Axie Infinity guidebook for beginners
[Axie Infinity guide] Play-to-earn games such as Axie infinity is a new world set ready to explode in the future. It is not too late to get aboard!
So, you have recently heard of play-to-earn games and looking to get into it? Welcome to the crypto gaming world! Among the numerous crypto games, Axie Infinity is perhaps the most famous game on the market right now. It is growing exponentially, with more than 10x the number of users since June. Axie Infinity’s player base is expected to continuing growing as the world begins to enter this new space.
What is this Axie Infinity game? Can eat a not?
No, you can’t eat it, but you can buy your favourite snacks to eat with the money you earned in-game! Axie Infinity is a pokemon-inspired universe game that runs on blockchain or more specifically Ethereum. You can breed and battle with monsters known as Axies. Each Axie is a non-fungible token (NFT), a unique collectible that you can sell to make fiat aka real-life money as well.
Fighting in adventure or arena mode gives you smooth love potions (SLP), a form of reward currency you can sell for fiat as well or you can use it to breed more axis!
Starting capital
A huge starting sum is required to start playing the game itself, close to 1.2k or 0.36 Etherium (assuming each Axie is 300 USD) at this time of the writing. It is not a small sum especially for those who just took their first steps into the crypto world.
You have to consider the pros and cons; your ROI will most likely take months at the current SLP price. You may choose to either cash out your initial capital for safekeeping once you hit your target or reinvest into scholarships or breeding.
You may refer to my previous guide on Binance for more info on how to buy your ETH.
Earning potential for Axie Infinity
There are a few ways to earn.
- SLP
- Breeding
- Scholarships
You can earn around 100 SLP a day, equivalent to around $20 if the price of SLP is $0.2. SLP at its current price is $0.087 USD, it has hit an all-time high (ATH) of $0.35 and is projected to rise in the long term.
SLPs, like all other cryptocurrencies are volatile, so do consider if you can stomach the drawdowns.
I have recorded my daily SLP earnings to share with you guys. The table above shows the realistic earning rates of a full-time working adult/ student over 30 days (missed first three days as I was too excited). Highlighted columns represent the maxed amount of SLP I have earned through PVP and PVE after exhausting my daily energy.
The meant that the earning rate on average for me would be 76 SLP per day.
Keep in mind that this is subjected to factors such as the number of PVP losses, disconnection, and energy gain, so it should only serve as a reference, not a guide.
You may not be able to max out your SLP gains every day due to family matters or work. But what is important is that you get yourself into a habit to open up Axie Infinity to play every day, be it after work or during lunch. This is to build up your discipline over time and motivates you to keep on playing.
Previously, the earning rate of SLP was much higher. But the rewards have been reduced in the recent update.
Breeding
Breeding is another way to earn money in Axie Infinity. Breeding involves AXS tokens and SLP to produce Axies. For that, you need an Axie in your current possession to be able to breed. Each Axie can breed up to a maximum of 7 times, which is why it is important to pick a pure Axie (will cover more on this below).
Usually, people will breed 3 to 4 times before selling it on the marketplace to get its full value. But, it is up to you. Right now I wouldn’t suggest breeding due to high gas fees and the number of AXS tokens required.
AXS token is an Ethereum token used for governance and breeding. Right now, it’s main use is just for breeding.
You may also choose to hold AXS tokens if you believe in this game. AXS has shot up to USD 90 before and has the potential to explode if all goes according to plan.
Scholarships
You may consider scholarships for those lacking a huge sum of money or simply wishes to try out the game. The scholarship programme allows you as a scholar to play for free through sponsorship by other players otherwise known as managers.
They will provide you Axies for free.
In return, you will spilt your SLP earnings with your manager according to a pre-agreement.
Usually, the rate is 60/40 according to most scholarships I have seen, 60 to the manager, 40 to the manager. However, other managers has seized the opportunity to milk their scholar. I have seen rates of 80/20 on platforms such as Carousell or even their official discord! Please do not accept this low rate if possible, it is slave levels!
There is usually a minimum monthly SLP requirement for you to earn. If you do not meet this target, you might be replaced. So do give this a thought.
If you still wish to become a scholar, you can apply through their official discord under scholarships, or look through Reddit (there are tons of them). It is rather competitive though, I spend a month applying for most and did not get in.
Another trend to watch out for is their Discord, I have noticed most “guilds” like to post on Reddit claiming that if you join their Discord, you will be selected. It is most often just a ruse to increase their discord members number with minimal chance to get selected. It is not an entirely bad thing, but just be wary of this.
In summary for scholarships, look out for:
- Ridiculously low SLP payout cut
- Check official Discord (https://discord.com/invite/axie) or Reddit for scholarships.
