The Overall rating is the most eye-catching number on a player's card, but do you know how it's calculated?
In this article, we'll dive into the logic behind this number, revealing how the calculation works and how you can use this knowledge to create players who not only have a good overall but are truly dominant on the field.
The Fundamental Principle: Overall is Position-Relative
The most important point to understand is that a player's overall is not an absolute value. It is calculated based on the athlete's efficiency in a specific position. That's why a center-back's overall drops drastically when played as a center-forward, even if their individual attributes remain the same.
Each position on the field has a unique template of importance. For a center-forward, the Finishing attribute has a huge weight in the calculation, while Tackling has almost zero weight. For a center-back, this logic is completely reversed.
The Secrets of the Formula: How the Calculation Really Works
Our site uses a reverse-engineered formula that simulates the game's own calculation. We discovered a crucial detail that changes how you should think about distributing points:
The 25-Point Rule: The Secret of the Calculation
The "25-Point Rule" is the pillar of the entire overall calculation, as it defines what truly has value in a player's stats. In practice, the rule means that for any main attribute, the number that enters the formula is not what you see, but rather the attribute's value minus 25.
For example, a player with 80 Ball Control does not contribute 80 points to the formula, but rather 55 (i.e., 80 - 25). Knowing this is crucial, as it reveals that all attributes are evaluated only by their excellence—the points that exceed the baseline of 25. This is the fundamental logic our calculator uses to optimize players.
Evolution Calculator: Building an Intelligent Player
Now that you understand the logic, our calculator becomes an even more powerful tool. It's not just for seeing the final result, but for planning training strategically.
- Training by Categories: You don't distribute points to each attribute individually. Instead, you allocate them to training categories like Shooting, Passing, Dribbling, and Defending. Each point in a category increases a specific set of related attributes.
- The Progressive Cost: Be aware, as training gets more expensive. The first few points in a category cost little, but as you invest more in the same area, the cost to add the next point increases progressively. That's why it's more advantageous to distribute the points rather than concentrating them all in a single category that is already at a high level.
Strategic Build vs. Maximum Overall: What's More Important?
This is where knowledge makes the difference. Blindly chasing the highest overall can be a mistake. Sometimes, sacrificing 1 or 2 overall points to gain 4 points in Speed can make the player much more effective and adapted to the game's meta. A center-forward with 105 overall but who is slow may be less useful than a fast 102-overall center-forward.
Practical tips using our tool:
- Use Decimal Overall: Enable the decimal overall view to compare two different builds that show the same whole number overall. That "97.85" might be significantly better than "97.15".
- Click on the Field: Our calculator allows you to click on positions on the field to see the player's overall in each one. Use this to create versatile players or to find the best position for a specific athlete.
- Automatic Optimization: Our tool offers algorithms with distinct objectives to optimize your player:
- Maximum Overall: Uses a heuristic algorithm to find the highest possible overall score, analyzing the game's mathematical formula and the weights of each attribute. Perfect for those who want the biggest number on the card.
- Meta: This option uses a more advanced system that optimizes the player for the best gameplay they can offer. It analyzes the card's strengths and the most important "meta" attributes for the position, creating a specialized and highly competitive build.
Use the overall as a guide, but focus on creating a player whose attributes fit your playstyle. Now, with the secrets of the calculation revealed, you have the power to make the best decisions.