Start Playing Axie Infinity: The Basics

Axie Infinity is a turn-based card game built on the Ethereum blockchain. Axies are furry little creature NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). Trainers (Axie Infinity players) collect Axies, breed, and battle with them in Adventure Mode or at the Arena. Because they are NFTs, each Axie is a unique, one-of-a-kind collectible with different physical traits and roles in battle. As NFTs, Axies can be traded for real monetary value.

Axie Infinity is a P2E, or Play to Earn, game. Following a battle with your team of Axies, trainers have the potential to earn items to upgrade their Axies and SLP (Smooth Love Potions), the in-game currency that can be farmed or used to breed Axies and purchase land. Both the earned items and SLP can be traded for fiat or other cryptocurrencies.

The AXS (Axie Infinity Shards) token is another way to earn playing Axie Infinity. The tokens can be purchased on an exchange or earned through playing games in the Axie Infinity Universe. AXS tokens, in addition to SLP, are needed to breed Axies.

The AXS token is the game’s ERC-20 governance token. Governance tokens decentralize and distribute ownership of the game. With $AXS, token holders have voting power that helps determine the use of the Axie Infinity Treasury and the future of the game. By staking their AXS tokens, Axie players can claim weekly rewards in the form of newly issued $AXS. 

GET STARTED

PURCHASING AXIES

To begin playing Axie Infinity, players need a minimum of three Axies. Wrapped Ether (wETH) is the cryptocurrency used to purchase Axies. To start: 

1. Fund your crypto wallet with Ether (ETH), through Coinbase, Binance, or other crypto exchange.
2. Download and create an account with the digital wallet, MetaMask.
3. Transfer, or fund, your MetaMask wallet with Ether.
4. Download Ronin Wallet, an Ethereum sidechain built for Axie Infinity by Sky Mavis.
5. Using the Ronin Bridge, deposit the ETH from your MetaMask wallet into your Ronin wallet to make it Wrapped Ether (wETH).

With your Ronin Wallet funded with wETH, you can purchase your Axie team at the Marketplace. See this Collector’s Guide Issue #1 to help you select which Axies to start with.

If you don’t have the funds to purchase your first team of Axies but are ready to play and earn money, you can apply to one of the Axie Scholarship programs. Through these programs, new trainers can essentially rent a team of Axies to try out the game. The Axie lender will take a cut of the earnings as a lending fee, while the rest is yours to keep. More on Axie Scholarships here. 

START PLAYING

To play Axie Infinity, download the Mavis Hub to your computer (compatible with Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows), log in, and install Axie Infinity to your desktop or mobile phone.

When you first log on, be sure to open the Daily Quests and check in. Complete the other Daily Quests by playing and winning battles in both the Arena or Adventure Mode to earn SLP.

With your team of three Axies, you can get started in the PvP Battle Arena or battle Chimera monsters in PvE Adventure Mode. Entering a battle requires 1 Energy, no matter how many Axies you have or how strong your team is.

Depleted Energy replenishes over time depending on the number of Axies you own:

3 to 9 Axies:  5 Energy every six hours; total of 20 Energy replenished & stored per day

10 to 19 Axies:  5 Energy every three hours; total of 40 Energy replenished & stored per day

20 or more Axies:  5 Energy replenish every two hours; total of 60 Energy replenished & stored per day

GAMEPLAY    

Each Axie is equipped with four cards that represent the attacks an Axie can carry out. During a match, Axies can use up to four cards per turn. 

The cards are classed the same way Axies are (Aqua, Beast, Bird, etc.) and signify the attacks an Axie can carry out based on its body parts: back, horn, mouth, and tail. A horn, for example, provides Axies with the Ivory Stab attack. The eyes and ears do not have correlated cards but do provide additional boosts during battle. 

During a match, players can see the opposing trainer’s cards. Each card can be drawn twice per battle and cannot be drawn for a third time until the full deck of cards has been drawn twice. With this, it is essential to review the cards on deck to be in tune with the flow of the battle and be strategic with your attacks. Without calculated moves, you risk wasting Energy to battle, cards, or turns. Use Axie World’s Cards Explorer to browse all the cards available in-game. 

STATS & BATTLES

Axies have a group of stats based on class (type) and body parts: Health, Morale, Skill, and Speed. Axies from each class have a set of base stats for their body, for a total of 140 base stat points. Stats from all six body parts stack with the base stats for a total of 164 stat points per class.

See the chart below (adapted from AxieZone) for how Axie’s base stats and body part stats are distributed:

*Dawn, Dusk, and Mech Axies are offspring of purebred Axies, known as Secret Classes

From the Axie Infinity Alpha Guide:

HP [health] – The amount of damage your Axie can take before being knocked out.

Morale – Morale increases critical strike chance. It also makes entering last stand more likely and adds more last stand “ticks.”

Skill – Skill adds damage when an Axie plays multiple cards at once (combo). The extra damage is calculated like this: (card attack * skill)/ 500

Speed– Speed determines turn order. Faster Axies attack first. If two Axies have the same speed, this is how attack order is determined: High speed > Low HP > High Skill > High Morale > Low Fighter ID

Given the stats, an Axie from one class naturally has an advantage or disadvantage over another class. Damage is determined by the class of the attacking card and the defensive Axie’s class. Using a card from your Axie’s class gives it a 10% bonus in attack or defense. For the buffs and debuffs that can affect an Axie during battle, review this guide from AxieZone.

The winner of each Arena battle earns SLP (Smooth Love Potion), used to breed Axies or traded for other crypto or fiat currencies. To claim your first SLP, you must wait two weeks, but future SLP earned can be claimed once every two weeks.

ADVENTURE MODE

Battle Chimera monsters in adventure mode to win experience points. SLP, and resources. With experience points (EXP), trainers can upgrade their Axies for increased strength, more damage, and better defense. Players earn larger amounts of SLP and EXP as they advance to higher levels in Adventure Mode.

Winning battles against Chimera can earn trainers rare treasures (resources) that upgrade Axies’ attack and defense. Rare treasures can also be purchased at the Axie Infinity Marketplace.

Examples of rare treasures from the Marketplace:

BREEDING AXIES

To breed two Axies, trainers need a variable amount of Axie Infinity Shards (AXS—the game’s ERC-20 governance token) and SLP. Axies have three genes per body part: Dominant, Recessive, and Minor Recessive.

From the Axie Infinity Whitepaper:

Dominant (D): 37.5% chance to pass this gene to offspring.

Recessive (R1): 9.375% chance to pass this gene to offspring.

Minor Recessive (R2): 3.125% chance to pass this gene to offspring.

Axies can be bred a maximum of seven times before they are no longer able to produce offspring.

The Axies live in the artificial environment, the Terrarium in the land Lunacia. The land is divided into tokenized plots (called Terra) split into different environments, that act as the home base for trainer’s Axies. Environments (areas in Lunacia) include the Savannah, Forest, Arctic, Mystic, and Genesis. Trainers can decorate their Terrarium/plot of land, where they will feed, rest, and care for their Axies.

Landholders can upgrade and rent out their land, open shops, collect and harvest resources, and more. Chimera monsters will be roaming about Lunacia for players to battle in real-time to earn more resources.

According to the Axie Infinity Whitepaper, “Land gameplay is still being actively developed and will be released in phases.”

START PLAYING!

An increasing amount of gamers are enjoying Axie Infinity, whether it’s the gameplay, breeding, or selling Axies & items on the Marketplace. Join the community of Axie trainers and get started today through a scholarship application or purchasing your first team of Axies.

Join the Axie Infinity Discord server and follow on Twitter.