General hints | Controls Rocket League Guide

Below is a list of various hints which may come in handy at the beginning of the game and also when trying to learn how to play it properly. Some of the topics mentioned on this page have been covered more extensively in the other chapters of the guide.

• Aside from making jumps and relying on boost you should also think about using the handbrake regularly to make powerslides and to turn the vehicle much faster. This feature is very useful when you quickly need to make a tight turn after the ball has changed the direction in which it is flying or when you need to go back to defending your goal after an unsuccessful attack.
• All of the stadiums in the game have a roof and walls. This means that you don't have to worry about keeping the ball inside the dome, because it can't leave it. You can in fact use this to your advantage and continue hitting the ball when it's rolling on one of the walls of the stadium.
• The beginning of each game (also after scoring a goal) is a very chaotic moment of the match. Most of the Rocket League online players are very aggressive and they do whatever they can to get to the ball first. You can join them if you're starting close to the ball and if you've got pressure plates in front of you so that you'll be able to use boost without any interruptions. In all of the other cases you should keep a safe distance and wait for the situation to develop, especially since the outcome can be very unpredictable - the ball may suddenly end up on your half of the field or even immediately start flying towards your goal so it's always welcome when you're ready for that.
• Each half of the field is the same color as the team. You can use this in tense situations (like when fighting for the control over the ball) to figure out where you are exactly on the field.
• Rocket League offers a chance to earn experience points and to advance to higher experience levels; however, this feature of the game doesn't offer any real rewards. Experience levels are used only to show how much time a certain person has spent playing in the game and during matchmaking to get together players with similar experience. You can gain experience points mostly by completing matches (you'll get more points if you've won the match and if you're playing against people instead of AI bots), by scoring goals and by assisting goals achieved by other players. Other interesting ways of getting XP are defending your own goal (especially if they're saves or epic saves), by hitting the ball so that it ends up near the other team's goal line and by being the MVP (best player) of the game (you will receive this reward if you've earned the most experience during a match).
• Matches in Rocket League can't end with a tie. If there is a tie after the 5 minute limit expires or if none of the teams have scored a goal, then the match is automatically extended. A "golden goal" rule is present in the game. This means that the first team to score a goal in the extended time period wins the entire game. Don't let the pressure of the golden goal get to you and don't suddenly change how you're playing the game, because ultimately things may not go as planned.
• The game allows to save replays of the completed matches. You can do that by pressing a certain key/button when the game is displaying the match summary. Once you've done that you can go back to the main menu - choose Extras and then Replays. Watching replays can be a good way of learning good moves from other players or to study your own mistakes.