NHL 13: Build of the Week -- Power Forward

Today I am featuring a Power Forward build.

Power Forward
Legend 3
5'10"
180lbs
11" Skates
Regular Flex
2nd Curve from the bottom

Deking: 83
Hand Eye: 82 (+8)
Off Awareness: 81
Passing: 70
Puck Control: 81 (+5)
SS Accuracy: 77
SS Power: 70
WS Accuracy: 77 (+8)
WS Power: 80 (+5)

Aggression: 82
Body Check: 87
Def Awareness: 78
Discipline: 80
Faceoffs: 65
Fighting: 65
Shot Blocking: 78
Stick Check: 80

Acceleration: 82 (+8)
Agility: 78 (+8)
Balance: 75
Durability: 66
Endurance: 78
Speed: 82 (+8)
Strength: 74

First off, let's get this out of the way, I have not been a fan of the power forward since NHL 11 when speed/acceleration were essentially broken and it was the only build to run. I am going to be comparing this to my grinder build since that is my favorite build right now.

Offensively this build is fairly solid top to bottom, decent shots, decent hand eye, decent deking, and reasonable puck control. It is slightly better than the grinder in this category.

Defensively it seems to hit better than the grinder even with similar checking numbers but also has a worse stick check and defensive awareness. It does seem to scoop up pucks somewhat better than the grinder at similar aggression levels.

Athletically it can take a hit well, maybe somewhat better than the grinder. However, this is offset by significantly worse skating. Even dropping a couple of points in agility makes the build struggle to turn. Perhaps going to 9 inch skates would help but would also limit the speed and acceleration of the build which is already worse than the grinder. Playing this build I found myself a step behind the play a lot which hurt defensively and offensively.

So in summary I am not a huge fan again but I could see this working if you like to work the walls and camp in front of the net for garbage. Just don't expect to out run or out turn many people with this build.

NHL 13: Build of the Week -- Two Way Defenseman

This week we have a two way defender build that should allow you to keep the front of the net clear and yet also chip in a bit offensively.

2 Way Defender
Legend 2

6'0"
195lbs
11" skates
Regular Flex
2nd Curve from the bottom


Deking: 77
Hand Eye: 79 (+8)
Off Awareness: 77 (+5)
Passing: 82
Puck Control: 78 (+5)
SS Accuracy: 77 (+5)
SS Power: 82
WS Accuracy: 69
WS Power: 65

Aggression: 79
Body Check: 82
Def Awareness: 85
Discipline: 82
Faceoffs: 65
Fighting: 65
Shot Blocking: 79
Stick Check: 82 (+5)

Acceleration: 82 (+8)
Agility: 81 (+8)
Balance: 75
Durability: 65
Endurance: 80
Speed: 81 (+8)
Strength: 75

I have noticed that once you get a decent number of points (say legend 1) you really start running out of places to spend them for a lot of these builds. It really comes down to how you configure your boosts. It makes +3s even more important than before because the cap is a hard limit whereas in NHL 12 you could look at the costs of something and see if that +3 bought you more than a +5 somewhere else.

So to that end the entire offensive category outside of the wrist shot attributes are maxed. I debated between  having higher deking vs. the higher hand eye and went with hand eye. I think 84 is just a bit too low to one time a shot. If you are a team that plays catch and then shoot then 84 is probably enough and you can spend that boost on deking or somewhere else. The slapshot is reasonable and there are spares for the wrister even.

Defensively everything is maxed that is important and the rest went into shot blocking.

Athletically this is a pretty strong build with good skating attributes, endurance, and even a moderate amount of balance and strength. The high level skating will allow you to stay with quick forwards and the balance and strength will help you against an aggressive forecheck.

