Hey everyone! I hope that this tutorial on line chemistry was helpful for you! Remember that, in NHL 22, there is a large emphasis on LINE SCORE & X-FACTORS. Therefore, it can be simple enough - just make sure that you always have the right player/coach combinations to get the appropriate score! Player types also play a role, as you will notice. You can also feel free to add or remove x-factors which will also contribute. I'm sorry that this guide cannot be all-encompassing as the x-factors literally provide millions of different permutations. Therefore, please share more of your findings/questions down below and join us on our Discord server where we can discuss more! @t
Love the intro! I was literally on my couch and was confused with my lines weren't working. Sat down to find a quick video, but it's honestly soooo complex. Gonna have to dedicate a couple sit downs to be able to get all the info i want, but I'll be coming back to learn a bit more each time i do! Thanks in advance for the help!
@@Data782 i actually just got through the rest of the video pretty quickly, figured it would be worth it considering how much time i spend playing franchise mode. I had no idea the coaching staff had such a big impact. I usually just picked someone at random lol
Great vid as always. but as a math teacher I gotta say you have to use combination not permutations when choosing 6 xfactors out of 40 as their order doesn't matter. Only 3.8 mill variations. I'm sure you can manage that ;)
Hey! Yes, I will be doing the same for NHL 23! Just waiting for some glitches to get patched before recording :) The system also seems a bit different in terms of calculations so I'll have to do some experimentation! Appreciate you watching! :)
Thanks for the video. I tried to find the answer below before submitting a question and don't see it being answered. When you first go into "edit lines" you are prompted with "Would you like help keeping your lines up to date? The head coach will automatically update your lines after injuries, trades and other events?" Do you tend to have this on or are you constantly changing your lines when simulating?
Hey Mark! Much appreciated! :) I know exactly what you're talking about. I always turn this OFF because, if left ON, your assistant coach will often change up whatever you originally did, especially when an injury takes place. Furthermore, when injuries do occur, they will tend to put them back into the lineup when "playable" and not "healthy," thus raising the risk for the player getting re-injured. It can be a bit of a hassle at the beginning of the season to go through all of the lines, but I find it to be very much worth it! From there, I don't touch my lines too much unless something major happens (trade, longterm injury, big losing streak, etc.).
I'm not sure if this is common knowledge in the EA NHL community loop, but I did experimenting in Season mode on player type combos in this game, and to my surprise it's not completely done away with. But it isn't restricted either, in other words you don't have to have that PWF-PLY-SNP setup, or that TWF-PLY-SNP setup. BUT what is overlooked is not having a balance of these things on a team actually has accumulative effects in the team's overall play style. A team with all snipers, but no two way forwards has very low stick checking power and might be slow, but an accumulative effect of shot power and accuracy is visible. A team with all playmakers (i think), can skate faster... but again low shot power and maybe less checking power of some sort. The team's Overall rating of '100' might mean overall success in simming, but actually the in-game play-ability and performance is so precarious that you'd wonder how it's even possible to win a game that way. This brings me over to another note, I've found having at least 2-3 of everything on the team deeply enhances all categories. But it's subjective when it comes down to enforcers, grinders and powerforwards, I still haven't figured that out entirely. I've had success with 1 grinder and 1 pwf... at other times 2 grinders no pwfs. But after a match against a team where I was making big hits all game and dominating the physical game and crashing the net, I took a gander at the other team's roster to see what they're packing... and often times the lack of grinders and twf's on that team gave me an easier time making hits\shrugs to push the puck off of their sticks easier, and playing in the crease was like a cake walk. Idk, just wanted to share these insights. Because let's say you want to build a team in Boston for instance that has more muscle, size and likes to get into dirtier areas of the slot for rebounds and deflections. You need a coach scheme that fits this (crash the net mostly), player abilities that fit this, and the correct balance of grinders, twf, snipers and pwfs to make it work. I noticed, shot power affects rebound frequency. Grinders affect overall team physicality (even on lines without), twf affects stick checking (on rebounds its all the more important), but PWF's I do not understand. I'd love to know if anyone has figured out the balance based on coaching styles, since it seems to affect positioning and flow of offensive line strategies. But my best guess for a team like Boston in this instance, the majority of the top 6 players are TWF's and SNP's for this reason. And if the team is built properly on vanilla roster settings, it should have at least 1 or 2 Grinders. An enforcer might be useful like a grinder but is designed to lower the hitting power of the other team, and lowers their morale to fight and hurt your star players. This is all very interesting, perhaps there are deeper role playing elements in EA's NHL games than what I thought at first glance.
Wow! Thank you for sharing those extremely interesting insights! I do agree that there are deeper elements that go into a team's performance than what one would think at first glance, it's just unfortunate that it requires such extensive experimentation just to have a hypothesis. I'll read back over this and try to incorporate some of what you mentioned into my Franchise Mode! Another question may be whether or not the results would be different in FM and season mode due to even more elements at play 🤔 Part of me wants to just say whatever and do things how I like haha but it all presents some very interesting questions! Thanks again and best of luck :)
Great video! Thanks for the info! I was wondering how you balance having better line chem vs having players with higher overalls on a certain line? For example, is it better to have a 78 overall player on your 1st line because it gives me a +3 or would you rather have a 0 line chem with 3 players that have an 84+ overall? Thanks again!
Hey Dan! Glad this video could be of service to you! :) That balance for line chemistry comes down to who you're trying to maximize. For example, let's say I have two options for my 92 OVR LW sniper on my first line: Option 1: 92 OVR SNP - 90 OVR PLY - 88 OVR PWF (Chem 0) Is this a good line? You better believe it haha, maybe one of the best in the league. No chemistry but great support and the line will do amazing things. Option 2: 92 OVR SNP - 90 OVR PLY - 78 OVR PWF (Chem +5) Is this line as good as option 1? On paper, no. BUT, You now have your 92 OVR SNP at a 97 and your 90 OVR PLY as a 95 thanks to the chemistry. And, that 78 OVR is actually boosted to an 83! In this example, option 2 allowed you to really maximize the performances that you will get out of the 92 OVR SNP and 90 OVR PLY. Then, as a byproduct, the 78 OVR PWF will also do pretty well. In theory, your 92 OVR SNP will now score more and do better as a 97 than he would have as a 92. BUT, other factors come into play. Would I want 80-90 points each from my top three players, or 100+ from two and 65 from the third? Both are great options but it comes down to the team that you have built and what you're trying to focus on. Personally, I focus more on finding a good OVR player who gives a +1-3 instead of going all out for +5 or bust but every franchise mode save will be different. I hope that helps and feel free to ask any follow-up questions!
