We already covered most of what you need to know about how to play Axie Infinity in our first Axie Infinity guide. We're going to further expand on it here to provide some additional tips and tricks for new players. This guide will help them better understand both the PvP and PvE aspect of the game while informing them about how to efficiently earn more SLP and excel at the game quicker.
New players should
1) Start their Lunacian journey by spending all of their energy (20/20) in the PvE mode and only enter the PvP mode after they've spent all of their energy (0/20). This will assure that they don't waste energy on lost games while leveling up their Axies to decrease the time it takes to get the daily maximum in PvE (100/100).
2) On the first day of playing new players should clear as many levels as they can while trying to reach the highest level possible. Let's say that's lvl 6 on day 1.
3) On day 2, players should find an optimal level to grind. This is going to be the hardest level they can consistently clear without being defeated. If max lvl was 6 on day 1, depending on the Axies/player, an optimal lvl to grind at day 2 might be lvl 3 or 4. Players should find and stick to the optimal level and spend all energy only on that specific level. Once energy is drained, players can continue pursuing the daily quest by winning 5 PvP matches. After finishing the daily quest, players should keep grinding their skills at both PvP and PvE for the rest of the day or at least until they reach the daily PvE limit 100/100.
4) On day 3. Repeat step 3. Find the optimal level again and keep playing until reaching the daily cap of 100 SLP; Move on to finishing the daily quest and use the rest of the day to practice while out of energy.
5) Rinse and repeat until Axies are max lvl
6) Perfect their skills in PvP at 0 energy for the first two weeks to a month (if you're a scholar check-in with your manager for approval to move on to spending energy for PvP)
This is the most efficient way we found to level up Axies while minimizing the amount of lost energy through defeats and thus maximizing the speed at which we're able to get the daily cap in PvE. It's also a great way to learn the game while not risking losing too much energy lost matches.
We suggest that all new players follow these or similar guidelines to assure a faster and more painless Lunacian journey because failing to do so could result in acquiring the daily cap lasting upwards of 4 hours or even being fully unable to acquire it on a given day.
Levels to grind and watch out for in PvE
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- Level 4: 110 XP -> Farm till Axies are lvl 6
- Level 7: 256 XP -> Farm till lvl 9-10
- Level 11: 344 XP -> Farm till lvl 13-14
- Level 12: 429 XP -> Difficult level, recommend lvl 12 Axies or higher and attempt to clear without energy
- Level 14: 347 XP -> Farm till lvl 16
- Level 16: 402 XP > Difficult level at first, play without energy until you can consistently clear it without defeat
- Level 18: 446 XP -> Great farming level, stay here until moving on to lvl 21 boss
- Level 20: 401 XP -> Very difficult at first but once your Axies reach a high enough level, it will be the fastest and easiest way to lvl up your Axies
- Level 21: 644 XP -> Extremely difficult (one-time 200 SLP reward) BOSS level, requires powerful, high-level Axies and a good strategy to take out.
- Level 23: 618 XP -> Good place to farm until but watch out because NPC's are deadly here, hitting for over 1000! Enter without energy until you're able to clear it consistently
- Level 27: 735 XP -> Farm until your Axies reach max lvl
First time clearing any level in a given day will yield a big SLP reward which will keep decreasing the more times a player enters the same level. Players should focus on beating “quick to beat” levels. From our experience (may differ from player to player) these levels are 4, 7, 11, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23, 27 they are not the quickest to beat but also give some of the highest rewards.
Pair this knowledge with (step 3) to unlock a godly level of PvE mastery in regard to SLP farming.
Gameplay tips and tricks
While leveling up their Axies at PvE and perfecting their skills at PvP, new players should start practicing some of these more advanced techniques to bring their game up to a more competitive level.
ENERGY CONSERVATION
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In-game energy is a valuable resource without which players can't use enough cards for a combo to eliminate their enemies in a single turn. Learning how to properly manage their energy throughout the game is a very important skill for all players. Below are the two best tips on how to conserve/manage energy throughout the game.
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Skiping turns
Turns are often skipped in PvP but rarely in PvE.
While playing the PvP mode, the first turn is often the easiest and safest to skip as most Axies won't be able to take down a tank Axie by playing only 3 cards, which is the maximum a player can cast (if he doesn't have 0 energy cards) at the beginning of the game. If the opponent doesn't steal any energy, a player that skips the first turn will have 5 energy in the next turn, making unleashing a deadly combination possible.