NHL 13: Build of the Week -- Grinder

I teased this earlier on Twitter but I really do think this may be the One True Build™* for NHL 13. I will list the reasons in a minute but first here is the build:

Grinder, Legend 2
5'10"
180lbs
11" skates
Regular Flex
2nd Curve from the top

Deking: 80
Hand Eye: 82 (+8)
Off Awareness: 75
Passing: 70
Puck Control: 78 (+5)
SS Accuracy: 70
SS Power: 65
WS Accuracy: 76 (+8)
WS Power: 78 (+5)

Aggression: 81
Body Check: 84
Def Awareness: 85
Discipline: 80
Faceoffs: 65
Fighting: 65
Shot Blocking: 66
Stick Check: 85

Acceleration: 84 (+8)
Agility: 80 (+8)
Balance: 65
Durability: 65
Endurance: 80
Speed: 84 (+8)
Strength: 65

From memory those checking/aggression numbers seem a bit off compared to what I was getting in game but it is maybe a point or two so it doesn't really matter. Everything else seems in order.

So what makes this the One True Build™? Let's cut right to the chase and look at athletics. Even at Legend 2** you have skating attributes better than any other player type in the game. Specifically acceleration and speed are both two points beyond what you can get out of any other build. Even agility is within two points of every other build and better than some. But back to speed and acceleration. Speed and acceleration are basically everything in this game, they let you get in on the forecheck faster, get back on the backcheck faster, and give you more room and time on offense because you aren't as pressed by people pursuing you from behind. You can actually slow down after building up a gap and get away a decent shot or pass or pull up and set it up in the zone with less worries of being defended.

As you can see on defense it is super solid and you don't need a single boost there unless you play center. For playing center the changes I make are +8 on faceoffs on the stick with just a single +5 wrist shot accuracy. Max stick check, faceoffs, discipline, defensive awareness, and then dump the spares into aggression then checking. Offensively and athletically the build is the same (outside of the lost wrist shot power and accuracy). Notice, you can hit 95 in faceoffs as a center which you can only do as a grinder or a two way forward so it makes a good center build.

Now I am sure you are looking at this offensive setup and saying, "How can you do well with those attributes?" The answer lies in what works offensively for NHL 13. For all intents and purposes you can't score from outside the hashmarks since two tuners ago so you don't need an amazing shot. The passing attribute and passing in general is mostly broken in this version so you don't need great passing. The hand eye is competitive with all other player types. The puck control looks weak but if you can keep the puck away from people you don't really need much. Also, you won't lose the puck from small bumps with this setup even with the base balance and strength. The amount of deking is fine for almost anything. Breakaways are not really a problem for this build especially with the extra speed.

This build is very similar to the dangler in NHL 09. By that I mean the dangler had two extra points of speed that you couldn't get with any other build. Dangler was not the best offensive build but with the extra speed you almost felt like you couldn't play anything else. I think grinder is in the same boat based on the inherent speed and acceleration advantages it has.

* That isn't trademarked I am just having some fun.
** I have already looked at some numbers for Legend 3 and will do a separate post once I hit that level and do some testing but how does 94 speed sound?

NHL 13: Build of the Week -- Tough Guy

Was going to do power forward or offensive defenseman next but played this last night and it is fresh in my mind so I am going with Tough Guy today.

A quick note the NHL 13 player creator here is wrong about the point values on offense for the Tough Guy so if you try to recreate this there you won't be able to.

Tough Guy, Legend 1

5'10"
180lbs
11" skates
Regular Flex
2nd Curve from the bottom


Deking: 75
Hand Eye: 79 (+8)
Off Awareness: 69
Passing: 70
Puck Control: 73 (+5)
SS Accuracy: 73
SS Power: 70
WS Accuracy: 75 (+8)
WS Power: 73 (+5)

Aggression: 87
Body Check: 87
Def Awareness: 78
Discipline: 75
Faceoffs: 66
Fighting: 65
Shot Blocking: 73
Stick Check: 80

Acceleration: 80 (+8)
Agility: 76 (+8)
Balance: 73
Durability: 67
Endurance: 78
Speed: 80 (+8)
Strength: 80

I know I set this build up somewhat small but I like to be quick. It is definitely more durable than a sniper but I still get destroyed at times despite the 80 strength and 73 balance. You do notice the lower skating attributes to some extent but it isn't as bad as I would have thought.

Defensively you basically have everything maxed even at Legend 1. It does fine getting in lanes and knocking down passes and the pokecheck works well. At this point I see little reason to use any defensive boosts other than for faceoffs as a center.