Great video! I know this is a video about line chemistry and scores and what not, but I haven't seen much information about this out there and I had a question about player roles. I am currently in a Boston Bruins franchise and I have several players in the AHL who have progressed and are now mid-season showing Depth Defender and Depth Forward roles. These are younger players that I want to see progress and maximize their potential, however I already have players in the NHL that are scratched and so they are down the pecking order a bit. Will those AHL players still reach their potential if I leave them in the AHL or does it make more sense to promote them and give them some games on a 3rd or 4th line role/3rd defensive pair? Please let me know what you think. Thanks
Hey there, thanks a bunch! When it comes to growth, you definitely want to follow whatever a player's role is. However, the "depth" role allows for some interpretation. Bottom 6 minutes would not be bad but may be a bit over their heads. In a pinch, that works. My official recommendation would actually be to give those players top AHL minutes while maximizing their line chemistry. That way, they should grow to to an NHL role in relatively short order (especially if they have good potentials). Let me know if that clears up your question!
Does individual players fit to a line matter at all if the overall line score is +5? I.e if one of my three players in a line has red and yellow ratings but the line has a +5 on a whole, will the player with bad individual fit play worse ? Also: How important is a high line score for players to increase their overall player rating?
It does not! Whether a player has all green checkmarks or a bunch of red X's, their chemistry boost will be that of their line's. Each player on that line will have the same boost no matter their individual line scores. A player's line score isn't as important as their line chemistry when it comes to growth. Again, if they line score is holding back the line, it's an issue. But, if you can still get a +5 or +3, for example, despite the bad line score thanks to the linemates, then that's fine! Let me know if that answers your questions and best of luck :)
Can you explain how to determine which x factor is needed to get the x factor chemistry boost on the right? Is it a glitch if it comes up blank but can be sure that the chemistry changed when I changed the xfactor in the player edit? I know you said you dont want to do all the variations...it seems like 1 trait makes it work.
Hey there! Definitely a good question. When it comes to boosts, in my experience, the X-Factor itself doesn't seem to matter very much. If it's present (and the stars align from line score, linemates, and player types), then, no matter which one it is, the chemistry boost will be applied. So no, I wouldn't say that one X-Factor in particular is a sort of "key" to giving chemistry boosts across the board. Again, that's in my experience. I'm not sure what you mean by "if it comes up blank" - do you mean if one has been applied and it's still a 0? No glitch - that just means that the linescore and/or player types still aren't enough to warrant a chemistry boost. That doesn't mean that the player won't simulate better, though, because the X-Factor alone still has value.
Thanks, I really appreciate the video. Regarding the X factors, although there are 6 slots, I believe the calculation you used would be for the number of combinations of which X factors are in which of the 6 slots. You could break down the 10 most common/useful X factors and see how the line scores compare with those
It was my pleasure! Glad that it was helpful :) Yes, you are correct about my calculation haha. Nonetheless, still a difficult experiment to run even with 10 of the most common X-Factors due to some being able to be superstar abilities, others zone abilities, and then player types getting involved in the equation, as well. I wish EA would be a bit more clear on this. Regardless, I appreciate you leaving your thoughts! :)
The main thing I’ve learned from the past few years of franchise mode is to expect the worse I never set a super high bar for my team regardless of the coach/players on the team bc of how unpredictable and how much luck goes into the simulations in the game
I found random players in the free agency list with random x factors despite not even being drafted. Usually one or two x factor attributes, not amazing, but I wonder if such players are going to develop? or if it is even worth trying to develop them on the AHL team?
I think it's worth it! I'd just caution that, if fog of war is on, even though they have an x-factor in free agency, it may just be that they aren't fully scouted. But yes, if they do in fact have the x-factor, I don't think it'd hurt to give them a shot in the AHL with some good chemistry to boot!
@@Data782 I admit I play with fog of war off as I am still learning the game. The thing is, a few x factor players have AHL top 2 potential only....I have only seen one player jump from a Top 6 High to Elite, and that was after being first overall through two seasons on the first line of my AHL team....How hard is developing a player that has AHL potential going to be? haha..I get the impression it could take 4-5 seasons, and even then, some of my players who were similar but had 50-60 point seasons never developed by age 26.
Thanks Data! Very useful information about the line chemistry, and I look forward to try to add some research to the pile. Despite the ridiculous amount of combinations of x-factors and other information to consider, I will make an effort into getting my head around it. The thoughts that give me some hope that it will be doable is that, even though I'd like to think it has a lot of thought behind it, it is still EA and I have this feeling that once the pieces start falling into place, most will fall into place. I have some information from NHL 21 that I will compare to 22 and see if anything is different, if it needs to be redone or if it has been reworked (unlikely). One thing I found was that all the players that are in the game from the start seem to have a limited amount of preferences per role. Like all OFD have pinch, all PLY want to carry the puck and so on. And that kind of makes sense, even if I'd like to see balanced as an option to some extent with every role. Anyway, players generated in the draft don't seem to follow what all EA created players follow (as far as I've seen). I guess they can, but I drafted a playmaker with preferences like a grinder/enforcer. He wanted to dump the puck and play with energy, which I didn't find one single real EA created playmaker do in NHL 21. Just as the lack of 'hold line' players from the start can be pinned down to that it's only for enforcers, and how many of those are there in the game? Last I looked I think there was one or two Free Agents, neither of which are close to worth a spot in an AHL lineup. But I guess if the preferences get mixed up as more generated players get drafted, there might be some OFD, TWD or DFD with 'hold line' as well, even though there "shouldn't" be. But it is odd that the generated players don't seem to follow the same rules. One would think that it shouldn't be too hard to get right, but somehow it seem to be. Since the franchise mode in NHL 21 and 22 are very similar on the whole, I expect most things will still be the same with what I just mentioned. But I will have a look at the x-factors and do some trial and error with it and report back if I find any useful information. :D
Hey Tobbish! You're right, it's extremely frustrating that the generated players don't really follow these chemistry fit rules. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment! I'm looking forward to hearing more about any of your discoveries! :)
I wonder if the x factor contributors show up depending on the coaches line strategy 🤔.. like crash the net you need crease crasher or close quarters etc..
