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When we play Splinterlands and pay attention to the battles—or even watch other people’s battles—it’s common to see that everyone focuses on using the most eye-catching abilities in the entire game. For example, one of the most powerful ones—and one I’m tired of mentioning in past posts—is “Bloodlust.” There are other interesting ones like “Void Armor,” or even others that are also extremely strong. In fact, I’ve detailed many of them here. However, there are always abilities that are very good but highly “underrated” by the community—perhaps because of the difficulty involved in implementing a strategy using these abilities.
However, this time I want to talk about one of the most “underrated” skills in the game today—one that many players, especially newer ones, and even some more experienced ones, are reluctant to step out of their comfort zone to use because the strategies built around it can, in a way, put your own cards at risk. However, anyone who truly knows how to play it correctly could gain a significant advantage in battles that very few players expect.
So in today's post, I'll talk about that skill that everyone avoids and, in a way, tries not to use. So, if you want to know what it is, stick around until the end of this post:
This is a relatively new ability, as it was introduced in the “Arcana Conclave” expansion and, of course, now in “Escalation.” Some of the units that have these abilities are the Koi Archer, Steppe Stalker, Warwall Juggernaut, and Portia Nyr, though there may be others I’m not thinking of right now. The thing is, it might go unnoticed because it’s just another technical ability among the many that already exist, but what most new players don’t realize is that it’s one of the strongest offensive abilities in the current META—even more powerful than the passive abilities players usually rely on.
But rather than going on and on about what it is, let’s explain how this ability works from a technical standpoint. You can also acquire it through a specific “Modifier”—though that’s a different matter. Still, let’s take a look at how this ability works from the inside so you can learn once and for all how it functions and why you’re missing out on a great opportunity to win many battles:
Mechanics: The logic behind this ability is very simple to understand: the card that possesses it gains +1 attack point every time it takes damage from sources that deal damage. To be more specific, if you take damage indirectly from allied attacks, or if you take damage from poison or burns, your card gains attack power as a result.
The “Painforge” Special Ability: While this might sound really bad for our deck and our cards, the reality is that this is precisely what makes it so powerful—let’s take a moment to analyze this. Many of the strongest abilities require you to defeat enemy cards to become stronger, but with “Painforge,” it’s exactly the opposite—it doesn’t depend on you defeating anyone. However, one thing you can control is the damage you inflict on yourself, and this is incredibly powerful because your card becomes an offensive machine that few can stop.
The reality is that it’s very easy to see why players avoid using these types of abilities—and especially “Painforge”—since players typically avoid poison or burn effects at all costs; they see them as a disadvantage they’d rather not deal with, but if you use that supposed disadvantage to your advantage—which can certainly be managed, as I’ll discuss in the next section—you can increase a card’s power without having to defeat any of your opponent’s cards.
The idea here isn't to view “Poison or Burn” as a surefire way to destroy your lineup; on the contrary, it will be the source of your power to catch your opponent off guard, and that's exactly what I want you to understand in this post, because learning to play with “Painforge” will give you an incredible edge over the rest.
Okay, I could give you lots of examples here to help you understand the potential of this skill, but I think two are more than enough. After all, the purpose of these posts is to give you the theory on how to improve your game, but what will really make the difference is putting it to the test on the battlefield—that’s the only way you’ll gain the experience needed to dominate the field. With that in mind, let’s look at two specific examples:
Example with Noxious Fumes: This is one of the most complicated rules to play, and most players just focus on defending. However, if we play with one or two cards that have “Painforge,” we gain +1 attack power at the start of each round. So, the more damage we take, the stronger we become. The best part is that we can combine this with healing abilities to mitigate damage while we grow stronger.
Scenario with “Recklees”: This debuff deals damage to our adjacent allies after every successful attack. This means the idea is to position units with “Painforge” right at the edges of the card featuring “Recklees,” which will also help increase the attack power of your two cards. And with just one ability on the board—which you can also counter yourself with other abilities.
With the new Archon “Meredrool”: This new Archon has an unusual ability, as his tactic allows him to grant the “Reckless” Debuff to 2 cards on our side of the field or the opponent’s side, This is great because you can boost your units with “Painforge” completely passively and in just a few rounds, so you’ll very quickly have an offensive weapon capable of taking out your opponent’s cards in no time.
Support with Triage or Heal: This is the key to mitigating the damage we inflict on ourselves with these combinations. Of course, this is where you really need to use your creativity, because you only have 6 slots to work with, and you need at least d2 of them for support—or at least one—since this will help your cards, or at least the one taking the most damage, survive while your card grows stronger.
This ability is very special, and honestly, I think it’s really “underrated,” as I’ve mentioned in the title and throughout most of this post. The thing is, I see it as the only rule that lets you be proactive about the damage you might take—and the only one where you can turn what are usually disadvantages into an advantage that no opponent expects.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know—do you use the “Painforge” ability regularly?
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