A (Mostly) Complete Guide To "The SPIKE" [ENG]

(Alternate Title: How to win tournaments without losing your mind)
An extensive guide on all of the mechanics in "The SPIKE" written to help others who are having trouble grinding volleyballs.

Introduction

Hello there! If you're reading this, chances are you're getting frustrated by Tournament Mode and some of the more obscure aspects of the game.
Gaining volleyballs to buy skins (because let's be honest, we're all grinding for the Haikyuu costumes and better players) is pretty difficult.
While I'm certainly no expert, I HAVE played this game ad nauseam for the past few weeks, and have picked up a lot on how the game works. (A small disclaimer, most of the advice I'll be giving here is purely anecdotal, so while I understand the game pretty well, some info could later be disproved.)

Before we begin, I'd recommend changing your settings to this.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1477697066770823503/D67BEAAB231BB857389BB81FDA3F81AEC24FC2A8/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
(If the image is too small: Turn Beginner Mode OFF, and Jump ON)

While it's fine when just starting out to not use run ups, and use beginner mode, I'd say it's better long term for you to simply learn to adjust. The base settings for the game can build a ton of bad habits, such as jumping for tosses that aren't yours, and developing tunnel vision solely on the ball. It'll be hard at first, but once you get used to it, you'll be able to do far more!

With that out of the way, let's begin!


[NOTE: Images will be added later to further help]

Basic Controls (Controller)

Basic Controls (Controller)
o Left Stick=Movement
o X/Square=Serve Toss (We’ll get to this later)
o Y/Triangle=Block
o B/Circle=Receiving/Feinting (Again, we’ll get to this)
o A/X=Run Up->Jump->Spike

[ALSO: I forgot to list, L1/Left Bumper=Diving Receives]

The Wing Spiker and Middle Blocker Positions have the same controls, and don’t deviate much from the above, however, the Setter’s controls take into account the right stick (or the mouse, for those playing on Mouse & Keyboard.) When playing as the Setter, you will automatically run to the ball to set it (provided you haven’t made the first touch), here is when you’d set using the right stick. (More on the intricacies of playing Setter later on).

SERVING: The controls for serving are as follows:

o Left Stick=It is not explicitly stated, but you can move to adjust where your serve goes before tossing it up. The left stick is also used when performing a jump serve, which functions much like a spike.

o Tapping X/Square=Simply tapping X will make you do a simple overhand serve, this is useful for times where you simply don’t want to mess up your other, more complex serves (such as being on match point.) Do note, this serve is only available in games, and not in Serve Practice.

o Holding X/Square=Holding X allows you to set up a Jump Serve. The longer you hold X, the farther the ball will be tossed. Keep in mind, when doing Jump Serves that every player’s stats are different, and in turn, the way their serves work. A good rule of thumb is to either hit the ball when it is almost at it is highest, or on its way down. (Jump serves are very difficult to do, don’t let that get you down, though. Once you get the hang of them, they become VERY deadly, and really fun!)

o A/X=Jump Floaters. Jump Floater Serves are less powerful than Jump Serves, but more powerful than over hand serves. They’re meant to be slower and more precise serves that target specific people on the court. Jump floaters work similar to run up spikes, the motion goes: 1) Toss-up 2) Jump 3) Hit. I personally use Jump Floaters to force the setter to make the first touch, so I know where the ball is going. Again, this is something you’ll only learn with time, even I only get it accidentally more often than not.

Tip: Pay attention to the rotation that shows up before the match, it’ll help you identify what players to look out for.

Tip: To do a “perfect” Jump Floater, you can hold down the A button. This ensures that you’ll jump as fast as the ball rises, and hit it without really trying. Though, if you’re trying to hit it somewhere specific, this is not recommended.

