NBA Now 23: Beginner’s Guide and Tips
NBA Now 23 is an NBA-licensed basketball mobile game that gives NBA fans the look and feel of playing in real NBA courts and with real basketeers. It is a sequel to the previously released NBA Now 2022 by Com2us Studios. The newest season offers all NBA teams in every stadium across the full ’22-’23 NBA season schedule. Players can build a lineup with their favorite NBA players and go against their buddies and other users online. In this NBA Now 23 Beginner’s Guide, we are going to help you out with the basics, starting from all the in-game resources to the various game modes available to exploit in this game. We will also share some valuable tips and tricks for Beginners to elevate their game and secure a victory in each match.
Understanding the in-game resourcesTalking about resources, let us first decode the basic in-game currencies that would be required for various in-game spending.
| Basic In-Game Currencies | Utility |
| Star |
1. Can be used to purchase items from the shop, used for player development and team management, including: ·> Skill Change Cards. ·> Player Slot Extension Cards. ·> Level Up Booster Card. ·> Gold Grade Up Card. ·> Prism Cards(Update, Superboost, and Awakening). ·> Consumable Boxes. ·> Team Change Tickets. 2. Used to upgrade your coach’s abilities. 3. Also used as an exchange for Vintage and Premium Player Packs from the Draft Section, that boost your squad OVR. |
| Points | Can be used as an alternative currency for leveling up your players. |
Besides the regular in-game currencies, the game offers certain special currencies that are specific to a given mode and can only be used to redeem items from that particular Mode Shop.
| Mode-Specific Currencies | Utility |
| Club Coins |
Special Club Currency that can be used to purchase items from the Club Shop, including: ·> Skill Change Cards. ·> Grade Stat Reset Cards. ·> Level Extension Cards. ·> Special Training Cards(Gold and Silver). ·> Level Up Booster Cards. ·> Prism Cards(Update, Superboost, and Awakening). |
| Battle Coins | Special Ranked Battle Mode Currency, used to redeem Team Skill Effects and Player Packs from the Battle Shop. |
| Arcade Coins |
Special Arcade Mode Currency, used to redeem the following items from the Arcade Shop: ·> Consumable Boxes. ·> Lucky Coupons. ·> Lotteries. |
| Friendship Coins |
Special Friend Battle Mode Currency, used to redeem the following in-game Tickets from the Friendship Shop: Skill Change Cards. ·> Arcade Tickets. ·> Ranked Battle Refresh Tickets. ·> Club Tickets. ·> FA Tickets. ·> Premium FA Tickets. |
| Prediction Coins | Special Prediction Mode Currency that is used to purchase Player Combination Packs from the Prediction Shop. |
The basic in-game currencies discussed, now let us take you through the in-game booster items available. These items once earned, can be claimed from the in-game Inventory section.
| Booster Items | Utility |
| Consumables(Vitamins, Sprays, Tapes, and Chocolates) | Upgrading various player stats including Shooting, Physicality, Ball Control, and, Defense. |
| Mission Boosters | Increases manual mission completion progress |
| Tactic Cards | Increases your scoring chances when used in-game. |
The game lets you enjoy the ultimate NBA experience across five different game modes. Let us discuss them in detail.
1. Regular LeagueThis mode lets you enjoy the full season of the NBA league, lasting 82 games.
- The schedule for the latest season will be followed in League Mode.
- You may either choose to simulate the games, play full matches lasting 12 minutes, or play the final quarter(3-minute window).
- Supplements can be fed to your side at the end of each quarter, in the form of Booster Items.
- Quarter-end rewards are sent out at the end of each quarter.
- The top 8 seeds in each conference advance to the playoffs as per the updated NBA rules.
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The Ranked Battle is an online ranked game mode where users advance up the tiers upon winning, across 5 tier levels. Some key features of this mode include:
- It is a full simulation game mode, i.e. players of both sides only need to spectate Battle Mode games.
- Winning games reward you with Battle Coins which decide your rank in the present tier and subsequently, your promotion up the tiers.
- Besides deciding your Rank, Battle Coins earned from this mode can also get you Team Skill Effects and Player Packs from the Battle Shop Section.
