Illuvium is a much-anticipated project that will help usher in a new age of gaming. More specifically, it’s an NFT auto battler role-playing game (RPG). This article will cover how the Illuvium game works and some of the features that make it unique.

What is Illuvium?

The team will release the Illuvium game soon, with the company whitepaper listing in Q1 of 2022 as the target. In the game, players can explore, collect, battle, and earn. Illuvium game players can traverse its vast digital landscape to hunt and capture wild creatures to battle in arenas or trade them on the IlluviDEX exchange. Further, the Illuvium game is a digital world where players engage hostile, mysterious creatures called “Illuvials.” In short, the goal is to travel the vast regions of the planet to hunt and capture them.

Moreover, Illuvium’s game developers engineered it for long-term sustainability with community governance and a AAA blockchain gaming experience.

Illuvium

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Illuvium Game Overview – Role Playing

Imagine traveling in an intergalactic space fleet to investigate a distress beacon on a ruined planet mostly engulfed by a crystal ocean. Extreme weather conditions have ravaged the terrain, and after a strong radiation blast disables the ship’s engine, you crash-land on the planet.

The Illuviary

Emerging from the wreckage, you find an ancient almanac. Someone has scribbled “Illuviary” on the cover. Some ancestral race must have left this record behind when they landed long ago. Inside the almanac is an index of every kind of Illuvial. Each entry is locked, however. To unlock them requires capturing Illuvials, the mystical beasts with magical powers, and recording their digital signature into the almanac.

The almanac raises numerous questions like, what is Illuvium? What are Illuvials? Are these wild creatures responsible for the planet’s downfall? Fortunately, earlier ancestors figured out a way to harness the Illuvial’s energy by capturing them in slivers of crystal called shards. These shards are mined from the planet’s surface. 

To uncover the mysteries of Illuvium, you must become a hunter who traverses the land to search out and subdue these magnificent yet dangerous creatures. But, the Illuviary contains more than just the record of Illuvials. It might just unlock all of Illuvium’s mysteries.

In-game characters called "Illuvials".

Illuvium Game – Illuvials 

More than 100 Illuvials roam the vast landscape of Illuvium, each possessing unique abilities. These beasts harness radiation that seeps out of the planet’s core that they use to mutate, grow, and unleash deadly attacks. Some Illuvials are easy to spot, while other sightings are as “rare as a yeti.” 

Illuvials are a bit of a mystery, particularly their origins. But they connect with elements such as earth, wind, fire, and air. The stronger affinities blend ingredients, such as air and water to make “frost,” or fire and fire to create “inferno.”

Affinities force players to conduct strategic thinking because some affinities will be successful, and some won’t. It all depends on which opponent they’re facing.

Illuvium Game – Synergies

Illuvials can form relationships with each other based on their affinities or classes. These relationships are called “synergies.” Illuvials grow stronger when they team up for battle with the synergy system. So, players must properly pair up Illuvials to increase their chances of victory. Different strategies will come into play since players who’ve combined better synergies can defeat solo Illuvials with more raw power. 

Furthermore, players can combine multiple Illuvials of one type into a more powerful creature with different attributes that belong to another class. Because some Illuvials are rare, their fused forms become even more unique. So by putting in the work to find and conquer rare Illuvials, a player’s captures will stand out and hopefully intimidate opponents in the arenas (see below).

Illuvium Game

Illuvium Game – Shards

Shards are essential items in the Illuvium game. Without shards, players cannot capture Illuvials that they defeat in combat. The shard is a crystal sliver that traps the Illuvial inside. So, each player will need to stock up on shards before engaging in confrontations. 

Shards come in various tiers of power. Further, their quality increases or decreases the chance of capturing the elusive beasts. Stronger Illuvials are harder to capture and will, therefore, require a more powerful shard. So, it stands to reason that players who prepare for encounters with more potent types of Illuvials will have better chances for success.

Shards pulled from the ground have arbitrary powers based on their rarity, making them more of a gamble. So, to ensure that one has the necessary strength to capture the more powerful Illuvials, one can acquire specific shards at the IlluviDEX.

To sum up, when the shard is successful with the capture, the protocol mints a new NFT. Next, it delivers it to the player’s wallet. This NFT represents the captured Illuvial. As mentioned, after capturing several Illuvials of the same type, players can fuse them to create a more powerful creature.

Illuvium Game – Classes

There are five classes of Illuvials: fighters, guardians, psions, empaths, and rogues. Typical of many RPGs, the class of Illuvials affects a battle’s outcome. So players must draft their teams accordingly, picking traits they can mold into a single, effective fighting unit. 

Also, players can merge two separate classes like a fighter and a rogue to become a “slayer.” Within a single class, two psions can combine to create an “invoker.”

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Illuvium Game – Weapons and Armor

Not only do the Illuvials fight in Illuvium. Players also battle with futuristic weapons that store the Illuvial’s essence, and the choice of weapons will determine a player’s class.

Players will also need armor to defend themselves in battle. The correct choice of armor can sway a battle as each coat of armor has different properties. So IlluviDEX is the place to go for armor, weapons, and other NFTs in the Illuvium game.

Mountainous landscape of the game.