Keep in mind that team chemistry and player personalities affect performances, especially when it comes to the playoffs. "Incredible drive to win" guys are an asset in the playoffs, and you should have two or three of these guys on your team. Chemistry should be around 75% for a team that you don't want to self-destruct mid season. Goalies matter in the playoffs. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS review playoff stats when your team gets knocked out, and it'll give you a big hint as to whom you should get rid of. Even incredible drive to win goalies can suffer. Every player seems to have "hidden variables". Last factor especially important to NHL 22 = veteran status. If players are 30+, they just seem to play better in playoffs...
Well said! It would be interesting to experiment whether or not those things matter as much with morale turned off, but your points certainly do still remain. Thanks Richard!
Will editing your strategies contribute to the line scores at all? For instance, if I have a d pair that prefers to pinch, the coach is balanced and they get dashes, could I edit strategies to prefer pinching and get them a plus?
They will unfortunately not! Although that would be a great idea for EA to implement in the future since there are certain preferences that generated players won't have. Hope that helps!
My pleasure! :) Everything I've ever heard says "no," line chemistry boosts do not affect in-game play. Maybe there's a placebo effect and you think that a skater is playing better or maybe there is a little boost that is hard to catch, but that's what I've been told! X-factors, however, do have an impact. Hope that helps!
So one of the patch notes yesterday was: Added strategy templates that get generated for draft prospects......So does that mean the incoming Defence is now fixed with hold line?
That's odd.. Are you sure that the line score is a +13? Green +1, yellow 0, red -1. Also double check that the players are in their proper positions! Let me know if that changes anything. Worst case, you can send me a screenshot over discord. Hope that helps!
@@Data782 checked again, I only had 12! got up to 13 with another player and it jumped from +2 to +3. this still confused me though, because early on in the video you said it only needed to be +11 for a line boost of +3, and that +13 actually is supposed to be +5. all players are in their correct positions. is there a reason why it doesn’t match the math in the video? it’s really confusing lol
Some of the fine details make me tempted to buy this game but them not adding the edit players feature kills it for me until roster sharing is available. Love that I won't be confused though thanks to this video if I do ending up buying 22 after not buying 21.
My pleasure bud! Adam mentioned that you can edit players in 22 (which you can), but I think you were referring to editing things like player types while inside of your own franchise mode. As you would have seen in the video, still not possible :( Glad this could be helpful to you!
@@Data782 Yeh I love to edit player types and overalls during the franchise mode which really does kill my temptation atleast until roster sharing comes out. Besides I want to wait and see what new headaches this game causes. After all it's always 1 step forward 2 steps back.
Hey got a question. Do you change your line strategies based on your coaches or players, or do you not ever touch the line strategies? No one has ever touched on this!
Oh awsome thanks man! Also was wondering if there are certain line strategies that give you better sim. results. Or if there are any default strats you use? Or do you just leave it on the teams default strats?
@@JohnnyP-88 Not that I've seen! I leave everything default because I've never heard of anyone having any better or worse success as a result of touching them when only simming
The 2 billion number is off. You want combinations, not permutations - position on the bar shouldn't matter. Also, you need to consider if a player has 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 abilities. If we assume only using Superstar (not zone), it closer to 4.6 million. It will be more if Zone affects chemistry differently than Superstar. But the point stands that it's still at least in the millions and not testable without having a look into the code. Even testing all 40 across 3 players with only 1 each would be a huge PITA - truly need to test 40x40x40 in case one ability interacts with itself. Then there are questions like "do snipers benefit from One Tee more than other player types", which would be a reasonable question.
@@Data782 Oh, my bad. But hey, video engagement for the almighty RUclips algorithm! I normally only upgrade every other year at most (I skipped the PS4 and last played on Tournament Edition), but I'll have to see if the sentiment is EA actually fixes some bugs and improves the experience to merit getting 23. I love when my game crashes when I scout a Russian (finally fixed) or the game has a desync (in single player) that covers the screen and forces me to switch the game to play without me until the next faceoff. :/
@@girhen Haha exactly! Much appreciated! And I 100% agree. I used to only buy every second or third game before I got into making videos. Honestly just not worth it for the product that has been put out over the last few years.
Excellent vid and information source, as always. Quick question; did you figure out anything about special teams chemistry ? I know you can't really see the players tendencies on screen...but you can see it for the head coach. Is there any way to increase our chances to have a good fit on the PP/PK ? Like I'm assuming Carry/Dump bias should work the same (ie. Coach CARRY + Player CARRY = +1, Coach CARRY + Player DUM = -1)...but are we sure a player who's CARRY at even strenght is also CARRY on the PP ? What about strategy ? Say my coach is OVERLOAD...a player with OVERLOAD (hidden strategy preference) should give us a green check. But then, what's the 0, and what's the -1 ? Is it SHOOTING or UMBRELLA ? Any idea ? Thanks again for your great content ! :)
Hey Jonathan! Sorry for taking a few days to get back to you. You may be a tad disappointed because I have some ideas but no hard answers after doing some research :( Special teams chemistry is difficult because there's no way to see fits aside from the pro scout telling you something like "fits all Powerplay lines." From my experience, I don't believe that a player's even strength tendencies are ever necessarily also their special team tendencies. You could have +3/+5s all over but bad special team fits because of the players, coach, or a combination of both. The opposite is also true. They can be totally separate. Yes, you're right to say that OVERLOAD/OVERLOAD = green check. I THINK that a player being shooting would be the 0 and umbrella would be the -1 but it's hard to know for sure without trying all of the permutations. I wish I had some deeper insider info but that's about the best I could conjure up for special teams! Hope that helps and thank you for taking the time :)
@@Data782 No problem for the "few days", the fact that you took some time to answer is more than enough. :) Yeah, I came pretty much to the same conclusion about special teams. Wish EA would expand on the player scouting and let us see what precise PP/PK scheme players prefer. Also, I dove in pretty intensely in the chemistry aspect of Franchise mode these past few days, and worked on an Excel tool that helps me keep track of everything roster related. And I'm not sure if this has anything to do with EA latest update (the one with roster sharing, that also had a few update to Franchise) but I just noticed some players, within my Franchise (that was created before the update) had different scheme preference than before. Ie. Adam Gaudette used to be "Balanced / Shoot / Balanced / Balanced" in that Franchise. Now, in that same Franchise, he flipped to "Carry / Shoot / Efficient / Don't Block". Same with my Head Coach, who I signed specifically because he was running "Pinch / Cycle" on D-Pair #1 and #2...now his scheme for D-Pair #2 is at "Hold Line / Cycle". Are these meant to evolve over time (and if so, what's the point of going through all that planning) ? Is it a known bug in Franchise Mode that I just became aware of, or maybe something affected by the update ? Ever experienced / noticed such thing on your end ?
