Splinterlands Newbie Tips

I have been playing Splinterlands for a grand total of a week now, so take all of the advice here with a rather large grain of salt. However, here are a few tips that I've learned while playing and attempting to figure out the game. For the most part these are general ideas rather than specifics, as those can change depending on market conditions and new cards, but hopefully I can get to those in future posts.

• Your starting experience will be much smoother if you think of it as a $15-20 purchase, and not just the $10 spellbook.
  I messed around with just the spellbook for a few days and got absolutely nowhere. Well actually, I did manage to gain a card from the end of season rewards. But in the current game state, getting started with just the spellbook will take a few seasons at the bare minimum, and probably much more depending on your luck. Get the spellbook, and load a few dollars worth of credits into your account so you can get some cards (AFTER you complete Tip #2).

• Play enough games to get a grasp of game mechanics before buying or renting anything.
  I'm not saying you need to get hundreds of games under your belt or anything, but do get familiar with the starter/free cards and how the abilities work. A great way to waste your hard-earned resources is to buy or rent a large amount of cards and have no idea how to use them - wait until you are at least able to win the occasional game before touching your credits or DEC.

• Peakmonsters is your friend.
  Learn how to use Peakmonsters, at the very least to rent cards. The in-game market is lacking in search features, and Peakmonsters has a much more robust interface. Peakmonsters is also great for renting cards for collection power in a cost effective way once you are familiar enough with the game to have a hagh enough rating to qualify for Bronze II and beyond.

• (Eventually) Improve your deck.
  You won't be able to climb the ladder very far without makign some upgrades. Once you are familiar with the game mechanics and the rental system, pinpoint a few cards that can help you win games and rent them out (or buy them). Renting is significantly cheaper, and the way to go if you want to just try things out. If you know for sure that you'll be using something for a while and you have the resources then it can make sense to buy, but it is a much large commitment. No need to go overboard at first - 2-3 cards (or sometimes just 1) can dramatically improve your chances.

That's all I've got for now, but by following these tips hopefully you'll be able to get well on your way to winning some games and building your collection!