Hi all, and welcome to another nerdy Madden post. Here, I’m going to break down how Madden 18 calculates the XP your players are awarded in weekly training, and offer some tips on how to get the most bang for your buck out of this training. I’ll discuss the factors that do and do not affect how much weekly XP a player is awarded, and provide the formula for how Madden calculates the weekly XP.
Factors that affect how much training XP gets awarded
Now, there are several factors at play when it comes to how much XP players get awarded in weekly training, and these are considered below in turn. **Note that for the XP values provided, I am assuming every position’s XP slider is set to 100.**
The Training Drill
The most obvious one is the training drill itself. Different drills on offense and defense target different position groups. Groups not targeted in that training drill will receive no XP for the drill.
Tip: Manually choose your weekly training drills so that you target position groups where you have lots of young players.
Training Drill Medals
For each training drill, you are awarded different medals depending on how well you complete the drill (and you can then sim that drill in the future and be awarded that medal).
- Bronze/No Medal: Basic XP award.
- Silver Medal: 2x the Basic XP award.
- Gold Medal: 4x the Basic XP award.
Tip: I should think this is obvious, but you sure as hell need to get Gold in whatever training drill it is you select. The hardest ones are 3 on 3 and Kick Block, in my experience. But fortunately, there are easier alternatives that target the same position groups.
Player dev trait
Dev traits are *incredibly* important in Madden 18, as EA have tweaked how progression works to favor dudes with good dev. It’s very, very hard to get a Normal dev guy up to elite OVR levels nowadays, at least in a league with sensible sim rules and XP sliders. A large part of this is how dev traits affect weekly training XP.
- Slow Dev: 66.7% of the weekly XP will be awarded.
- Normal Dev: 100% of the weekly XP will be awarded.
- Quick Dev: 200% of the weekly XP will be awarded.
- Superstar Dev: 333.3% of the weekly XP will be awarded.
Tip: The difference between Superstar dev and Normal dev is immense. You should be targeting your weekly training drills at young players with good dev traits over all other factors.
Depth chart position
Now, I’ve called this depth chart position, but it’s not actually depth chart position per se. It’s how Madden would rank your depth chart if left to its own devices, i.e. in order of OVR, not taking into account any other factors like a player’s age, potential, scheme fit etc. This varies by position – as you’ll see below – but most positions award a full complement of training XP to the **top two** players at that position. Players below that are on a sliding scale of how much they get. The exception to this are the WRs, who have an extra “ranking” above the basic XP award that starters at every other position get. The tables below show the basic XP award by position and depth chart rank (N.B. these are the baseline values that get modified based on training medal and dev trait, as noted above, and are assuming all XP sliders are set at 100).
Offense - QB1 - 75
- QB2 - 75
- QB3 - 59
- QB4 - 37
- HB1 - 75
- HB2 - 75
- HB3 - 59
- HB4 - 37
- FB1 - 75
- FB2 - 75
- FB3 - 59
- FB4 - 37
- WR1 - 112
- WR2 - 112
- WR3 - 93
- WR4 - 75
- WR5 - 59
- WR6 - 37
- TE1 - 75
- TE2 - 75
- TE3 - 59
- TE4 - 37
- O-line 1 - 75
- O-line 2 - 75
- O-line 3 - 37
The abnormal positions here are WR (where there are the boosted XP awards for the two starting wideouts and slot receiver), and Offensive Line, where there is a big drop-off from the starter/primary backup down to the 3rd string and bench/practice squad guys.
Defense and Special Teams
- D-line 1 - 75
- D-line 2 - 75
- D-line 3 - 59
- D-line 4 - 37
- OLB1 - 75
- OLB2 - 59
- OLB3 - 37
- MLB1 - 75
- MLB2 - 75
- MLB3 - 59
- MLB4 - 37
- CB1 - 75
- CB2 - 75
- CB3 - 75
- CB4 - 59
- QB5 - 37
- S1 - 75
- S2 - 75
- S3 - 75
- S4 - 75
- K1 - 75
- K2 - 75
- P1 - 75
- P2 - 75
All pretty standard, though you can see that – inexplicably – backup Safeties get full whack XP. This is probably the biggest reason why Safeties are such a problem position for guys coming up with XP sliders, since backups are earning the same base XP as starters. Outside LB is interesting as your number 2 guy doesn’t get full billing like most positions.
Tips: You can farm safeties if you’re willing to train DB position groups. Be wary that your Outside Linebackers need to be starters to get trained effectively. Be wary that your O linemen need to be 2nd best at their position or they will progress at a snail’s pace.