Offensively this build is amazing at picking up loose pucks. This is probably due to the aggression rating. It has pretty terrible puck control but frequently I would lose the puck then pick it right back up again so it wasn't much of an issue. The shot is okish and since it is hard to score from anywhere but under the hashmarks it mostly doesn't matter. Hand eye is just below where I like it (90) so receiving passes isn't as smooth as it should be but it works out most of the time since the build will just scoop up the bobbled puck and keep going.

For this year this build is pretty viable which is kind of a sad statement on NHL 13 more than anything but it is pretty fun for working the walls and crashing the net.

NHL 13: Open Letter to EA

Dear EA,

I like a lot of what you have done with NHL 13. The new skating is great and small guys can't run over guys twice their size now so those are both good. Despite the fact I really enjoy the cross crease I like the fact you have made it not automatic like every version before. I like the new matchmaking system and the penalty for backing out. I like that playing defense is easier overall and not just because of the crazy goalies (more on that in a bit).

There are some problems though. While making the cross crease less effective is something to strive for making it less effective than a wrist shot from the top of the circles is not. There is almost zero reason to pass the puck to set a guy up for a one timer anymore. There are basically three semi-reliable ways to score against cpu goalies now. Rebounds, cannon toe drags, and breakaways. Not saying other methods don't work ever but honestly those are the high percentage options and what everyone goes to. Make the cross crease 50% effective not 10% (I would even take 30%). It is already far harder to get passes through in the first place with the active sticks (something else I like) so at least reward people who manage to do it.

Another problem is passing. The passing stat seems to do basically nothing this year from what I can tell. I can make the same passes and have my passes screw up the same way with 70 passing as my center running 95. The fact the passing is so wonky combined with the lack of one timers working results in many fewer passes. This is especially true in the offensive zone where you are mostly better off trying to score solo or generate a rebound rather than setup another one timer that either gets picked off or magic goalie stops.

Then there is the fact that cpu goalies and even human goalies tend to let in the worst possible shots despite being in position. You setup five beautiful three player passing plays that should leave the goalie scrambling for cover but he calmly knocks the chance away. Next time down the ice you throw a weak wrister from the goal line and it is in the net. I don't mind some variability in scoring but this amount is unreasonable.

The new pokecheck is amazing but seriously overpowered. It needs to be toned down just a bit. I appreciate it a lot playing defense but it is annoying when trying to score. It also leads to less setup in the offensive zone because most players are worried about losing the puck constantly.

I would harp on penalties here but it seems like the latest tuner has made the officials actually call interference and boarding more often. I do think the incidental contact needs to generate penalties though. A lot of people are abusing it.

I think all of these changes have made the game an overall less skill based game. And if not less skill based definitely less team based. It has turned into who can cheese the most wristers or rebounds rather than skillful passing and setting up chances. It rewards 1 on 1 play rather than teamwork. In general people dislike guys going one on one and dancing and trying the toe drag or deke all the time (you guys have even said you don't like this) but this year that is all that happens because passing is a terrible option most of the time.

Thanks for reading and hope you take some of this into account when planning future tuners and patches.

Sincerely,

Xaroc

NHL 13: Build of the Week -- Sniper ... Again

Updating this build now that I have hit Legend 1. Thanks to VexExil from the comments for linking me to the new NHL 13 player creator here. I will be posting all of my builds in that format now. Note that this shows attributes then you have to add in the boosts in parenthesis.

Sniper (LW) Legend 1
5'10"
170lbs
11" skates
Regular Flex
2nd Curve from the top


Deking: 77
Hand Eye: 83 (+8)
Off Awareness: 70
Passing: 71
Puck Control: 80 (+5)
SS Accuracy: 65
SS Power: 65
WS Accuracy: 86 (+8)
WS Power: 86 (+8)

Aggression: 80
Body Check: 72
Def Awareness: 78
Discipline: 80
Faceoffs: 65
Fighting: 65
Shot Blocking: 70
Stick Check: 78

Acceleration: 82 (+5)
Agility: 80 (+8)
Balance: 65
Durability: 65
Endurance: 80
Speed: 82 (+8)
Strength: 68

As you can see the biggest changes are even bigger shot, lowered the passing, and lowered the hand eye a touch. Defense still running no boosts and 4 of those categories are maxed. 78 stick check is still plenty. Athletically all of Acceleration/Agility/Speed/Endurance are maxed. With 90 speed you can make a lot happen offensively and still be able to get back to backcheck.

