Forum Widgets
Recent Discussions
NHL 26 Franchise mode - playing games feels very frustrating this year
I notice my user's CPU goalie lets in very soft goals while the opponent's CPU goalie plays like Hasek or Brodeur, no matter what he has as an overall rating. All games end like this for me: 36-42 shots and 2-4 goals vs the opponent team's 14 shots and 2-4 goals. I block many many shots in the games I play on Superstar but once the cpu opponent gets a shot away, it either hits the post and bounces on the goalie and in, or they snipe it from the blue line. It's so frustrating to play games when every game goes like this, absolutely tanking my goalies' SV%. Update: I changed the gameplay version to 1.0 and that changed it back to being better balanced for CPU gameplay. Now it's way better (more fun) even though user cpu goalie still lets in almost everything, but at the same time it's now easier to score myself. Would be great to have a gameplay tuner that stops CPU opponent from shooting overly accurately in every single situation.
Be A Pro X-Factor packages are not balanced across archetypes
Hello, I noticed that in NHL 26 Be A Pro mode the X-Factor packages for most archetypes are not balanced or set up correctly. Playmaker is missing key offensive abilities like Quick Release, Backhand Beauty, or Ankle Breaker. Two-Way Forward does not have Quick Pick, which should be a core defensive ability. Power Forward also has a very limited and poorly chosen set of X-Factors. In fact, almost every archetype has a very poor and restricted selection of X-Factors — except for Sniper, which has a much more diverse and useful set. This makes most archetypes feel weak, repetitive, and not true to their playstyle, while Sniper feels far stronger and more fun. It looks like the X-Factor loadouts are not assigned properly and really need a rebalance in a future update or patch. PS: The Quick Release is OP shooting style also feels unrealistic — every player whith X Factor shoots like Bedard style, which takes away from the uniqueness of different archetypes and real player styles.They actually managed to make Be A Pro worse.
I really didn't think they could do it but here we are. Be a Pro is a complete disaster. Let's see, I lead my team in scoring in the pre season 9 points in 7 games that gets me demoted from 1st pairing NHL to the AHL. 8 goals 17 points in 8 games in the AHL barely gets me promoted to 3rd pairing NHL. This is one of many problems, it doesn't even begin to address the game play which is indescribably bad. Why is there such a massive difference in the play of the opponents CPU AI and my teammates CPU AI? This was all supposed to be fixed, improved teammate AI was in the trailer. This game mode was better ten years ago, that shouldn't be acceptable. A paying customer since 1991, who would love to here from EA.Loving NHL 26, but no vibration on shots? (xbox series x)
First off, I want to give props to the dev team the improvements to the AI, sound, and goalie play are really noticeable, and the game feels way less bulky and smoother overall. It’s a big step forward. For someone who's played every edition since 03' and been critical of copy/paste updates over the past decade hats off the game went from a 7 to an 8/10 for me. That said, I’ve noticed something odd that may prevent me from buying if this is end result with no patch. I only get controller vibration on hits but not shots. For me, that’s always been a big part of the feel and immersion of the game, so it feels like something’s missing. Is anyone else running into this? Or is it just me/my setup? Thanks!
Bring back squad battles
I don’t know if I am the first person to say this. But I view cup chase kinda of boring in my opinion, and I would like it if they brought back squad battles and have cup chase cup in a separate game mode and have it completely unrelated to the XP path. I view hut kinda of boring this year because EA needs a new content team. I like the salary rule, but I don’t like cup chase in my opinion.Get Rid of Elite Edges/Wheels in EASHL
I've owned every single EA NHL game. I still have my Sega and all of those original games going back to the NHLPA Hockey days. To say I'm a devoted fan, and sometimes an apologist to this franchise, is an understatement. I lead by saying this because I'm not some sweaty, whiny kid who can't stand losing. I just want to enjoy playing hockey (particularly EASHL with my beer drinking buddies). Bringing back Elite Edges and Wheels has largely ruined EASHL. EVERYONE is now making super fast small players, turning the game back into a track meet, and it's simply becoming who can do the nearly automatic "forehand-backhand deke" goal the most. Tons of new goalie animations and yet they still can't simply hold the post/cover the short side on the same move, over and over. 25 had its issues but it forced teams to play way more as a unit with a purpose to be successful. It took a stronger unit to win. Now, 26 is forcing defensemen to use either EE or Wheels, which limits the depth of cool builds you can create because 1 of the 3 slots has to be dedicated to EE or Wheels. EE and Wheels was an obvious problem the devs and EA recognized in the past and wisely removed from the game. Bringing them back has ruined the EASHL experience. Our club has been together over 10 years. We win at about a 75% rate. This isn't a win/ loss issue. It's an immersion and fun issue. It's a replayability issue. Regardless of our usual success and loyalty to playing over the years, no one wants to continue to play this track meet, and slow "menu simulator", where locker rooms freeze and players get dropped left and right. Overall, just very disappointed. Remove Elite Edge and Wheels from competitive EASHL.
