Giddy Up and Let’s Play Derby Stars Alpha Launch
- 🥑 Scholar
What is Derby Stars?
Derby Stars is a free-to-play, play-to-earn horse racing game for all players who like training and racing against other horses. With the integration of Web3 blockchain technology, you can earn $DSRUN tokens, which can be swapped for real money, and gain profit from playing Derby Stars. You can train your horse, breed your horse, race against other horses in “Free Training” (PvE), and race against other players' horses in PvP Competition, where you can earn the $DSRUN tokens.
Understanding the Basic Game Mechanics:
The game mechanics of Derby Stars are pretty straightforward. Just join a race and try to play and win it. But it’s not that easy to secure a win in a race; there are many factors you need to consider if you want to at least have a higher chance of winning or, better yet, dominate the Derby Stars race. Here are some of the factors you need to consider when playing Derby Stars:
Statistics - This shows the stats of your horse.
Skills - This shows the skills that you can use in the game (passive skills).
Terrain Preferences - This shows the kind of terrain your horse likes to run on.
Weather Preference - This shows the type of weather your horse prefers.
Talent - This shows the talent of your horse, and how well your horse will do depends on the talent. Graded from F to S.
Distance Adaptable - This shows the distance adaptability of your horse.
By utilizing all the advantages of your horse due to the above factors, you will have a higher chance of winning your race when playing Derby Stars. First, you need to participate in Derby Stars Free Training mode to earn $CRT tokens, which you can then use as an entry fee for the PvP Competition. If you go to the Derby Stars PvP Competition mode, you will need to first choose the race you want to join, There are a bunch of races that you can choose to participate in. And every race has an entry fee of $CRT tokens that you need to pay for the registration of your horse. There’s a deadline for each race in PvP, so take note of the deadline and make sure you join if you think your horse can win that race. Winning the Derby Stars PvP race will give you VP points that will determine your rank in the Derby Stars Season 1 Leaderboard. Earn as much VP as possible before season 1 ends to get to a higher rank and get more Derby Stars $DSRUN Tokens.
Building a Strong Horse:
In Derby Stars, you can build a strong horse differently in Derby Stars Free Training (PvE) mode and Derby Stars PvP Competition. Take note that the only way you can upgrade your stats in PvP Competition is by adding stats to your desired stat by leveling up your horse in training mode. Every 1 level will give you 1 stat point to spend on your stats. In Derby Stars Free Training (PvE) mode, all accumulated points will not remain and will reset after you have completed 1 complete free training mode.
Now, if you want to compete in Derby Stars PvP Competition mode, you need to level up your horse by using the stat points you gained for every level. By level 10, you will have 10 skill points that you can use to upgrade your desired stats. I strongly recommend understanding your horse's strengths and weaknesses before spending your stat points. If you want to gain more stats points, you can use the “Limit Breakthrough,” which allows your horse to increase its maximum level and continue to gain stats points. This will also unlock the third core slot for your horses.
Identifying Win Conditions:
In Derby Stars, to win the game in PvP mode, there are many things you need to consider. One factor is how you will spend the stat points you get from leveling your horses. You also need to consider the strengths and weaknesses of your horse, the race information, your rivals, and more. Let’s break it down:
Check your horse's stats. You need to identify your horse's stats to see in which races your horse has an advantage. By utilizing this information, you will have an idea of what kind of tracks your horse can possibly win. Let’s take a look at the example below.
Since the horse has high stamina, it can run on longer tracks without worrying about depleting HP. So it is better to race on longer tracks in Derby Stars than short ones because your horse will have an advantage on longer tracks.
Determine the Talent of your horse. By knowing what your horse's talent is, you will be able to know in which race your horse will shine and possibly win the race. Each horse has their own talent that is better than the other and is graded from F - S. From the example above, the horse has an S Grade for SR or Stretch Runner. Stretch Runner’s talent makes your horse faster than others in the final corner/last straight track to outpace the horse in front. Usually, stretch runners are positioned furthest to the back until the middle of the race. But gets faster when it comes to final corner/last stretch of the race.
Check if it's green or brown. It’s also important to consider the track adaptation of your horse. Check whether your horse prefers Turf on tracks or Dirt. If the horse likes the track, you will maintain your stats and have a higher chance of winning the race. But if your horse dislikes the track, his stats will decrease a bit from what you have trained.
Learn and master your horse's skills. Yes, the skills of horses are passive, and they will automatically activate once they meet their condition in Derby Stars. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t need to learn it. In fact, by learning the condition requirements of the skills, you will have a higher chance of winning the race. Let’s take a look at the example below.
The horse has five buff skills and one debuff skill. Buff skills will grant your horse a boost when racing, depending on the skills, and debuff skills will reduce your horse's performance, also depending on the skills. Let’s break down the skills of the horse.
Last Spurt(Buff) - Your horse will increase speed and Acceleration during the last stretch of the race when the weather is sunny and the race is over a mile.
Promised Victory 2(Buff) - Your horse's HP consumption will decrease significantly and will increase Speed when you have run 1200 miles or more and you are currently leading in the race.
First Corner Pace(Buff) - HP consumption decreases slightly at corners during the race.
Nervous Rival(Debuff) - HP of your horse and other horses will decrease when there are many horses nearby at the final corner.
Rearrangement 2 Medium Distance(Buff) - Your HP increases slightly when your horse runs 800m or more, and the race is between 1201 - 2000 m long.
The Less, The Merrier 1(Buff) - Your horse’s speed increases and HP consumption decreases at the start line when there are 10 or fewer horses competing.
Judging by the skills of the horse, the horse is better with Derby Stars tracks between 1201 - 2000 m long, sunny weather, and 10 or fewer horses competing. This way, you can utilize all skills except the debuff skill and have a higher chance of winning the race.
Equip Those Cores: By playing the Derby Stars free training mode, you might also get cores as a reward. Make sure to equip them before racing for an additional boost to your horse's stats. You can equip three cores, with the first 2 slots unlocked at levels 1–10 and the other one unlocked by reaching level 20.
Decide if you want to Limit Breakthrough - This is optional because of the addition of the new Derby Stars PvP Competition Track “Newbie Series”. This race is exclusively for levels 1–10. Level 11 and above cannot join this race. If you want to take part in this race, you must not do a Limit Breakthrough and keep your horse’s level at 10. But if you want to compete in higher-tier races, You need to level up your horse because other races in PvP are for higher levels, and if you blindly compete without considering leveling up, you will surely lose.
Checking Your Rivals: This can be tedious to do, but it’s worth checking your rivals before racing. Knowing your enemies' stats, skills, strengths, and weaknesses could really help you a lot with what training you should be focusing on to possibly win the race. Take note that this feature is not available in the Derby Stars PvP Competition.
Use your items when needed. There are some cases where you won’t be able to reach your rival's stats even after training. But you can use your items before the race to boost the stat that you want to reach. Use it when needed, especially in the Derby Stars World Cup Race in free training mode.
With proper knowledge of your horse’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as their stats and skills, you will have a higher chance of winning every race when playing Derby Stars. The goal of the free training mode is to get as many $CRT tokens as you can. These tokens are very important because of their utility, especially if you want to compete in PvP competitions. You can acquire many $CRT tokens by doing the free training mode, performing well until the Final Derby race, and possibly getting a grade of S at the end. There are still so many things that need to be discussed in Derby Stars. Next time, we will dive deep into these topics in free training mode to better understand all of the factors and how they can affect the race. Happy racing, everyone!
