Axie Infinity: Origin – Arena
10 - 11 minutes
Ready for the big leagues? Here is our guide on how to make it big in the Axie Arena! Learn about the mechanics, modes, and rewards so you can start climbing your way up the leaderboards!
Topics to read before diving into this course:
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to learn the following:
What can I see on the Arena screen?
What are the turn-taking mechanics in Arena ?
What are the Energy mechanics in Arena ?
What are the Card mechanics in Arena ?
What is the Bloodmoon Curse?
What are the game modes in Arena ?
What are Stamina and Ronin spirit?
What are the Rewards in Arena ?
Arena mode is the Player vs Player (PvP) mode of Axie Infinity: Origin. Before you can start battling with other Axie players, you need to reach User Level 3.
Arena interface#Copy URL to this article section
Arena Battle
You will find a lot of elements in the Arena Battle screen. Here are the most important ones that you need to take note of:
Energy#Copy URL to this article section
The Energy icon is the one that looks like a blue jar located at the left part of the screen. It shows you the remaining Energy for your turn.
Draw Pile#Copy URL to this article section
The Draw Pile looks like a brown fan located at the bottom left corner of the screen. This is where you draw your cards during your turn. The number shows you how many Cards are left to be drawn. You may click on the icon to see your remaining Cards.
Hand#Copy URL to this article section
The Hand shows the Cards that you can actively choose from during your turn. These are the Cards you just drew and the ones that have been retained from your previous turn.
Discard Pile#Copy URL to this article section
The Discard Pile looks like a brown fan located at the bottom right corner of the screen. This is where your discarded Cards go. This pile becomes your Draw Pile once there are no more Cards left to be drawn.
Banish Pile#Copy URL to this article section
The Banish Pile is the brown jar at the bottom right of the screen. This is where your banished Cards go. These Cards will not be available until the end of Battle. The number tells you how many Cards were banished. You may click on it to view the Cards.
End Turn#Copy URL to this article section
The End Turn button is the red circle at the right side of the screen. Click this when you want to end your turn even before the turn timer has run out.
Settings#Copy URL to this article section
The Settings button looks like a brown box with horizontal dots and lines located at the top right corner. This is where you can find Resume, Settings (Resolution, Music, SFX, Full screen, Mobile, Enable particles, Quick select keys, Support, Help center, Share live view) and Surrender.
Opponent's Stats#Copy URL to this article section
At the top right corner of the screen beside the Settings, you will see four small icons (Energy, Draw Pile, Discard Pile, and Banish Pile) that represent your opponent's Energy and Cards.
History#Copy URL to this article section
The History icon at the top left corner of the screen looks like a paper drawn on a brown box. This shows the Cards that you and your opponent used during each turn.
Emote#Copy URL to this article section
The emote icon below the History icon is used to communicate emotions to your opponent during the game.
Turn Timer#Copy URL to this article section
The countdown timer at the top middle part of the screen tells you how much time you have left to take your turn. If it reaches 0, the game will automatically end your turn.
Turn-taking mechanics#Copy URL to this article section
In the Arena Mode, you will be up against another player. The turn order will be determined randomly, and each turn has a time limit of 45 seconds. The turn ends when a player clicks “End Turn” or when the turn timer reaches zero (0), then the other player takes their turn.
Energy mechanics#Copy URL to this article section
While the turn order is randomly selected, getting the first turn is an advantage. To address this, whoever gets picked to go first will only be given two (2) Energy for the first turn. From the second (2nd) turn onwards, the player taking their turn will then be given three (3) Energy.
Keep in mind that you have limited Energy, and every Card has a corresponding Energy cost. In addition to this, all unused Energy goes to waste after the turn, so you have to manage the given Energy each round.
It is worth taking note that some Cards can also be used to navigate the Energy needs of the player. One of these is Nimo, which can be used to gain one (1) extra Energy during the turn.
Card mechanics#Copy URL to this article section
A deck is made up of 18 Cards, with every Card corresponding to each of the 6 parts of your 3 Axies in play. The Cards can be found in one of the following at any point during the battle:
Draw Pile#Copy URL to this article section
The draw pile is where you will be drawing your Cards from. It starts with the 18 Cards that make up your deck in random order. For each turn, you will draw 5 Cards from the draw pile. You can click on the draw pile or press A on your keyboard to view the remaining cards in your deck.
Hand#Copy URL to this article section
The 5 Cards drawn at your every turn go to your hand. You may zoom into the Card on your hand by hovering over it, and you may play it by left-clicking on the Card. All Cards found in your hand may be played during the turn as long as you have enough Energy to use them. Once your turn is over, all unplayed cards go to the discard pile.
Keep in mind that some Card effects (e.g. Initiate) are activated only when played in a certain order.
Discard Pile#Copy URL to this article section
The discard pile is where the Cards you have drawn, used or not, will go. Once the draw pile runs out, the Cards from your discard pile will be shuffled and placed back into your draw pile. You may check your discard pile by clicking on the pile or through the keyboard shortcut by pressing S.
