Traits

Every player trait and ball trait in the game, what each does at each level, and which ones help you score. The list comes from the game's trait tables (North America build, version 211); the full chain is in the reference.

How traits work

Each trait has five levels (I to V) and belongs to one of four kinds. Each kind has its own slots on a trait page.

Stat points add to the player's stat, the same stat the shot formula reads (Pick the right shot). Accuracy bonuses are flat percentage points added to the shot's chance before the contest, like every other boost (Building your players). Bonuses from different traits stack.

Accuracy beats stat points

Stat points pass through the stat curve and get multiplied by the card's base hit rate, so they move the chance very little. Accuracy is added directly.

What +3 shooting stat (a level V stat trait) is worth in shot chance, for a card at stat 200:

Compare Hunting Range V, which adds +3 points to every three. One point of three-point accuracy is worth roughly 15 points of three-point stat. Even the +0.7% accuracy that an Offense trait adds at level V is worth more than its own +3 stat on every shot type except dunks (on mid-range and three-point traits it only counts on open shots).

Best traits for scoring

Special traits in the trait list that raise shot chance, at level V:

Unstoppable, Open Look and the hidden Aerial Advantage use the game's all-shot boost (type 211), so they help every shot type, including dunks and layups.

Elite Marksman matters most for deep threes. Three-pointers past 9.0 units keep only (9 ÷ distance)^15 of their chance (Three-pointers and range). Level V moves that line out to 10 units: a three from 10 units normally keeps about 21% of its chance, and with Elite Marksman V it keeps all of it.

Where the description and the data disagree

The trait text is written separately from the effect data, and in a few places they don't match. The effect data is what the match uses.

Traits in the list:

• Corner Three gives mid-range accuracy, not three-point accuracy. Its effect is type 202 (mid-range), +1% to +5%. A corner three is a three-pointer (type 203), so it gets nothing from this trait. It helps mid-range shots taken from the corner area.
• Ankle Breaker is stronger than its text. The always-on ankle-breaking rate is +0.5/0.7/1/2/3%, not +0.5/0.7/1/1.5/2%. The extra bonus against an accelerating defender matches the text.
• Light of Hope does more than it says. Besides longer status skills, it lengthens Midorima's lucky-item marks (frog, tanuki, raccoon, wooden bear, rubber duck) by 1.5/3/4.5/6/9 seconds.
• Two-Way Player says its mid-range bonus is "when on offense" and its block range "when on defense". Both are always on, which comes to the same thing.
• T-Rex Clash: text says +0.8% at level I; data gives +0.6%.
• Phantom Swift Pass: text says +1.8% at level II; data gives +0.8% (a typo).

Hidden traits:

• Hot Hand Activated: text says +1/1.2/1.4/1.6/2% per three made; data gives +1/1.1/1.2/1.4/1.6%.
• Instant Change: text says +1/1.5/2/2.5/3% mid-range, three and ankle-breaking rate; data gives +0.5/1/1.5/2/3% on the shots and +0.5/0.7/1/2/3% on ankle-breaking.
• Run and Gun: the with-ball speed is +0.1/0.15/0.2/0.3/0.4, not up to +0.5 (the without-ball part matches).
• Rapid Pick Up: pick-up range is +0.1/0.15/0.2/0.25/0.3, not up to +0.4 (the diving-catch part matches).
• Windrunner and the special Sneak Attack have an empty effect. If they work at all, it is through code not read yet.
• Double-Center: text lists layup, dunk, mid-range and close shot; only close shot and mid-range are in the data.
• Determination: text lists layup, dunk and close shot. The data has no dunk bonus and gives layups the bonus twice (+2% to +6%).
• Super Drive: level I uses Instant Change's level I effect (+0.5% mid-range and three, always on) instead of the after-drive bonus.

How to read the tables

• Levels are written I/II/III/IV/V, so "+1/2/3/4/5%" means +1% at level I and +5% at level V. A single number is the same at every level.
• "Accuracy" in the data column is flat points on that shot type's chance. "Open" accuracy only applies when the game flags the shot as open (Building your players).
• "for N s" means the bonus lasts N seconds after the trigger. No duration means it lasts while the trait's condition holds, or for the whole match.
• The data column covers shooting effects only. Other effects (steals, blocks, rebounds, energy) are described by the game's own text. Every special trait's text was compared with its data, and the differences above are the only ones found.
• Hidden traits are not shown in the in-game trait list. Version 211 shows 87 of its 130 traits: eight that 201 hid (Paint, Core, Strike, Phantom Swift Pass, Consecutive Variations, T-Rex Clash, All-Out Defense, and Solo King, now called Impenetrable Defense) and the new Full-Court Zone Defense.

Stat traits

Every stat trait uses the same scaling unless a row shows otherwise: the first stat gets +0.5 / 1 / 1.5 / 2 / 3 at levels I–V and the second +0.2 / 0.3 / 0.5 / 0.7 / 1. The table gives the level V values.

Offense

Defense

Physical and energy

Special traits

Hidden traits

Hidden stat traits

Hidden special traits

Ball traits

Balls have their own traits, separate from player traits, with three levels (I to III). They use the same kind of effects as player traits, and their accuracy bonuses add to the shot chance the same way.

Most S balls have two signature traits that make up about 85% of their trait rolls; the rest come from a shared list. Traits from Pump Fake onward only appear at levels II and III. "Training Camp bonus" lines in the descriptions apply only in that mode and are left out of the data column.

Best ball traits for a three-point shooter (level III):

Ball text that disagrees with the data:

• Assist Master and Assist Boost say "Open Accuracy", but only open mid-range accuracy is in the data. They do nothing for open threes.
• Finishing Time: text says +2.5/3/4%; data gives +2/2.5/3%.
• Pump Fake: text says the pass-steal chance drops 2/3/5%; data gives 2/1/2%.
• Dragon Drive Penetration: the extra layup bonus is +2% at level II, not +2.5%.
• Post King says close shot, mid-range, layup and dunk, but uses the all-shot boost, so threes get it too.

Long-Range Intimidation's text calls its falloff shift "1 meters", the first hint of what the game's distance unit is (Three-pointers and range).

Ball stats are separate from ball traits: a ball has 2 (B), 4 (A) or 6 (S) random stats, such as 3-Pointer or Contest Resistance. Each stat has a current value and a ceiling, from +0.01 up to +5. New rolls are small: 90% of current values are under +0.75, and most ceilings land between +0.75 and +1.5.

All ball traits

What this means for you

• Spend special slots on accuracy. Unstoppable is the safest pick for any scorer: +3% on every shot, always on. Add Hunting Range for a shooter, Power Dunk for a dunker, Two-Way Player for a mid-range player. A shooter who pulls up from deep gains the most from Elite Marksman.
• Don't take Corner Three for corner threes. By the data it only helps mid-range shots.
• Pick Offense stat traits for the shot your player takes most. Their stat points are small, but the level V accuracy bonus is worth having. On close-shot, dunk and layup traits it is always on; on mid-range and three-point traits it only applies to open shots.
• Take Offense traits all the way to V. Their accuracy bonus only exists at level V.
• For a shooter's ball, look for Perimeter Master (open threes) or Absolute Core (with a big man on the team). Skip Assist Master and Assist Boost if you want open-three help: they only boost open mid-range shots.