GRID Legends Beginner's Guide: 5 tips and tricks to help you get started

After months of anticipation, GRID Legends is out now on console and PC. You can read our review here!

A sequel to the 2019 reboot, GRID Legends takes the series in a new direction with a Driven to Glory story mode inspired by Drive to Survive while retaining its signature racing thrills.

If you’re new to the GRID series, we’ve got five useful tips to help you get started.

Activate assists

GRID games are designed to be accessible, with a focus on fun, exciting racing. The car handling in GRID Legends is intuitive but less realistic than simulation games like Assetto Corsa Competizione and iRacing. If you're new to the series, there are multiple driving assists to help you improve your skills.

To change the driving assists, pause the game and select Options. Go to the Gameplay options and scroll to Difficulty. From here, you can activate the driver assists.

Grid Legends assists
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GRID Legends has driver assists suited to all skill levels

There are three main driver assists in GRID Legends:

  • ABS: This prevents the wheels from locking up under braking
  • Traction control: This reduces wheelspin
  • Stability control: This regulates body stability to make cornering easier

You can adjust these settings on a scale from one to five. For beginners, we also recommend enabling the racing line, automatic transmission, disabling terminal damage, and changing the AI difficulty to easy. On the easy setting, the AI drivers put you under less pressure and make more mistakes.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kolaO0GrC8E

By default, all driver assists are switched on at the highest setting. With all settings activated, the driving can feel stiff. We recommend reducing each assist to two or three as this gives you more direct control. Once you’ve put in some practice, dial down the assists until you find a setting you’re comfortable with.

With all assists off, some of the more powerful cars can be tricky to drive. Enter or exit a corner with too much throttle and no traction or stability control, and you’ll spin out. To avoid this, brake early and progressively when approaching a corner. Gently ease back on the throttle when exiting a corner.

Start your career

Codemasters has placed a lot of focus on the Driven to Glory story mode and its lavish live-action cut scenes with virtual production technology. But you may not realise there is also a traditional career mode with over 250 events to discover covering a wide range of racing disciplines. You can find the career mode in the main menu on the home screen.

GRID Legends’ career mode is split into four main categories: Rookie, Semi-Pro, Pro, and Gauntlet. Each category contains championships and events focusing on different disciplines from touring cars to GT racers. Completing a set number of events unlocks the next category with progressively faster cars.

Grid Legends Aston Martin Vantage GTE
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GRID Legends' comprehensive career mode has over 250 events covering a wide range of disciplines

When starting the career, you’ll need to choose a team name and banner. Also, don’t forget to join a sponsor, because completing their objectives will unlock additional rewards.

As you race, you’ll collect XP called Racecraft. Clean racing, following the racing line, and overtaking earns you more Racecraft points. This increases your overall driver level. Racecraft earned in Driven to Glory also carries over to the career mode.  

Enter the Rookie Ginetta Cup

When you start GRID Legends, you’ll jump straight into Driven to Glory prologue and drive a powerful prototype race car. This can be daunting for new players, however.

Grid Legends Ginetta
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Not only are they fun to drive, but the Ginettas are perfect for beginners to hone their skills

If you want to practice in a more forgiving car but still progress your career, we recommend entering the Rookie Ginetta Cup after completing the mandatory Driven to Glory prologue.

In these events, you drive the Ginetta G40 GT. This entry-level race car is grippy, predictable and not too overpowered, but still fun to drive. This makes it one of the best cars for beginners to hone their skills.

Use Flashbacks

In 2008, Race Driver GRID introduced Flashbacks. Ideal for rookie racers, this handy feature lets you correct mistakes by rewinding the action in real-time and resuming before a mistake. This is useful if you lose control at a corner and lose several positions or damage your car in a crash.

Grid Legends Flashback screenshot
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Flashbacks let you correct your mistakes

Flashbacks have featured in every GRID game and return to GRID Legends. To activate a Flashback, simply press triangle on the PlayStation controller or Y on the Xbox One controller during a race. Press the same button when you want to resume the race to correct your mistake.    

Beware of the Nemesis

Rubbing is racing as the saying goes, but if you make a habit of hitting other drivers in GRID Legends, there are consequences - be wary of your actions.

Grid Legends Lotus Elise GT1
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Drivers marked as your Nemesis will go out of their way to take you out or slow you down

The Nemesis AI system from the 2019 GRID game returns in GRID Legends. If you bang doors with another driver, they will remember you. Drivers marked as your Nemesis will try to take you out and slow you down at every chance they get.

You can, however, train your teammate to block their attacks by increasing their Nemesis Protection. To do this, enter the Race Strategy menu and, go to Teammate Development, where you'll find the option to increase Nemesis Protection in the skill tree.   

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