Forza Horizon 3: Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Start With a Car That’s Right for You

After kicking things off and winning your first Showcase, you will have to pick between one of four cars to start your Forza Horizon 3 adventure. The options are a Ford Shelby GT350R, a Nissan Silvia Spec R, a BMW M4 Coupe, and a HSV Limited Edition Gen-F GTS Maloo. Each of these cars is a well balanced vehicle to start you off right and have you ready to win races and the hearts of fans immediately. However, checking their stats before putting ink on the contract will help you out.

You know your driving style better than anyone, so pick something that fits. I personally went with the Nissan since it had solid handling and great acceleration, although it wasn’t the fastest in the bunch. Why? I know that I’m a reckless driver, so having that extra push in acceleration meant that I could take crazy drifts and spins, hit the gas, and lurch forward faster than anyone else; this helped to keep me in the lead and win a lot of races. Pick which stats suit you best because this will be your only vehicle for a little while — unless you want to waste Credits early or you get lucky and win a car from the Wheelspin. 

Focus on Festival Boss and Regular Skills When Spending Your Points

Once you reach level 5, which is right around when you upgrade your Festival for the first time early on in the game. There are three different trees that you can pour your points into – Festival Boss, Skills, and Instant Rewards. While the Instant Rewards may seem appealing since they offer immediate Credits, XP, and Wheelspins, you’ll want to focus on things that will help you in the long run.

The Skills tab is all about increases to scores for different tricks you can pull off, such as jumps, drifts, Clean Racing, and more. This means you’ll be able to pull off bigger chains worth more XP, which in turn earns you more Skill Points. The Festival Boss tab focuses on ways to improve the overall growth of your Horizon Festival in Forza Horizon 3 by giving you perks that a boss deserves: access to customization, new promotions, ways to earn more fans, and boosts for when you play online. Both of these tabs are more valuable in the long run, especially if you’re looking to run through as much of the game’s content as possible. 

It Isn’t All About Speed

While Forza Horizon 3 is definitely a racing game, that doesn’t mean that you need to drive at top speed at all times. There will be moments when you need to slow it down, particularly during Street Races or challenges with a lot of turns. When this happens, you’ll want to watch your driving line (the blue one on the ground that changes color depending on how you’re driving). If you see it start to turn yellow or, even worse, red, make sure to hit the brakes and slow down so you can safely take the turn. If you’re worried about losing a lead by doing so, don’t. Other cars will have to do the same, so if you come out of the turn well, you can just accelerate and keep your lead.

We didn’t only mean slowing down from time to time, though, as there are times when you’ll need speed and something else. That something else is style. You can earn extra Credits, XP, and Fans by completing races and challenges in style. Drifting, jumps, drafting, overtaking opponents, clean driving, and other tricks can help earn you bonuses on the side. So, while driving fast and earning your place on podiums,  make sure to make it look good as well. 

Don’t Waste Your Credits

As you race and win, you’ll start earning a nice cushion of Credits to fund your adventure. These can be used to purchase new vehicles, fast travel, customize, and upgrade your cars. It’s tempting to want to blow all your hard-earned cash on a new Lambo, or perhaps those rims you’ve been eyeing, but you should hold back at first. When you unlock new locations and upgrade existing ones you will get sweet deals on cars. Sometimes you can get a great car for free, other times you’ll get solid discounts, saving you hundreds of thousands of credits. It’s best to wait for these opportunities rather than make it rain at the car dealership.

You can also win free vehicles from Wheelspins or Forza Hub. Those are just two more reasons to hold back on spending so you can save for the more high-end sports cars, which will each set you back more than 1 Million Credits. 

Use Anna

Anna is your computer assistant that you can access whenever you’re not in a race or challenge. Tapping down on the d-pad brings up a quick menu that you can navigate using the same d-pad. Up and down chooses between options, while pressing right on the d-pad selects them. You can navigate to the nearest location of different types of events, get advice on what to do next, or begin matchmaking without having to pause the game.

Anna is so useful that she will even remind you of events you haven’t finished, such as Championships. When you ever find yourself lost – which you will from time to time – just five Anna a shout. 

Focus on the Festivals You Enjoy

When playing through Forza Horizon 3, you’ll find yourself able to upgrade Festival locations while also being able to open up a few new ones. You should definitely open all of them when you get the chance, as this will provide activities throughout the entirety of the Australian map rather than just the one section where you have a Festival. But, when it comes time to upgrade, you should focus on those in areas that you enjoy driving in. This is because when you upgrade, more races, challenges, and secrets will pop up solely in that area.

You’ll have to complete these races, challenges, and anything else to earn Credits, XP, and Fans. Since you have to do these things to progress the game’s plot, you may as well do so in places that you actually like driving around. Don’t like rally races with too much dirt and lots of obstacles? Then you may want to steer clear of upgrading the outback for a while. Take note of each area’s terrain, and keep in mind the cars you like to drive and whether or not they’ll work there. 

Do Everything

Last, but not least, do everything you can in Forza Horizon 3. The game packs in a surprising amount of content and each component offers worthwhile rewards for all players. Since your goal is to become the best festival boss in Forza Horizon history, you’re going to want to scrape together as many rewards and bonuses as possible.

There will races, PR Stunts, Showcases, Barn Finds, different challenges on the road, and more for you to get into. Don’t let anything pass you by and you’ll find yourself raking in the credits and racking up XP and fans in no time.