Splinterlands is already a deep and fun strategy game but there is always room to grow. New mechanics can change how players think and build their lineup. Small changes can create fresh battles and interactions making the game feeling fresh and fun.

I like how the game keeps adding new Archons, units, abilitis and modifiers. Still, there are some systems that could be adjusted to make battles feel more balanced.

Here are the 3 things I wanted Splinterlands to add to keep things fresh

Broken Arrows Mechanics

This idea is something I thought about before. The Broken Arrows modifier looks really good for the icon for this one but the concept of Broken Arrows that I want them to add is different.

When range units get to the front, they cannot attack. That is the current mechanics for the game. I feel that is very unfair and maybe the reason why magic damage is more superior than range at all times. Units with magic attack can attack from the back and can attack in the front so why would you choose a unit that cannot attack when they get to first position if you can have a unit that can attack from anywhere naturally?

Proposal:

When a range unit gets to the front, instead of them not being able to attack, they get a debuff that halves their attack. You can just use the Halving ability for this but would be permanent and cannot be cleansed as long the range unit is in front and doesn't have Close Range ability.

This way, even if range units aren't favorable to use, you can still make them work. Maybe they have good abilities and with this, you can still use them without the extreme penalty of not being able to attack when they get to the front.

Rock-Paper-Scissors Mechanics

Just like in Pokémon and other games with similar concept, some elements are more favorable than the others. I think adding this concept in Splinterlands can make some interesting and less predictable outcomes.

This could actually also potentially eliminate bot problems. How? There is no real one strong lineup. If the positions of the units change, that can also change the outcome of the battle since a magic unit may be attacking a melee unit instead of a range unit instead in that battle.

Proposal:

We have three attack types in Splinterlands right now, Melee, Range, Magic. I think Splinterlands should impose a new mechanic or even modifier that uses this concept.

Melee > Range > Magic > Melee

A melee unit attacking a range unit deals double damage to them. Then, a range unit attacking monsters with Magic attack type takes double and magic units attacking melee does double damage. This is true in concept. If a melee attacker such as a knight gets in range of an archer, usually, the archer dies. To eliminate the mages, you usually attack them in range as well with arrows and to eliminate the knights, you blast them with magic.

Splinterlands can also adopt a weak mechanic where if a magic attack deals damage to range, they take half damage and range attacks deal half damage to melee.

I think this is a good concept since it would stop spam strategies like the ones I use where I just use a lot of units with magic damage and I can win most of my battles regardless of what is the modifier or what the enemies used on that battle.

Elemental Field System

We already have many modifiers but not one that truly favor one Element over the others. I think a rotating Elemental Field Modifier could make things more interesting. In addition to modifiers, there is another random factor that may power up or weaken your units.

Proposal:

Add a system called Elemental Field. It is not a modifier but a different concept as a whole. In battles, we have the mana cost, modifiers and active elements for the battle. We would add more for the Elemental Field that can be Fire, Water, Earth, Life, Death, Dragon and Neutral.

More than one Elemental Field can be active at a time. When active, some units from the selected Elements gain +1 to all of their stats. The selection of the number of units and who is affected will be random as well.

Why not all of the units? To avoid being too overpowered and still encourage the use of Bloodline units. Using Bloodline units mean having different elements in your team. You can force who gets the increased stats by limiting the number of the units from that selected elements and use other units from different elements instead by using your archon's Bloodline Dominion.

This forces players to adjust instead of always using their comfort Element or just one particular strategy. It also creates new value for units that are rarely used. It keeps the meta moving and prevents one Element from dominating for too long.

Closing Thoughts

I've thought of these ideas for a while now as I want to keep Splinterlands fresh. While the game is already deep and fun, I think there is still room for changes that can make battles more balanced and less predictable. The goal of these suggestions is to reduce one sided strategies especially heavy magic spam and encourage the more human part of the game.

The first idea, Broken Arrows Mechanics, aims to make range units more fair by allowing them to still attack in front position but with reduced damage instead of being completely useless. The second idea introduces a Rock-Paper-Scissors system between Melee, Range and Magic to create stronger counters and prevent one attack type from dominating the meta. The third idea, Elemental Field System, adds a rotating battlefield effect that randomly boosts certain Elements and certain number of units which would push players to adapt and explore different combinations instead of sticking to one safe strategy.

Even one of these ideas would surely make the game more interesting and will increase the input from the players. In the end, the goal is to explore the concept of what else we can add in Splinterlands just like the Summoner Tactics or Bloodline Mechanics instead of just adding more modifiers and abilities to the game.