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What is Illuvium? Shards, Synergies, and Wounded Illuvials

Illuvials roaming this shattered planet are hard to track. Moreover, when confronted, the player should not expect an easy fight. The player’s in-game character possesses advanced technology to help engage these powerful creatures. However, gamers must not underestimate the synergies between Illuvials. To do so is to risk defeat. But the thrill of victory means that the player gets to keep the Illuvial in a shard. Afterward, the captive Illuvial accompanies the player on their adventure.

Once the player’s captures hit the threshold, they can fuse the Illuvials into a single creature that’s more powerful. Wounded Illuvials, on the other hand, return to the shard to heal and regenerate. This healing process is time-based. But, if the player can’t wait that long to get their fighting force back to full strength, they can pay a fee to restore their creature to full power. 

​​After a player strategically assembles their team, they can join the fight against their opponents in the “auto-battler.”

Battle Arenas

Players looking to prove the best hunter can battle one another in the arena. Competitors will line up in the “ranked arena” to match similar skills. Players can also call out other players for heads-up matches in the “leviathan arena.” On the other hand, those who prefer to stay on the sidelines can watch and bet on the outcomes.

Exploring what is Illuvium? - Soldier's journey through the game's wasteland.

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How to Play Illuvium

The first step for new players is to customize their character. Next, they select their sidekick drone. After that, the exploration begins. As mentioned, players can mine free shards to start. The Illuvium team wanted their game to differ from those that require a lump sum of money upfront. However, these players will only possess the power to capture a few weaker Illuvials. Nonetheless, it’s a way to start and learn the ins and outs of the game before heading to the IlluviDEX to spend money.

What is Illuvium? The Scarcity Factor

Many of Illuvium’s regions will remain inaccessible to first-generation players. As players progress over time, however, they will unlock obelisks. Unlocking obelisks will allow them to discover new and more challenging parts of the planet with new and more challenging Illuvials.

Notably, as more players traverse the planet collecting Illuvials, the scarcity factor will kick in. More captures mean a diminishing supply, which will diminish the capture rate. All in all, Illuvials will become harder to catch. 

A Finite Supply of Illuvials

The finite nature of Illuvials necessitates more production. So, the DAO will vote on necessary additions and release more Illuvials at steady intervals. Even though the rarity factor will help increase their value, older sets will not disappear completely. That’s because players will still trade them on the IlluviDEX long after capturing a collection. Nonetheless, the first generation of Illuvial owners will be holding rare items should the game continue to succeed and attract future players.

That makes sense because the team designed Illuvium to be a game of mystery and discovery. Hence, they will not be publicly releasing information in advance about all the Illuvials in existence. While players will fill many of the Illuvial entries early on with each capture, new exploration and discoveries will undoubtedly uncover rare finds over time. 

ILV price chart.

Now that you better understand how the game works, let’s look at some of the protocol’s features. 

What is Illuvium Liquidity Mining?

Illuvium’s governance token is ILV. So those interested in participating in Illuvium’s liquidity mining program will need to acquire and stake their ILV tokens.

The purpose of this liquidity mining program is to distribute ILV tokens to early adopters. This distribution helps to get ILV tokens into the hands of more of the community members and helps incentivize more participation. It also brings more liquidity to the market. Users can stake ILV tokens to support the protocol, get access to governance, and receive percentages from in-game fees.

The larger the Illuvium community grows, the better its prospects become to form a decentralized governance program. Further, users who decide to stake on Illuvium will receive token distributions and can vote on everything from game features to tokenomics. As such, those who stake will get a say in the protocol’s future.

How to Stake ILV 

At present, the protocol has two core staking pools around it. For those worried about impermanent loss, there is a single-sided staking pool. For those willing to risk impermanent loss, there is the double-sided ILV-ETH staking pool. At one point, this staking opportunity offered 350% APY. But to claim the rewards, stakers had to vest for twelve months. 

ILV token supply for Illuvium.
ILV Token Supply

To build and hold players’ interest in ILV, Illuvium is populating the ecosystem with rare and functional NFTs. Ownership is key to such collection games and helps the entire value proposition. So, it’s not surprising that blockchain games with tangible assets (such as card games) have done better than digital media thus far. 

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What is Illuvium and Immutable X?

One of the biggest challenges with NFT projects is the cost of transacting on the Ethereum network. Network congestion has bid up gas prices on all Ethereum transactions, including NFTs. When fees get too high, that can hurt NFT trading volume. So, what is Illuvium’s interest in Immutable X?

Immutable X is a game-changer when it comes to exorbitant transaction fees. That’s because this layer-2 scaling solution can handle over 9,000 transactions per second and lets users trade NFTs without paying gas fees. Instant transactions with zero fees are a big plus. So, Illuvium players can immerse themselves in the game without the worry of getting hammered by exorbitant gas fees each time they transact or change up their collection. 

Immutable X partnership billboard.

Conclusion

Illuvium is a massive digital playground, and as gaming pioneers begin to scratch its crystal surface, new regions will arise with new Illuvials to hunt. 

The team is working hard to release the game’s open beta coming soon, but they designed Illuvium to host multiple game types from the get-go. Overworld RPG and Battle Arena to be the first major releases, and the team is currently developing the 3D auto-battler. Other games are also underway, with the DAO voting on any expansions. Some details in this article may be subject to change as the final releases emerge, but the game leaks so far look very clean. For more information, visit Illuvium’s website or the Discord channel.

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