What is the Eliminator?
It’s a Battle Royale mode set in the world of Forza Horizon 4 where 72 drivers compete to become the Eliminator, the last driver standing, by eliminating each other in Head-to-Head races and ultimately winning the final race. Players can get into faster cars by securing car drops indicated by flares in the world. When they beat another player in a Head-to-Head race they’ll get the option of taking their defeated opponent’s car or choosing a car that is slightly better than their current one.
Some points to consider when player Eliminator:
- Cars use an easy to understand level system instead of PI, from 1 to 10 with 1 being slow and 10 being fast
- Unlike most BR modes Eliminator features a final race that can include up to 12 drivers, rather than the final two players battling it out
- Eliminator uses the entire world of Forza Horizon 4
- Eliminator takes place in the current season and uses the current time of day when the session starts
- Eliminator features its own campaign thread with special rewards
How do I get good at Eliminator?
The four keys to success in Eliminator are:
- Securing the fastest car ASAP
- Controlling how and when you engage in a Head-to-Head race
- Understanding where any given race finish line might end in the world, including the final race
- Avoiding obstacles such as trees while going flat out
But, how do I really get good at Eliminator, I need more details! Ok, more detail coming up!
The Beginning of the Game
Getting to the point where you're driving ASAP is key, there are two stages to get past, choosing your starter car and choosing a location to start. Your goal here is to get past this section as fast as possible.
Choosing your starter car
Every player gets the same starter car, the 1965 Mini Cooper S, so don't hang around on the car select screen, head straight to the map and select a location start.
Choosing a starting location
Ideally you'll want to choose a location where a lot of car drops are going to spawn, everyone will find their favorite spots but good locations include areas of interest such as:
- Mortimer Gardens - out in the North West of the map – this is usually a good starting location for car drops, however, with it being at the corner of the map you’ll need to be careful the Arena doesn’t shrink badly leaving you with a big drive in the Mini! A benefit of this though is that it’s often underpopulated so you’ll have a good chance of securing a car drop or two.
- Express Railyard – this is another good starting location for car drops, however they can be harder to see that some areas because of the buildings and trains, it’s quite well located for early Arena shrinks so can be a safe option.
- Mudkickers Adventure Park – although not the easiest location to drive around it offers a decent chance at car drops and is in a decent location.
- Slate Quarry – difficult to navigate but a good chance of car drops and has good visibility of other players looking to get the drop on you!
We'd recommend option 1 but advise keeping an eye on the Arena (use the map to see where it's going to shrink to).
Pro Tip: Get to know where car drops often spawn in your favorite location so you can quickly check them at the start of the game before moving elsewhere.
Collecting a Car Drop
The purple colored flares you can see dotted around the world indicate there is a car drop there, unless you’re in a level 6 or above there is a decent chance you’ll get a better car than the one you’re driving right now. Car drops go up to level 10, so it’s always worth checking one out, but not to the point that you become vulnerable to a Head-to-Head race.
If you see a single grey flare it’s an indication someone has already taken the car drop and you’ll get nothing from it. If you see this right at the start of the game be careful, someone is nearby in a car that’s a higher level than the Mini.
You don’t have to come to a complete stop to collect a car drop, you can be travelling about 70mph and still pick one up with the X Button, but be aware that you’ll come to a complete stop and quickly reload into the new car there and then making you vulnerable to a Head-to-Head race – see below. If you’re in a Head-to-Head race, you can’t collect car drops, so don’t let them distract you!
Like any BR mode, getting lucky with a car drop is a huge key to success so get used to checking them out as often as possible.
Head-to-Head Races
Head-to-Head races, initiated by using the horn (R3) when players are within range of each other, will give you the opportunity to eliminate another player, and either take their car or upgrade to a car that is one level higher than your current car. However, it’s also a good way to get eliminated so it’s not always a great strategy to race someone if they are in a similar, or better, car.
When to challenge someone
You can learn a few techniques to help you win a Head-to-Head though! Firstly, there are opportunities to challenge someone while they’re stationary and off-guard. These include situations when a player has just changed car, so they’ve just won a Head-to-Head or have just slowed down at a car drop. These are the situations where you can really get the drop on a player and give yourself a good head start. But, it’s all going to be for nothing if the race forces you to immediately turn around, so Arena and map knowledge is key…
Where the race will finish
Head-to-Head races tend to plot back towards the center of the Area, they should never finish outside the Area so if you’re at the edge and challenge another player the race will likely finish towards the center of the Arena. Use this to your advantage! Don’t get caught driving away from the center of the Arena and then get challenged, you’re more than likely going to have to turn around and lose precious time.
Pro Tip: Avoid challenging players, and being challenged, while driving slowly, the faster you’re already travelling when the race starts the better head start you’ll get.
The Final Race
Once the Arenas has shrunk to its final size the game waits until the player count reaches 12 or less, at that point Head-to-Head races are disabled and players cannot start a new one. Now the game gets ready for the final race, at which point the Arena is removed and all remaining players are given the same destination to race towards with the first one that winning the Eliminator!
Where the final race will finish
The final race will plot outside of the Arena; remember the Arena is removed when the race starts, so it’s a little harder to guess where the destination will be compared to a Head-to-Head race. But, the final race has a minimum distance of 2km so if the final circle is right at the edge of the map so you know it’s not going to plot outside of the world. You can use this to gain an advantage over other players who might have no idea where the race is going to go.
Pro Tip: The trick here is to be travelling as quickly as possible when the race starts, so if you’re guessing the race will end in a certain direction (let’s say south) travel to the opposite edge (north in this example) of the Arena, away from where you’re gambling the race will start, and then wait out the timer a little. Once you have just enough time left race towards the direction you think the race will end (again, south in this example), you ideally want to time this so that as you reach the edge of the Arena the final race starts and the Arena walls are removed, giving you a huge head start over the other drivers!
Community Pro Tips:
- When driving in the forest, use bonnet cam.
- Remap one of your controller buttons for easy map access (recommended LS).
- Go to setting, controller settings and scroll down to the "Map" option and press A. Press the button you would like to remap the "Map" to, then save it to Custom Controller Layout 1. Then Save.
- Watch out for Trees!!
- If you are in a low level car, but the final showdown is near, don't worry! You can still win it by taking a better route than everybody else.