Hello there.
This week's Community Engagement Challenge has a very interesting topic: "Splinterlands Learning Journey". I have been playing Splinterlands for almost four years now [started Aug 2021], and I will have to say that learning the game never stops. This isn't anything new for anyone that has played card games like Magic the Gathering and the like. We have new cards and abilities that frequently come out that shifts the meta, and we also have card rotation that completely changes the meta.
What's cool is that even those are just the tip of the iceberg. In Splinterlands we have Archons/Summoners that can determine which cards you can use [maybe similar to Magic's Commanders], but we also have rulesets that further restrict and complicate things. Add to that the fact that cards have levels and the importance of one's card collection really makes a difference.
But even with all that in mind, Splinterlands is still a fun and easy to pick up game. At its core, a player just picks an Archon, pick up to 6 monsters, and start the battle. There are no complicated deck building, and middle of the battle decision making. Once the battle starts, it's out of their hands [similar to autobattler games like TFT].
When I first started playing, the biggest difficulty I found was that there wasn't much information available about the game. Or at least I thought there wasn't. I learned about Splinterlands from Dappradar's ranking of crypto games back then. I just went to the SPL website, bought a spellbook and started playing. I didn't know anything about Hive or the SPL discord, and didn't even considered it.
I'd say my background of playing card games helped me get over the learning curve fairly well. There were some hardships, but I slowly learned through experience. Back then the tutorial was bare bones and it required a lot of effort to get better and win consistently. A few of the hardest things to understand was the order of attack, and which targeting abilities had priorities. Eventually I learned about Magic>Ranged>Melee, Level, and RNG in case of ties in speed. As for targeting, Scattershot>Sneak>Snipe>Opportunity is the usual.
Fast forward to today, I think the team has done a great job of expanding the tutorial, and even adding rewards for doing them. This will definitely help new players get an idea of things. For a little more experienced players, the support page is a treasure trove of information where they can find more details on abilities and the like.
I do think they can improve on the support's visibility, since the only visible way it can be accessed is via the small ? mark on the top right, or by pressing the chat button on the lower right [there is also the support button at the bottom of the page]. But again, this AI support chat is already a huge leap from what it was before. It gives a brief overview of the answer, and gives a link to the article that expounds on it.
Before this was available though, looking at Hive posts and asking in Discord was the method I used when I couldn't figure stuff out. The Discord is easy enough to navigate and ask questions in. But clicking the Hive Blog link, I don't think it's helpful for new players or those interested in the game. Right now it just shows the weekly contests and announcements [which is ok for me as an experienced player]. But I think it would be helpful if we had a pinned post on an explanation of what is Splinterlands, and maybe a guide for new players, or maybe just a post full of helpful information and links.
If I have to give an advice to new players, I think the most important one is to have fun with the game. When I first started, I had a ton of fun learning the game and improving on my own. The game was addicting since the battles are quick, and you can start a new one just as fast. It's like a short form content like tiktok and YT Shorts that you can't just put down. The possibility of earning while playing is nice, but if that is the main goal and driving factor, you can get burnout or frustrated, or quit altogether.
The second advice would be to use all tools available to you. Ask in discord, read posts on Hive, check the support articles. For card game players, looking up deck lists, strats, and the meta is normal. This game is no different. Having more knowledge at hand will help with the overall experience of the game, and can even help in identifying what cards to buy/rent. I have a few Hive posts for new/beginner players that you can check out. I talk more in depth about SPS staking, guilds and other parts. Here is one of those posts for example. You don't have to limit yourself to mine though. This prompt would have provided a good amount of posts for new players to read through. Clove and Bulldog are some of the OG Splinterlands posters that give really good tutorials.
My Splinterlands Learning journey is still continuing. Even now I find myself checking out the support page since the team is very active in putting out new cards and abilities. The meta is continuously changing so finding out how I can improve my teams and strategies is an ongoing process.
Don't hesitate to let me know what you think, and if you have suggestions for improvement. And as always, these are Not Financial Advice, and Do Your Own Research.
If you want to start playing Splinterlands, you can use my link:
Splinterlands Referral Link
