Have you ever found yourself unable to get hold of the ball or lost a Focus Battle you were bound to win in Inazuma Eleven Victory Road with no explanation? Well, you can blame the game’s Special Tactics for that, with some allowing players to turn even a clear loss on its head.
To help you know exactly which to go for, as well as whether or not your picks fit your chosen formations to a tee, here are the best tactics in Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road and how to unlock them.
- To avoid crowding the piece unnecessarily, we decided against including multiple picks featuring identical effects. We also won’t consider Super Tactics.
Enchanted Forest (Honourable Mention)
- How To Get: Via the Special Training Booth. Only available after defeating Royal Academy during the Story Mode (Chapter 8).
- Price: 3x Gratitude + 2x Dream
- Effect Overview: Covers the field in an ominous miasma, which lowers the overall speed and DF of all opponents by 10%. Also makes it easier for them to miss passes.
Starting with an honorable mention, while Enchanted Forest might seem unimpressive at first, its ability to hinder most playstyles allows you to quickly take control of any match. Its passing effect then sees most enemies think twice before attempting those long through balls. As an extra, very few tactics in the game can provide as much discomfort when active, which, believe me, can throw even highly ranked opponents off their game and enable easy shots.
5. Sideline Spear
- How To Get: Via the Special Training Booth
- Price: 2x Love + 2x Gratitude
- Effect Overview: Boosts your dash speed by 50% when inside its Geoglyph. Also boosts the whole team’s AT and DF by 20% during its duration.
A personal favorite of mine, Sideline Spear allows you to boost the dash speed of your wide players by 50%. In case your opponent manages to catch you or stays well-posted, the tactic’s AT/DF effects then give you all of the tools needed to either storm pass them or recover the ball before performing some guaranteed buffed Chain Shots. As you can guess, we recommend using it with formations that rely on advancing through the flanks.
4. Titan Wall
- How To Get: Via the Special Training Booth
- Price: 3x Zeal + 3x Vitality
- Effect Overview: Decreases your opponent’s AT by 30% when on your half and DF by 30% when on their side of the pitch. All opposing players have their speed decreased by 10% during the tactic’s duration.
The quintessential debuffing tactic, Titan Wall’s massive AT/DF/SPD reduction makes it a great tool to counter aggressive opponents or those who have mastered the art of dashing. True to that, never forget to activate it when faced with 1v1 shots or breakout-focused formations. As its effects can be easily countered by performing pitch-wide Long Shots, make sure to always equip your DMF and DFs with some counter shots to mitigate its weakness.
3. Thunderbolt
- How To Get: Via the Chronicle Department Store
- Price: 20x The Legend of Endo’s Trail + 28x Under the Starry Sky
- Effect Overview: Disables pass interceptions and Focus Battles when with the ball. Also boosts your team’s Shot Power by 10%.
A guaranteed goal if used at the right time, Thunderbolt temporarily disables Focus Battles and makes opponents unable to intercept your passes. If that was not enough, the tactic also increases your team’s Shot Move AT by 10% for a welcome scoring boost, no matter the situation.
Don’t forget that, although we decided to only include the former here, Thunderbolt is not the only tactic to offer passing invincibility and Focus skips in Victory Road, with Virtuoso, Virtuoso Volcano, Sky’s The Limit, Upsy-Daisy, 3D Deflector, and Rolling Thunder pairing the effects with different passives.
2. Mount Fuji
- How To Get: Via the BB Mart
- Price: 32x BB Rare Medal + 50x Victory Stone
- Effect Overview: Reduces your Tension depletion by 25% while also boosting Tension Acquisition by 25%.
Nothing in Victory Road is more important than building tension, a resource needed to perform all types of Special Moves (or Hissatsu Techniques). Well, that’s exactly why Mount Fuji is here, as the tactic is the game’s best when the subject is boosting its per-action acquisition, while its ability to decrease depletion guarantees you will have more than enough in the tank for multiple scoring attempts. Just make sure to master Focus Battles to get the most out of the buff and to avoid being overconfident when farming the resource or chaining moves.
1. Invincible Lance
- How To Get: Via the Chronicle Department Store
- Price: 28x Coordinator Aki’s Diary Page + 24x Under the Starry Sky
- Effect Overview: Sees your team form up and move forward while avoiding Focus Battles and steals. Boosts your Breach Rate by 5%.
If Thunderbolt and the like are the best for those looking to set up, Invincible Lance, and pretty much all other Form Up Techniques, are unmatched when the subject is opening a straightforward path toward a win. Its biggest differential among its peers? The way its Breach boost allows you to, especially if paired with the right Team Passives, often ignore even the mightiest keeper for a guaranteed goal. After all, sometimes might is all you need to win.
Now that you know which tactics are the best in Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, as well as when you should use them, make sure to also take a look at How to Get Keshin and Awakenings in the game.
