These are some general tips for PES that aren't talked about a lot.
Credits for a lot of these tips go to these youtubers:
1. Spoony Pizzas
2. TheTrueBrits
3. KnightMD
4. NXH PES
Rest of the tips are found by experimentation on Superstar difficulty both in exhibition matches and free training.
NOTE: Topics beginning with **** apply to both assisted and fuma.
1. General FUMA tips:
**** I. Timing:
Timing is important whether on manual or assisted. Choosing when to power up the pass or shot is important.
Example: Powering up a pass or shoot going away will cause the player to take a longer run up adding more power and vice versa for when ball is coming back, a shorter run up and less power. Timing also affects the animation selected by player.
II. Contextual actions : FUMA in PES 21 Is almost manual but there are contextual changes like curve automatically applied. This can be emphasized a bit by using modifier buttons [see passing (iii) and (iv) for examples]
2. Passing
I. Ground passing:
For Ground passing, 4 types of passes are possible:
i. X/A Pass : This is the standard ground pass. With more power the ball doesn't stay on ground which makes it harder to control if received at speed. Players with special skills automatically add outside spin, backspin, curve etc. according to stats.
ii. Triangle/Y Pass : This pass is slightly faster but also stays grounded. Useful for tight space passing or long range passing.
iii. R2 (Special Controls) + X/A : This is a slightly varied trajectory of (i). Adds curve and removes groundedness (in most cases).
iv. R2 (Special Controls) + Triangle/Y : This is a slightly varied trajectory of (ii). Adds curve for diagonal and backspin for straight passes (in most cases).
NOTE 1: Holding special controls (R2) while passing (iii & iv) like finesse controlled shots adds curve or other modifications to the ball's path. The changes are hard to explain but visually noticeable in game.
Combining the 4 different passes adds variety to gameplay and it's best to experiment with them to use them in different cases. Whether through passing or straight passing all 4 ways have different uses and ideal case scenarios.
NOTE 2: For me, using ground cross double tap lob pass button is mostly similiar to triangle/Y passing.
II. Lob Passing :
Lob passing also has different ways but these have clear distinct uses.
i. Circle/B : The standard lob pass. Players with special skills automatically add outside spin, backspin, curve etc. according to stats.
ii. L1(Player select) + Triangle/Y: Mostly same as standard lob pass but could be used for chip lob through pass by powering less.
iii. L1 + R2 + Triangle/Y: This adds height and curve to give more room to fast players. Slower and higher than standard lob pass.
iv. R2 + Circle/B : High lob pass used to add more height. Useful for covering slightly more distance than standard lob pass. Useful if you have targets with good aerial ability and heading stats.
v. L1 + Circle/B: Lofted or early lob pass. Faster and less height than normal lob pass. Useful to quickly play a long pass with no one to intercept in between or for crosses with high swerve. Has a significant amount of curve to compensate for while aiming depending on player curl stats.
vi. L1 + R2 + Circle/B: A lob pass with speed and height in between L1 + Circle/B and standard lob pass. Also has curve to compensate while aiming. Very useful for crossing (both short and long range crossing) and especially for medium range lob through passing as it has less height and more speed than standard lob pass allowing fast players to run but due to less height opposition defenders don't catch up easily.
If defenders are catching up even if you time you lob through passes right, use L1 + R2 + Circle/B for it. Works a lot better for me.
3. Shooting
For shooting everything is standard apart from:
I. Finesse shots: These curl shots are wildly inconsistent to score on manual. But the key is Super Cancel (R1+R2). Super cancel keeps the ball closer than normal sprinting but further than dribbling. To score long range finesse shots, sprint while holding super cancel and power up when your player just pushes the ball away. This gives him a lot of room to run to the ball and curl it (more consistently than not using super cancel). Both low shots and high shots are possible by using the power bar as a height bar.
Super cancel sprinting is not necessary for short range curlers inside the box. Just remember to hold super cancel just before powering up the shot otherwise it will cancel the shot.
NOTE: Keep in mind that pulling off long range curlers is still hard due to the very strong keepers and insanely hard aiming required. Also its important to have your player at the right angle relative to where you are shooting (angle should be around 45° or slightly less depending on curl stats of your player and your position relative to goal.) Also observe the AI in replay mode when they take finesse shots to get a better idea of angle and positioning.
****4. Dribbling And first touch:
This applies to both fuma and assisted and it is super cancel. As I said before, holding super cancels reduces your speed a little and keeps ball closer than normal sprinting. Super cancel can also be used to change first touch.