This could have been it's own post but I am going to throw it in here since it pertains to this build.

There was some spirited debate in the comments of the last post about balance and it's importance. I am of the opinion for small fast builds like my sniper balance is mostly worthless. This is mainly because you are going to get crushed no matter what your balance is and any points you put in balance are going to take away from your skating.  If you are building a forward who is going to go to the front of the net a lot or try to hold the puck in a lot of traffic then balance is probably pretty important (need to do more research) but with a sniper build (the way I play it) it is all about quickness, speed, and shot. I would also say that if you want more stability in addition to adding balance and strength make your player larger. It will make you slower but also make you more stable. Some common breakpoints are 6'0" 195 and 6'3" 205 in addition to the height and weight for my sniper build.

I will try to throw up a different build type next. Either Power Forward or Offensive Defenseman. I have both setup and have played them both a bit.

NHL 13: Build of the Week -- Sniper

I should probably call these something else since I can't seem to get them out every week but it sounds catchy so there you have it.

I am doing this from memory so it may not be perfect and there aren't any NHL 13 player builders out there that I know of. These values are the total with boosts and the boosts are in brackets.

Sniper (LW) Superstar 2
5'10"
180lbs
11" skates
Regular Flex
2nd Curve from the top


Deking: 74
Hand Eye: 93 (+8)
Off Awareness: 70
Passing: 75 (+5)
Puck Control: 84 (+5)
SS Accuracy: base
SS Power: base
WS Accuracy: 91 (+8)
WS Power: 91 (+8)

Aggression: 75
Body Check: 65
Def Awareness: 78 (max)
Discipline: 80 (max)
Faceoffs: base
Fighting: base
Shot Blocking: base
Stick Check: 78 (max)

Acceleration: 87 (+5)
Agility: 88 (+8)
Balance: base
Durability: base
Endurance: 80 (max)
Speed: 83 (+5)
Strength: base

This year the sniper is a great build.You need shot power and accuracy to beat cpu goalies this year. The lowest power/accuracy I have beaten a cpu goalie with clean from any distance is 84/84. The next closest was 88/83. With 91 in each you can blow it by the cpu goalie from time to time. It is still not easy to score but this makes it easier. The hand eye is for catching passes and one timers and it has moderate puck control. I am still debating if I want more puck control in exchange for lower hand eye. The passing is passable. I find in this game you can't get passes through players easily so having a really high passing doesn't seem to be worth it. Most of the passes you make are obvious passes to guys who are wide open. That being said I will still probably bump it a bit more (to maybe 80-85) down the road. The way you play this build is catch and shoot or if people let you walk to the top of the circles you can rip wristers on net all day.

Defensively this build is just jam everything into stick check, discipline, and defensive awareness. They max pretty quick. You don't really need any boosts on defense since the stick check even at 78 is deadly. Might want some more defensive awareness since this build doesn't knock down pucks so well but it isn't terrible if you are in good position. Throw everything else in aggressiveness for better puck retrievals.

Athletics I prefer to go with more acceleration and agility for the ability to turn quickly and accelerate quickly. That is just my preferred style. I may try throwing more speed in the mix with the high agility to see if that is better or not maybe sacrificing some acceleration or agility. I am maxing endurance because it is pretty cheap to do it and you want all you can get.

Overall though this is a pretty fun build and the only one I have found to consistently beat goalies, both cpu and human, with. Get to open spots, get the puck, shoot, or move in backing off defenders and rip one top corner. This isn't a great breakaway build due to the low deking but you can always shoot off the rush on breakaways if you want. Enjoy and I will try to keep these going if only to update builds as I get more points and figure out better setups.