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Just as it is in the Ranked Battle Mode, the Arcade Mode consists of 5 tiers of 3 levels each. It is a weekly event with the following characteristics:
- You can participate in Dunk Contest and the 3 Pt. Festival each week, under the Arcade Mode.
- Users will be playing the Arcade with the Nominated Player of the week.
- While Arcade Tickets are required for each entry, participating in the Arcade rewards users with Arcade Coins.
- Arcade Coins can be exchanged for various in-game items including Lucky Coupons and Consumable Boxes, from the dedicated Arcade Shop.
- Climbing up the Tiers rewards you with Stars and even Gold-Diamond Player Packs after every 5th level.
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Friend Battle lets you flex your skills in front of your friends. If your Friend is listed in the Battle List, you can challenge him to a 1V1 online Battle.
- Winning Friend Battles reward you with a fixed number of Stars each day.
- Upon reaching the Daily limit of Stars earned from this Event, you will be rewarded with a Friendship Coin.
- Various in-game tickets including Aracde Tickets, Club Tickets, and FA Tickets can be exchanged with those Friendship Coins earned, from the Friendship Shop.
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As the name suggests, the Prediction Mode asks you to predict the results for that day. You may refer to the Prediction Bar for a brief idea about the Voting impulse and vote accordingly.
- Besides the match Prediction, under the Ranker Prediction, you can predict the top 3 Players of the week in each of the following categories: Most Assists Blocks, Rebounds, 2 Points, and Points.
- A correct prediction rewards you with a guaranteed 10 Prediction Coins and additional rewards based on the correct prediction count.
- The Prediction Coins can be used to redeem Gold Player Combination Packs, Intermediate Player Combination Packs, and Premium Player Combination Packs from the Prediction Shop.
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Now that we are aware of the in-game modes, let us do a walkthrough of the in-game touch and swipe controls and get a simplified outlook of them. The controls this season are more detailed and smooth with different buttons for the two different scenarios:
- When you are in possession of the ball(Offense).
- When you have lost possession(Defense).
A joystick would be positioned on the left of your game screen for both the Offense and Defense scenarios, facilitating direction and movement up and down the court.
Offensive Controls- Direction and Dribbling– Use the joystick to give direction to your passes and to dribble past the opposition’s Defenses along the court.
- Passing– Single tap on the Pass button to pass the ball between teammates. Make sure to simultaneously take the help of the joystick to give direction to that pass. The AI however is strong enough to make judgments on whom to pass the ball to. Still, we would recommend using the joystick for better results.
- Shooting– Shooting is a tricky aspect of this game. As a beginner, most of your 2 points would go down as missed chances. Not only do you need to tap on the Shoot button, but also hold it for a brief while till the cursor on the shot meter reaches the topmost green region. It will happen gradually with practice. Make sure to follow the tutorial carefully for better understanding.
- Drive– The Drive button is for performing special moves and turns on the court while going past your opponent’s defenses. To do so, tap and hold the Drive button. The button is so strong that you can even couple it up with the pass and shoot button. While holding the Drive button swipe your fingers onto the Pass button to perform a Special Pass while maneuvering past the defenses. While you are close to the nets, you may even couple it up with the Shoot button by holding the Drive button and then swiping up to the Shoot button to perform a Dunk.
- Direction and Movement– Use the joystick for facilitating the movement of your players.
- Switch– Tap and hold the Switch button to Switch over control to another player who is closer to the Attacking Basketeer.
- Defense– Tap and hold the Guard button to perform a defense.
- Steal– Double tap on the Guard button for a steal.
- Block– To jump and block the shots of your opposition, tap on the Block button.
Here’s a bonus section from us that would help Beginners quickly assemble their lineup and know what they have to do to take their game to the next level in NBA Now 23. What follows next are some useful tips and tricks from our experience of playing the game.
1. Upgrade your players by performing level-up and grade-up on themThe first and foremost aspect that you must pay heed to is leveling up your players.
- Level Up: To do so, just navigate to the Manage Team section and tap on the desired player from the roster of players. Navigate to level up next. You can either level up using Stars or by Points, but we suggest you go for Points initially as there would be a dearth of Star currencies.
