Need for Speed Heat Guide: The best tips & tricks

In this guide to Need for Speed Heat you will learn:

  • What you should pay attention to before the races
  • How to level up faster through successful races
  • How to get BANK and REP fast
  • Which race modes are available
  • If you can search for wrecks & and wreck parts again

Last updated: 03/06/2020

On November 8, 2019, the latest installment in the long-running Need for Speed series was released. While the action of the 2017 title Need for Speed Payback took place in Fortune Valley and thus in the west of the United States, the name Need for Speed Heat already reveals that players can look forward to a trip south this time. The center of the action is the city of Palm City, which reminds us a lot of Miami. Florida fans will be reminded of many well-known areas on the map, such as the Everglades or Cape Canaveral.

In the following, we have compiled all the information and tips for you so that you can make your mark on the racer scene in Palm City.

Table of Contents

  1. Power up your car
  2. Gain experience in races outside of the story
  3. Keep the balance between day and night races
  4. Use the handbrake in tight corners
  5. Use your nitro wisely
  6. Don't get distracted by the cops
  7. How to earn money fast in Need for Speed Heat
  8. How to level up your REP at night
  9. Storyline and race modes in Need for Speed Heat
  10. Tuning and Customization in Need for Speed Heat
  11. Order Need for Speed Heat: These editions are available
  12. Are there wrecks & wrecking parts in NFS Heat?
  13. Need for Speed Heat: Which cars are available?

In Need for Speed Heat (! ) everything is about BANK (money) and REP (reputation). For both you have to achieve racing successes. Heat lets you participate in both legal racing events during the day and illegal underground races at night. Even though the races are very different, they have one thing in common: You should be the first to get as much BANK and REP as possible.

1. Need for Speed Heat Tip: Power up your car

In Need for Speed Heat you will get an indicator at each race how powerful your car should be to participate. Our tip: Don't try to start with a car far below this value. If you are a good driver, you might be able to compensate for up to 10-15 missing power points, but if you have more, the other cars will outrun you due to their faster top speed.

Theonly exception: The drift events. Here it is almost only important that your car has the right tuning and drifts properly, because the points to be achieved are usually easily manageable.

To get more power on the road, you either go to the workshop or to the tuning store. At the beginning, it's worth upgrading the first car before you immediately buy the next model. This way you'll achieve more racing successes and level up faster in the game.

In the workshop you prepare your car for the next race. © Electronic Arts

2. Tip: Gain experience in the races outside of the story mode

In Need for Speed Heat Story Mode, you'll quickly notice that there are races that advance the story and others that don't advance anything except a gain in BANK or REP. Nevertheless, you should also compete in these races to gain experience and accumulate the necessary currencies.

Because: The story races usually have an entry hurdle, namely a certain REP level. And to get that to the right level, it's: Drive, drive, drive.

3. Tip: Keep the balance between day and night races

Of course, the illegal races at night offer more thrills, when suddenly the cops interfere and chase you through half the city. But without the legal races during the day, you won't make much progress.

The reason is the necessary balance between BANK and REP, because you only win BANK during the day and you need that to properly upgrade your cars and be competitive.

4. NfS Heat Tip: Use the handbrake in tight corners

There are two ways to get through corners smoothly. The regular way: you take your finger off the gas and then tap the gas button several times in the corner to drift. After the apex of the curve, you can accelerate fully again.

For sharper turns, however, the handbrake is your friend: Easier than in other racing games, you can even take sharp turns without losing too much speed by skillfully using the handbrake.

Use the handbrake for tight turns like this one. © Electronic Arts

5. Tip: Use your nitro wisely in Need for Speed Heat

When using nitro there is a new feature compared to the predecessor Need for Speed Payback: You can now only use the nitro cartridges completely in one piece, so you have to think carefully when it's worth using it. If you use the nitro too early, you'll have to wait until the display has fully recharged.

6. Tip: Don't get distracted by the cops

During the day, the Palm City cops will leave you alone as long as you don't ram them on purpose. But at night, they like to intervene and can be very distracting from the race that is actually taking place. Don't get too rattled and don't go all out for a takedown. First of all, these aren't as easy to achieve as in Burnout, for example, and secondly, this can lead to you going completely off the track. Often, the cops will also leave before the end of the race, so you don't have to worry too much about them.

However, if the cops are on your tail in free play, they can be very annoying. Here, a spirited jump over one of the many ramps scattered around Palm City will help. The cops will then usually remember the applicable traffic rules and you'll gain distance from them.

The Palm City Cops, led by Lt. Mercer like to disturb the nightly races. © Electronic Arts

By the way, if you want to win all trophies in the game, read our Need for Speed Heat trophy guide.

7. Tip: How to earn money fast in Need for Speed Heat

If you want to build up a big fleet with decent cars, you will need a lot of BANK. Because the price point of some dream cars is beyond a million. In our Need for Speed Heat car list you can find the prices for every model in the game. But how do you get BANK fast? Palm City Raceway is a good place to do it, because there is the event "Resort Track", which you can easily complete first and earn a decent victory bonus.