I have +5 on all defensive pairs and I have a 95 ovr with an 81 top 4 on first line and it's been 3 seasons and still no development. Our team had the least goals against and we won the Presidents trophy and still no development on all my defense despite having an A+ rated coach...I'm at a loss
Story of my life in NHL 22, my friend 😭 Exactly what happened with a d-manI had in my Seattle series named Braydon Kobasew. 81 OVR, MED Elite, x-factors, played first pair with a high overall partner for years, and NEVER grew. Honesty, as long as the player performs, it's not a HUGE deal in my eyes but it's still pretty annoying. I wish I had an answer but you just need to keep doing what you've been doing and the ones that will grow will grow while the ones who are stuck will just stay stuck. Best of luck!
@@Data782 another issue I've been finding is once you sign someone to a contract, their development stays within that pay range talent level wise. Of you somehow get a talented player on a cheap long term deal they take a hit n their development is capped. Same goes for goaltenders as soon as they get paid and you lock them in all of a sudden they fall off a cliff
@@Data782 indeed, however finding a Hold Line OFF def scheme is somewhat head scratcher, like a sniper who is 5’8 160 with dump/Energy /block/crash the net
Perhaps it has to do with its more basic line score system.. It depends on the pair but I have seen X-Factors for both d-men to be what boosts it from a +1 to a +5, for example!
@@Data782 Maybe its something with my generalist coach. But pairing with a DFD, a DFD, or TWD, pairs better than an OFD. Even with equivalent x-factors and cycle\pinch traits. Odd
This comment Im making is unnecessary, but for the people still on 21 you can get +5 even with duplicate type. It just literally requires all 3 players to have perfect line fit. No yellows. No reds
@@Data782 honestly I wouldn't have noticed except I'm still on 21 but that was because that green check was hurting my eye but based on your video it looks less like an eye strain in 22 But yea I got a +5 with a coach with a generated rookie, Seguin, Hintz in 21.
it's pretty much impossible to control the sim engine. Sure it might work for you own team but the league leaders will be super messed up with Mcdavid and Draisaitl putting up 80 points while Bergeron and Marchand gets 100+ points. Sim engine is absolute trash and the reason I don't play franchise mode.
Pretty impossible, yes, but at least you can do your best to maximize what you have some control over! But, of course, just like the real world, it isn't always the best team on paper that wins. Some players "sim" better than others so that's why you'll often see Marchand, Ovi, Malkin, etc. simming well while a guy like McDavid can't always be counted on for 100+ points. Just gotta get to know the system over time, really! Good luck bud
I hate how this isn’t the same as 21. Im probably not going to play another nhl franchise anymore. Its so much more complicated! Hopefully its changed for 23!
I enjoy the ability to work towards building good chemistry as it presents a unique challenge, but I agree that it can get wayyyy too time-consuming. Especially when you factor in how you can't change player types, chemistry doesn't change over time, etc. A good idea with so-so execution!
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Hey everyone! I hope that this tutorial on line chemistry was helpful for you! Remember that, in NHL 22, there is a large emphasis on LINE SCORE & X-FACTORS. Therefore, it can be simple enough - just make sure that you always have the right player/coach combinations to get the appropriate score! Player types also play a role, as you will notice. You can also feel free to add or remove x-factors which will also contribute. I'm sorry that this guide cannot be all-encompassing as the x-factors literally provide millions of different permutations. Therefore, please share more of your findings/questions down below and join us on our Discord server where we can discuss more! @t
Love the intro! I was literally on my couch and was confused with my lines weren't working. Sat down to find a quick video, but it's honestly soooo complex. Gonna have to dedicate a couple sit downs to be able to get all the info i want, but I'll be coming back to learn a bit more each time i do! Thanks in advance for the help!
Haha that's awesome!! 🤣 I hope that it'll be helpful and we'll be here to add any extra advice that you may need later on! 👍
@@Data782 i actually just got through the rest of the video pretty quickly, figured it would be worth it considering how much time i spend playing franchise mode. I had no idea the coaching staff had such a big impact. I usually just picked someone at random lol
Thanks Data for saving RUclips a lot of hassle, can’t wait to use the new line chems!
My pleasure, my friend! I hope you'll find some great success! :)
Great to see the line chemistry video with all the changes they've made
Absolutely! Thanks for being here! :)
My fav annual video. Great work again, legend
Thank you Tick!! 🥰
Great vid as always. but as a math teacher I gotta say you have to use combination not permutations when choosing 6 xfactors out of 40 as their order doesn't matter. Only 3.8 mill variations. I'm sure you can manage that ;)
LOL that's true, eh! Fair enough! 🤣 Thanks for that, I'll get to work! ;)
Hey mate, will you do the same video for NHL 23 or is it the same as in NHL 22? Thanks for your great work!
Hey! Yes, I will be doing the same for NHL 23! Just waiting for some glitches to get patched before recording :) The system also seems a bit different in terms of calculations so I'll have to do some experimentation! Appreciate you watching! :)
Idk if anyone pointed this out but in franchise you can change x factors for players on different teams
Good point! You can see in the "edit player" area that you're able to change teams but I hadn't mentioned that! Great catch!
