So I have been absent for 2 years from coaching this game that I really love, but had to take a break because of a new job that required my priorities to focus on that first.

I came to learn some new surprises to this game that included the version 3.0 and the new scouting methodology. So with me being back and trying to get familiar with the new changes, I do have some questions.

1. I notice that now there are 2 round of recruiting, one which occurs mid season and the other at the end of the season. If I use all my scouting budget in the first round, will it restart at round 2 or I would have to wait until the next new season to start to scout?

2. I learned it the hard way how the Attention Points work, where I thought it was accumulated so I used 15 of my 100 pts the first cycle (thought i'd have 85 pts left for the 4 scholarships the following cycle) instead of all 100 and found out 2 of my top targets signed, then i learned that you need to use all your attention points and you need to strategize with logic how you want to allocate them. So my questions are

• When Recruiting Period 1 starts, it's the same story, you have your available points (say 100 with 4 scholarships) and to make the most of your recruiting you should use all your 100 pts for each cycle
• Does it make a difference on a player if you used 40 pts on him if you only had 1 scholarship (use 40 of 40) compared to using 40 pts when you have 4 scholarships? (40 pts of 100)
• Can you give an estimate towards how much pts is considered enough to be able to get a home visit and offer scholarship, I understand it depends also on the player preferences which will cause the pts to vary, so give a rough estimate assuming many of the preferences are bad vs. many of the preferences are good.

3. Did anything change with the skillset from 2 years ago. So for example last time I coached it was Athleticism and Defense that were considered by far the best skillset generally speaking. So if you had 90 Def and 90 Ath, will that translate to the same kind of skill on a player just as it would have been in HD 2 years ago, or did anything change? Also same question about Work Ethic, did anything with that change to impact how fast a player grow

4. What's the best strategy for a DI prestige 'C' school to recruit? by logic I am assuming to dot a list of your top prospects, wait 1 or 2 cycles to observe which higher prestige school are already snatch and try to recruit whoever best is available that isn't too hard to pull.

5. Any other advice you would give for someone who has been absent 2 years on how to get back on track. Assume I was fully competent in HD 2 years ago I didn't play it alot but I manage to grasp everything and go far with my teams considering their division and prestige.

Thanks for reading, looking forward to the answers.

Nope to number 4. Locate your guys and jump in ASAP. The system is designed for battles so the sooner you jump in the better for you, and be sure to watch the preferences. Players control some of the recruiting by having preferences. Too many bad or very bad, and you are throwing time and AP's away.

Also first season back, on the last day you can offer anyone available a scholarship as the unlock that action within your division. Even non scouted guys in your pool can take offers. However I found out my first year, if you have nobody in your pool that last day, you cannot offer anybody anything. Watch your scouting cash and save some for the last few cycles.

Thanks for the response back wvufan76, sounds like based on what you are saying, you gotta be really frugal with your scouting budget. For me, especially as an underdog school that can't compete with top rank players for recruiting, I consider it very important to know the potential of the players you are recruiting, so I see a huge drop off on importance of going from lvl 2 to 3 compared to lvl 3 to lvl 4, which at lvl 3 you still got great idea of what potential you are getting, is that a fair assessment you think?

Check out the guide- this will answer A LOT of your questions

https://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?topicID=495608

And yes, you're correct. Getting to level 3 is key. Try to get as many players to level 3 as possible and then when you narrow it down further, get a few of your top targets to level 4.

1. You don't get more money to scout in 2nd session unless you have an early entry or you cut a player that you DIDN'T sign.
2. Always use all your APs every cycle. There's no impact on the effect of AP based upon how many openings you have. 1 AP is 1 AP. How many APs it takes to unlock is determined by Prestige, preferences and the players "skill" level. 5 stars are harder to unlock than 1 stars. It's also harder for a D3 team to unlock a D1 player than a D1 team unlocking a D1 player. It'll probably take 50-80 APs to unlock a typical D1 player as a D1 team I think.
3. Nothing in the engine changed.
4. Up to you on the strategy. Just know that Mid and low majors are now pulling in top 100 recruits. I'm at D prestige NMSU and I've signed a 4 star each of the past 2 seasons. So if you want to shoot for the moon, go for it. Look for good preference matchings and maybe you'll get lucky. Maybe you want to go for 1 top 100 guy and a few other non ranked guys to reduce some risk. Up to you but just know it's possible to beat A prestige teams now if you can catch a break.
5. Read the guide and come back with more questions.

At DI, I dont think one needs to worry too much about scouting money. I may be frugal, but I have not run out in beta or in early seasons. Still, you want to save enough for later to search for backups. BUT, you should be identifying backups in phase one even if you they are late signers. The cupboard will be rather bare if you start to look in phase two.

"Can you give an estimate towards how much pts is considered enough to be able to get a home visit and offer scholarship, I understand it depends also on the player preferences which will cause the pts to vary, so give a rough estimate assuming many of the preferences are bad vs. many of the preferences are good."

It not only depends on player preference, but also a lot on your school's prestige and the caliber of the player. Finding the right level of player and good preference matches are of paramount importance, and a subtle skill to learn. You'll see guys telling you on the forums to go all in on someone right from the start. That is possible, but then a lot of those guys are back pretty soon, whining about the game not being fair to them in recruiting. And listen to fd343ny about getting things set up in recruiting period one. Waiting to start on a guy in recruiting period two ... well, a lot of those guys come here, too, to whine about the game being unfair. Good luck and welcome back.

About the guide that benis linked to ... study it.

Thanks, I read through the guide again so this is the 2nd time I read the whole thing completely.

I know what you mean about whining, I for one also have same attitude about life that you have either 2 options, complain or make excuses for why you didn't get it your way, or learn from that experience what you did wrong and get better next time. I probably will get beaten by more experienced users on recruiting battles the first few times so I plan to be patient and learn how to make better decisions in the future, my first time I probably will have a more conservative approach to get a feel for the game rather than shoot for the moon.

So my last question is regarding the scouting, to me the big number is 3, lvl 3 scouting. I want to get as much lvl 3 scouting as possible. From what I read, it sounds like it's most logical thing to do is use public elite camps ($25/player), Scouting Services ($15/player), and possibly Assistant Search or Hosted Camps to try and get those lvl 2 to lvl 3. What do you guys think is the best strategy and approach to go about it, sounds like by far the most expensive thing to do is individual scout so you want to avoid that as much as you can, thou i assume you always have few lvl 2 who look too good that you will have to scout few of those to lvl 3.

I use the maximum number of players in my hosted camp, and scouting service the local states, right up front. This gives me a lot to work with. Some will already be at level three. Some may look interesting enough to take to level three if they are not there. By this time you will become more particular, considering your open slots and what kind of roster you want to build, which positions seem to have an abundance of recruits and which seem to be arid wastelands, etc. Depending on my number of openings, I may do a Public Camp. Good luck.

Happy to have you back, gj. Hope you stick it out for a while

I go with the maximum at my local camp, scout with FSS for my state and all states within like 300-400 miles, sometimes do the camp that covers my area, but then I start using the assistant, first setting it to 100 miles and getting every player up to level 4 (you can tell you are there when it quits costing more). Then I se how much I have left, and go for a 200 mile radius, then 300 (possibly). I like to have a little left, but if I get every player within 300 miles scouted to Level 4, I can make good decisions at that point.

4. I suggest going after only Early signers until your prestige bumps up to B. At least from my experience at a D-. If you go after good "late" recruits you run the risk of a higher prestige team coming in and getting the recruit. At least with Early you can plan accordingly instead of being stuck empty handed in the middle of the second session.