Attributes.
Between The OP Xfactors. And Now all these added Prebuilds The game is starting to feel like theyre takin away from the Creativity that EASHL is. Every month A new Prebuild is added it seems. Now there is a shark. There are now more Prebuilds than Custom builds. It reminds me of the years where they removed attributes completely. Such a horrible idea. With Xfactors Attributes really feel irrelevant. Game play feels okay but this game is already trending in the wrong direction again. There are several Xfactors that are way OP and i feel **bleep** we're going to be fighting with EA over this the entire duration of the game. Remove Prebuilds. Get Rid of X factors bring back boost. Just remake 2014.XFactors.
XFactors are going to make certain Attributes irrelevant. Im a huge Fan of Hitting people can complain all they want about it but thats only because they like the free open ice to Dance around like a ballerina without any worry and since Stick checking never works properly its a risk to even try and poke. That being Said. I have set my build at 90 hitting with and without truculence. The difference is laughable. 90 is extremely high hitting without truculence and i should be able to lay massive hits without Any Truculence Xfactor. Without truculence my guy hits like he's using a Pillow to hit with truculence my guy feels like hes using a baseball bat to hit with. Like what is the point of Attributes if you can just use the orange Xfactor Truculence. And have 65 hitting and the orange Xfactor and be able to Run people off the rink with big hits. There are other XFactors that have run into the same problem. What I think they shouldve Done is set it up the same way NHL 25 was. Elite X factor you need at least 80 hitting to use this Xfactor All-star Xfactor you need atleast 85 and 90 to use the elite Xfactor. Something like that. In my opinion they shouldve ditched Xfactors for Something way simpler and Brought back the Boost Packs 09-14 had. +1 +3 and +5 added attribute points.#Broken
Chel 26 is so broken right now. Physics, mechanics, visual glitches, overlay glitches, goalies, reverse hits....it's TERRIBLE. You should NOT be able to register 11 goals on 18 shots NO MATTER WHAT. The AI goalies are trash. Meanwhile, the other team records 25 shots for 2 goals. The reverse hit MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL. Soooo ridiculous, unrealistic and absurd. I was CHASING a guy and from behind, maintaining his forward speed SOMEHOW reverse hits me and I bounce off him, going back where I came from. Entirely absurd and needs to be eliminated. I'm consistently a Diamond and can't get past a 17,000 Silver because drop in is so tilted. I love this game, it's my guilty pleasure, however, ready to park it and not play until changes are made.