Thanks for the video. I tried to find the answer below before submitting a question and don't see it being answered. When you first go into "edit lines" you are prompted with "Would you like help keeping your lines up to date? The head coach will automatically update your lines after injuries, trades and other events?" Do you tend to have this on or are you constantly changing your lines when simulating?
Hey Mark! Much appreciated! :) I know exactly what you're talking about. I always turn this OFF because, if left ON, your assistant coach will often change up whatever you originally did, especially when an injury takes place. Furthermore, when injuries do occur, they will tend to put them back into the lineup when "playable" and not "healthy," thus raising the risk for the player getting re-injured. It can be a bit of a hassle at the beginning of the season to go through all of the lines, but I find it to be very much worth it! From there, I don't touch my lines too much unless something major happens (trade, longterm injury, big losing streak, etc.).
I'm not sure if this is common knowledge in the EA NHL community loop, but I did experimenting in Season mode on player type combos in this game, and to my surprise it's not completely done away with. But it isn't restricted either, in other words you don't have to have that PWF-PLY-SNP setup, or that TWF-PLY-SNP setup. BUT what is overlooked is not having a balance of these things on a team actually has accumulative effects in the team's overall play style. A team with all snipers, but no two way forwards has very low stick checking power and might be slow, but an accumulative effect of shot power and accuracy is visible. A team with all playmakers (i think), can skate faster... but again low shot power and maybe less checking power of some sort. The team's Overall rating of '100' might mean overall success in simming, but actually the in-game play-ability and performance is so precarious that you'd wonder how it's even possible to win a game that way.
This brings me over to another note, I've found having at least 2-3 of everything on the team deeply enhances all categories. But it's subjective when it comes down to enforcers, grinders and powerforwards, I still haven't figured that out entirely. I've had success with 1 grinder and 1 pwf... at other times 2 grinders no pwfs. But after a match against a team where I was making big hits all game and dominating the physical game and crashing the net, I took a gander at the other team's roster to see what they're packing... and often times the lack of grinders and twf's on that team gave me an easier time making hits\shrugs to push the puck off of their sticks easier, and playing in the crease was like a cake walk.
Idk, just wanted to share these insights. Because let's say you want to build a team in Boston for instance that has more muscle, size and likes to get into dirtier areas of the slot for rebounds and deflections. You need a coach scheme that fits this (crash the net mostly), player abilities that fit this, and the correct balance of grinders, twf, snipers and pwfs to make it work. I noticed, shot power affects rebound frequency. Grinders affect overall team physicality (even on lines without), twf affects stick checking (on rebounds its all the more important), but PWF's I do not understand. I'd love to know if anyone has figured out the balance based on coaching styles, since it seems to affect positioning and flow of offensive line strategies. But my best guess for a team like Boston in this instance, the majority of the top 6 players are TWF's and SNP's for this reason. And if the team is built properly on vanilla roster settings, it should have at least 1 or 2 Grinders. An enforcer might be useful like a grinder but is designed to lower the hitting power of the other team, and lowers their morale to fight and hurt your star players. This is all very interesting, perhaps there are deeper role playing elements in EA's NHL games than what I thought at first glance.
Wow! Thank you for sharing those extremely interesting insights! I do agree that there are deeper elements that go into a team's performance than what one would think at first glance, it's just unfortunate that it requires such extensive experimentation just to have a hypothesis. I'll read back over this and try to incorporate some of what you mentioned into my Franchise Mode! Another question may be whether or not the results would be different in FM and season mode due to even more elements at play 🤔 Part of me wants to just say whatever and do things how I like haha but it all presents some very interesting questions! Thanks again and best of luck :)
Great video. Thanks for sharing
Thank you kindly! :) I appreciate you saying so and hope that it was helpful for you!
Great video! Thanks for the info! I was wondering how you balance having better line chem vs having players with higher overalls on a certain line? For example, is it better to have a 78 overall player on your 1st line because it gives me a +3 or would you rather have a 0 line chem with 3 players that have an 84+ overall? Thanks again!
Hey Dan! Glad this video could be of service to you! :) That balance for line chemistry comes down to who you're trying to maximize. For example, let's say I have two options for my 92 OVR LW sniper on my first line:
Option 1: 92 OVR SNP - 90 OVR PLY - 88 OVR PWF (Chem 0)
Is this a good line? You better believe it haha, maybe one of the best in the league. No chemistry but great support and the line will do amazing things.
Option 2: 92 OVR SNP - 90 OVR PLY - 78 OVR PWF (Chem +5)
Is this line as good as option 1? On paper, no. BUT, You now have your 92 OVR SNP at a 97 and your 90 OVR PLY as a 95 thanks to the chemistry. And, that 78 OVR is actually boosted to an 83!
In this example, option 2 allowed you to really maximize the performances that you will get out of the 92 OVR SNP and 90 OVR PLY. Then, as a byproduct, the 78 OVR PWF will also do pretty well. In theory, your 92 OVR SNP will now score more and do better as a 97 than he would have as a 92. BUT, other factors come into play. Would I want 80-90 points each from my top three players, or 100+ from two and 65 from the third? Both are great options but it comes down to the team that you have built and what you're trying to focus on. Personally, I focus more on finding a good OVR player who gives a +1-3 instead of going all out for +5 or bust but every franchise mode save will be different. I hope that helps and feel free to ask any follow-up questions!
Great video! I know this is a video about line chemistry and scores and what not, but I haven't seen much information about this out there and I had a question about player roles. I am currently in a Boston Bruins franchise and I have several players in the AHL who have progressed and are now mid-season showing Depth Defender and Depth Forward roles. These are younger players that I want to see progress and maximize their potential, however I already have players in the NHL that are scratched and so they are down the pecking order a bit. Will those AHL players still reach their potential if I leave them in the AHL or does it make more sense to promote them and give them some games on a 3rd or 4th line role/3rd defensive pair? Please let me know what you think. Thanks
Hey there, thanks a bunch! When it comes to growth, you definitely want to follow whatever a player's role is. However, the "depth" role allows for some interpretation. Bottom 6 minutes would not be bad but may be a bit over their heads. In a pinch, that works. My official recommendation would actually be to give those players top AHL minutes while maximizing their line chemistry. That way, they should grow to to an NHL role in relatively short order (especially if they have good potentials). Let me know if that clears up your question!
