Steering in the Right Direction with Rocket League Car Differences
Welcome back to my blog, loyal reader! If this is your first time, nice to meet you. Feel free to sit back, relax, and take a look around. I’ll be here waiting for you because, you know, this is prewritten. Today, I’m going to go over a very special part: Rocket League Car Differences. Let’s be serious. There is a lot that goes into Rocket League, a whole freakin’ lot. There are two things that people judge you for—how you look and how you play. Now, I can’t make you a better player because only practice can do that, but what I can do is set you up with a solid understanding of what car you should be using, and that’s practically the same thing.
Table of Contents
Why You Should Care
First things first: the car makes the player. I know it sounds overly dramatic, but I have personally seen extremely good players play terribly because they were using the wrong vehicle. Everyone is suited to different tastes and preferences, of course, but I’m just going to see if I can match you with your best car because of your play style. Each car has significant strengths and significant weaknesses, and I’ll go through each one so you’ll be well equipped to make a good choice on what to drive.
Big Cars
A beautiful, compelling title, no? Not really. It’s pretty dull, but nevertheless, it’s a major contribution to the fleet of cars Rocket League has available. This grouping doesn’t see to have a lot of change, but every now and again a new one will come out. Some of the players in here that you’ll see the most are the Roadhog/Roadhog XL, the Merc, or the Mantis. They’re probably the most common big vehicles, and there are certainly strong advantages to having a larger vehicle. First of all, before I get into it, I want to explain that all cars have the same exact specs. None accelerate faster or are faster than another.
The fun thing about driving a larger vehicle is that you will have a better chance of winning a head-to-head collision. If a big car comes up against a little one (like the Scarab), logically speaking the bigger one is going to win. Their bulky frames allow for nice power shots at the expense of mobility. Especially with the Roadhog, it’s harder to turn both on the ground and in the air while going for an aerial. You will get the same feeling as driving a large truck in real life.
The Merc is one of the funniest cars. I rarely see a very good Roadhog or Mantis or anything like that, but every time I see a Merc, I groan. In higher levels, the people who drive the Merc tend to be very good. I have no idea why. It’s just something I’ve noticed. Try it out! It could be your perfect vehicle. It’s got a nice, sharp hitbox, which usually means you can shoot accurately with it.
Small Cars
The small cars. There aren’t many of these so I won’t go into too much detail, but one important one is the Scarab, which basically looks like a moon buggy. It’s an adorable little orb with a couple wheels basically glued on. It’s like a Smart Car with attitude. It can be one of the funniest vehicles to play and play against, largely because of the way it’s built. Stick a giant foam cowboy hat on that thing, equip some mean looking wheels, and you effectively look ridiculous.
Unfortunately, the Scarab is very hard to play with, so although you will make people laugh, your teammates won’t be laughing looking at your score after the game. The reason for this is that the Scarab has virtually no sharp edges, which are vital for effective shot placement. Another reason is that although it handles very nicely and is exceptionally maneuverable, it’s tiny size make it hard to hit the ball properly. If you’re driving a larger vehicle like the Mantis, your issue is going to be hitting it correctly, not hitting it at all like with the Scarab.
There’s also the Octane, which is a monster that many professionals use. The reason for this is because although the Octane is small, it’s a pointy little thing and it can harness enormous striking power without giving up any accuracy. It’s light, fast (it’s one of the easiest to control), strong, and efficient. It also looks pretty cool and you feel awesome playing with it.
But wait, you say. Didn’t I just say that little cars are hard to play with? Normally, yes. In the case of the Octane and Octane ZSR, that gets tossed to the side because of how nice the Octane family handles. They’re tremendous cars and, once you get some experience under your belt, I would certainly recommend you using one or at least giving it a try.
Sports Cars
By and large, the sports car category is the biggest grouping of vehicles, hands down. It’s not even close. They’re medium sized and tend to be very nice for most everything. Whereas the big vehicles focus on power over mobility and the little cars trade out strength for agility, the sports cars are right in the middle. They aren’t going to beat a big car for strength and they aren’t going to beat the little ones for agility, but they’re okay with that. They’re a pleasing middle ground that many people use. Some of the most popular at the Dominus, the Imperator, and the Centio. These cars seem to come out all the time. Nobody’s going to be amazed that you play with one of these because they aren’t amazing in any particular way, but they’re also reliable and I’d start with the Sports car grouping if you’re still learning how to play.
Summary
You might notice that I never told you which car to play.
That, dear reader, is for a reason. I could tell you that you should never play a big car and it’s certainly a popular opinion, but then again…. I’ve been mauled by people playing with them. I could tell you to just stick to an Octane, but some people can’t play with the little thing and hate it. Personally, I like to play with one of four cars—an Imperator, an Octane, a Mantis, or a Centio. The Imperator has nice edges that are easy to hit with and it looks like something I would want to drive. The Mantis is handy because of its large frame. The Centio, much like the Imperator, just has a feeling that I enjoy. Finally, the Octane is just an Octane.
If you’re just starting off, I’d try to steer relatively clear of larger vehicles. I’d stay in the sports car category or I’d try an Octane. Short of that, there’s no harm in trying them all and seeing what you like! Just pick any car you feel curious about and play in a non-competitive match (please, don’t try a new car when it matters).
Good luck! Get out there and have some fun!
For more Rocket League, check this out: Zoom In with the Best Rocket League Camera Settings
