When first beginning to play Rocket League, you are faced with many challenges. Driving around the field is challenging in and of itself. Understanding how the car turns and when to drift takes hundreds of hours of playing.
Controller bindings:
One of the most extraordinary aspects of this game, compared to other games, is the ability to customize controller bindings. Each button can be bound to a different action, creating endless possibilities. Each player must figure out what controls are most comfortable for them.
My controller bindings:
Right trigger - acceleration
Left trigger - break
Left bumper - drift/air roll
Left joystick - steering
A - jump
B - boost
Right bumper - directional air roll right (advanced aerial mechanic)
First time playing:
Jumping in for the first time will be extremely fun. You will find you cannot control your car very quickly. Your mind will know what to do, but performing the act is not as simple as one might think. You must build muscle memory, repeatedly failing and correcting, to finally get comfortable enough to drive instinctually. Even though it is tough, you will find you are having fun improving.
Dodging:
After you hit A to make your car jump, you have a 1.5-second window to perform a "dodge." This allows your car to flip in any direction you point your joystick. You can front flip, backflip, and side flip.
You should focus on working your ground game and dodge control before even thinking about getting your car off the ground.
Aerialing:
Aerialing is the term for flying your car. We have only covered car control on the ground, and at the beginning, that is all you should focus on. Aerial car control is a more advanced level mechanic which takes thousands of hours to master. Flying around the field is fun but extremely hard to control. It is something that most new players tend to do too soon.
How to do it:
You point the nose of your car up and boost to gain altitude. You control the direction your car is facing in the air with your joystick. Pulling back on the stick makes your car lean backward, and vice versa. You also can perform an "air roll," rotating your car in a barrel roll type motion. Understanding the micro-adjustments is what makes learning this excruciatingly frustrating. But in time, you will get the hang of it.
Why Rocket League is different
Rocket League is unlike any other game, it is the most technical eSport in existence, and there is no other game like it.
Rocket League players are continuously improving. The highest level of play continues to increase every season, meaning to play at the highest level, you must dedicate your life to the game. Most people cannot afford to do that.
Some of the top professional players like SquishyMuffinz, Jstn, ScrubKilla, FirstKiller, and many more have played over 10,000 hours.
The Skill Gap
Unlike any other game, it is practically impossible to beat opponents at a higher rank than you. A common saying within the Rocket League community is that any rank can 1v2 the rank below them. Each rank is twice as good as the rank before them. In the video above, Carly and Miranda played against Grand Champions on my account, the second-highest rank in the game, and got destroyed, but had fun admiring their skill. This matchup would have never happened naturally. The game sets up your opponents to be at the same skill level to make the game fun for anyone, regardless of skill. Carly and Miranda were six ranks below their opponents in this game, meaning they would theoretically need roughly 64 bronzes to have a chance at winning.
For both casual and competitive gamers
Most players do not play with aspirations of making it onto the big stage. Like Miranda and Carly, most play it for fun, joy, and entertainment. You can take it seriously or play with friends. There is no correct way to approach this game, and the massive player base of 90 million people, speaks for itself.
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