Totems
Last updated
Last updated
Totems are a captivating collection of map assets, embodied by unique life forms. As players, you'll embark on a journey to nurture and maintain your totems' health, requiring Protem spending. Skillful nurturing will yield additional Protem as rewarding outcomes.
The objective is to earn as much Protem rewards as possible in this exciting mini-game, serving as a simulation of the interaction between Stem and Life, on an exaggerated scale. It’s like Life on steroids. This thrilling experience provides a sneak peek into how Life will eventually work in Upland, giving you a taste of the fascinating mechanics to come.
In the expansive Upland metaverse, Stem will hold the vital role of sustaining all living things, such as trees, animals, and plants. Life's design will closely mirror the real world, where living assets will require nourishment in the form of Stem.
To facilitate the transition, Protem, a substitute currency, will be utilized until the full release of Stem and Life. Protem will be redeemable 1:1 with Stem upon its eventual launch. Before the totem first totem cycle begins, players will receive a fixed amount of Protem for each Totem they hold.
Get Your Totem Start by purchasing a totem from the Upland store. Each totem is a one-of-a-kind creation, boasting distinct traits that define its appearance and potential rewards.
Understand Traits Each totem possesses five unique traits – Life Form, Style, Color, Scale, and Totem Base. These traits influence your totem's behavior, rewards, and more. These visual traits represent five specific attributes of your totem – Output, Input, Frequency, Capacity, and Stamina.
Nurture Your Totem Spend Protem to nurture your totem and keep it "alive" during the 30-day cycle. The right spending strategy is essential – too much or too little can affect your rewards. Remember, spending frequency and amount matter.
Optimize Rewards Aim to spend Protem within each interval of the cycle. An interval is defined by the Frequency attribute, which will be explained in depth in a later section. Missing intervals might lead to penalties, and multiple spending within the same interval won't yield additional rewards. Find your totem's sweet spot and make the most of it.
Time Your Spends Timing matters! Make your Protem spend close to the center of the interval for the best results. This ensures maximum yield returns and enhances your totem's potential.
Embrace Diversity Explore various trait combinations, from Life Form to Style and Scale. Discover the synergies and nuances that make each totem special.
Harvest Rewards As you nurture your totem, it generates Protem rewards. Collect them periodically to grow your resources and further nurture your totem's potential.
Totem traits are the heart and soul of these captivating creatures. Each totem possesses 5 visual traits, and each trait represents an attribute that determines the nature of the totem. These traits — Life Form, Style, Color, Scale, and Totem Base — have multiple variations, resulting in each totem being truly unique in its combination of traits. These traits influence the totem's appearance, characteristics, and Protem rewards.
Totem's Life Form presents an enchanting array of animal and plant types, comprising 11 captivating variations. Each Life Form is intricately connected to a distinct "Output" curve, showcasing the totem's yielding pattern and overall yield returns.
Now, let's break down the 11 types of output curves, representing the 11 lifeforms, with 6 archetypes of the earning journey you'll encounter in Upland.
The archetypes are:
Linear: Here, your rewards grow consistently over time – it's a direct, predictable climb, much like walking up a gentle slope.
Hockey Stick: This curve plays the long game. Initially, it's all slow and steady, but wait for it... suddenly, your rewards skyrocket, mirroring the sharp turn of a hockey stick. It's a game of patience with a potentially big payoff.
Wave: Get ready to surf! Rewards on this curve rise and fall, creating a wave-like pattern. It adds an element of timing and rhythm to your strategy, as you aim to catch the high points for maximum rewards.
Sharp Step: This curve initially offers rewards at a steady pace, then unexpectedly “steps” up to a higher rate. The sudden sharp step adds a dynamic twist to the earning trajectory.
Mild Step: In this curve, rewards begin at a consistent rate, then take a more mild step up at some point. The increase is slight, offering a modest yet noticeable lift in earnings.
Static Llama: Exclusive to the rare, one-of-a-kind Llama Totem, this output features a stable and consistent earning pattern.
Each output curve in Upland adds a unique twist to the gameplay, ensuring a rich and varied experience as you navigate your totems. Part of the game's allure is figuring out which output curve you're dealing with. Embrace the challenge of discovering and mastering the distinct attributes and rewards each curve offers, as you connect them with different Life Forms.
Totems boast 7 color variations: Orange, Brown, Purple, Green, Red, Blue, and Gold—ranging from least to most rare. Color signifies the "Frequency" attribute, reflecting how often a totem should be fed. Imagine a desert cactus needing weekly watering compared to a daily-doting tropical flower.
For the best outcomes, aim to make one Protem spend within each interval. Skipping an interval without spending may result in penalties on the totem's future yielding abilities. However, making multiple spends within the same interval won't harm the totem but can lead to wasted Protem and reduced yield effectiveness.
Timing is equally crucial—strive to make the spend close to the center of the time interval. Spending too far from the center will result in lower yield returns. So, be wise in your decisions, strike the perfect balance, and nurture your totems to unlock their true potential and maximize your rewards!
Style is the captivating artistic design of the totem's skin, with 7 variations—from least to most rare: Elegant, Gamer, Ancient, Fantasy, Future, Painted, and Fluid. Style embodies the "Input" attribute, which represents the total amount of Protem spend that generates yields in a cycle. Top-tier totems boast higher yieldable "Input" amounts in a cycle, enabling them to earn more Protem rewards.
When playing, determining the "optimal spend amount" for each interval is simple yet crucial. To calculate it, divide the total Protem Input amount by the number of intervals in a cycle. This ensures you allocate the right amount of Protem for each interval, maximizing your yield effectiveness.
When making a spend, keep the "optimal spend amount" in mind. Spending below this optimal value means missing out on the full yielding potential. On the other hand, spending above the optimal amount results in discarding the extra Protem, lowering your investment efficiency. Strive for precision and balance as you manage your Protem spending!
Scale represents the enchanting visual size of a totem, offering 9 variations: Micro, Small, Normal, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Huge, Gigantic, and Epic, ranging from least to most rare. Scale signifies the "Capacity" attribute, denoting the maximum amount of Protem rewards a totem can hold before yielding stops. Players will need to come back to collect Protem yield rewards periodically.
Totem Base is the shape design of a totem’s base. There are 4 variations: Hexagon, Pentagon, Square, and Circle, ranked from least rare to most. The totem Base represents the Stamina of a totem, which describes in the event that the feeding schedule is missed, what happens to the totem and the corresponding penalties. Some animals and plants are indeed tougher than others!
Like hardy animals and plants, some totems possess higher Stamina, enduring missed feeds without severe penalties better than others! The exact penalty details for each Stamina will be revealed at a later time. Understanding your totem's unique characteristics is key—care for them wisely and watch them thrive in this captivating world of Totem!