If you drive a car with a high performance level, the bonus increases even more. But be careful: If you drive the race several times in a row, the BANK bonus will decrease. So take breaks in between. In general, it's worth changing cars more often, as you can then increase the performance of the cars by completing events and in turn earn more money. Reinvest in your cars with performance tuning in Need for Speed Heat and you'll get even higher bonuses!

8. Tip: How to level up your REP at night

Just as important as BANK is the REP level you earn at night. You get the most REP when the cops chase you closely and with a high heat level. Besides the ramps, waters are your best friends to get rid of the police: Through elegant use of the handbrake you can make sure that your pursuers get acquainted with the water while you race away in the opposite direction.

The Aston Martin DB11 Volante comes with plenty of horsepower to outrun the cops

Another way to collect a lot of REP is to complete activities while you're being chased. This also works especially well at Palm City Raceway, with the speed trap and long jump found in the large racing oval. Even more REP points can be earned in the short nighttime sprint race "Flying Dutchman" near the Raceway, but this is only playable at REP level 30.

Storyline and race modes in Need for Speed Heat

The lynchpin of Need for Speed Heat's story is the open world of Palm City. The trailer and the first screenshots give you a real Florida feeling and remind you of Miami Vice or Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. New in this Need for Speed title is the clear distinction between legal daytime and less legal nighttime activities.

During the day, players race against each other in legal racing events in Speedhunters Showdown and thus secure prize money (bank), which they can invest in tuning their cars. At night, on the other hand, they duel in illegal underground races. The aim of these races is to build up their own reputation (Rep).

A big opponent is of course the police. The leader of the Palm City Cops is a certain Lt. Mercer, who wants to regain control over the streets by any means necessary. You will have to deal with him during the story of Need for Speed Heat. During the day you only have to watch out for the police in the open-world mode. They don't intervene in the legal races, and the road is free of traffic.

The situation is different at night: The cops chase all drivers in the illegal races and use just about everything from roadblocks and nail boards to rhinos, swat cars and helicopters to stop you. If they catch you, you lose bank, that is, money. You can escape the police by heading for garages or safe houses - GTA says hello.

Racing fans can look forward to drift, offroad and sprint races in Need for Speed Heat. Drag races, on the other hand, have not made it into the game, but that's something to get over. Lootboxes (available in Payback in the form of speedcards ) are also not included in the game, a decision that fans will surely like. Additional challenges can be found in the form of collectibles that you have to track down, and activities like speed traps, long jumps and drift zones.

Tuning and Customization in Need for Speed Heat

Making a big comeback in the latest Need for Speed title is tuning, beloved by many gamers. Unlike in previous titles, your tuning also decides which race types your car is suitable for, so this is not fixed from the start like in Payback. The variety of options here is very decent, e.g. in Need for Speed Heat you can also modify the sound of the exhaust this time.

Need for Speed Heat: Chase in the twilight © Electronic Arts

New for a Need for Speed title is that you can now also personalize your driver. As with the tuning parts, everything here is original licensed. For the pants and shorts alone, there are more than 150 models to choose from. Rather unusual items of clothing such as masks or Hawaiian shirts are also on offer. In summary: Need for Speed Heat will certainly make the hearts of tuning fans beat faster.

In our detailed guide on the topic of tuning in Need for Speed Heat you can find out everything you need to know about the car wrenching. If you want to get started right away, you can download the Need for Speed Heat Studio app for iOS and Android, which was released at gamescom. The highlight: you can import the car designed in it into the finished game and drive it.

Order Need for Speed Heat: These editions are available

The release date for Need for Speed Heat was November 8, 2019, and the racing game is available for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Those who order the Standard Edition will receive a Mitsubishi Evolution X in the K.S Edition design. In the Deluxe Edition, you'll get access to three additional K.S Edition cars (BMW i8 Coupe, Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport), as well as exclusive Deluxe Edition character outfits, plus more in-game cash and rep at the start of the game.

Are there wrecks & wreckage in NFS Heat?

In the predecessor Need for Speed Payback there was a huge list of wrecks and wreck parts, which we have compiled our Need for Speed Payback Wrecks article for you. Is the popular hunt for wrecks also available in Need for Speed Heat?

Need for Speed Heat: The key art shows a Polestar 1

This kind of collectibles is not available in Need for Speed Heat. However, there is the option to upgrade your car by participating in in-game events. For example, if you discover a street race on the map where there is a certain car part up for grabs, all you have to do is win the race and thereby secure the part.

Friends of collectibles can look forward to numerous activities like long jumps or speed traps as well as collectibles like flamingos, grafittis and billboards in Need for Speed Heat.

Need for Speed Heat: Which cars are available?

At gamescom 2019, EA announced the car list for Need for Speed Heat, which contains a total of 127 models. In addition to many familiar models, including cars of opponents from previous Need for Speed titles, there is a new bolide with the hybrid car Polestar 1 (Polestar is a company spinoff of Volvo), which is not yet available on the market and promises a lot of fun. You can see it in full tuning glory on the title's key art. In March 2020, two additional models were added to the game with Car Pack 1.

You can find the list of all cars in our detailed car guide for Need For Speed Heat.

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