Splinterlands - Beginners Guide (Formation Setup)

avatar

image.png

When you get into playing the game long enough you will realize that the position of your monsters during a match will greatly affect the outcome of the match. Today's post we will discuss the rules in position placement of monsters and some strategies players can implement in their battles. The following info is based on a full formation of using all six positions. Although there will be matches where limit of mana will restrict players not being able to fill up all six positions. Also by no means in this post entails all the rules and strategies when it comes to formation setups. Advance players will know there are much more to formation setups than this post show. Again this post is a guide for mostly beginners.

Formation

Straight out of the game is the diagram above that shows how each position is played in the match.

Position 1:

The first monster in the formation should never be a range attack monster unless match rule set includes "close combat". Also the monster in first position will only attack the opponent's first position monster. Any monster abilities is superseded in first position, except if ability effects an opponent monster beyond first position. An example ability is "blast" where opponent's second position monster will take a hit even if your monster is in first position.

Things to remember about Position 1:

Being placed in first position does not mean the monster gets to attack first. Instead the speed of the monster will dictate who will attack first.

It is advantageous to put a "tank" monster in first position in hopes of handling your opponent's attack. A tank monster is one that can handle a lot of attack damage. Cards that have self heal and high health and/or toughness stats are tank monsters.

Melee and Magic monsters are best in position 1. More often Melee is even more advantageous due mainly because monsters with Melee can not attack behind position 1 unless they have an ability such as sneak, opportunity, or reach.

Position 2:

The second monster in the formation is position 2. A very useful ability for position 2 are monsters with reach ability. In the dragon splinters the Manticore is a staple second position monster. Reason being it can attack at second position with a speed of 3 and higher melee at higher levels all in a 4 mana monster.

Things to remember about Position 2:

From position 2 and higher any range monster will be able to attack.

Position 3-5:

I grouped 3 thru 5 because there are plenty of abilities that allows the monster in these positions to attack whether they are in one of these positions. Some abilities are sneak, opportunity, and snipe.

Things to remember about Position 3-5:

This spot is ideal for monsters that have abilities to either defend your formation or increase attack stats towards your opponent's formation. Defense for instance such as tank heal, strength, repair, or triage. Many other abilities that will help hold up your formation from attack is considered defensive. On the offense side is to have multiple monsters attack in a single round. Monsters that have abilities such as sneak, opportunity and snipe can attack when they are in these positions.

Position 6:

The last monster in formation is here. Advantageous to have this monster be a range monster as it will be able to attack during battle up until the last monster in your formation. This monster will also benefit with the least likely to get killed as it is furthest from formation. However it is not immuned to abilities like sneak and can be swiftly taken out if your opponent has a high enough sneak attack monster. A good way to defend from sneak or any monster that can attack the rare is to use a monster with self heal.

Things to remember about Position 6:

Even though it is last in formation it may not be last to be attacked. There are abilities where opponents' monsters can reach to this position.

Ideal for range monsters to be placed here as they will stay alive longer to perform attacks.

Very good cards at the back end of formation are:

Reasons they are good back end monsters is that both Water and Earth Elemental have self heal while Air Elemental has ability to dodge melee and range attacks. The longer these monsters can stay alive the longer they can attack!

Vacancy

Another element of knowing where to put a monster in the formation is knowing which monster you expect to be in the leading up if and when your first monster is knocked out. To sequence your monsters where that the ones you want to stay alive the longest should remain in the back end of the formation. An example are cards that have tank heal that will heal others in formation should be in the middle to back end of formation.


Leading front monsters with abilities such as retaliate, shield, reflect magic, and so on should likely be place in the front of the formation to take advantage of neutralizing a specific/s attacks.

As match progresses and each monster may get knock out it is wise to think through what is next best monster to be in the front line as automatically front position vacancy is filled by the next monster in line. The first to knock out all their opponent's monsters wins the game. Simple objective but that is it with how matches are played.

divider.png

THANKS FOR READING! CONTINUE TO STEEMMONSTER ON!


divider.png



0
0
0.000
2 comments
avatar

Nice write up, I'll be sharing this in the BATTLE discord server offical curation channel.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Awesome article, lots of good info here to unpack! Thanks for sharing with the #battle community 🎮

0
0
0.000