Does individual players fit to a line matter at all if the overall line score is +5? I.e if one of my three players in a line has red and yellow ratings but the line has a +5 on a whole, will the player with bad individual fit play worse ? Also: How important is a high line score for players to increase their overall player rating?
It does not! Whether a player has all green checkmarks or a bunch of red X's, their chemistry boost will be that of their line's. Each player on that line will have the same boost no matter their individual line scores.
A player's line score isn't as important as their line chemistry when it comes to growth. Again, if they line score is holding back the line, it's an issue. But, if you can still get a +5 or +3, for example, despite the bad line score thanks to the linemates, then that's fine! Let me know if that answers your questions and best of luck :)
Can you explain how to determine which x factor is needed to get the x factor chemistry boost on the right? Is it a glitch if it comes up blank but can be sure that the chemistry changed when I changed the xfactor in the player edit? I know you said you dont want to do all the variations...it seems like 1 trait makes it work.
Hey there! Definitely a good question. When it comes to boosts, in my experience, the X-Factor itself doesn't seem to matter very much. If it's present (and the stars align from line score, linemates, and player types), then, no matter which one it is, the chemistry boost will be applied. So no, I wouldn't say that one X-Factor in particular is a sort of "key" to giving chemistry boosts across the board. Again, that's in my experience.
I'm not sure what you mean by "if it comes up blank" - do you mean if one has been applied and it's still a 0? No glitch - that just means that the linescore and/or player types still aren't enough to warrant a chemistry boost. That doesn't mean that the player won't simulate better, though, because the X-Factor alone still has value.
ALWAYS love these videos!
I appreciate you, bello! ❤️
Thanks, I really appreciate the video. Regarding the X factors, although there are 6 slots, I believe the calculation you used would be for the number of combinations of which X factors are in which of the 6 slots. You could break down the 10 most common/useful X factors and see how the line scores compare with those
It was my pleasure! Glad that it was helpful :)
Yes, you are correct about my calculation haha. Nonetheless, still a difficult experiment to run even with 10 of the most common X-Factors due to some being able to be superstar abilities, others zone abilities, and then player types getting involved in the equation, as well. I wish EA would be a bit more clear on this. Regardless, I appreciate you leaving your thoughts! :)
Great video! Once I buy NHL22 i will most definitely return to this video :)
Lovely! Hope it will be of help to you, my friend! :)
Well now I can buy the game and potential enjoy it thanks to your hard work brother
I hope that it will be of some help, brother! Better in some ways, more frustrating in others 😅🤣
@@Data782 Less frustrating than trying to figure it on my own would have been.
I feel like EA owe because they didn't even explain in-depth as well as you did. Maybe some of the haters would start to love the game again... Lol
@@chrisdoucet7913 Maybe eh! 🤣 Thanks for the vote of confidence!
The main thing I’ve learned from the past few years of franchise mode is to expect the worse I never set a super high bar for my team regardless of the coach/players on the team bc of how unpredictable and how much luck goes into the simulations in the game
Haha that's not a bad idea at all! Leaves a lot more room for some fun outcomes! ;)
I found random players in the free agency list with random x factors despite not even being drafted. Usually one or two x factor attributes, not amazing, but I wonder if such players are going to develop? or if it is even worth trying to develop them on the AHL team?
I think it's worth it! I'd just caution that, if fog of war is on, even though they have an x-factor in free agency, it may just be that they aren't fully scouted. But yes, if they do in fact have the x-factor, I don't think it'd hurt to give them a shot in the AHL with some good chemistry to boot!
@@Data782 I admit I play with fog of war off as I am still learning the game. The thing is, a few x factor players have AHL top 2 potential only....I have only seen one player jump from a Top 6 High to Elite, and that was after being first overall through two seasons on the first line of my AHL team....How hard is developing a player that has AHL potential going to be? haha..I get the impression it could take 4-5 seasons, and even then, some of my players who were similar but had 50-60 point seasons never developed by age 26.
Thanks Data! Very useful information about the line chemistry, and I look forward to try to add some research to the pile. Despite the ridiculous amount of combinations of x-factors and other information to consider, I will make an effort into getting my head around it. The thoughts that give me some hope that it will be doable is that, even though I'd like to think it has a lot of thought behind it, it is still EA and I have this feeling that once the pieces start falling into place, most will fall into place.
I have some information from NHL 21 that I will compare to 22 and see if anything is different, if it needs to be redone or if it has been reworked (unlikely).
One thing I found was that all the players that are in the game from the start seem to have a limited amount of preferences per role. Like all OFD have pinch, all PLY want to carry the puck and so on. And that kind of makes sense, even if I'd like to see balanced as an option to some extent with every role. Anyway, players generated in the draft don't seem to follow what all EA created players follow (as far as I've seen). I guess they can, but I drafted a playmaker with preferences like a grinder/enforcer. He wanted to dump the puck and play with energy, which I didn't find one single real EA created playmaker do in NHL 21. Just as the lack of 'hold line' players from the start can be pinned down to that it's only for enforcers, and how many of those are there in the game? Last I looked I think there was one or two Free Agents, neither of which are close to worth a spot in an AHL lineup. But I guess if the preferences get mixed up as more generated players get drafted, there might be some OFD, TWD or DFD with 'hold line' as well, even though there "shouldn't" be. But it is odd that the generated players don't seem to follow the same rules. One would think that it shouldn't be too hard to get right, but somehow it seem to be.
Since the franchise mode in NHL 21 and 22 are very similar on the whole, I expect most things will still be the same with what I just mentioned. But I will have a look at the x-factors and do some trial and error with it and report back if I find any useful information. :D
Hey Tobbish! You're right, it's extremely frustrating that the generated players don't really follow these chemistry fit rules. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment! I'm looking forward to hearing more about any of your discoveries! :)
That is 100% spot on, this is quite frustrating to see, where Playmaker and Sniper type players will rally Dump / energy.
You are the only english speaker that knows how to prononce Frensh canadien noun(Quebecer)
Hahaha merci beaucoup! I take much pride in that!
I wonder if the x factor contributors show up depending on the coaches line strategy 🤔.. like crash the net you need crease crasher or close quarters etc..
