Though Axie Origin has been in testing for some time, this new milestone signifies the official relaunch of their play-to-earn, creature battling, strategy game. With the launch of Season 0 (Zero), also known as Phase 3, Axie Infinity kicks off their new economy and shifts the production of Smooth Love Potions to the Origin game.
Origin is a huge change for Axie. Basically, it’s a huge game and economy reboot. With Season 0 now live, Axie have officially moved their play-to-earn economy onto the Origin game. Will this be enough to save a declining franchise? It’s hard to say at this point, but some players will return to discover the changed game. And the new crafting options provide a much-needed, extra layer to the game economy.
Axie Origin Season 0
Season 0 kicked off on August 11th and lasts for 30 days. It began with a leaderboard reset, crafting level reset, and an inventory wipe of all Moon Shards, Moondusts, and Ancient Stones. Those who participated in the previous season should have a Moon Shard reward in their mailbox based on how far they progressed through the PvE portion of the game. PvE ranks were not reset.
Leaderboard rewards for Season 0 increased to 60,708 AXS, distributed among the top 20,000 players. Players who participate in Season 0 can receive special stickers for their in-game collection. Also with this update comes additional tweaks and balance changes. Read the full list of changes for Phase 3 on their official blog post.
Smooth Love Potion generation has been moved into Axie Origin. SLP will be created when players win matches against other players, with larger rewards at higher ranks. However, for 30 days, any SLP earned will remain in your account while the team monitors the system for potential exploits and bugs. After this lock period lifts, players will be able to mint SLP tokens with a 7 day delay. In Origin, Smooth Love Potions have additional utility. Besides breeding, players use SLP for crafting Charms and Runes, providing an additional use case for what was otherwise a very niche token.
Also, Season 0 introduces Rune and Charms to the blockchain. A recent marketplace update provided support for these new tokens.
Crafting in Axie Origin
Axie Infinity brings a number of changes to the game. Combat has undergone revisions, with a new game flow, new abilities, and changes to existing ones. But perhaps the biggest addition in regards to gameplay and the overall economy is the new crafting system.
Axie Origin introduces Runes and Charms, used to provide boosts to your Axies and to their powers. Some are found while adventuring, but most of them come from player crafting. Players level up as they craft, allowing them to try more expensive recipes that offer better rewards.
Crafting requires SLP tokens, as well as Moon Shards. Players find Moon Shards while playing the game, or can acquire them by disenchanting Runes and Charms. If players want to trade their Runes or Charms, they must be minted to the Ronin blockchain, which costs a fee in AXS tokens ($3 worth). This feature gate helps slow down the flood of these items onto the marketplace, and also sets a base floor price for these items.
Some Charms and Runes are seasonal, meaning that they only work for one season. Luckily, Axie offers a disenchanting feature, allowing players to break down old or unwanted crafts into base components for future crafting attempts.
Runes and Charms add a new economic layer to the game, as well as allowing players to tweak and focus their Axie teams to fit their playstyle. Overall, crafting should be a great, long-term addition to the Axie ecosystem.
