I know what the strategy skill does!!

[LordTC]

It definitely has an effect on gameplans. I used a build that was recommmended in a guide that I now realize was rather bad, and it had no strategy skill assigned and as a result I had 0 available gameplans and every week got the announcement that they out-prepared me.

[Mike3207]

Quote: Originally Posted by tylermajor23

So i was wondering what the strategy skill did, so i experimented with different teams and found the answer. (btw i play my games) you know how you guys say that when you call plays on defense, and the opponent's formations listed arent always right well thats because whoever you have set under your philosophy to call the plays (DC, Head Coach) their strategy skill is low..... im serious thats the reason lol. try it out with the Ravens (becuz rex ryan has 5 in strategy) then try it with the Broncos (their DC is a 3 i think in strategy). 3'sften wrong 4's: not as wrong 5's: never wrong (so serious) but strategy ALSO does something else. i hated trying to hot route receivers and they never listen, so i checked it out. i found out that the strategy skill has to do with that too. try it out with the Rams (becuz their WR coach is a 4 or 5 in strategy) and it works, but a position with a 3 or less in strategy isn't gonna work like the Chiefs. this is really helpful when you want your fullback to block instead of run a route on a passing play, if your HB coach is high in strategy.

Anyone else notice if Strategy has any impact on defensive playcalling or hot routes like the OP mentioned?

[picker19]

The only two definite impacts I know strategy has is 1) # of times you can use a game plan boost; and 2) the % chance the DC knows the package/formation the opposing offense will use.

Since the DC gets that perk (#2) above, I'm going to assume the OC must get some perk, as well, but I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps it is playcalling suggestions or when making hot routes. Since there already is a playcalling skill, I'll guess the latter is more likely. I have had issues where a player didn't follow through on a specific hot route (although it's been uncommon), but I always figured it was due to poor play knowledge. Maybe it's strategy level after all.

[tarek]

Quote: Originally Posted by picker19

The only two definite impacts I know strategy has is 1) # of times you can use a game plan boost; and 2) the % chance the DC knows the package/formation the opposing offense will use. Since the DC gets that perk (#2) above, I'm going to assume the OC must get some perk, as well, but I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps it is playcalling suggestions or when making hot routes. Since there already is a playcalling skill, I'll guess the latter is more likely. I have had issues where a player didn't follow through on a specific hot route (although it's been uncommon), but I always figured it was due to poor play knowledge. Maybe it's strategy level after all.

So when you say the DC (or OC) knows the package/formation the opposition will use, is that why you get certain plays when you choose the 'Ask Coach' menu in the playcall screen?

Does that mean that if my coordinators strategy skills (as opposed to their play call skill) is poor, I should ignore the plays they suggest in 'Ask coach'?

This is interesting because I've found that sometimes in ask coach they will suggest the same play 3 times and another play once. I figure they are really pushing that one play, and think it will be successful, so I trust their judgement and go with that play. To be honest, sometimes those plays don't work, so now i'm wondering what that is a factor of? Play calling or strategy?

I figured play calling the effect when you completely delegate the calls, so that you don't have any say. So does it suggest strategy is the effect of the 'Ask Coach' menu when you are actively calling plays?

[picker19]

Obviously, I don't know exactly how it all works, but the play calling skill definitely impacts A) the plays that are suggested with Ask Coach; and B) your team's success during simmed games (depending on who you have set to call your O & D plays in team philosophies.

An OC with poor play calling skills is not going to be very imaginative, so that's probably when you'll get three of the same plays recommended over and over. But it also depends on play success. I'm sure that goes into the calculation of which play is recommended. So, an OC with a high play calling skill will probably present more options and ones that have a high success rate for that situation.

I rarely do Ask Coach, so this is only an educated guess based on what I've read in the strategy guide, on this board, and from experience.

[Mike3207]

Quote: Originally Posted by tarek

So when you say the DC (or OC) knows the package/formation the opposition will use, is that why you get certain plays when you choose the 'Ask Coach' menu in the playcall screen? Does that mean that if my coordinators strategy skills (as opposed to their play call skill) is poor, I should ignore the plays they suggest in 'Ask coach'? This is interesting because I've found that sometimes in ask coach they will suggest the same play 3 times and another play once. I figure they are really pushing that one play, and think it will be successful, so I trust their judgement and go with that play. To be honest, sometimes those plays don't work, so now i'm wondering what that is a factor of? Play calling or strategy? I figured play calling the effect when you completely delegate the calls, so that you don't have any say. So does it suggest strategy is the effect of the 'Ask Coach' menu when you are actively calling plays?

I'm 99% sure that the plays that show up in Ask Coach are due to your cumulative Playcall score-playcall with all coaches.Play Call only comes into effect if you use the CPU for any playcalling-it's no use if you call all your own plays.

What I think strategy does is allow you to correctly identify the offensive sets the other team is using-3 WR 2 TE rather than 2 WR 3 TE. The OP suggests a higher strategy score will help you identify the proper offensive set.If you can correctly identify the set, it will give you better plays to call in Ask Coach.

The OC/DC only calls a limited number of plays because it sticks to your Mastered plays of your base playbook. If no Mastered, Learned. If no learned, the most successful unlearned.

I'm still not sure on hot routes-I'll look to see later how right that is after I buy Superb Strategist.

[tarek]

Picker and mrs, you guys are brilliant. Thanks for the discussion points and advice, it's really opening up the game.

I guess from what I gather in the last 2 posts is that both Play Call and Strategy have their place. I would imagine 2 opposite end situations:

1) On offense, your HC and DC both have 5 for playcalling but only 1 each for strategy. Giving you a 10:2 score. Conceivably, what that would mean is that the 'Ask Coach' would have a bigger variety of plays, because of play calling but they would not necessarily be the BEST plays because your strategy is so crap that you can't tell what the defense is going to run.

2) On the flip side, now you have a combined 10 in strategy but only 2 in playcalling. In this situation, I would expect that the 'Ask Coach' feature would only have a very limited set of plays (and alot of repetition) because the coaches aren't creative. However, the plays that are suggested will be the best plays because there is a high chance that you know what the defense's formation will be.

Would you guys say that makes sense? To me, since I play the games, it would mean that strategy is much more important. In that 2nd example (the strong strategy situation) it would mean that a check of the 'Ask Coach' might show the coach suggesting a play-action pass 4 times. I would then think, "okay, this guy knows the defense pretty well, but he can't think of any other good play action calls except for the one." So i'd then go into 'By Type' and select all my play-actions and pick a successful one from that list.

These are some very interesting concepts. Whilst I haven't tried them out (due to both not being far enough into a career, and having a wife who would rather make us watch X-Factor than allow me to play games ) I think the logic is pretty sound.

[Mike3207]

Just about-except you'll never get much more than 12 plays called in Ask Coach.