Combining cards is an essential part of the Splinterlands game. When we first sign up on the Splinterlands game site, we are given a set of playable cards for free so that we can start playing right away. So, those who want to learn how to play and experience the game before investing can do at once without any delay whatsoever. Isn't that cool?
So, you decided to buy the starter pack which in my case was like in a matter of days because I really liked the game. There are a lot of supportive team members unlike in other places who go out of their way to help a new gamer and get him or her streamlined in the game within a matter of hours if not minutes.
The first investment - purchasing cards
Monster market and Peak monstersare websites from where you can purchase cards as of now. The cards can be filtered and be bought with ease using steem, sbd or dec. One can filter on the basis of the splinter, the version i.e. alpha, beta, promo, reward and untamed and then the regular or gold foil versions of these cards.
Please make sure that you buy summoner cards because a level one summoner cannot fully utilize a leveled up monster.
A gold foil leveled up monster can be easily got from the daily quest rewards or from opened orbs or untamed packs. So, make sure you use the gold and alchemy potions so that you have a higher chance of getting the gold foil or legendary cards and if it's your day, you can also draw a gold foil legendary.
Splinterlands is a game that gives guaranteed returns.
Combining cards
Cards should be combined so that you can use it to get to higher levels and higher levels mean more rewards and a better chance to make good of your investment.
As you can see, the above cards display shows that there are extra cards and it should be combined or leveled up in other words.
The confirmation message asking you whether you are sure about the combining part. The plus sign is what should be clicked to combine.
As you can see the card has leveled up a bit and will be more powerful than a level one card used by the opponent.
Stats display the abilities
A maxed card will be able to utilize all the powers and declare - " I am the power"
(I am still a fan of He-Man)
As you can observe, the Nectar queen card needs 400 cards to max whereas the Sacred Unicorn needs only 11. The difference being that the Unicorn is a legendary card and the Nectar queen is a common card.
I hope the above tips help new members and get a good start without too many doubts.
As always, I am thankful to all who help me still.
source - cool gif by 
Note - I am not doing it for favors or returns, she really is cool and so are the team members