- Hidden agendas to increase Discord group memberships.
How to go about selecting your team?
There are a variety of strategies that you can use to climb the arena MMR. Generally, most teams will do fine in the adventure mode if that is your aim. However, to achieve a higher MMR in the arena (PVP) you will have to invest in a better team. A good Axie can cost up to 270 USD at the time of this writing. It is a lot cheaper than I first started back then when each Axie 600 USD, the price of Axies dropped the next few days thanks to an update *cries internally* :’).
Popular team setups:
- Plant, Aqua, Aqua
- Plant, Beast, Bird
- Plant, Beast, Aqua
There is no one-size fit all strategy as you will be facing a variety of different teams in the arena. Currently, the first setup- Plant, Aqua, Aqua (PAA) is the meta. There are also backdoor setups that wreck your backline.
Backdoor refers to Axies that attack the backline – usually a bird. In CSGO terms, a flanker.
As you can see, the plant is essential in almost every team setup as they act like a Tank. You can think of a plant as a Johnson in MLBB, except without wheels. The rest of the team either dishes out damage or support.
Best Axie Stats
Let’s take a look at Axie stats:
- Health- determines the amount of damage your Axie can take before dying
- Morale- determines your chance of dealing critical strikes or enter “Last Stand”. The higher the better
- Skill- Boosts damage when an Axie does a combo
- Speed- determines the turn of order, the higher the better. Fastest Axies will go first
Last Stand refers to when an Axie took a fatal hit that reduces its HP to 0, it will have a chance to enter “last stand”.
This means it can continue to dish out attacks after being knocked out. However, it is limited by a certain number of moves. The chance is determined by an algorithm, which you can read up more here.
Axie Parts
Each Axie is made up of parts:
- Eyes
- Mouths
- Ears
- Horns
- Backs
- Tails
Best cards to aim for in Axie Infinity
Every turn you attack, only 4 cards per Axie are allowed.
Hence, you should consider your options wisely before placing down the cards. Tanks should aim for shield cards to allow them to survive longer. Damage dealer Axies such as beast should have cards that dish out a high amount of damage and can combo with each other. Examples being Nutcracker and Nut Throw.
How to buy your first Axie
- First, you will need Ethereum (ETH). You can obtain ETH through cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance or Gemini. You may refer to my Binance guide here for more details on how to purchase your crypto.
- After purchasing your ETH, you need to set up your ETH wallet. I recommend using Metamusk and their Chrome extension.
- You will also need to set up a Ronin wallet. Ronin stores your in-game assets such as SLP and your Axies. Keep your seed phrases safe!
Also important to my dear readers, DO NOT DOWNLOAD RONIN ON APP STORES. There is no official Ronin wallet, only a chrome extension. If you see one, it is probably fake. I have been lurking in Reddit for a while now, most people lose their Axies because of this fake app. So double-check before you download anything.
4. Create an account on the official website. Make sure the URL reads Axie Infinity as shown in the screenshot above. Click “Login with Ronin” and follow the instructions.
5. Link your Metamusk wallet by going to account settings and link Metamusk,
Battle
Once you have your first Axie, it’s time to jump right into the battle! There are two modes Adventure and Arena. In Adventure mode, you will battle against AI aka PVE in a series of levels. The higher you level up, the easier it is to earn SLP. Initially, will be quite tough and you might feel like it is just a grind. Ganbatte!
The cheat sheet serves as a guide for you to grind your levels efficiently.
In the arena, you will fight against other players. It is rated by MMR, the higher you go, the harder it gets as you battle experienced players with better Axies. However, you will also earn more SLPs in the process.
The Axie with the fastest speed will go first. You can place up to 4 cards per Axie, subjected to energy. Each round starts with 3, increasing by 2 each round.
Energy is your lifeblood. No energy= cannot attack or defend. So, conserve your energy and use them wisely. Sometimes no action is a good move as well!
Another resource for you, the energy calculator. For those who are horrible at mental calculations like me. 😊
The future of Axie Infinity
This concludes my guide for Axie Infinity. Axie Infinity runs on blockchain’s play-to-earn system, is relatively new and lacks a track record. Therefore, it is a high-risk, high-reward investment that you must consider.
Some may even label this game as a Ponzi scheme, giving rise to many questions. Will it be able to attract new players? Will SLP prices continue to fall? Will there be new competitors to replace Axie Infinity?
The game’s future is still uncertain. Only, time will tell.
None of this is financial advice, you should always do your own due diligence before making any investments. This guide is done with a lot of research, but always remember to do your own as well. Thanks for the support!
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