One of the good things about eFootball is the ability to level up your players.
Most players field highly rated players such as Haaland and Mbappe. It is fun to control the world’s superstars, but it may get boring after a few games.
Since players can level up and reach high ratings of 80s and 90s, why not sign your favourite players, regardless of their current rating, and enjoy the game?
Revive ageing superstars, build past and present squads, sign unknowns and train them up. The possibilities are endless.
In this post, we will talk about levelling players in eFootball
1. Types of Players Cards
There are different types of player cards. Most can be levelled up but not all. Lets talk about each of them.
1.1 Legendary
Legendary players who have retired from the game
Able to Level up: Yes
1.2 Featured
Players selected based on strong performance in a particular match
Able Level up: Yes
1.3 Standard
All players available in the game that you can sign for GP
Able Level up: Yes
1.4 Trending
Players who have put in a strong performance recently
Able Level up: No
To summarise, all player cards can be levelled up with the exception of Featured. If you plan to play with players who will get better over time, skip Featured Players.
2. Experience Points
Players earn 70 experience points after a game. Only players who played the game will earn experience points. However, if your opponent forfeits a match and you are awarded the win, all of your starting 11 and substitutes will earn experience points.
3. Coaching Affinity
The number of experience points your players earn will increase if they fits in with your manager’s coaching affinity.
Each manager will have an affinity towards a certain group of players e.g Young players (below 30 years old), Forward Players etc.
These players will receive a boost in the number of experience points earned.
Hire the right manager based on the players you wish to develop faster in your team.
4. Progression Ladder
eFootball follows the usual RPG concept where the amount of experience points required to progress to the next level progress exponentially. You will find it easy to level up at the initial stages, and it turns into a slog towards the last few levels.
Different players have different maximum level. Legends typically have less room for growth, at ~10 levels, as compared to other types of players which can go up to 30 or 40.
5. Progression Points
Each increase in level gives you 2 progression points, which can be used to increase the rating of certain abilities.
Go to ‘My Team’, select a player, ‘Player Progression’ to apply the points.
You can use the points on ‘Player Stats’ or ‘Team Play Style Proficiency’.
5.1 Players Stats
Player stats are categorised, with examples being ‘Shooting’, ‘Passing’, ‘Defending’. Choose the category you would like to improve on. For example, if you were to choose ‘Shooting’, you will improve the rating of ‘Finishing’, ‘Set Pieces’, and ‘Curl’.
Choose the category based on your player’s position, and the type of player you want him to become. You can have the game suggest for you, but I prefer to decide on my own.
The categories and associated stats are quite self-explanatory. For strikers, go with ‘Shooting’. For wingers, prioritise ‘Passing’ and ‘Dribbling’. For centre backs, start with ‘Defending’.
The flexibility of this system means your upgraded superstar will be slightly different from your opponent. Perhaps you emphasise heading skills for your centre forward, while your opponent prefers speed. This makes for more interesting matches.
Each point increase in the category will lead to a point increase in the associated stats.
As you allocate more points to a category, the number of progression points required increases.
For example, at the start, you use 1 progression point to increase ‘Shooting’ from 0 to 1. This increases ‘Finishing’, ‘Set Pieces’, and ‘Curl’ by 1 point.
When ‘Shooting’ reaches a higher number e.g 5, you will need 2 progression points to change it from 5 to 6. The associated stats will also increase by 1 point.
This means that if you wish to allocate all of your progression points to ‘Shooting’, the amount of growth will be less proportionate to the amount of progression points you used.
It will be easier to build a well-balanced player who grows in all areas, as compared to someone who is very strong in one area.
5.2 Team Play Style Proficiency
A high play style rating helps your team play better. Passes will be more accurate, players will be easier to control. Each player’s play style proficiency contributes to the overall team play style.
Allocate your progression points to increase the player’s proficiency in the play style you will be using.
Each progression point will lead to a 10 point increase in play style proficiency.
A similar logic of diminishing returns apply. To change a play style from 30 to 90, you will initially need 1 progression point for a 10 point increase at the start, but 2 progression points for a 10 point increase as you near 90.
Thus, it is important to sign players who already have a reasonably high proficiency (>50) in your preferred play style.
I find that play style proficiency is more important that Player Stats at the start of your game. Aim to maximise proficiency in your preferred play style before spending progression points on player stats.
If you like to switch between 2 play styles in the game, you may want to increase the player’s proficiency in both play styles.
However, note that player’s levels, and associated progression points, are limited. Spending more progression points on play styles will mean that there are less progression points for player stats. It is a fine balancing act.
6. Level Training
As you play the game and complete objectives, you will receive level trainings. These award you with experience points (100, 1000, 4000, 10000) to accelerate the levelling of your players.
Go to ‘My Team’, select a player, ‘Level Training’ to apply the experience points.
Once your player levels up, you will receive progression points to spend on ‘Player Stats or ‘Team Play Style Proficiency’, as covered in the previous section.
Save these points and use them on your favourite players to level them up fast.
7. Contract Expiry
Note that every player you sign comes with a 365 days (real time) contract. After a year, you will not be able to field the player, unless you renew his contract using some form of virtual currency.
Consider how you would want to use your Level Trainings. There may not be a point in levelling up a player whose contract will expire in a few weeks and which you do not plan to renew.
8. Conclusion
I enjoy the concept of player levelling in eFootball. It gives a sense of progression and allows you to revive your favourite veteran players to their glory days. I hope this guide gives you a good overview of how to level up players in eFootball.
All images credit: Konami