Ten Tips to Help You Rank Up in Rocket League

In any competitive game, ranking up is a trial at best, and outright a punishment at worst. Rocket League is no exception. Sometimes,you get several losses in a row, or you feel like you’re the worst player ever. So here are ten tips to get you ranking up again. 

There are a few default settings that actually hinder progress in competitive ranking. Specifically, these are the ‘Camshake’ setting and the ‘Ballcam’ setting. The former simulates speed by making the camera shake. It’s disorienting and makes it harder to aim at the ball properly. Therefore, it is very important to turn it off. 

The latter setting lets you choosewhether to toggle the ballcam by holding down a button or by just pressing it. Of course, since it’s hard holding a button while performing some complicated maneuvers, it’s better to set it to a single button press. 

The rest of the settings are a matter of preference. You can set a wider or narrower field of view, turn controller vibration on or off, change the distance, height, and angle the camera follows your car, and more. You can check out other players’ settings and tweak them to fit your preferences more, or just keep on messing around with them. Just make sure that you don’t unnecessarily hinder yourself. 

Consistency is one of the most recommended skills to learn. With consistency, your accuracy goes up, you’ll be able to score more goals, and you’ll fumble with the ball less. Defending will be easier, and your efficiency will increase in any role you play. To lead into the next tip, consistency can be achieved by regular practice and training. 

There are practice courses for many of the skills you need to train. Check out the official site for several training course packs, as well as other player-made courses. Challenge yourself and don’t be afraid to fail. In fact, expect that you’re going to run these courses again and again until your fingers get used to the movements and they become muscle memory. 

However, training shouldn’t stay at just the practice courses. You should also play games against and with other people. This is also training since you’ll be able to pick up the flow of the game easier if you play more matches. It’ll also familiarizeyou with all typesof teammates, from the useless to the incredibly good. You’ll be able to get a feel for how to play with any kind of team composition, which lends to your consistency. 

So keep on playing! Just be sure to take breaks when you’re getting too frustrated. 

This term refers to the rotation of roles you can play within a team. Learning when to attack, when to defend, and how to fill a gap in the team roles is essential in team play. If, in a 3v3 match, your whole team goes on the offensive, then your goal is left defenseless and easily scored upon by the other team. Tying in with the former tip, this gets easier when you play matches often. 

This skill also requires a bit of positioning and awareness of the field. What good is knowing when you should attack when you don’t know where you should be at that moment? Rotation is more of an application of all the important skills for each role you can play, so it’s highly recommended that you play and practice. 

Sure, aerial shots will become more common the higher you climb the ranks; however, that’s no reason to ignore shooting from the ground. Thing is, with most skills, the basics are the foundation upon which more advanced skills are built. Just because you’re going to be using aerial shots more doesn’t mean you should stop practicing ground shots. 

Once you’ve practiced your ground shots, work on making your aerial shots consistent. This also involves practicing maneuvers while flying, and ways to dribble the ball while flying at the same time. Aerial and ground shots differ from each other and they require different skills. However, just to emphasize, don’t forget to keep practicing the basics. 

A necessary skill for defense, blocking is something that should be practiced early. Most players tend to be more aggressive and contest the ball, so blocking becomes something quite ignored, at least until it becomes necessary. So don’t wait for that moment. Learn how to block effectively. 

In an ideal situation you’ll have constant or consistent friends to play with. If you don’t have a crew to play with, though, you can still practice teamwork with strangers by positioning yourself properly, filling in gaps in team roles (rotation), and generally not being a jerk or a selfish ball hog. If you’ve practiced all the tips above, you should be fine practicing or applying what you’ve learned while on a team of strangers. Just be a good sport whether you win or lose. 

Being a good sport means maintaining a certain mindset. It means accepting losses as a chance to learn, and treating successes as a step forward in ranking up. You should be focused on improving yourself. Making mistakes isn’t the end of the world – learn from them and move on, and focus on not making the same mistake again. Of course, when frustration and anger take over, you would do well to take a break.  

Last but not least, don’t forget that Rocket League is a video game. Games are meant to be enjoyed. As mentioned repeatledly above, if you’re not enjoying playing anymore, maybe you should take a break or think about why you’re still playing it. However, nothing beats the feeling of finally being able to do a maneuver you’ve been practicing for ages, nor that of winning a match that hinged on a very risky shot at last second. 

These tips aren’t necessarily just for ranking up, as you can use these skills in collecting Rocket League items, for example. So enjoy the game, and remember, being the best at something is pretty lonely unless you have friends with you.