`Love it or hate it, FIFA 23’s overhauled chemistry system is here to stay. EA has made fundamental changes to FUT chemistry in an attempt to make it more beginner-friendly and easy to understand–at least that’s what they want us to believe. In this article we’ll discuss how to the new system works.
Major Changes
The most significant change is the removal of positional links. Players aren’t connected with lines anymore, meaning they don’t need to be placed next to each other to build chemistry. Anyone can synergise with anyone regardless of position, as long as they share the same nation, league, and/or club.
Another noteworthy change is the chemistry rating. Instead of an individual score out of 10 and a team total out of 100, each player now has three diamonds denoting their chemistry. While the squad has a chemistry rating of 33, the focus falls on the individual’s rating that can range from 0 to 3 diamonds.
Low chemistry cannot negatively impact a player’s stats anymore, so a player with 0 chemistry will play at base stats. Players with 1-3 chemistry will receive a stats boost from their Chemistry Styles consumable. As shown below, higher chemistry will give a higher stats boost.
In FIFA 22 players received an additional chemistry point if they had a green loyalty badge. The badge was attained by playing 10 games for their club or being a first-owned player. This loyalty system has been dropped in FIFA 23 so you don’t get extra chemistry from loyalty.
Chemistry Thresholds
Chemistry in FIFA 23 is based on thresholds for same nation, league, and club.
| 1 Chemistry | 2 Chemistry | 3 Chemistry | |
| Club | 2 players | 4 players | 7 players |
| Nation | 2 players | 5 players | 8 players |
| League | 3 players | 5 players | 8 players |
Let’s look at a few examples to get a better understanding.
Salah – 2 Chemistry
The team has five same league players (English Premier League), so all EPL players get two chemistry points. Salah doesn’t get any chemistry from nation or club, as we have no other players from Egypt or Liverpool. If we added another Liverpool player, eg Van Dijk, Salah would get an additional point from the two player same club threshold. We could also add three more EPL players, as Salah would then get three chemistry points from the eight player same league threshold.
Mendy – 2 Chemistry
Morientes is a World Cup Hero so he counts as two La Liga players, and if you include Mendy the team has three La Liga players, which is one chemistry point from the three player same league threshold. The second chemistry point is gained from having at least two players from France (Ginola, Mendy, and Pavard). The easiest solution here would be to add another player from Real Madrid to give Mendy his third point.
Walker – 3 Chemistry
Like Salah, Walker gets two chemistry points from the same league threshold. He gets two additional points as there are two same club (Manchester City) and two same nation (England) players in the team–obviously only one of these points will be awarded as the maximum chemistry is three.
Odegaard – 3 Chemistry
Odegaard will also get two chemistry points from the same league threshold, and his third point is from the team having two Arsenal players.
Heroes, Icons, Managers
One of the exciting new features of FIFA 23 is World Cup FUT Heroes, a collaboration between EA and Marvel. These cards are boosted versions of FUT Heroes and feature dazzling Marvel-inspired artwork. Heroes and Icons automatically have full chemistry when placed in their preferred position.
Furthermore:
-Heroes count as two players from their league and one from their nation
-Icons count as two players from their nation
-Managers count as one player from their league and nation
Preferred Position
In addition to their preferred position, players can have up to three alternative positions in FIFA 23. A player can only get chemistry and contribute to other players’ chemistry when placed in his preferred position. Out of position players are denoted by a yellow exclamation mark, and these players will make no contribution to chemistry. Therefore it’s crucial to put a player in his preferred position.
EA has also changed the Position Modifier consumable. Instead of having to buy a specific Position Modifier, users now have access to an all-in-one Position Modifier. This item allows you to change a player’s preferred position to one of his alternative positions. As mentioned, a player can have up to three alternative positions
Finer Details
Once a match begins, chemistry scores are locked. In-game formation or positional changes will not affect players’ chemistry. Substitutes will always play at their base stats and are unaffected by chemistry.
Good or Bad?
The removal of positional links is a double-edged sword. It’s positive in the sense that players from the same nation, league, and/or club can contribute to chemistry regardless of position, but with no links, it’s harder to incorporate players from off-countries or leagues, as you would have to make two or three other changes to give them chemistry. In FIFA 22 it was possible to get crafty with links to give these players high chemistry. The lack of links and high thresholds also make it hard to build hybrid teams with three or more leagues without sacrificing at least some chemistry.
Incorporating Icons is tricky as they only contribute to nation chemistry. Meanwhile Heroes contribute to league and nation, and it does feel like EA are coaxing users to spend their hard-earned coins on Heroes.
Only allowing chemistry for players in their preferred position feels more realistic, although the Position Modifier feels redundant as players should be able to slot into their alternative positions without the need for a consumable. Squad Building Challenges that require chemistry are also more difficult and will require more coins. At least we won’t see a 10-chem Mbappe on CDM anymore!
While the new system is intuitive and less contrived, it does feel restrictive in that it’s more difficult to build hybrid teams. There is definitely room for improvement.
headtr1p 