FIFA 18 has hundreds of players from around the world, from different nationalities and teams- and while the big names are the ones that everyone will flock to, there is something to be said for trying out the lesser known but equally effective ones, too.

But how do you know which players to go for? Well, the good thing is the game itself tells you- there are player ratings that tell you just how effective that player is. In this guide, we highlight the top rated players across the various categories in the game.

Dribblers:

1. Lionel Messi
2. Neymar
3. Eden Hazard
4. Paulo Dybala
5. Cristiano Ronaldo
6. Thiago
7. Iniesta
8. Arjen Robben
9. Franck Ribéry
10. Bernardo Silva

Fastest Players:

1. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
2. Jonathan Biabiany
3. Héctor Bellerín
4. Mathis Bolly
5. Ernest Asante
6. Jürgen Damm
7. Gareth Bale
8. Leroy Sané
9. David Accam
10. Kekuta Manneh

Shooting and Shots:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lukas Podolski
3. Naldo
4. Zlatan Ibrahimović
5. Gareth Bale
6. Aleksandar Kolarov
7. Paul Pogba
8. Bradley Johnson
9. Johannes Geis
10. Nauzet Alemán

Goalkeepers:

1. Manuel Neuer
2. David De Gea
3. Gianluigi Buffon
4. Thibaut Courtois
5. Hugo Lloris
6. Jan Oblak
7. Samir Handanovič
8. Petr Čech
9. Stéphane Ruffier
10. Marc-André ter Stegen

Defenders:

1. Giorgio Chiellini
2. Mats Hummels
3. Andrea Barzagli
4. Sergio Ramos
5. Thiago Emiliano da Silva
6. João Miranda de Souza Filho
7. Jérôme Boateng
8. Sokratis Papastathopoulos
9. Toby Alderweireld

Free Kick Takers:

1. Andrea Pirlo
2. Hakan Çalhanoğlu
3. Miralem Pjanic
4. Dimitri Payet
5. Daniel Parejo
6. Lionel Messi
7. Marvin Plattenhardt
8. Gylfi Sigurðsson
9. Shunsuke Nakamurai
10. Memphis Depay

Passers:

1. Andrea Pirlo
2. Christian Eriksen
3. Toni Kroos
4. Kevin De Bruyne
5. Cesc Fàbregas
6. Daniel Parejo
7. Mesut Özil
8. David Silva
9. Andrés Iniesta
10. Miralem Pjanić

FIFA 18 is here, and true to the series, it retains the lucrative Ultimate Team Mode, which has been instrumental in making the franchise one of the most profitable worldwide, and in ushering a new era of sports games, is here in all its glory, with some new mechanics to boot.

In spite of its popularity, Ultimate Team can seem surprisingly arcane and obtuse to new players, and almost alienating, with its wealth of mechanics that can be hard to get a handle on. That’s where we come in- with this guide, we explain some Ultimate Team basics, so you can do better.

Best Tips And Tricks For FIFA 18 Ultimate Team

Pay attention to the tutorial. I can’t believe I have to say this, but gamers that have short attention spans are likely to skip the tutorial. That would be a bad idea. The tutorial is actually very well done, and will walk you through most of the basics that you will need to know to get started.

Keep an eye on your player stats. This goes without saying- your player stats determine their effectiveness, and in general, you want higher stats for your players, so you have a more effective team.

But team chemistry is also equally important. Team chemistry determines how well your players get along and function as a team- your player stats are important, but unless the team chemistry is also high, they will never gel together as a team.

How To Earn Gold Coins Faster

Coins are the currency of Ultimate Team- as you will soon learn, you will need them for everything, from getting new players, to upgrading them, to boosting them, to more. Generally, you will earn coins for finishing games, and you can also spend real world money on them- but if you want a head start on getting some, here are some basic tips and tricks you can leverage and utilize to stockpile some.

• Finish The Journey Season 2. The story mode is actually fairly disappointing this year, but completing it will get you a stash of Ultimate Team rewards, including coins. It might be worth your while.
• Complete challenges. Challenges are like bounties, and completing them gets you some pretty effective prizes.
• Including the Team of the Week challenge. Depending on the difficulty you play this one at, you could make out really well with this.
• Sell more popular players. Now this might sound counter-intuitive- but popular players sell for a lot on the marketplace. You can flip them for a lot of cash, and invest in lesser known players with equivalent stats- this ensures you have an equally efficient roster, while leaving you with more money on hand as well.
• Sell unused players. Similarly, don’t keep players on hand with the idea that you will use them ‘some day’. If you’re not actively using them, sell them.
• Use the web app. This will get you a one time infusion of coins. Yay.

Team Building and Team Chemistry

There are some basic and obvious team building tips I am sure everyone already knows- sell away duplicate players, for instance, or consider the hit to team chemistry when it comes to selling away an entrenched player. Additionally, as highlighted above, another thing you can look at doing is selling away popular players, and replacing them with equally effective but lesser known ones- this leaves you with a team that is as effective, but one that is also cheaper.

Which brings us to team chemistry. There are three kinds: individual chemistry, for an individual player, team chemistry for how all players function together on the team, and overall chemistry, which is a fusion of the other. There are some basic ways to ensure players get along and keep your team chemistry high:

Individual chemistry is very important. If a player is not happy about how they are playing or being treated, they will not feel happy no matter how well they get along with the rest of the team. Prioritize this for each player above all else.

