Hello Splinterlands summoners and welcome back to my blog!
Going the Distance is a battle ruleset in Splinterlands where only monsters with ranged attack can be used. Other units like melee and magic are disallowed therefore this ruleset severely limits the player's choices. Another challenge posed by this ruleset is most ranged units are normally designed to stay in the backline and not tank damage in front. Most range units cannot attack from the frontline except in cases when the unit has a special ability called Close Range. In today's post, we'll take a deep dive into the ruleset and look at archons, units, abilities and teams that are optimized for it. We'll also see a sample battle featuring the ruleset.
Archons, Units and Abilities
In the Conclave Arcana set, there are several archons that can be used for Going the Distance ruleset.
Death
Razi Clanktrap (archon)
Perhaps a no brainer, Razi Clanktrap gives the Close Range ability to all units thereby solving the problem of the frontline. All range units will get the Close Range ability and can attack in position one. There are also units in the Death splinter that are optimized for the ruleset.
Thraghun
One of the best units to use in Going the Distance, Thragun does dual damage of melee and ranged. He also has abilities that make him an offensive threat. Return Fire enables him to return 50% of ranged damage to the attacker and Weaken decreases the enemy team's health by one. He also has Poison that has a 50% chance of applying the debuff and decreasing the enemy's health by one each round.
Deep Delver
Deep Delver is a great support unit aside from his four range damage. He has the Rust ability that decreases the enemy armor. He also has Corrupted Healing that helps sustain the team's health.
Life
Bela Ratajowlski (archon)
Bela grants the ability Shield to all Ulunds. This is a crucial ability that decreases physical damage received including from ranged attacks. This adds another layer of defense to the Ulunds in the team.
Pixie Knife Hurler
A strong tank for Going the Distance, the Pixie Knife Hurler has the abilities to shine. He has Close Range that allows him to attack with ranged from first position. He has Dodge to evade physical attacks and Swiftness to increase his speed as well as all units in the team. He can self heal to help sustain himself in the tank position.
Calabash Sage
The Calabash Sage deals a huge five range damage. It has the Tank Heal ability that will help keep the Pixie Knife Hurler or any unit in the first position stay longer in battle and thus allow the backline units to do their job. Finally it has True Strike that compensates for its lack of speed.
Earth
The Earth splinter has a couple of units that's optimized for Going the Distance ruleset.
Fenmoor Wood Troll
The Fenmoor Wood Troll has abilities to counter the enemy. It has Blind that increases the chance of enemy physical attacks to miss. It also has Headwinds that decreases the enemy's range damage by one. Finally it has Affliction that prevents its target from healing thereby decreasing the chances of enemy tank to stay longer in battle.
Husk of the Hunter
Husk of the Hunter deals four range damage and can harass the enemy backline with its Sneak ability. It will prioritize enemy damage dealers while leaving the beefy enemy tanks alone. It also has the Headwinds ability that decreases the enemy's range attack by one.
Featured Battle
In this battle, player Caminomechilles used the Life splinter composed of three units I cited above. Bela archon, Pixie Knife Hurler and Calabash Sage already have a great synergy. They were joined by three more units that contribute more than their individual abilities. Anachron Bolter deals dual damage of range and magic as well as having the Headwinds ability that decrease the enemy's range attack. Caravan Guard further decreases the enemy attack with its own Headwinds ability. Henchling Enforcer halves his target's attack with its Halving ability.
His enemy Lordwindgrace had the Earth splinter including Husk of the Hunter decreasing his enemy's attack. Even though his enemy had the higher level archon and mostly maxed out cards, Caminomechilles had the better team and synergy and won this battle easily.
Closing Thoughts
Going the Distance is one of the most restrictive rulesets in Splinterlands. Players will have to think of synergies rather than raw attacking power. Players are forced to use ranged units and will have to find advantages from positioning, unit abilities and how they synergize with each other. This is what makes Splinterlands a fun game to play. It's strategies that wins battles and not just individual card strength.
Come Play Splinterlands!
Start your Splinterlands adventure today with my referral. You can play the game for free in the Frontier Mode or take your game to the next level by purchasing a spellbook. Buying a spellbook allows you to earn SPS tokens and use the market to sell in game assets. Also, we will both get 500 Credits which can be used top purchase cards once you buy a spellbook.