Banish Pile#Copy URL to this article section
Cards that were Banished at any point in the game go to the Banish Pile. These Cards will no longer be available until the end of the Battle. You may view your Banish Pile by clicking on the icon or through the keyboard shortcut by pressing X.
Some Cards and their effects can be used to disrupt the typical flow of Cards. One of the effects, Retain, allows you to hold on to a Card even after the turn is over. Some allow you to put a specific type of Card from your draw pile into your hand. Some even allow you to put Cards into your opponent’s deck, or move Cards from your hand to the banish pile once the turn is over. To learn more about the Cards that interact with the Card mechanisms, you can check out our Axie Infinity: Origin - The Cards guide.
Bloodmoon Curse#Copy URL to this article section
Once the match reaches turn 20, the Bloodmoon Curse will be activated and will deal damage to the HP of all Axies at the end of each round. The damage starts with 20, then increases by 10 each turn until the Battle is over.
End of turn 20 - 20 dmg
End of turn 21 - 30 dmg
End of turn 22 - 40 dmg, and so on
Arena game modes#Copy URL to this article section
Arena modes: Practice, Ranked, and Tournament
Currently, there are only two playable modes in Arena: Practice and Ranked. In the future, Tournament mode will also be playable.
Practice#Copy URL to this article section
Practice mode is where you can challenge another player casually, without limitations on how much you can play. This mode has no ranking system, but each win will reward both players with 1 EXP. It prioritizes matchups between competitors but if it takes a long time to find an opponent, you will be paired with bots.
Ranked #Copy URL to this article section
This mode introduces a ranking system. Ranking system is divided into 8 Ranks - Egg, Chick, Hare, Boar, Wolf, Bear, Tiger, Dragon. Each rank is divided into 4 tiers, and beyond Dragon is the Challenger Rank.
Ranking system
To climb the next rank, players will need to collect Victory Stars which are rewarded when players win in Ranked mode.
Victory Stars
After collecting a certain number of Victory Stars, you will get promoted to the next rank. Excess Stars are counted towards the next rank. It is possible to get demoted when you lose a match while not having any Victory Stars.
Bonus Stars are awarded when you maintain a winning streak of 3 or more (+1 Victory star per win streak; only applies to Bear ranks, and below) and by the rank of the previous season. At the start of each season, your rank will reset to Egg IV, 0 Victory Stars.
Stamina and Ronin Spirit#Copy URL to this article section
Stamina and Ronin Spirit
Stamina#Copy URL to this article section
Stamina is used in Ranked mode to earn rewards. Each Battle costs 1 Stamina. Your total Stamina depends on how many Starter and Personal Axies you have. The total Stamina is capped up to 60.
Total Stamina = 0.5 x [Number of starter Axies] + 3 x [Number of Personal Axies]
If you Battle in the Arena with Stamina, you will earn rewards. If you have exhausted all of your Stamina, you will no longer earn rewards even if you win. Stamina refreshes daily at 12 AM UTC.
Ronin Spirit #Copy URL to this article section
Ronin Spirit allows you to earn Moonshards based on your level. There are 4 levels of Ronin Spirit (i.e. 0, I, II, III), and your level depends on how many Personal Axies there are on the team you will use to play in Ranked mode.
If you win a Battle with Stamina, you will earn Moonshards depending on how much Ronin Spirit you have.
Arena Rewards#Copy URL to this article section
You can get a lot of rewards in Arena such as EXP, Moonshards, SLP, and Milestone Rewards.
EXP#Copy URL to this article section
You will need EXP (Experience Points) to level up your User Level. You can collect EXP by playing in Arena mode. In Practice, the winner gets 1 EXP. In Ranked, both players earn EXP, but the winner gets more than the loser.
As you collect more EXP and level up your User Level, you get to unlock more features in the game. Some of these features are not yet live in the alpha version.
Moonshards#Copy URL to this article section
If you play in Ranked with Stamina, you can earn Moonshards every time you win. The amount of Moonshards you get will depend on your Rank and Ronin Spirit level. If you have Stamina and you Battle while you are in Egg rank, you can gain up to 5 Moonshards per game. Those in Challenger rank can get up to 100 Moonshards.
The higher your Rank and Ronin Spirit level are, the more Moonshards you can earn.
However, if a Battle results in a draw, you will only earn 50% of the Moonshards. If you lose a Battle, you will not earn Moonshards.
SLP#Copy URL to this article section
Smooth Love Potion, also known as SLP, is the in-game token of Axie Infinity. Currently, for the Alpha version of Axie Infinity: Origin, earning mechanics for this token are not yet live.
Milestone Rewards#Copy URL to this article section
Milestone rewards in Arena (First-time Rewards) are one-time rewards that you can only claim when you move up a tier or move up a rank for the first time in a season.
To move up a tier or rank, you need to collect Victory Stars by winning Battles. As you keep winning your Battles, you will be able to collect Victory Stars.
Arena rewards include EXP, Moonshards, and SLP
Arena First-time Reward
There is so much more to learn about Axie Infinity: Origin, especially when more features of the game go live! We hope these courses helped you understand how the game works.
If you are interested in other play-to-earn games, you may check out our courses on VulcanVerse, WonderHero, CyBall, and Fancy Birds!