Credits for a lot of these tips go to these youtubers:
1. Spoony Pizzas
2. TheTrueBrits
3. KnightMD
4. NXH PES
Rest of the tips are found by experimentation on Superstar difficulty both in exhibition matches and free training.
NOTE: Topics beginning with **** apply to both assisted and fuma.
1. General FUMA tips:
**** I. Timing:
Timing is important whether on manual or assisted. Choosing when to power up the pass or shot is important.
Example: Powering up a pass or shoot going away will cause the player to take a longer run up adding more power and vice versa for when ball is coming back, a shorter run up and less power. Timing also affects the animation selected by player.
II. Contextual actions : FUMA in PES 21 Is almost manual but there are contextual changes like curve automatically applied. This can be emphasized a bit by using modifier buttons [see passing (iii) and (iv) for examples]
2. Passing
I. Ground passing:
For Ground passing, 4 types of passes are possible:
i. X/A Pass : This is the standard ground pass. With more power the ball doesn't stay on ground which makes it harder to control if received at speed. Players with special skills automatically add outside spin, backspin, curve etc. according to stats.
ii. Triangle/Y Pass : This pass is slightly faster but also stays grounded. Useful for tight space passing or long range passing.
iii. R2 (Special Controls) + X/A : This is a slightly varied trajectory of (i). Adds curve and removes groundedness (in most cases).
iv. R2 (Special Controls) + Triangle/Y : This is a slightly varied trajectory of (ii). Adds curve for diagonal and backspin for straight passes (in most cases).
NOTE 1: Holding special controls (R2) while passing (iii & iv) like finesse controlled shots adds curve or other modifications to the ball's path. The changes are hard to explain but visually noticeable in game.
Combining the 4 different passes adds variety to gameplay and it's best to experiment with them to use them in different cases. Whether through passing or straight passing all 4 ways have different uses and ideal case scenarios.
NOTE 2: For me, using ground cross double tap lob pass button is mostly similiar to triangle/Y passing.
II. Lob Passing :
Lob passing also has different ways but these have clear distinct uses.
i. Circle/B : The standard lob pass. Players with special skills automatically add outside spin, backspin, curve etc. according to stats.
ii. L1(Player select) + Triangle/Y: Mostly same as standard lob pass but could be used for chip lob through pass by powering less.
iii. L1 + R2 + Triangle/Y: This adds height and curve to give more room to fast players. Slower and higher than standard lob pass.
iv. R2 + Circle/B : High lob pass used to add more height. Useful for covering slightly more distance than standard lob pass. Useful if you have targets with good aerial ability and heading stats.
v. L1 + Circle/B: Lofted or early lob pass. Faster and less height than normal lob pass. Useful to quickly play a long pass with no one to intercept in between or for crosses with high swerve. Has a significant amount of curve to compensate for while aiming depending on player curl stats.
vi. L1 + R2 + Circle/B: A lob pass with speed and height in between L1 + Circle/B and standard lob pass. Also has curve to compensate while aiming. Very useful for crossing (both short and long range crossing) and especially for medium range lob through passing as it has less height and more speed than standard lob pass allowing fast players to run but due to less height opposition defenders don't catch up easily.
If defenders are catching up even if you time you lob through passes right, use L1 + R2 + Circle/B for it. Works a lot better for me.
3. Shooting
For shooting everything is standard apart from:
I. Finesse shots: These curl shots are wildly inconsistent to score on manual. But the key is Super Cancel (R1+R2). Super cancel keeps the ball closer than normal sprinting but further than dribbling. To score long range finesse shots, sprint while holding super cancel and power up when your player just pushes the ball away. This gives him a lot of room to run to the ball and curl it (more consistently than not using super cancel). Both low shots and high shots are possible by using the power bar as a height bar.
Super cancel sprinting is not necessary for short range curlers inside the box. Just remember to hold super cancel just before powering up the shot otherwise it will cancel the shot.
NOTE: Keep in mind that pulling off long range curlers is still hard due to the very strong keepers and insanely hard aiming required. Also its important to have your player at the right angle relative to where you are shooting (angle should be around 45° or slightly less depending on curl stats of your player and your position relative to goal.) Also observe the AI in replay mode when they take finesse shots to get a better idea of angle and positioning.
****4. Dribbling And first touch:
This applies to both fuma and assisted and it is super cancel. As I said before, holding super cancels reduces your speed a little and keeps ball closer than normal sprinting. Super cancel can also be used to change first touch.