Be A Pro is unplayable with multiple large issues
The developer team was on the right track with the changes made this year to the game mode but ultimately fell short in the execution. In this thread I will go over the issues I have noticed with many hours of play time as a multiple year experienced player. 1. The health feature. After each game your player gets fatigued or exhausted and you to spend 2-4 energy points to recover. That would not be an issue if we received more energy points. On average you play 3-4 games per week and you only get 6 energy points. Quite often you will find yourself running out of energy points before your last game of the week, forcing you to play super fatigued. This is very frustrating as you always fall behind the 8ball and it drops your speed, acceleration, endurance, agility and durability by 10-20 attribute ratings. During the season you never have any energy to spend on trait points, X-factor points, or the likability options. A good comparison of a health system that works is in EA's College Football games. In those games you don't have to spend all your points on health as you only play 1 game per week. They pretty much copied the same feature in NHL26, except it's the same amount of energy points but with way more games per week. It just does not add up... 2. Form score. The form score seems to only go by point productions from your player. It possibly may be ever so slightly tied to the coach feedback score, too hard to tell. Your player can play extremely well and get an " A " grade for the coach feedback, but since you did not score a goal or an assist, your form score will be only 20/100. If you are on a line with grinders (like an NHL 4th line), or just don't "finish" the play, you get penalized. The game requires you to have a high form score to make the NHL team, or move up the lineups. This also is a big problem for Defenseman or a 2-Way forward who doesn't prioritize a purely offensive game. 3. Gameplay sliders. The sliders that are set in settings get reset every time you play a game. Even if you set the sliders in settings before you start your Be A Pro, it will not work. Each game they have to be edited. 4. Draft stock media interview. The media interview right before draft day is absurd. It is not realistic at all to be able to drop 20 spots in the draft from answering questions that seem like a good response. A simple fix would be making the worst answer -1 draft stock, the best answer +1, and the 2nd best/worst being 0 change. Also, make it more apparent what your goal is (to answer questions closest to your higher likeability- being management, teammates, and brand). 5. Chapter challenges/lineup challenges. Unless your player goes on an offense masterclass in the pre-season, you will not make the NHL team. This goes back to #2, where I spoke about form score. It is not realistic to require such a high production to make the team. Second which, once sent down to the AHL, you have 8 games to maintain a 65 or higher line score. If you make the NHL team, you are stuck on the 4th line where you play only a few shifts per game (even on 20 minute periods). You do not have enough ice time to produce at the rate required to make the 3rd line. It's at the point where you need a higher points per 60 minute stat than the top players in the league to progress. As a defense player, this makes it absolutely impossible to move forward. The coach grade feedback also needs to be adjusted per ice time. You can have all your 4 shifts where you play well and go from the C- starting point, to a C+, which is never high enough to grow. If the developers can make the correct tweaks, this game mode has such good potential. I recommend either adding more energy points per week, or reduce the fatigue you gain per game you play. At the least, have a setting to turn off the health feature like in other EA sports games like CFB25/26. There also needs to be adjustment on the form score. It needs to be more related to your coach feedback and your player role/position. They needs to be tweaks for both of those metrics for the ice time you are allocated. Those simple fixes will make a massive difference in this game mode. I have not seen any player, YouTube, or Streamer happy with how this game mode plays and I have not heard any response from the EA team on this topic. Please give us hope for this game!
AI goalies come out too far and pose which leaves large rebound opportunity.
World of CHEL AI goalies come out about 5 feet from crease it seems, and every player shoots low for rebound and they just pause/pose while they leave their back post open for a crasher because they are one to far, two a delay from the save for them to react. This is an exploitable strategy not because it's a one off, but it is every single time thing. Ai goalie aggression is too high, or their angles are, which ever makes them challenge so high and outside of the crease. Also, may want to tweak save animation delay for blocker high they just pose when they make a save. EA_AljoBe a pro major problem
This revamped be a pro is right direction to go but there’s few features missing which killing this mode once again. The main thing is the fact that injuries/transaction lists missing completely in the mode is just pure nonsense. You don’t see anything what’s happening in your team and in the league, that’s making the mode very one sided thing. You don’t even see your own player injury type or how long you are in reserve! Also the fact that game doesn’t recognize your player are injured is just ridiculous for the game devs. You will get negative feedback even you’re not in the lineup! This will need to be fixed, otherwise the mode will be dull and useless for longer term playing. Any news for fixing thisEA_Aljo
Featured Places
NHL Game Info Hub
Read the latest news and updates for NHL games.NHL 26
Chat with the community in the official EA Forums for NHL 26.NHL 26 General Discussion
Join the community forums and discuss the latest news and game information around NHL 26.NHL 26 Hockey Ultimate Team
Talk about NHL 26 Hockey Ultimate Team with the NHL community.NHL 26 Technical Issues & Bug Reports
Do you have technical issues with your NHL 26 game? Are you experiencing a bug in your game? Get help from the community and report bugs here!