POSITIONS: Wing Spiker

A common misconception I’ve seen about this game in the Community Hub are people wondering why the Setter won’t send them any quicks. This being 3v3 Volleyball, the roles are a lot more polarized than the rules many who are used to 6v6 Volleyball are familiar with. (coughordirtyweebslikemyseflcough)

The Wing Spiker’s role is POWER, not SPEED. They’re basically the aces, and are meant to reliably score points. More often than not (at least with “Aggressive” Setters) you’ll be hitting slower/higher tosses, as your stats will be (or should be) leaning more towards Attack Power, rather than outright speed. You CAN hit quicks as a Wing Spiker, however. Quicks should be initiated not by the Setter, but by the Spiker, regardless of whether you’re a Middle Blocker or a Wing Spiker. This is an especially important thing to remember in ALL THREE POSITIONS.
Good stats to have:
• Attack
• Jump

Tip: Keep in mind, the stats you pick for your players should go hand in hand with their builds, height-wise. If you have a short Wing Spiker, you should probably splooge on Jumping and devote half of their remaining stat points on Speed and Attack so that they can spike reliably hard, and get across the court reliably fast. If the stats you give your players makes sense to you on paper, chances are, they’ll end up working in a game.

POSITIONS: Middle Blocker

This position is pretty self-explanatory, but we’ll get into it, anyway.
For those of you who want to hit quicks, THIS is the position you should be playing. Middle Blockers are (at least in this game) a defensive position meant mainly for blocking. “Defense” spans more than simply blocking however. If you’ve played a few games, you’ll notice that the Middle Blocker AI will go up for a spike, regardless of whether or not the toss is for them.

You see this in ACTUAL volleyball as well, and while I’m not sure it actually has a term, we’ll just call it “faking”. As a Middle Blocker, you’ll be receiving, blocking, and “defending” your Wing Spiker by opening up the net for them to spike. This is done through faking, which again, is done by essentially foregoing what you know about playing WS and jumping for just about every toss. If it works, congrats, you’ve just confused the AI (who WILL jump at just about every spike they see, btw), and thus your presumably powerful WS will be able to get through. In Haikyuu terms, you are now the Ultimate Decoy.

In the (very) common case of it failing, well, uh. Yeah. You've confused your Setter's AI, and they'll toss right into a block. But we’ll talk more about getting over blocks later on.
Good stats to have:
• Defense
• Jump
• Speed

POSITIONS: Setter

We all know what the Setter does, it’s in his name! His job is setting up the ball for your two other teammates to hit. The Setter is quite possibly my favorite position to play, as so much of your team’s success rides on how you play it. While yes, winning in this game is a team effort (with or without AI), the Setter is super important. In this game, the AI for the Setter is determined by their “style” or personality.

There’s actually a really good guide for Setter styles already written in the Guides section here, so give that a look, it goes over them pretty well. As an example for Setter Styles, the Setter you start out with, Jaeho is aggressive. He will almost exclusively go for quicks, preferring to get through the center with sheer speed. He’ll also set you some tosses that’ll make you go “Man, wtf!?”, aggressive setters are pretty wild, but when you synergize with them, they can be tons of fun to play with. (Keep in mind, Setter Styles are only active when it’s the AI using them)

By the way, to perform a dump, all you have to do is move the right stick down and to the right (or left, depending on what side you’re on) so it’ll quickly go over the net. Now, there ARE proper times to do a setter dump, and the AI is pretty sharp, so only go for it if you’re 100% sure it’ll work. A good rule to follow is: If you see the AI is fully charged on their block jump, a dump will likely mess with them.

Tip: You can ALSO spike the ball! When jumping up for a set, you can quickly press A/X to spike the ball, just another thing you can use to add complexity to your game plan.

BIG Tip: The game will encourage you to aim for the reticle when you set. This CAN strengthen the power of your WS/MB's spike, but I'd advise against aiming for it every time. Especially when dealing with "Red Ring Blocks" which I'll get to later.

Good stats to have:
• Speed
• Jump
• Attack (?) I’m not sure whether a high attack stat affects the strength of your tosses, but good attack can always help on those set-spikes.

