sets are combined and burned, the total circulating supply of those cards goes down, while cards from the current set increase in number. I will explore this in an upcoming article.
When to Burn - One important thing to remember is that Splinterlands cards can always be burned for a set value in Dark Energy Crystals. Certain cards that are not widely used by players tend to fall to tradable values that are lower than their DEC burn rates. In an upcoming article, I'll show you what to look for in finding these cards, and how to make the most of the Dark Energy Crystals for which they burn.
MORE LINKS
Play Splinterlands
Splinterlands Official HIVE Blog
Splinterlands Official Publish0x Blog
Splinterlore Publish0x Blog
Splinterlands on Twitter
Splinterlore.com
Splinterbard on Twitter
Splinterlore on Twitter
Splinterlands Telegram Community
Splinterlands Discord Community
STILL MORE LINKS
Play Townstar by Gala Games
Earn BTC when you Buy Stuff with Lolli
Buy Awesome Custom Shades from Knockaround
Get the Best Custom Embroidered Merch from Queensboro
Join Publish0x and Earn Crypto Rewards!
Learn Why I Believe in Referral Business (Article)
See you out there Splinterlanders!
A Toast to Splinterlands
To Splinterlands, to Splinterlands, you’re more than just a game,
I raise my glass to you and here your glory I proclaim!
To all your grisled warriors, all safe behind their screens,
To Summoners and Monsters, all the endless battle scenes.
You teach us to persist, to persevere and to invest,
To stay up late in wait of a completed daily quest.
The eager flip of cards in hopes of shiny rarest gold,
The chance to win rewards whose worth are still as yet untold.
The chords that you have struck upon the strings of all our hearts,
Have rung out just as clear as all the numbers in your charts!
So Splinterlands, I toast to you, and though my toast is brief,
My rhymes cannot begin to share the gratitude beneath.