Focus Training
In addition to the drill-based XP, you can choose three players to give extra focus training to in order to further boost their XP. The XP awarded for focus training is based – again – on dev traits:
- Slow dev: 50% of the basic focus training XP (50 XP).
- Normal dev: 100% of the basic focus training XP (100 XP).
- Quick dev: 200% of the basic focus training XP (200 XP).
- Superstar dev: 300% of the basic focus training XP (300 XP).
Tip: You absolutely must focus train your young guys with high dev, and avoid focus training any Captain Slows.
Coach Boosts
You can spend coach XP on progression boosts that award some additional XP to players for the training drills, as well as boosting weekly goal XP awards, and slightly reducing the cost of upgrading attributes. Coach progression packages are massively important, and you need to be a bit strategic about which ones you buy as some of them are very expensive and require that you save up for the best part of a season to purchase them.
The coach boosts are a bit of a topic in their own right, in that they are affected by the training medal (i.e. 2x basic for silver, 4x basic for gold) and by XP sliders. For the values below, I have assumed bronze training medal and all XP sliders set at 100. The values given by the coach boosts are aligned to how much basic weekly XP a player gets based on his position and depth chart rank.
[list][*]Basic 112 - Coach Boost 45[*]Basic 93 - Coach Boost 37[*]Basic 75 - Coach Boost 30[*]Basic 59- Coach Boost 23[*]Basic 37- Coach Boost 15
Tips: Purchase coaching packages strategically, targeting positions where you have lots of young talent you need to progress. Once you’ve got enough packages to mean you can train two offensive and two defensive position groups all season and get the applicable XP boosts, don’t be afraid to stockpile your coach XP until after the draft so you can spend it on the most relevant positions for the upcoming season based on your haul of rookies.
XP Sliders
Sliders are the biggie here. They affect the weekly XP awarded, focus training, and the coach boosts. The slider values are effectively the % of all of these awards that a player at that position is granted. For example, a slider set to 50 will grant 50% of the awards, while a slider set to 168 will grant 168% of the awards.
Tip: Choose your sliders carefully for your league as they massively affect the experience. I recommend TDawg’s slider set on Operation Sports.
Factors that DO NOT affect how much weekly XP is awarded
There are some misconceptions about other things that might affect how much weekly XP a player gets from training, but if they are not in the list above, they are not relevant. Some of the more common ones are below:
Age
Your player’s age has **no** bearing on how much training XP they get. You can be 20, you can 42, you’re getting the same amount (provided your basic award, coach boost, dev trait, focus training slider and training medal are identical). Age only affects the cost of upgrading attributes, regression, and how much milestone, weekly and season XP is awarded.
Overall Rating
Again, this has no bearing on weekly XP. You can be a 40 OVR player, you can be a 99 OVR player, you’re getting the same weekly XP as long as all the other factors outlined above are the same. OVR *does*, however, affect how much XP a player is given for end of season awards like Pro Bowl, OROY etc. So my top tip is to avoid boosting any young players who look like they’re in the running for awards. The rating of an individual attribute will affect the cost of purchasing an upgrade for it.
The Weekly Training XP Formula
Ok, so let’s throw all of this stuff in a bucket and deconstruct the formula Madden uses to determine how much weekly XP a player gets in training:
(((Basic depth chart XP \* Dev Trait) \* Training Medal) + (Basic Coach Boost XP \* Training Medal) + (Basic Focus Training Boost \* Dev Trait)) \* XP Slider
That’s the formula. Here’s an example for a starting Left Tackle with Quick Dev, doing a Hat Count drill at Gold, being focus trained, and working under a coach with the O line boost package, in a league where the OT XP slider is set to 90:
(((75\*200%)\*4)+(30\*4)+(100\*200%))\*90% = 828 Weekly training XP.
Wrapping it all up
Weekly Training XP is based on the drill you select, the medal for the training, the dev trait of the player, any coaching packages that have been purchased, their position on the depth chart, whether or not they are focus trained, plus the XP slider for that position. Using the formula **(((Basic depth chart XP \* Dev Trait) \* Training Medal) + (Basic Coach Boost XP \* Training Medal) + (Basic Focus Training Boost \* Dev Trait)) \* XP Slider** you can work out how much weekly training XP a player will get. How you use this knowledge is up to you… But I’ve used it to work out which players/positions groups have the highest potential on my roster, and whether to buy development upgrades for certain players.
Hope you found this at least vaguely interesting!
OMN
11-28-2017, 07:51 AM
In-Depth: Deconstructing How Madden Awards Training XP
