The combination of blockchain technology, NFTs, and gaming produced an explosive breakaway industry in the cryptocurrency space last year, as gamers everywhere woke up to the potential benefits of gamefi and play-to-earn (P2E) game mechanics.

One new release building on this momentum is Dragon War, a turn-based fantasy strategy game built on the Solana (SOL) blockchain. In its mystical realm, a cast of badass characters is represented by non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that can be improved and leveled up through successful gameplay.

Players take on the role of one of four unique heroes (human, wizard, elf, and orc), each with their own distinct abilities. What’s more, all heroes have the ability to summon elemental dragons based around familiar attributes – earth, fire, thunder, and water – and to use their innate abilities to improve their prospects of winning in PvP and PvE battles.

Since development began on Dragon War, the project has attracted investment from dozens of prominent venture capitalists and blockchain incubators, including AU21 Capital, Athena Ventures, Vendetta Capital, Red Kite, and Icetea Labs. At the time of writing, Joe Public is about to find out what all the fuss is about as Dragon War draws near to its Q1 mainnet release…

Varied Gameplay and Strategy

The in-game characters of Dragon War span four different species, each native to the fantastical milieu of Eragard. Humans are characterized by their fine balance of attributes between attack, defense, and HP while elves benefit from greater defensive abilities than other races (though Dark Elves prioritize attack over all else). Orcs, meanwhile, start off with much higher HP than any other race. When a user first purchases a hero, they also inherit a unique specialty skill that strengthens the starting ability of any elemental dragon they summon in the future.

Dragons add to the in-game battle stack of each player and fall into five unique classes: Tanker, Warrior, Ranger, Mage, and Support. Each Dragon also randomly receives one of five elemental strengths: Fire, Wood, Earth, Thunder, and Water.

As with heroes, every type of dragon comes with its own distinct strengths, while their unique elements also add to and modify those strengths. The best players will find synergies between their heroes, their dragon, and their elemental strengths in order to achieve the most effective gameplay. Dragons initially come in the form of three different rarities (common, uncommon, rare), with the innate strengths and abilities of each dictated by their levels.

How to Play-to-Earn

Players can earn from Dragon War in a number of ways: by engaging in PvP and PvE battles against other players and NPCs; by completing missions and quests; by topping the leaderboard at the end of every PvE and PvP session; and by selling their rare or enhanced NFTs in the Dragon War marketplace.

All of the in-game characters, skills, and weapons are represented by NFTs, and each can be traded and sold to other players, giving participants a plethora of potential strategies and opportunities to profit from successful gameplay. The fact that the game is built on the blazing-fast architecture of the Solana blockchain makes these activities all the more enjoyable since transaction fees are near zero.

The combination of NFTs alongside Dragon War’s various in-game features creates a range of intensely varied options for players when it comes to gameplay and strategy. Each of the four heroes’ skills can be modified by the rarity and strengths of each elemental dragon. Each dragon, meanwhile, has different skills according to the strength of its six body parts, while in-game weapons and items modify a player’s stack even further.

Tokenomics

Dragon War’s native DRAW token is used to buy in-game NFTs such as heroes and dragons, and it can also be used for staking to earn passive income. The second token native to Dragon War, ERA, is used to buy other in-game items and can be deployed to upgrade characters and dragons as the game progresses. The number of DRAW tokens is capped at 1.5 billion while the ERA supply is unlimited.

Dragon War’s mainnet is scheduled for release later this month, with its roadmap extending to the end of the year, by which time a fully-fledged metaverse may well be live. Amid endless gamefi drops, Dragon War stands out due to its nostalgic familiarity, countless earning opportunities, and strong developer team. If dragons, quests, and crypto float your boat, you need to give it a try.

IDO Launch

Keep an eye out for Dragon War’s upcoming IDO whitelist which will follow the following schedule:

• Starpunk: March 6
• Dragon War Community Pool: March 10
• Solanium: March 16
• Red Kite: March 18

The IDO Sale Schedule, meanwhile, will open with Solanium on March 20 before concluding three days later. On the same day the sale ends on Solanium, March 23, IDOs will simultaneously commence on Red Kite and Starpunk.