Splinterlands: Understanding the Earthquake Ruleset – A Simple Guide for Every Warrior
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Last week I did post titled Understanding the ruleset: Briar Patch.Today I will be doing a deep dive into the Earthquake ruleset in Splinterlands.
In Splinterlands, rulesets change the entire way a battle works. Some are gentle. Some are brutal. Earthquake sits firmly in the brutal category.
If you have ever loaded into a match, seen the ground shaking under the ruleset icon, and watched your carefully built team slowly fall apart while the opponent’s team stayed healthy, you already know the pain. This post will break Earthquake down in plain language so any new or returning player can understand it and start winning more often.
What Earthquake Actually Does.
At the end of every round (starting after the first), the earth itself attacks.
Every monster that is standing on the ground takes 2 physical damage.
That damage hits armor first. If the monster has the Shield ability, the damage drops to 1. If it has Divine Shield, that first instance can be blocked. But the key point is simple: the ground keeps punching every single round.
There is one group of monsters the ground cannot touch: monsters with the Flying ability. We have a lot of them across the elements, especially the dragons.
Flying monsters are completely immune to Earthquake damage. They float above the shaking earth and ignore the 2-damage tax that everyone else pays. This is why Flying is the single most important thing to look for when Earthquake appears.
Why This Ruleset Feels So Unfair at First
Imagine two teams of equal strength. One team has three or four Flying monsters. The other team has none.
Every round the non-Flying team loses health for free. After four or five rounds the difference becomes massive. The Flying team is still at full (or near-full) strength while the ground team is bleeding out. That is the core of Earthquake. It rewards players who respect Flying and punishes players who ignore it.
What Can Still Hurt a Flying Monster in Earthquake.
Flying makes a monster immune to the ground damage, but it does not make the monster invincible. Two abilities in particular exist specifically to punish Flying units:
1. Snare
Snare is the most direct counter. When a monster with Snare successfully hits a Flying target, it removes the Flying ability from that target.
Once Flying is removed, the monster is treated as a normal ground unit. From that moment on it starts taking the full 2 Earthquake damage every round. Snare can be cleansed, but until it is cleansed the Flying advantage is gone.
If your entire strategy relies on one or two key Flying monsters and the opponent brings Snare, those monsters can suddenly become vulnerable. I just love this game splinterlands there is solution to every ability.
2. Wingbreak.
Wingbreak is even more aggressive. A monster with Wingbreak will always target the first Flying enemy it can reach, no matter where that enemy is positioned. On top of that, it deals an extra +2 damage specifically to Flying targets.
This means Wingbreak units hunt your Flying monsters and hit them harder than they hit anything else. In an Earthquake battle where you are counting on your flyers to stay healthy and deal damage over many rounds, Wingbreak can delete them faster than expected.
Other things can still hurt Flying monsters of course (normal attacks, magic, ranged fire, poison, etc.), but Snare and Wingbreak are the two abilities that specifically target the advantage Earthquake gives you.
DOs – How to Play Earthquake Correctly.
Always check for Flying first. Before you look at health, damage, or abilities, ask: “How many Flying monsters can I bring?”
Protect your key Flying units. Do not put your strongest flyer in the front if the opponent is likely to have Snare or Wingbreak. Keep them safer in mid or back positions when possible.
Bring high health and armor on your non-Flying units. The monsters that must stand on the ground need to survive the constant 2-damage tax. Shield is excellent because it cuts the damage to 1.
Include healing. Heal, Tank Heal, and Triage become much stronger under Earthquake because they constantly fight against the free damage the ground is dealing.
Play aggressively when you have the Flying advantage. The longer the battle lasts, the more total Earthquake damage the opponent takes. Finish them before they can stabilize.
DON’Ts – Common Mistakes That Lose Games.
- Do not ignore Flying completely. Going into Earthquake with zero Flying monsters (and no way to grant it) is one of the fastest ways to lose.
- Do not put all your faith in one Flying monster. If that single flyer gets Snared or focused by Wingbreak, your entire advantage can disappear.
- Do not bring low-health glass cannons as your only ground units. They die too quickly once the 2-damage-per-round starts stacking.
- Do not forget that armor and Shield matter. Many players focus only on Flying and then wonder why their remaining ground tanks melt.
- Do not assume Flying makes a monster unkillable. Snare and Wingbreak exist for a reason. Respect them.
- Do not play too passively. Earthquake rewards the side that ends the fight faster. Stalling without enough damage often lets the ground damage decide the winner against you.
THE BATTLE.
Up to eleven and earthquake.
In the battle description I would focus more on when earthquake is taking place,snare or wingbreak abilities if any, in action.
The ambush round.
This round is showing the lineups of my opponent and myself. At this point, my opponent is even more prepared and knowledgeable of the ruleset than I am—and kudos to him. He has one monster with the flying ability and another with the wingbreak ability. And his action is Bella Ratajkowski, granting the deflect ability and shield to all bloodline elements.
In my lineup, I only have one monster with flying ability (Surgeblade), and of course my most-used summoner Cryptic, granting poison and expose to two units.
Round 1, scene 3. On this scene poison was successfully delivered to two of his monsters as shown with those green icons.
Round 1, Scene 10. This is were I first saw the wingbreak ability in action.My opponent monster Tandi Janda that has the wingbreak ability went for my monster Surgeblade with the flying ability and delivered a +4 damage as defined by the wingbreak ability. Tandi has +2 melee attack plus extra 2 for flying units. Hence the +4 you are seeing.
Round 2,Scene1. This is the first earthquake and all units that doesn't have the flying ability are affected and those with shield gets -1 damage as shown in this screenshot.
Round 2, Scene 10. My opponent lost his only monster with the flying ability from my damage dealers and I lost my tank as well
Round 2 Scene13. Second wingbreak attack from my opponent to my only flying monster.
Rounnd 3,Scene1. Second earthquake.
Round 3,Scene 10.Five against one.
Round 3, Scene 16.Game Over before the next earthquake.
Earthquake is a ruleset of attrition and positioning. The ground itself becomes an extra attacker that only hits non-Flying units. The player who brings Flying gains a free health advantage every single round. The player who also prepares for Snare and Wingbreak protects that advantage.
For a complete beginner the simple rule is this:
When you see Earthquake, look for Flying first.
Everything else is secondary.
Bring Flying. Protect it from Snare and Wingbreak. Make sure your remaining ground units can survive the constant shaking. Do these three things and you will win far more Earthquake battles than you lose.
The earth is angry in this ruleset. Either rise above it or get buried by it. Fly high, warriors.
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