This article is fully up to date, and reflects the current FIFA 23 chemistry system.
The new chemistry system may look a little complex initially, but after you've sunk your teeth into the explanation below, and our brand new FIFA 23 Ultimate Team Squad Builder, you'll be on your way to FUT squad building domination.
A quick FIFA 23 Chemistry system rundown
The new FIFA 23 Chemistry system is meant to be less complicated than the old one, but it will inevitably take a while for most of us to change our ways. Here is a quick summary, which will be followed by a more detailed breakdown:
- There are no position-based links anymore
- Players can have up to three Chemistry points
- Players gain Chemistry for sharing nation, league or club
- You need a set number of players from the same nation, league or club to gain a point
- Adding even more players from the same nation, league or club can give players more points, but you'll generally need to add even more the second time around
- Players with 1-3 points gain boosted stats based on Chemistry Style
- Players with zero points play to their regular stats
- Players never receive negative stat penalties
- There is no “Team Chemistry” bonus anymore
- There is no such thing as “Loyalty” anymore (ain’t that the truth)
- Substitutes will receive 0 chemistry
Although it’ll take some getting used to this makes squad building a lot more straightforward and forgiving! But creating effective hybrids is still challenging, because you do need to find some common ground.
Breaking down Chemistry in FIFA 23
That was a lot to take in, so let us break it down a bit more slowly.
Chemistry is now done on a per-player basis. That means that team chemistry is no longer a thing. You just need to focus on the league, nation and club connection between players in order to boost them.
What’s more, positional links have been removed, meaning players can gain chemistry from totally different areas of the pitch. Let’s say you have Kimpembe (CB), Neymar (LW) and Messi (RW) in your team, scrub that you are. They may be scattered all over the place, but they still get two Chemistry points each, because they have links based league (Ligue 1) and club (PSG). If you can find another chem point through other connections, they will be on max chem without ever even having to pass to each other!
There are also thresholds to think about when adding groups of players, and currently these vary based on the type of link:
- Club - 2 players from the same club earns a point, then you need 2 more from the same club for the 2nd point, and 3 to unlock the final club Chemistry Point
- Leagues - 3 players from the same league earns 1 point, then you need another 3 from the same league for the 2nd point, and 3 more for the final league Chemistry Point
- Nations - 2 players from the same league earns 1 point, then you need another 3 from the same league for the 2nd point, and 3 more for the final league Chemistry Point
Building your team
To illustrate the concept in action, let’s start with a simple starter team based on a random assortment of gold players in a 4-3-3 formation.
In previous FIFA games, this would be a mess, earning a whopping 51 points of Chemistry without a manager or loyalty. Every player would be penalised for being off-chem (not that pace boost for Maguire is doing much, let’s be honest).
But in FIFA 23, every single player in this team will gain a Chemistry Style boost of 1-3 points based on a mixture of shared nationalities, leagues and clubs.
In terms of nations, there are 3 English, 2 Brazil, 2 Spanish, 2 Dutch and 2 French players. So they each get a point, as 2 is the threshold for the first Nation point. There are 3 EPL players, so each of them gets a point. There are 5 La Liga players so they hit the 2 point threshold, each earning 2 chemistry points. There are 2 Manchester United, 2 Dortmund and there are 2 Barcelona players, so players for those clubs — along with Frenkie and Ousmane each get a little extra point, presumably in lieu of wages. (Just kidding, lawyers!)
What about player positions?
As mentioned previously, positional links no longer exist, so there is no detriment to having Jude Bellingham lining up in midfield surrounded by players from other leagues and nations. As long as he has links to players in far-flung corners of the pitch, he will get a boost, and even if he doesn’t, he will never play to less than his base stats.
Positions are very important, though. Players have Preferred Positions in FIFA 23, which you can swap them between by applying a Position Change consumable. There is just the one Position Change consumable now, so say goodbye to all our old favourites like RM-RW, CAM-CM and that wily old trickster LWB-LB. Godspeed.
Players must be in a place on the pitch corresponding to their current position in order for any Chemistry boosts to take effect. If you move Jude to striker, for example, he will no longer gain Chemistry boosts or contribute towards his teammates’ boosts, even if he was getting three points at CM. He will just play to his base stats, daydreaming about his future alongside Thiago and Fabinho.
Players can have up to three alternative positions. There are some default options (e.g. RWB and RB), but the individual players can also have specific variations. EA’s example is that Kylian Mbappe can swap between LW, CF and ST.
You will always be able to use the consumable to swap back and forth between:
- RB and RWB
- LB and LWB
- LM and LW
- RM and RW
- ST and CF
Alternative positions will be based on two factors: if a player is first choice for their club in that position, or if they have played more than eight games in that position. This should create some interesting squad-building options from day one, and we imagine EA Sports’ Live Content teams will be thinking about how they can use it in future campaigns, too…
Finally, we regret to announce that EA has killed off LF and RF positions. Players in those little-used positions will be converted to CF, and the 4-3-2-1 and 3-4-2-1 formations that had a LF and RF will now have two CF spots. F to pay respect.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
We’ve been rabbiting on for a while, so let’s smash through a few final points.
- What does this mean for Squad Building Challenges? The new Chemistry system will be used for SBCs, which should be interesting!
- How do Chemistry Styles work? Chemistry Styles are still being tuned, but will boost players by a small, medium and large amount depending on whether they have one, two or three Chemistry points.
- How do Icons and Heroes work? Icons and Heroes will always have full Chemistry (three points) when played in the correct position. Icons will also count as two players towards their nation. Heroes will count as two players towards their league and one player towards their nation.
- How do Managers work? Managers add an extra player’s worth to each of their nation and league pots. In other words, if you have Jurgen Klopp as your manager, your Germany and EPL counts each get 1/3 'players' before you add any players.
- What’s happened to Loyalty? The loyalty bonus is gone, so never again will we have to quit out of 10 games in a row to complete an SBC. Amazing scenes.
- Something something First Owner? Funny you should mention First Owner status! This does not provide any Chemistry benefit, but you will see a little icon on First Owner players when in the 2nd squad view (flick the Right Analog Stick to the right), making it easier to assemble those objective squads.
- I fear change? First of all, you should never fear change. Change is part of life. It is why we have such cultural riches as the telephone, the automobile, and toasters that toast both sides of the bread at the same time. Second, we expect the new Chemistry system to take a while for players to learn and love, and EA may tweak things along the way, but this is a signature component of FIFA 23 and is here to stay.
Of course, you can always get used to it ahead of the game’s release by trying out our new FUT.GG FIFA 23 Ultimate Team Squad Builder.
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