Nearly a thousand years ago, a cataclysmic event known as "The Splintering" violently reshaped the world into separate landmasses that we now call The Splinterlands.
To this day scholars still know very little about the mystical forces that caused such devastation, but it is believed that massive amounts of a substance known only as "Dark Energy" was released from the core of the planet at the time of the Splintering. Much of that Dark Energy still permeates the atmosphere and powers the magical forces wielded by the Splinterlands' inhabitants.
For eons scholars and wizards have attempted to capture and store the Dark Energy without success...until now. A team of wizards, assembled from the best of each Splinter, has discovered a special type of crystal that is able to attract and contain raw Dark Energy from the environment.
These Dark Energy Crystals can be created from rare, naturally occuring elements found throughout the Splinterlands, which has created a gold rush among the planet's inhabitants to create as many of the Crystals as possible.
While scholars are still at the very early stages of learning how to harness the immense power of the Dark Energy held in the Crystals, they have nevertheless become a highly sought after form of universal currency, akin to gold or diamonds, throughout the Splinterlands!
Announcing Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) - the Splinterlands In-Game Currency Token
The Splinterlands team will be releasing a new, in-game currency token known as Dark Energy Crystals, or DEC. This token will operate just like any traditional, in-game currency. They can be used only within the context of the Splinterlands game, they are not backed by anything of monetary value, and there is absolutely no expectation of monetary gains or monetary value in the future.
It is expected that the Dark Energy Crystals update will be released on Monday, May 20th, around 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET.
The DEC tokens will be created and run on the Steem blockchain through the Steem Engine platform and they will also be available as a TRC-10 token on the Tron blockchain. We hope to add DEC tokens to other platforms in the future as well.
Obtaining Dark Energy Crystals
There will be two ways within the game that Dark Energy Crystals can be obtained by players.
Releasing Dark Energy from Monsters and Summoners
Dark Energy is present in all inhabitants of the Splinterlands, which gives them their mystical magic and power, and now it is able to be released and captured inside the Crystals. This means that players will be able to obtain Dark Energy Crystals by destroying their unused cards and capturing the energy contained within.
More rare cards contain more Dark Energy than less rare cards, and gold foil cards contain considerably more energy than their regular counterparts. In addition, Alpha and Promo edition cards also contain extra Dark Energy which can be captured in the crystals when they are destroyed.
Victory on the Battlefield
It has been found that a significant amount of Dark Energy pools around battles that take place in the Splinterlands, and this energy can now also be captured by the victorious player!
Dark Energy is constantly being released from the planet's core at a rate of approximately 1,000,000 DEC per day into an "energy pool" within the atmosphere. Each time a player wins a Ranked battle they will earn some Dark Energy Crystals from the available energy pool based on their current rating and their Energy Capture Rate (ECR).
High rated players are much more powerful than lower rated players, and are therefore able to capture significantly more Dark Energy from the pool after each Ranked battle win. The amount operates on a quadratic curve meaning that a player with double the rating of another player will earn 4X more DEC after each Ranked battle win.
The other major factor in how much Dark Energy can be captured after a win is the player's Energy Capture Rate (ECR). Capturing Dark Energy is difficult work and players tire after many battles making them unable to capture as much Dark Energy as when they are rested. As a result, after each Ranked battle both players' Energy Capture Rate will decrease by 1% and, as players rest, their Energy Capture Rate will slowly increase over time at the rate of approximately 25% per day.
If a player is at an Energy Capture Rate of 50%, that means they will only be able to capture half of the Dark Energy after a Ranked battle win as they would have if they were at an Energy Capture Rate of 100%.
Lastly, gold foil and Alpha edition cards have been found to attract Dark Energy to them at a higher rate than other cards. This means that each gold foil and Alpha edition card used in a Ranked battle will allow the winner to capture additional Dark Energy from the energy pool, making these cards even more highly sought after throughout the Splinterlands.
Further Dark Energy Pool Research
Scholars and wizards studying the Dark Energy pool have found that the Dark Energy in the planet's core is slowly depleting over time. As a result, the amount of Dark Energy released into the "energy pool" will drop by approximately 1% every 30 days. This means that after 1 year, approximately 886,000 DEC will be added the energy pool per day instead of 1M.
Additionally, the High Council of Wizards (led by Archmages Aggroedius and Yabanius) has been able to tap into a Dark Energy mana well and has extracted from that a reserve of 100M Dark Energy Crystals. This reserve will be held and used from time to time for the betterment of the Splinterlands at the High Council's sole discretion.
Harnessing the Power of Dark Energy
Now that Dark Energy can successfully be captured, wizards have been able to use it to craft new and powerful items which players will be able to purchase from various merchants that travel throughout the Splinterlands. When the Dark Energy is released from the crystals in order to craft these items, it is "burned" and gone forever from the world.
Potions
Dark Energy has been used to brew a number of potent potions which can greatly enhance an adventurer's journey through the Splinterlands. Each potion comes in three different strengths - Basic, Enhanced, and Brilliant - based on the amount of Dark Energy used to brew them. The stronger potions bestow increased benefits to the user.
There are rumors circulating throughout the realms that users of the Mystery potion have a chance of finding an extremely rare new card with immense power which cannot be obtained any other way!
Essence Orbs
With the new power of the Dark Energy, Summoners have now been able to summon 12 new unique and powerful Monsters to fight for them on the battlefield! These Monsters are said to utilize 6 new abilities which scholars predict will forever alter the planet's mystical "meta" layer.
Players can learn to summon these new Monsters by obtaining Essence Orbs which contain the essence of these new powerful creatures, combined with Dark Energy within. Of course, the wizards have only been able to create a limited supply of these Essence Orbs, so make sure you get yours before they are gone forever!
Skins
Dark Energy has also been found to be able to alter the DNA of certain inhabitants of the Splinterlands, which has resulted in a change in their appearance! Players will now be able to use their Dark Energy Crystals to obtain cards with these altered appearances so that they may look unique and stand out on the battlefield!
These skins are purely cosmetic and do not affect the cards' stats or abilities in any way. Skins will be held in each player's account and are not associated with a specific card. Instead they can be applied to all cards of the same type that the player owns. Players can choose which skin they would like to be active for each type of card at any time. Lastly, skins will be able to be transferred between accounts.
New sets of unique and exclusive altered appearances for the cards are expected to be discovered on a regular basis by Splinterlands bio-magicians, so keep your eye out for those and get them while they are available!
Grand Seer's Predictions for the Future
The Grand Seer, master of prognostication, has used the newfound power of Dark Energy to look into the future and has issued the following predictions...
The Grand Seer expects that at first, while Dark Energy Crystals are still very new, they will vary wildly in value in different parts of the Splinterlands. After some time, however, it is expected that their value will become much more stable. At this time, the Grand Seer predicts that Dark Energy Crystals will become the preferred currency for all commerce within the Splinterlands, most notably within the various card trading markets.
The Grand Seer also fortells of groups of adventurers banding together into "guilds" that will do battle against powerful new Monsters, as well as each other, for wealth and glory. It is expected that Dark Energy Crystals will play a prominent role within these guilds as they each strive to become the dominant force in the Splinterlands!
In addition, The Grand Seer envisions all sorts of new and powerful items and spells arising from Dark Energy research which will greatly enhance the abilities of Monsters and Summoners on the battlefield. Vast landscapes of mines and workshops of all sorts will be constructed to craft these new creations using the power of Dark Energy combined with the various natural resources found buried deep beneath the different Splinters.
Finally, the Grand Seer prophecizes that "He who controls the Dark Energy, controls the fate of the Splinterlands!"