Axie Infinity: Origin – New Game Mechanics, Power-Ups, FTP?

Axie Infinity is really living up to its name – with it showing the drive for an infinite amount of possibilities for the game and the players. Just days ago, Sky Mavis has officially revealed the details for the upcoming Version 3 of Axie known as the Origin. And it could just be the best thing that could happen to the game.

© Axie Infinity

The Axie phenomenon sparked the interest of those who aren’t aware of the play-to-earn model for games. It paved the way for other P2E games such as Plant vs Undead, Thetan Arena, Bombcrypto, and now, the racing sensation game, Pegaxy. But little did we know that despite its unwavering success, the actual version of Axie everybody is playing right now is not the final version of the game yet. Axie is still on Version 2, but you might know what’s already next.

What Is Coming In Axie Infinity: Origin?

A lot.

Yes, a lot of changes will arrive in Origin. The majority of the game mechanics will be revamped, like how the way cards are being played per turn. In the current Version 2 of Axie, Axies attack through the usage of cards in an order depending on how players queue it but it’ll depend on what is the speed of each Axie. But in Version 3, speed won’t matter anymore since it will be a turn-based setting like how Magic: The Gathering, Hearthstone, or Yu-Gi-Oh is being played. Players will take turns to use their cards and another thing that should be noted is that effects will activate as soon as it gets played. There’s no more card queueing in Version 3.

And with the Speed stat not a thing anymore, other V2 stats such as Skill and Morale will also not make a return to Origin. The Axies will just keep their HP or Hit Points to indicate how long they can last in a battle. Energies and cards will also not accumulate across turns making the game faster compared to the current version where games could be at least two or three minutes long at minimum or can go up to eight to ten minutes depending on the deck engine of the players.

The actual set of cards could also change in Origin. Some cards will have an attack or a defense value rather than having both which is seen on V2. And additional cards for the Eyes and Ears per Axie will also be debuting in Origin, making it a six-card set for each Axie rather than the current four-card set representing its Mouth, Horn, Back, and Tail parts.

No More Random Crits

For sure, one of the game factors that stresses out the Axie players is the random critical hits that occur from time to time in the Arena. Of course, it’ll favor you if it happens to your attack or it will be a bad thing for you if the opponent will have a critical hit to your Axie, but it could also actually disrupt your game plan going either way.

But in Axie Infinity: Origin, the new “Rage” system will be implemented. This is the game element that could be seen in fighting or RPG games wherein a meter will gain points through hitting and attacking the opponent. And once it becomes full, a powerful atack or skill could then be activated. In the case of Origin, Axies will accumulate Rage points that can help it to perform a boosted attack of some sort, making it more calculated and skill-dependent rather than the totally random crits in V2.

The Arrival of Power Runes and Charms

Runes and charms may be considered staples when it comes to RPG, MOBA, or any game that involves character skills and powers. And these will also be introduced in Origin wherein every upgrade will cost players to spend an SLP fee. For those of you who don’t know, the SLP or Smooth Love Potion is the main currency and farmable token in the game of Axie. This has a corresponding market value that changes from time to time depending on the movement of the blockchain ecosystem surrounding the game. Also, another new farmable resource called Moonshard is coming to Origin, making it, as well as SLP the main processing fee to upgrade those new power-ups.

These Runes and Charms can provide added skills and effects to Axies, though Sky Mavis hasn’t specified yet how it can specifically work in the game. Of course, we’ll keep you posted once more information about this will be available.

Axie Infinity: Origin as a Free-To-Play Game

In order to play Axie today, you need to either have your own Axies (which you will buy) or be a scholar by playing a manager or investor’s set of Axies, splitting the earnings to you and your manager’s desired cut. But in Origin, you can actually play the game even if you do not venture on any of those mentioned options.

Players will now have three starter Axies if they wish to launch Origin in their device. You cannot farm SLP using these free Axies though, but anyonce may now try the game without spending a single penny. But a very interesting thing about this is that Sky Mavis puts a disclaimer that players cannot earn SLP from using the free starter Axies “for now at least!.”

When is Origin Coming?

Sky Mavis plans an Alpha release of Axie Infinity: Origin by the end of Q1 2022. This is also the end of V2’s season 20, and season 0 of Origin will go right after which could work side-by-side with V2. The current version will then shut down once everything is smooth in the new version, but nothing is set in stone as it’ll all depend on the feedback and possible adjustments to achieve the best version of Origin.

The exisiting Axies by players and managers in V2 are also transferable and still useful in Origin. But there is no guarantee if they will still be viable to use in the new version, or it could be weakened depending on its counerpart card effect.

We will keep you posted if new announcement will be made for the game, so make sure to follow us for more gaming news and updates as it happens.