POSITION: One Point Blocker

A One Point Blocker is, again, exactly what it sounds like. A generally tall player that is put on the court with the sole purpose of blocking. I usually use my One Point Blocker when playing against Beolbit High, as their huge player regularly spikes over my usual player’s blocks. It goes without saying, but defense is what you should be focusing on. If you have a tall player, jump is phenomenal as well.
Note: The One Point Blocker will sub in for your Wing Spiker during a game. So if you’re playing as a WS, you’ll be the OB, if not, you won’t.
Good stats to have:
• Defense
• Jump

POSITION: One Point Server

This position is probably better known as a “Pinch Server”. (Shout outs to my boy Yamaguchi.) This position, like the OB is meant to shake up the flow of the game through their serves. Now, I haven’t exactly figured out the stat distribution for these players, as you can see…
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1477697066772148421/AD7A612F365773D93D03306C6B9CFE1388419674/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

But I’d say go for stats like this:
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1477697066772084022/8AD391F2127451FC4BF7768EADA7BD62AD79D0F3/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

Good stats to have:
• Attack
• Jump

Stats and What They Do

I’ve been talking a lot about Stats, which you can see on the home screen for the game. Each player has a set amount of points that they can distribute to each individual skill. This allows you to create players with incredibly polarized stats, or a jack of all trades. However, higher ranked players (in which I can only assume go from rank C to S) have more skill points, and thus, have a higher ceiling.

The Stats are as follows:

Attack:

This affects the power (and along with that, the trajectory) of your character’s spike. Wing Spikers benefit from this.

Defense:

This affects the strength of a character’s blocks and receives. If you have an MB with a wimpy defense stat, chances are their block will be as useful as a screen door on a submarine. (Point being: a reliable defense is important when taking on tournaments)

Jump:

Jump is one of the more obscure stats. Outside of the obvious, being the height of your jump, it also increases the speed and distance of your run up. This is useful on slow characters, who, while slow moving can gain a quick burst of speed to spike, confusing the AI.

Speed:

Speed is simply movement speed. I’d recommend having a Setter have a lot of speed, just to ensure they can get to the ball quickly. Fun fact: the enemy CPUs actually seem to have a perfect speed stat, though when it comes into effect is selective. There are times when I’ve made a perfect dump, and someone will come from the BACK of the court to receive it in a blink, so be wary of that.

Training Mode

Every character has a different set of stats, and in turn, a different way to play them. Training mode exists for a reason, friends. Practice your serving, blocking, spiking and receiving there until you can get it right. Sadly, there is no setting practice, the only experience you can get for that Is in a real game.

Tip: For serving, you may feel differently in a real game, this is because in practice mode, you actually start much closer to the end line than in a real game, which you can fix by simply walking forward. Some courts also seem to be bigger than usual, though, this could just be me.

Rolling For New Players

Rolling for new players is pretty straightforward. You can choose to roll for specific positions, which cost more, or simply roll for a new player—period. It is, of course, entirely random. I’ve seen people on here talking about having S-Ranked players, meanwhile my highest rank is A+.

The amount of volleyballs needed for each type of player can vary, here’s each individual amount:
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1477697066772084670/1C5E1D7835B4E5BD60C03036F2EA84713789DA32/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

TOURNAMENT MODE [Part One]

Ok, heeeeeere’s the LONG section. Tournament Mode, is what separates the boys from the men. The difficulty spike is actually ridiculous (when comparing to story mode, anyway), and it can be very off-putting to first time players, especially those that are trying to build up volleyballs to buy new players and costumes. Fortunately, the amount of volleyballs you gain for winning a tournament match has been buffed since launch (believe me, you gained SCRAPS before, 5 volleyballs per match is pretty decent).

GETTING PAST RED RING BLOCKS

Now, let’s talk about the Elephant in the Room: RED RING BLOCKS

If you’ve been playing Tournament mode, chances are you’ve encountered a block that looks like this: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1477697066772082969/1DA2B07F5F2A2757898C82D76D07DA239BAFD621/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

FEELS like this: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1477697066772080077/0D32C7684AFCE0CCC855E71C065BB56C6254C4DA/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

And results in this: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1477697066772085503/14C3853C2DAD436A5FCE888263FA07C640C793CB/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

Red Ring Blocks, as I’ve come to call them, are unfair, unbeatable blocks. You cannot overpower them, you cannot (reliably) spike over them, and if you have an aggressive Setter, they can be baited into repeatedly firing quicks into them, which is a one way trip to loss-ville.