That's a great idea but I don't believe that to be the case! That would be interesting for future games, though! 👀
Keep in mind that team chemistry and player personalities affect performances, especially when it comes to the playoffs. "Incredible drive to win" guys are an asset in the playoffs, and you should have two or three of these guys on your team. Chemistry should be around 75% for a team that you don't want to self-destruct mid season.
Goalies matter in the playoffs. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS review playoff stats when your team gets knocked out, and it'll give you a big hint as to whom you should get rid of. Even incredible drive to win goalies can suffer. Every player seems to have "hidden variables".
Last factor especially important to NHL 22 = veteran status. If players are 30+, they just seem to play better in playoffs...
Well said! It would be interesting to experiment whether or not those things matter as much with morale turned off, but your points certainly do still remain. Thanks Richard!
Will editing your strategies contribute to the line scores at all? For instance, if I have a d pair that prefers to pinch, the coach is balanced and they get dashes, could I edit strategies to prefer pinching and get them a plus?
They will unfortunately not! Although that would be a great idea for EA to implement in the future since there are certain preferences that generated players won't have. Hope that helps!
Is chemistry effective in game or just in simulation ? Great video, thanks for taking the time!
My pleasure! :) Everything I've ever heard says "no," line chemistry boosts do not affect in-game play. Maybe there's a placebo effect and you think that a skater is playing better or maybe there is a little boost that is hard to catch, but that's what I've been told! X-factors, however, do have an impact. Hope that helps!
So one of the patch notes yesterday was: Added strategy templates that get generated for draft prospects......So does that mean the incoming Defence is now fixed with hold line?
Yes it is! Very happy to see this! :)
I have +13 with a playmaker, sniper, and powerforward, but I am still at +2 and not +3. is there something I'm missing?
That's odd.. Are you sure that the line score is a +13? Green +1, yellow 0, red -1. Also double check that the players are in their proper positions! Let me know if that changes anything. Worst case, you can send me a screenshot over discord. Hope that helps!
@@Data782 checked again, I only had 12! got up to 13 with another player and it jumped from +2 to +3.
this still confused me though, because early on in the video you said it only needed to be +11 for a line boost of +3, and that +13 actually is supposed to be +5.
all players are in their correct positions. is there a reason why it doesn’t match the math in the video? it’s really confusing lol
Some of the fine details make me tempted to buy this game but them not adding the edit players feature kills it for me until roster sharing is available. Love that I won't be confused though thanks to this video if I do ending up buying 22 after not buying 21.
You can edit players in NHL 22
My pleasure bud! Adam mentioned that you can edit players in 22 (which you can), but I think you were referring to editing things like player types while inside of your own franchise mode. As you would have seen in the video, still not possible :( Glad this could be helpful to you!
@@Data782 Yeh I love to edit player types and overalls during the franchise mode which really does kill my temptation atleast until roster sharing comes out. Besides I want to wait and see what new headaches this game causes. After all it's always 1 step forward 2 steps back.
Good video data!
Thank you very much, my friend! 🙏
Finally, it has been done, now I know what to do with the stupid +2 stuff
Haha yes! I hope that it will be helpful for you! :)
@@Data782 Ohh it will, cant wait for the scouting update
Hey got a question. Do you change your line strategies based on your coaches or players, or do you not ever touch the line strategies? No one has ever touched on this!
I do not! It has no effect on calendar simulation so I never touch it unless I'm watching in-game simulation and want to change something up
Oh awsome thanks man! Also was wondering if there are certain line strategies that give you better sim. results. Or if there are any default strats you use? Or do you just leave it on the teams default strats?
@@JohnnyP-88 Not that I've seen! I leave everything default because I've never heard of anyone having any better or worse success as a result of touching them when only simming
@@Data782 Again thanks a ton for your help me and my friends are very thankfull 😁
@@JohnnyP-88 Happy to help! :)
Do you know how I can turn off my line chemistry?
You cannot, unfortunately! :(
🙏🏻🙏🏻 much needed
Glad I could help!! 🙏
this is super helpful!!
Glad that I could be of service! 😃
The 2 billion number is off. You want combinations, not permutations - position on the bar shouldn't matter. Also, you need to consider if a player has 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 abilities. If we assume only using Superstar (not zone), it closer to 4.6 million. It will be more if Zone affects chemistry differently than Superstar.
But the point stands that it's still at least in the millions and not testable without having a look into the code. Even testing all 40 across 3 players with only 1 each would be a huge PITA - truly need to test 40x40x40 in case one ability interacts with itself. Then there are questions like "do snipers benefit from One Tee more than other player types", which would be a reasonable question.
You're exactly right! Someone mentioned the same thing in a previous comment. I'll include this one in my NHL 23 version :) Thanks for that!
@@Data782 Oh, my bad. But hey, video engagement for the almighty RUclips algorithm!
I normally only upgrade every other year at most (I skipped the PS4 and last played on Tournament Edition), but I'll have to see if the sentiment is EA actually fixes some bugs and improves the experience to merit getting 23. I love when my game crashes when I scout a Russian (finally fixed) or the game has a desync (in single player) that covers the screen and forces me to switch the game to play without me until the next faceoff. :/
@@girhen Haha exactly! Much appreciated! And I 100% agree. I used to only buy every second or third game before I got into making videos. Honestly just not worth it for the product that has been put out over the last few years.
Excellent vid and information source, as always.
Quick question; did you figure out anything about special teams chemistry ? I know you can't really see the players tendencies on screen...but you can see it for the head coach. Is there any way to increase our chances to have a good fit on the PP/PK ?
Like I'm assuming Carry/Dump bias should work the same (ie. Coach CARRY + Player CARRY = +1, Coach CARRY + Player DUM = -1)...but are we sure a player who's CARRY at even strenght is also CARRY on the PP ?
What about strategy ? Say my coach is OVERLOAD...a player with OVERLOAD (hidden strategy preference) should give us a green check. But then, what's the 0, and what's the -1 ? Is it SHOOTING or UMBRELLA ? Any idea ?