To be able to masterfully steal energy players need to take their skills to the next level by being able to count enemy energy. This is something we will cover in a dedicated article and link here.
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Energy manipulation
A good team will have at least one, up to three or more, energy manipulating cards.
These abilities will either generate energy for an ally Axie or they will steal/destroy energy of an opponent Axie. Some of these abilities are: NIMO, IMP, COTTONTAIL, ANTENNA, SERIOUS. For a list of all energy manipulating abilities read through the full card list.
Learn how all of the different energy manipulating abilities affect the game and use them wisely.
For example, it's not a good idea to use Vegetal Bite (Serious) on a slower enemy Axie with the same ability because of attack order. As you attack first and steal energy from the slower Axie attacking second, it can potentially take it back, negating your energy steal. Instead, a better way of going about stealing energy in this situation would be to only attempt it after the slower enemy Axie dies. Alternatively, players could buy or breed a slower Axie to circumvent this issue altogether.
SHIELD LURE (PvP)
A shield lure is one of the most powerful plays in PvP.
By shield lure, we mean making the enemy believe we will fire out a deadly combo while instead we either pass the turn playing 0 cards or just play a single shield card on our tank. This is exactly like bluffing in poker. The enemy player will waste shield cards as there won't be any incoming damage and will have less energy in the next turn. Meaning, that the enemy probably won't have enough energy for a killer combo and that we can safely attack an enemy Axie without fearing losing the tank. From our experience, after we successfully luring a big shield for the first time, more often than not, the enemy will just play another big shield in the next turn while won't even attacking our Axies.
While bluffing, we often get to pass turns without losing our tank while the enemy wastes valuable energy and cards, giving us a massive advantage in the following turns. Bluffing is also quite useful when we're shuffled bad cards as each passed turn we get another 3 new cards. Good players tend to launch their combos only after a few bluffs because then they not only have a lot of energy to play more cards at once and a card advantage, but the enemy also doesn't have much more shield to defend with.
How to bluff effectively?
Easy.
In PvP, enemy players are often paranoid about incoming attacks and will do this to themselves. The only thing you need to do is to pass a turn. This will most often happen in the second or third turn as enemy players know that you have enough energy for a combo, they will put up shields to try and save their tank. Just pass the turn, watch the enemy waste energy/cards and assure yourself a much easier win.
Another way to bluff is to get the enemy tank to reasonably low HP (100-200) in the first two rounds. An estimated 7/10 times in this situation, enemy players will try to save their tank in the next few turns. This makes it very easy to bluff and to gain a massive energy advantage.
#### MAXIMIZING ENERGY (PvE)
Most levels in the PvE mode have a few stages. Just like each turn generates new energy, every cleared stage will also generate some energy. A big tip for new players is to be mindful about the end of a specific stage because it opens up the doors for tactical advantage going into the next stage.
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Close to the end of a stage (second to last turn before clearing the stage) it's much better to leave the last enemy NPC at low HP and go into the next turn than to kill it in the ongoing turn while using all energy. This way, players get to regenerate 2 energy for turn passage and kill the last enemy using only 1 energy, increasing their total energy count going into the next stage.
Players should always use such opportunities to preserve and gain more energy for the next stage of the battle.
Another way of maximizing energy potential in PvE is when the front Axie is in the last stand. If it has enough ticks (3-6) to survive the next turn, the best play here is to skip the turn. That way, players get to conserve energy and gain more cards for the next turn while sacrificing an Axie that was going to die anyway. So they're not really losing anything while gaining a huge advantage for future turns.
#### MAXIMIZING ENERGY (PvP)
1) Skip turns when it's safe to do so
2) Use energy manipulation cards wisely
3) Don't use all energy in the first turn unless you're sure that you can score a kill or you want to lure a shield in the second/third turn
4) Lure enemy shields by skipping a turns
5) Don't use all energy in every turn but rather leave some for future turns
5) Don't let opponents steal your energy (either steal it back, use it, or prevent it from being stolen in the first place by using ability disabling cards )
Continually apply this knowledge and you'll soon start having a much easier time clearing PvE and winning against real players in PvP. For additional tips and tricks on how to play Axie Infinity like a pro, have an eye out for our future articles because we will be releasing two mind-bending tips which when applied can transform any regular player into a true pro!
If you've got any tips to share yourself, feel free to let us know in the comment section.
