Tips for Levelling in NBA 2K19

NBA 2K19 plays out a lot like an RPG. When you start the game, your character is underpowered and lacking in most skills. As you play more, you earn VC which can be spent to level up your character, ultimately making them better. The end goal for a MyPLAYER is to reach level 99. To help you complete this task here are a few tips for levelling in NBA 2K19.

One Way of Levelling: Buy VC

The sad reality of NBA 2K games is that you can either grind out levels (often for hours upon hours) or buy VC. While I personally have no interest in dropping serious coinage into NBA 2K19 (I did splurge on the Anniversary Edition) there are many people out there that don’t want to grind, so buying VC is the best bang for your training buck. To do this, open the menu in your MyCAREER and select the get VC button. In the store there are multiple denominations you can buy:

• 5,000 VC
• 15,000 VC
• 35,000 VC
• 75,000 VC
• 200,000 VC
• 450,000 VC

To reach 99 overall you will need a lot of VC since there is diminishing returns as you spend. One way of cutting this grind down is to simply buy the VC you need.

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Another Way of Levelling: Play Well in Games

If like me you don’t want to spend money, then these next sections are for you. While there is still a large grind element to NBA 2K19, they have proved some new avenues to increase your VC earnings. The first area I’m going to highlight is playing well in games. Your earnings during a game can be increased largely by how well you play. This comes in a couple of forms including Teammate Grade and Stats. Teammate Grade is how well you play from a basketball perspective. You will increase you Teammate Grade by doing the following:

• Make good passes and avoid turnovers.
• Play tight defense: get blocks and steals.
• Take good open shots.
• Box out and grab rebounds.
• Screen for your teammates.
• Play to your character’s strengths.

Try to get the highest Teammate Grade you can in each game you play as the VC earned can add up quite nicely. Stats are pretty self explanatory. This is your overall performance from a statistical perspective. Try to really nail both of these categories to get a nice extra helping of VC.

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Another Way of Levelling: Maximize Salary

While the goal of NBA 2K19 for most players is to play on a team they like, this may not be the best decision if you are wanting to rank up. Ideally you want to be on a team that pays you the most VC (especially when you are first starting out). More guaranteed money means faster rank ups and a more skilled player. A more skilled player can generate more VC per game which means better VC income.

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Another Way of Levelling: Avoid Superfluous Purchases

If you are interested in maximizing your characters abilities, avoid buying most of the items you will find in the NBA Store, Swag’s, etc. Everything in these stores are priced fairly high and offer little benefit to your character. Instead of spending money on items, save your VC to spend on player stats. The better your stats, the better your ability to earn VC. Once you are in a position where you are making good VC, then consider splurging on items to trick out your character.

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Another Way of Levelling: Spin the Daily Prize Wheel

While this is largely up to chance, you can get an infusion of VC by landing on the free VC of the Daily Prize wheel. The Daily Prize Wheel can be found inside the Ante Up building and it can be spun… daily. Do this and pray that you get some VC to throw at your character’s level.

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Another Way of Levelling: Endorsement Deals

During your career you will be given different endorsement deals that pay out VC. These deals involve little effort on your part, but deliver a decent amount of VC for your trouble. As you grow your fanbase (by playing well), the amount of endorsement and size of there payouts increases. Alongside endorsement payouts you can also add endorsement incentives to your deals. Incentives basically payout when you reach a certain goal ingame (score 20 pts, grab 10 rebs, etc). Try to hit your incentives every game to make more VC.

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Temporary Levels: Buy Boosts

In the Neighborhood you will find a number of stores that offer products for you to purchase and use. While a lot of these products are simply aesthetic in nature, there are a few purchases you can make to improve your MyPLAYER for a temporary time. Read more about purchasing boosts and what they do here.

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Play in Neighborhood Events

As you run around the Neighborhood you will notice there are certain events that occur intermittently throughout the day & week. These events can be a good way of earning VC and My Points, and should be played when active. Playing some of these events (like the Reeses’ Puffs hour) can be a good way of earning 2x the VC! The Neighborhood Events currently available are:

• Reeses’ Puff Crunch Hour.
• Trivia.
• Court Conqueror.
• Gold Rush.
• Dodgeball.
• Red/Blue Ball.

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Use the Gatorade Training Facility (Ability Cap + Turbo)

To the right of the Jordan Rec Center is the Gatorade Training Facility. Inside this building you can train your MyPLAYER using a number of different exercises. The exercises you can complete are:

• Leg Press
• Clean Weight
• Squats
• Ladders
• Agility Hurdles
• Battle Ropes
• Bench Press
• Box Jump
• Sprint
• Treadmill
• Dumbbell
• Medicine Ball
• Gatorade Reaction

Completing these exercises nets you a couple of interesting things. The first is that exercises fill your turbo (R) up to 100%. The second is that you can use the exercises in the G Training Facility to increase your stat caps. This is necessary in order to increase your MyPLAYER to level 99. So far I’ve found Hurdles and Gatorade Reaction to be the most beneficial in terms of time spent.

If you are not interested in working out, you can head to the the Gatorade Fuel Bar where you can use VC to buy consumables that give you increased Turbo.

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Use the Team Practice Facility (Badges)

When you are training your MyPLAYER you probably want to unlock badges on that character. Badges are passive abilities that give you an edge over just general skills. Having badges on your MyPLAYER is important as it can give you that edge needed to beat out other similarly levelled characters. Levelling badges can be done in game, but also by attending the Team Practice facility. Here you can choose which badge you wish to work on and run drills catered towards improving that skill. Drills are limited to 4 per day.

Each drill has a different tier of completion (out of 3 stars). The more stars you get the more badge points you earn. Aim to complete each drill with 3 stars as that is the most points you can earn (700).

Have more Tips for Levelling in NBA 2K19? Drop them in The PIt below and I will add them to the post.