Thanks again for your great content ! :)
Hey Jonathan! Sorry for taking a few days to get back to you. You may be a tad disappointed because I have some ideas but no hard answers after doing some research :( Special teams chemistry is difficult because there's no way to see fits aside from the pro scout telling you something like "fits all Powerplay lines." From my experience, I don't believe that a player's even strength tendencies are ever necessarily also their special team tendencies. You could have +3/+5s all over but bad special team fits because of the players, coach, or a combination of both. The opposite is also true. They can be totally separate. Yes, you're right to say that OVERLOAD/OVERLOAD = green check. I THINK that a player being shooting would be the 0 and umbrella would be the -1 but it's hard to know for sure without trying all of the permutations. I wish I had some deeper insider info but that's about the best I could conjure up for special teams! Hope that helps and thank you for taking the time :)
@@Data782 No problem for the "few days", the fact that you took some time to answer is more than enough. :)
Yeah, I came pretty much to the same conclusion about special teams. Wish EA would expand on the player scouting and let us see what precise PP/PK scheme players prefer.
Also, I dove in pretty intensely in the chemistry aspect of Franchise mode these past few days, and worked on an Excel tool that helps me keep track of everything roster related. And I'm not sure if this has anything to do with EA latest update (the one with roster sharing, that also had a few update to Franchise) but I just noticed some players, within my Franchise (that was created before the update) had different scheme preference than before.
Ie. Adam Gaudette used to be "Balanced / Shoot / Balanced / Balanced" in that Franchise. Now, in that same Franchise, he flipped to "Carry / Shoot / Efficient / Don't Block". Same with my Head Coach, who I signed specifically because he was running "Pinch / Cycle" on D-Pair #1 and #2...now his scheme for D-Pair #2 is at "Hold Line / Cycle".
Are these meant to evolve over time (and if so, what's the point of going through all that planning) ?
Is it a known bug in Franchise Mode that I just became aware of, or maybe something affected by the update ?
Ever experienced / noticed such thing on your end ?
I have +5 on all defensive pairs and I have a 95 ovr with an 81 top 4 on first line and it's been 3 seasons and still no development. Our team had the least goals against and we won the Presidents trophy and still no development on all my defense despite having an A+ rated coach...I'm at a loss
Story of my life in NHL 22, my friend 😭 Exactly what happened with a d-manI had in my Seattle series named Braydon Kobasew. 81 OVR, MED Elite, x-factors, played first pair with a high overall partner for years, and NEVER grew. Honesty, as long as the player performs, it's not a HUGE deal in my eyes but it's still pretty annoying. I wish I had an answer but you just need to keep doing what you've been doing and the ones that will grow will grow while the ones who are stuck will just stay stuck. Best of luck!
@@Data782 another issue I've been finding is once you sign someone to a contract, their development stays within that pay range talent level wise. Of you somehow get a talented player on a cheap long term deal they take a hit n their development is capped. Same goes for goaltenders as soon as they get paid and you lock them in all of a sudden they fall off a cliff
@@jlash61 I would say that is pretty realistic given how that has occurred many times in real life NHL as well :D
So if you put a coach as your goalie coach but his specialty isn't Goalies...your goalies will still develop?
Maybe marginally less so than they would have if the coach's specialty was goalies, but yes!
Go have a look at franchise , with the update I now have a Off Def with a Hold line lol
I just noticed this!! Absolutely a game changer, gotta give credit to EA for finally doing something about that haha
@@Data782 indeed, however finding a Hold Line OFF def scheme is somewhat head scratcher, like a sniper who is 5’8 160 with dump/Energy /block/crash the net
Can you do a video on scouts please?
I'm actually working on it as we speak!
@@Data782 🙌🏻
Defense pairings scores do to not seem to be as effected by X-Factors. Has anyone else found this to seem true?
Perhaps it has to do with its more basic line score system.. It depends on the pair but I have seen X-Factors for both d-men to be what boosts it from a +1 to a +5, for example!
@@Data782 Maybe its something with my generalist coach. But pairing with a DFD, a DFD, or TWD, pairs better than an OFD. Even with equivalent x-factors and cycle\pinch traits. Odd
@@gridglory1 Hmm.. You may be onto something with the generalist coach but definitely odd
This comment Im making is unnecessary, but for the people still on 21 you can get +5 even with duplicate type. It just literally requires all 3 players to have perfect line fit. No yellows. No reds
True! Quite nearly impossible, but still possible! 😂 Falls under the "super rare occurrence so do I say it or not?" category 😂 Thanks Patrick!
@@Data782 honestly I wouldn't have noticed except I'm still on 21 but that was because that green check was hurting my eye but based on your video it looks less like an eye strain in 22
But yea I got a +5 with a coach with a generated rookie, Seguin, Hintz in 21.
@@pdub3167 Cool stuff! And yes they fixed the shade of green so our eyes won't hurt as much anymore 😂
Plus two minus one, I'm not seeing the numbers your talking about. May as well be calculus, just don't know what I'm suppose to be lookin for.
Can you time stamp that for me?
it's pretty much impossible to control the sim engine. Sure it might work for you own team but the league leaders will be super messed up with Mcdavid and Draisaitl putting up 80 points while Bergeron and Marchand gets 100+ points. Sim engine is absolute trash and the reason I don't play franchise mode.
Pretty impossible, yes, but at least you can do your best to maximize what you have some control over! But, of course, just like the real world, it isn't always the best team on paper that wins. Some players "sim" better than others so that's why you'll often see Marchand, Ovi, Malkin, etc. simming well while a guy like McDavid can't always be counted on for 100+ points. Just gotta get to know the system over time, really! Good luck bud
@@Data782 thanks im trying this line chemistry thing with the Oilers. Tired of Mcdavid and Draisaitl getting 70-80 points
Go in an edit.. Give every team mate Xfactors and you get +5 lines no matter what
That's one way to look at it! 😂
I hate how this isn’t the same as 21. Im probably not going to play another nhl franchise anymore. Its so much more complicated! Hopefully its changed for 23!
I don't blame you for being frustrated! Nothing has been released about 23 yet so I, too, will be very excited to see if anything changes
Go Avalanche!
Yessir! 😎
This feature kills me, way to time consuming I'm just trying to play it's not even that serious
I enjoy the ability to work towards building good chemistry as it presents a unique challenge, but I agree that it can get wayyyy too time-consuming. Especially when you factor in how you can't change player types, chemistry doesn't change over time, etc. A good idea with so-so execution!