Try and ensure each player is in position. What I mean by this is, each player has an ideal position they perform best in- this is denoted by a green indicator under their card on the team formation screen. If the indicator is red, they are out of formation- try and put them in a position you know they will do better in.

Players from the same club, nationality, or both gel better. This goes without saying, right?

But playing together will also induce chemistry. If you have players who have nothing in common, simply having them play games together will cause them to get along and develop bonds. How sweet.

Chemistry is calculated at the start of each game. This is important to remember, as this determines the boosts your player will get at the start of each game thanks to Chemistry.

Squad Battles

Squad Battles are a new addition to Ultimate Team this year. Essentially, they are a form of asynchronous multiplayer, that involves players making squads, and other players taking them on. You get multiple ranks in Squad Battles, and depending on what rank you are, you get bonuses and prizes.

You can always check your rank in the Your Rank tab. The awards for each rank are given below:

• Rank 1 – 100,000 Coins, 2 Ultimate Packs, 2 Rare Mega Packs
• Rank 2 – 10 – 87,500 Coins, 1 Ultimate Pack, 2 Rare Players Packs
• Rank 11 – 20 – 75,000 Coins, 2 Rare Players Packs, 1 Jumbo Rare Players Packs
• Rank 21 – 50 – 65,000 Coins, 1 Jumbo Rare Players Pack, 2 Mega Packs
• Rank 51 – 100 – 65,000 Coins, 2 Mega Packs, 1 Rare Players Pack
• Bronze 1 – 1,150 Coins, 1 Silver Pack, 1 Gold Pack
• Bronze 2 – 1 Ultimate Loan Player Reward Pack
• Bronze 3 – 2 Premium Loan Player Reward Pack
• Silver 1 – 10,900 Coins, 2 Premium Gold Packs, 1 Gold Pack
• Silver 2 – 4,850 Coins, 2 Gold Packs, 1 Premium Gold Pack
• Silver 3 – 2,000 Coins, 2 Gold Packs
• Gold 1 – 12,400 Coins, 1 Premium Gold Players Pack, 2 Jumbo Premium Gold Pack, 12,400 Coins
• Gold 2 – 13,000 Coins, 1 Premium Gold Players Pack, 1 Jumbo Premium Gold Pack
• Gold 3 – 12,000 Coins, 2 Jumbo Premium Gold Pack
• Elite 1 – 39,800 Coins, 2 Mega Packs
• Elite 2 – 25,200 Coins, 2 Mega Packs
• Elite 3 – 20,800 Coins, 1 Rare Gold Pack, 1 Premium Gold Players Pack, 1 Jumbo Premium Gold Pack

FIFA 18 is out, here and now- the world’s most popular franchise globally offers a new take on its ever evolving take on the beautiful game, with refined mechanics, and some changes to how things work. These changes will perhaps be most evident when you get to make a kick uninterrupted- such as a free kick, or a long shot.

That’s when you will find that things are a bit different this time around compared to last year. You might even feel a bit confused. That’s where we come in with this guide, where we explain with quick overviews how to handle these kicks.

DRIBBLING

The first section of this guide is on the exact opposite of what I mentioned- this is the section that teaches you how to dribble, which is an advanced maneuver you will only have to pull when you are being crowded by an opponent. Dribbling is initiated when you press L1 or LB, and when you push the analog stick to a direction, but only slightly- this causes your player to move with the ball in a zig zag motion, confusing the opponent, and letting you bypass them. By pressing the analog stick in a backwards half moon motion, you can also ‘shield’ dribble, which lets you block an incoming interception, and retain possession of the ball.

CORNER KICKS

The first thing you need to keep in mind is that when you take a corner kick, you want to take it with a player who has a high CRV skill. After this, you want to set full power to the corner (or lower power, if you plan on doing a close range play), determine the curve with the analog stick, and shoot. That’s all there is to it- how exactly you choose to execute a corner will also come down to exactly how your players are positioned.

LONG SHOT

For Long Shots, you need to press R1 or RB along with the shoot button, and then wait till you have at least three bars in the power meter. The important thing to keep in mind about these is that you need to be cognizant of your player- Long Shots should always be taken with a player’s strong foot, so you need to not only know what player you are playing as when you try to pull one off, but also what their strong foot is.

FREE KICKS

• Curve Free Kick: 2-3 power, and use the analog stick to curve the ball
• Dipping Free Kick: 1-2 power, and hold the analog stick forward when you run up to the ball
• Power Free Kick: Hold the stick forward, press R1 or RB, and apply maximum power. Pulling the stick in the opposite direction at the last moment performs a knuckleball free kick
• Trivela Free kick: 1-2 power, except you use the right analog stick to position yourself on the wrong side of the ball

FIFA 18 continues from the tradition set by last year’s entry by having a full fledged cinematic story mode for players. The Journey Season 2 continues Alex Hunter’s story from where last year left off- and while it is on the whole like a Telltale game mixed with some FIFA, you might still want to watch a walkthrough of it.

However this mode is quite easy. It’s impossible to get stuck in this mode, it’s linear so you can’t be at a loss as to where to go, and really, the mode lives and dies by its novelty (i.e. having a cinematic story mode for FIFA), because it’s not as though it plays too well or the story is too good. So by watching a playthrough, you are… taking away the only good parts, while exposing yourself to the bad ones?

But hey, if it works for you, it works for you. Find below a full video walkthrough of The Journey Season 2, with the ending as well. Bear in mind it has spoilers, and some such.