EA Forums - Banner

Why are my passes going straight toward the goalie?

Just got back into this series last month. I haven’t played since NHL17 but I’ve played since the Sega NHL93 days

One thing I can’t wrap my head around is why my attempted one-timer passes across crease keep ending up as passes (or sometimes shots) directed to the goalie?

I use the skill stick controls. And I’m referring to strictly squad battles (so the online pass assist setting is NA here)

Essentially, it seems to always happen when I’m on either wing. If I’m anywhere near the face off dot or near the corner and try to pass out front it goes to the goalie. I don’t recall this happening when I was playing on semi-pro but I’m playing on pro now and it happens a lot more now. Is this expected? I don’t believe I’ve changed any technique when it comes to passing so I’m a bit confused now

Any pointers are appreciated

Replies

  • boumbidiboum
    446 posts Member
    edited April 2020
    The pass assistance as you get higher in difficulty is reduced, so the aiming of passes become more and more important as you go up. There’s a function in the pass assistance that help you setting up shots for rebounds. If your players are positioned correctly and you aim more toward the goalie, your player will shoot low on the pads to try to get a rebound for the other player on the other side. To make sure that it doesn’t happen, you need to aim more toward the other player, not the goalie. It can be tricky when the players get closer to the net, since you need to pass in front of the player for the pass to work and if he is close to the goalie, the pass assistance might think that you want to shoot for rebound and do that instead. It is like the auto-correct function on phones, sometimes it doesn’t work properly. It requires just a little bit of getting used to it and adjustments. Some of the times, just by moving the player with the puck a little bit in one direction before passing make the passes work because you removed the other possibilities. It is case by case though, so it depends on where the puck is, where the players are and many other factors.

    Additional note, you can practice passing in practice mode and/or check in replay to see where you were aiming and correct it next time you do it. You can see the inputs for the analog sticks at the bottom of the replay screen.
  • y0uthX
    54 posts Member
    What an awesome response
    Thanks for that

    Just a few clarifications... when you say there’s a function in the pass-assistance do you mean it’s automatically set? Or is this something I can enable? I don’t see any setting to do this

    And by positioning your stick differently before making a pass, are you referring to keeping the puck away from the defender (by keeping it on your forehand/backhand) just before you release the pass/trigger? I read somewhere that can help

    The part part in all of this is when I sometimes release the pass/trigger it sometimes shoots the puck instead of passing it.
  • Ever since this new patch everything thing seems off ,I gave up on this game it's just plain awful
  • y0uthX wrote: »
    What an awesome response
    Thanks for that

    Just a few clarifications... when you say there’s a function in the pass-assistance do you mean it’s automatically set? Or is this something I can enable? I don’t see any setting to do this

    And by positioning your stick differently before making a pass, are you referring to keeping the puck away from the defender (by keeping it on your forehand/backhand) just before you release the pass/trigger? I read somewhere that can help

    The part part in all of this is when I sometimes release the pass/trigger it sometimes shoots the puck instead of passing it.

    The rebound shot function is automatically activated. You can’t disable it. It seems to be more probable lately, maybe they changed something somewhere in the code making it happens more. If you are careful and aim more toward the player and not the goalie, it should help solving it.

    Yes, and moving your player also help. It is just a matter of removing the other possible passing lane that could be mistakenly chosen by the pass assistance. You need to aim where the player will be, not where he is currently. So if you position yourself in a position where there’s many different option and they are close to each other, the game might mistakenly take one that you don’t want. The game take the closest pass lane available where you aimed and if there’s none available, it sends it directly where you aimed (no pass assist). That’s why I say that you need to be careful to make sure you don’t have another player positioned too close to where you aimed. If you are in the top-left corner for exemple, and you aim for your Center in the slot, sometimes the game can think that you want to pass the the RD because his passing lane is closer to where you aimed.

    I wish it help... I am not very good at explaining things. It just a matter of practice and understanding how it works, then you adjust yourself to make sure that it does what you want. It is harder as you go up in difficulty, so it might require some practice to get used to it. Like I said, when you see a pass that doesn’t go how you planned, you can go in the replay and see where you aimed. You might understand what you did wrong and adjust your technique for the next opportunity.
  • y0uthX
    54 posts Member
    This is all valuable info. I’m gonna try out the replay suggestion.
    Thanks
  • EA_Aljo
    3229 posts EA Community Manager
    edited April 2020
    @y0uthX

    Squad Battles are against the computer, but it probably uses the same online play rules since all of HUT is online. So, the online pass assist would still be valid in this mode. The lower the number, the more precise you need to be with your aim. The higher the number, the more you need to be aware of teammates along the same trajectory of the pass. As boumbidiboum described.

    I'm trying to get more information on online pass assist for Squad Battles. I'll update here when I have them.
    Post edited by EA_Aljo on
  • Really? If what you’re saying is true that online pass assist applies to squad battles than this is terrible and confusing terminology on the part of the Devs
    The fact that Squad Battles is actually identified as ‘offline/couch play’ within the game itself, insinuates it’s quite the opposite of ‘online play’, so therefore one would assume ‘online pass assist’ has no effect in this mode.
  • I am pretty sure that it doesn’t apply to SB, it only affect Online games. I tried taking it off and I only feel a difference only. In SB, you don’t feel any difference.
  • EA_Aljo
    3229 posts EA Community Manager
    y0uthX wrote: »
    Really? If what you’re saying is true that online pass assist applies to squad battles than this is terrible and confusing terminology on the part of the Devs
    The fact that Squad Battles is actually identified as ‘offline/couch play’ within the game itself, insinuates it’s quite the opposite of ‘online play’, so therefore one would assume ‘online pass assist’ has no effect in this mode.

    I'm still looking into this and will update when I have new info. My concern is that HUT is technically online due to it requiring an online connection so possibly those rules are in effect.
  • y0uthX
    54 posts Member
    Cool
    Just curious... how are you ‘looking into it’? Are you affiliated somehow with ea devs?
  • EA_Blueberry
    4836 posts EA Community Manager
    @y0uthX

    We DO have EA in front of our names... ;)
Sign In or Register to comment.

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.