Image via Com2uS
- Skill Level-Up: Just leveling your player up is not all. To improve his all-around abilities, you must go for Skill Training as well. However, you cannot do so with your in-game resources. Skill Level Ups can be earned by playing those players in various modes. As they play, they accumulate Experience Points that can be used to upgrade their Skills from the Skill Training section.
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- Grade Up: Grading Up basically upgrades the card type of your player(say from Silver to Gold). Make sure to perform a Grade Up once available.
- Level Extension: A Level Extension is basically extending the max-level of your player thereby making him even stronger. However, Level Extension should not be your primary goal as a newbie as the feature will be available only when your player is residing at a much higher level(Say, level 20).
Besides leveling up your players, one must eye on upgrading the Physique, Skill Control, Shooting, Rebound, and Defensive traits of your coach across all modes as well. Upgrading each trait once requires an investment of 100 Stars. Save your Stars and start boosting these traits under the Coach section or else your Team’s OVR won’t increase.
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Condition Recovery Cards are special Cards that can be earned from the Club Shop or as rewards. If you have Condition Recovery Cards in your stock, make sure that you are utilizing them on your squad before playing a League Game especially when you go on to play multiple games in a row. This ensures that your team performs to its fullest potential in the game. To use a Condition Recovery Card, navigate to the Lineup tab under Manage your Team and tap on the plus sign beside Team Condition.
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The Lineup Effect tab under the Manage Your Team section is a special section where you have various Grade Effects that increase the personal stats of your select players. To do so, you need to add 4 or more players of the same Grade/Region/Team/Position to increase the stats of players who meet the condition. Lineup effects in NBA Now 23 constitute four types:
- Grade-Based Lineup Effect( like Normal, Bronze, Gold, Diamond, e.t.c.)
- Region-Based Lineup Effect( Eastern Conference, Central Conference, Atlantic Division, e.t.c.)
- Position-Based Lineup Effect(Starting Position, Bench Position)
- Team-Based Lineup Effect( like Trailblazers Team Effect)
Various boost items are available in the form of Consumables that help in developing specific traits of your players based on their position. You can access them from the in-game Inventory section. Make sure that you do not hesitate to use them once you earn them.
Consumables- Vitamins- Boosts shooting traits of your Forward Players.
- Drinks- Increases the physicality of your players.
- Spray- Strengthens Ball Control of your players playing in the position specified.
- Tapes- Boosts defensive skills of your Defense-line players.
- Chocolates- Boosts rebounding skills.
Image via Com2uS
Along with Consumables, we have Mission Cards and Tactic Cards as Booster items that help in fast-tracking the manual mission completion progress and increase your scoring chances respectively. Hence, make sure to cash on these items.
6. Resource ManagementAn important aspect of any game is Resource Management. Although Stars are the basic in-game resource that can get you anything and everything, you will find a dearth of this resource, especially in the initial days as they are very hard to earn. Hence, see where you can negate their use.
- Initially, you should use Stars only for upgrading your Coach’s abilities and for getting your hands on the Consumables.
- When it comes to leveling up your Players, Points, which are available aplenty, can serve the same purpose. Hence refrain from using your Stars in upgrading the player level initially.
- Gradually when you have earned a decent amount of Coins, only then look to spend them on the next most important section that is, Premium Player Drafts. Normal Player Drafts would do for now.
- If your Player Slots are full, instead of using your resources to extend them initially, combine your bench players into a new player to save both slots and currency. We will come to this feature a little later.
Event Missions can earn you a wide range of in-game resources, ranging from Consumable Boxes, Tickets, and Cards to Points. Hence, every day when you log in, make sure to visit the Event Mission section to keep a tab on the objectives that you need to complete within the timeframe. Besides the usual Weekly Objectives, a Special Mission Set is currently live in the game for another 20 days or so which can earn you additional in-game rewards. Hence, make sure that you do not miss out on them.
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Play Pass is a Season Pass Event that usually lasts for a Month. During a Season, you need to achieve certain objectives listed in the Mission List under this section. As you keep on completing them, you earn Pass Points that reward you with loads of..
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