FIFA 21 settings: Best controller and camera set-up tips

By default, many of the settings on FIFA 21 are designed to make the game easy to pick up and play.

This is great for introducing new players to the game, but can often hold back more experienced players who have figured out the game mechanics and want to take their own game to the next level.

Most streamers and FIFA esports players have thus changed their controller settings and camera settings to give themselves greater control over how they play and use the AI to their advantage where possible.

Which controller settings and camera settings are best in FIFA 21 - which is out on October 9 - and which do pro players use, then?

FIFA 21 Controller Settings

Unless you're an absolute beginner, make sure FIFA Trainer is set to 'Hide'. This is useful when learning which buttons perform which actions, but as you gain more experience, it becomes distracting.

Timed Finishing was really effective in FIFA 18 when it was introduced, but many pro gamers turned it off in FIFA 19 and it looks like it is only mildly effective in FIFA 21, so you can turn if off again this year.

The majority of people use the shoulder button to change players rather than the right stick and if you are one of those, make sure to leave Next Player Switch Indicator set on.

Using the AI has been the best method of defending for the past few years in FIFA, especially since the introducing of Tactical Defending and that has not changed this year as EA Sports has introduced new blocking animations which have greatly reduced the amount of long-range shots making it as far as the goalkeeper.

Passing is similar, with the AI often doing a better job at cutting off passing lanes than a user-controlled player would. As a result, leave Pass Block Assistance on also.

There are three options for Auto Switching, but only one worth using: Air Balls and Loose Balls. After switching to this, make sure to turn Auto Switching Move Assistance to 'Low' so that the players will briefly continue their run after switching rather than stopping immediately.

As with some of the other defensive settings, set Jockey to 'Assisted'. This will help the defender stay within range of the opponent, but you will still have to move them with the analog stick to track their runs.

Be sure to turn off Auto Flair Pass as in the majority of cases, you will not want to perform a flair pass and if you do, you will want to have control over it.

Auto Clearances should be set to on to help clear the danger at the back. Auto Shots, on the other hand, should be switched off as you want to be able to select when you take shots rather than having the AI decide for you.

A new feature in FIFA 21 is Player Lock. Set this on and then learn how to use it effectively, as it can greatly improve your attacking play.

Contextual Agile Dribbling is also a new addition in FIFA 21 and adds slight animations to help you get the ball past opponents in tight spaces using the R1/RB button. Make sure this is also turned on.

Turn Assisted Headers on as crossing is more effective in FIFA 21 than FIFA 20 and you want to be sure you are getting your headers on target.

Right Stick Switching should always be set to 'Player Relative' as it is much more logical to switch to the next player to the one you are controlling when you flick the right stick.

For all of Ground Pass Assistance, Through Ball Assistance, Shot Assistance, Cross Assistance, Lob Pass Assistance and Save Assistance, make sure to select 'Assisted'. More experienced players can switch to 'Semi' or even 'Manual', but in the vast majority of cases, the game will make the right decision when using assisted.

Perhaps the most important thing to change from its default setting is Analog Sprint. Be sure to turn this off as your players will then sprint at maximum capacity regardless of how hard you press the shoulder button. It makes no sense to sprint at a lower speed and if you wanted to sprint in bursts, you could hold and let go of the button instead.

There is no point in changing Defending from Tactical Defending as you cannot use Legacy Defending in online game modes. 

FIFA 21 Camera Settings

By default, the Single Player Camera and Multiplayer Camera options are set to 'Broadcast'.

However, most pro players and long-time FIFA gamers change this to 'Tele Broadcast' to ensure that they can see more players on the pitch at any one time.

Many streamers and esports professionals also change the Camera Settings to Custom to tweak this even further.

Raising the Camera Height to at least 17 will tilt the pitch to make the players on the far side of the pitch easier to see when the ball is on that flank.

Last year, a popular Camera Zoom setting was 2 or 3, but this year with the new agile dribbling and ball control improvements, somewhere between 3 and 6 is probably more effective as you can see the slight movements more quickly.