Greetings readers,

While I've stopped posting in the last 4 months it was because of lack of time and mental bandwidth. I have not stopped playing Splinterlands however.

With a few months of playing the game under my belt I wanted to help out other people that may be joining the game with some tips.

Tips and insights for new players

• Try a few games out with the cards given to you by the game. See if it is your cup of tea. If it is then I strongly advise buying the Summoner's spellbook. This will give you access to everything below, 5/6 of these are crucial to growing your collection and progressing in the game. The rest of the tips are based on the assumption that this will be your only in-game purchase for the moment.

• First season will suck, unless you (i) get help from friends who would lend you their cards or (ii) sink quite a bit of money into buying cards off the market. Don't worry, the game does get better the stronger and more diversified your deck gets (although, second and third seasons will also suck). Here are some of my earlier posts that showcase the level of frustration: 

https://www.publish0x.com/rock-paper-splinter/splinterlands-low-rating-match-making-xxwywyz

https://www.publish0x.com/rock-paper-splinter/splinterlands-daily-rewards-xvwynpj

https://www.publish0x.com/rock-paper-splinter/splinterlands-updated-tactic-xdngeqo

• Complete your daily quest daily. This can reward you cards, potions, packs or DEC. Needless to say, the most valuable reward you are aiming for in your first seasons are cards, any cards. Be aware however that even completing this quest may prove tricky early on and may require some time to complete. My advice, while in novice league, if you've had a couple of wins in a row, surrender the next battles to drop a bit in rank and move to the next. You will win a few minutes back.
• For the battles you do fight you might want to watch the battle, instead of skipping to results, to understand how the game mechanics work and how speed/abilities affect the battle.
• When the season ends collect your season reward. This can result in anything from the daily reward pool. More free stuff! (although you did pay for the summoner's book so is it still free?!?)
• Check-out this website daily: https://peakd.com/c/hive-13323/created - no referral whatsoever, just a filter applied on the splinterlands tag. With your summoner's book you also receive a hive blockchain account, with which you can then create an account on peakd. 
  
  Why should you check it out? Because there are people who give away cards from their daily quest packages. Entry is typically free and you have an extra chance to increase your collection.
• Check-out the Splinterlands discord channel: https://discord.gg/z5SbA7ck
  
  This is full of resources, strategies and you may also find people willing to lend you cards to get you going. You can also stay up to date with game updates this way!
• Join a starter guild that does not require a mandatory DEC contribution. This will give you a sense of community, increase a bit the DEC rewards you receive and allow you to participate in guild brawls! 
  
  If you are an active new player in search of a guild, join The Misfits (2 spots available now). We are participating in every guild brawl and are doing quite ok. Level 4 hall and lodge and level 1 arena. 
• Join tournaments once you have earned some DEC.
  
  As a beginner aim to join only the No-Lose "Bronze/Novice"Sit N Go 1 hr tournaments. These cost 3 DEC per entry and are guaranteed to give you back the DEC even if you place last. As they only last 1 hour there are typically people that do not enter any teams and therefore are not entitled to any rewards. So if you enter your teams then you can even get a tiny profit out of it. Every bit helps!
• If you get lucky with a golden card drop, this can be a great boost to your early deck-building. Seriously consider selling it on the market. The proceeds will be sufficient to allow you to buy the same standard card and a few others. For what cards you should prioritize, check out my next post. 

Hope these are helpful. Let me know in the comments below. Cards to be purchased off the market with the hard earned DEC are coming in another post soon. Do you have any other tips for beginning players that I may have missed? 

If you don't know what Splinterlands is and you want to give it a try, consider using my referral link and we both receive a random card. Good way to kickstart your collection!

Take care

Alex