I’m not sure WHAT the hitbox is on these, but they are just, unbeatable, or so you would THINK, ye of little faith. These blocks exist to teach you the finer details of mid-air battles. As I mentioned before in the basic controls section, pressing B, Circle or whatever key you use to receive while in midair will allow you to do a feint. This is useful for dealing with characters like Wangbeol’s giant and Star Heesung (GOD, Star Heesung) When you encounter a Red Ring Block, don’t panic, stay calm.

In the event that your setter IS caught in the aforementioned loop, you’ll have to start doing what I do, and preemptively do a diving receive (I don’t trust Jaeho as far as I can throw him). It’s a tad annoying, and sometimes you’ll need to do it more than once per rally, but as long as it can set up for a situation that lets you attack, I say it works. Figuring out the timing for Block Receives is tricky, but generally, I start as soon as my Setter (and in turn the blocker) jumps. Fortunately, the hitbox for Diving Receives stays out for a long time, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble.

KNOWING YOUR ROLE/TRUSTING YOUR AI TEAMMATES/AI QUIRKS

The AI, on the other hand, is one of the more frustrating aspects of the game. As I said before, YOUR AI players function off of the stats you gave them. This means that their speed, spike, and most importantly, JUMP SERVE are affected by whatever stats you give them. It follows then, that a mistake made by the AI is moreso the AI not being used to its current stat distribution, as is the case with my overpowered One Point Server, who I have to take control of, since the AI cannot serve with him.

Every AI has a perfect run-up, and in the case of the enemy team, a perfect speed stat, allowing them to perform feats which shouldn’t be possible, and occasionally, outright cheat! One instance included the AI diving to receive their OWN MISSED SERVE. Of course, the ball was kept in play.
The real fun of this game, however, comes once you stop blaming your losses on your AI teammates’ errors.

As the player, it’s your job not just to distribute the stats well for what characters YOU play as, but for the AI as well. You need stats that compliment what the AI can do. If you want them to be able to get far balls, give ‘em speed. If you want them to have a powerful Jump Serve, a stat distribution like this has worked wonders for me (consistent service aces!):
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1477697066772084022/8AD391F2127451FC4BF7768EADA7BD62AD79D0F3/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

Along with this, you need to remember that Volleyball is a team sport. I’ve seen a lot of posts that say you basically need to do everything for your team. I thought that too, until recently. The more you play, the more you’ll understand WHY the AI does what it does, especially in the case of Setter styles. While the AI is ridiculously simple, it FEELS like an actual, physical teammate. It makes mistakes, yes, but there is a plan behind those actions. When it gets stuck in a loop, it’s actually conditioning the opponents, fine tuning it’s quick attack to finally break past that Red Ring in the precise way that only a computer can. Know your role.

What do I mean by that? Start with your positioning. 90% of the points I’ve lost were because I decided to move up for a 2-man block, instead of trusting whoever was in the front row, so that in case their block wasn’t enough I would have been there to receive the ball. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes, you don’t HAVE to be running around the court, as long as you pay attention to what spiker is aiming where. Again, it’s only something you pick up after playing for awhile, but once you understand your ai teammates, the game becomes a lot more rewarding.

TOURNAMENT MODE [Part Two]

PLAYING AGAINST TALL PLAYERS

I mentioned Wangbeol’s giant before. He was the character that almost made me refund this game. His height was oppressive, the game doesn’t actively tell you how to feint, and his attack is ridiculous. Many thrown controllers later, I realized that dealing with tall characters (and red rings) is relatively simple, and that tall characters really only punish habit.

If you’re a setter and your spikers aren’t able to hit over the block, try setting higher ensuring more air time for your spikers, and thus causing the blocker to jump too early. The same goes for spikers, train your characters in Jump to be able to “hang” in the air longer so you can get past it.

Sometimes, of course, this isn’t enough, but along with the method for getting around Red Rings, you should be fine. Don’t rage, stay calm and maybe invest in a tall OB to switch the rotation up.

Tip: When Blocking, don’t just hold Y/Triangle as soon as you can forever. I make the same mistake, but that leaves you open to dumps. Blocks take about 3 seconds of holding Y/Triangle to charge up, so wait, watch the toss, aaaand block. Trust that your teammates will be able to receive it (or dump all of their skill points into defense if you don’t trust them), and don’t get into the habit of full on commit blocking. I do it, and having a setter dump pass you because you were holding Y and feeling stupid is the WORST. WATCH. THE. TOSS.

(ANOTHER Big Tip: That circle with three rings in the top right during a game is how you sub in players and call for timeouts, I haven’t figured out how it works on controller, but mouse works for me. Just be quick about it.)

THE “RECEIVE STAMINA” SYSTEM

My biggest gripe with this game is that it fails to describe one of it’s most important features, this being what I call “Receive Stamina”. You’ve probably noticed it unconsciously, but those two bars at the top represent what we’ll call stamina. Stamina is drained when receiving or blocking a spike. How much damage it does depends on the attack of the spiker, and the defense of the receiver/blocker.

This system is put in place to prevent infinite rallies (even though more often than not the enemy AI seems to ignore it—but that’s just me being a baby, honest!), and is something you can definitely use to get across Red Ring Blocks.

When Stamina is low the chance of getting your block broken past, or your receive broken is much higher. (You’ve probably noticed that getting a perfect receive displays a yellow shield, and drains very little—if any at all—stamina. It’s dependent on your timing. Try to go for these more often. The same follows for the enemy team. Use your presumably strong WS to shave that stamina away, then SLAM IT DOWN!

Along with this, tip spikes, feints, jump floaters and jump serves do a LOT of stamina damage. What are tip spikes? Exactly what they sound like, spikes done from the tips of your character’s fingers. They’re hard to perform, and more often lead to an out, but once you start to understand how they work, doing them on purpose becomes second nature.

Conclusion

And that’s all I’ve got! This game, while flawed is really, really fun. I very much hope that in writing this long ass guide, I’ve encouraged more people to try it again, seriously, getting that one service ace, or finally landing a perfect setter dump is the most fun I’ve had with a game in a long while. As someone who desperately wants to try volleyball, but can’t because of the state of the world, this has been a pleasant distraction, flaws and all. Thanks for reading!

Now, start practicing!

[GhostDj]

Hi, really loving this game, I've got a One point blocker named "benchpress" how to put sub him in? I've tried to allocate him into the the starting team under an "OB" but I just can't figure out how to bring him in. if there was written in this amazing guide, I'm sorry I missed. cheers for the tips. you the best!

[bruh__francyy]

how i can earn more volleyballs

[❱•❰ProfessorCat]

I think you should've mentioned the fact that you can spike the other teams' overhand and jump serves right back onto their own court :P and how consistently you can get a powerful quick spike with a MB underhand set. Abuse them!

[Lost Platinum]

Also, when you block, you can actually spike when blocking, it’s just pressing the spike button or A/X if you’re on laptop/PC when you’re blocking mid-air.

[Lost Platinum]

The one point setter i use is A rank and only upgraded the attack and jump and had 175 for the two of them, the result: I can win the entire game just by his serves (the AI does the serves). Also, I don’t know if the one point setters have set styles because mine can do what the ??? Style does.

[Kyron2000]

Hey, this was ridiculously helpful man. On mobile I finished the story and am grinding new players and tournaments, so this was awesome. However, do you know how to change character? I got my first A rank recently, and want to play as him, but I'm stuck with Siwoo and I don't know how to change. U seem to know, so could you help? Even if you don't know for mobile, could u say how u do it for pc, as it may give me a hint on mobile

[kqww1]

For subing fast try RT I accidently just found it.

[giovaneygerm25]

ive been playing on mobile for a few days now now i got it on my laptop and i must say its really fun and i guess you reiterated everything i knew something i want to know about is the setters personalities if i can understand them completely that would be dope. cause you explained the aggressive style but i wanna know about the careful the speed devil(all speed) and (careful) so can you please help explain that thank you. And good jib on this guide btw it was really good

[Kosmo]

Thanks, this helped me get pass Hanuel High!

[Omega]

Disappointed with the tournament mode? This is a very soft word. How do you like AI players with 100% block? They make my ass burn.