How to win Eliminator

I noticed a lot of comments from players struggling to get the lvl 7 car achievement in Eliminator, so I figured I would share some of my tips dating back to when eliminator was introduced in FH4:

  • Find a good starting spot and always start there. A good starting spot is somewhere other people rarely start at and where cars often spawn nearby or on a logical path to the middle. The benefit of doing this is you will able to get a car drop within 30 second about 90% of the time and you will know what areas to check for other car drops. My starting spot which no longer will remain a secret is the bottom right hand corner. This spot is far away from the center and you almost always have to head towards the middle of the map immediately but it has a bunch of car drops around that area and no one really spawns there currently. This is an example of a spot you want to find yourself and then keep it a secret unlike me.

  • At the start focus on avoiding challenging other players until you find a level 4-5+ car drop. Once you find a level 4-5+ car drop head towards the inner circle and start challenging other cars. Forget about car drops unless they are on the course you’re traveling. The key here is speed. You’re more likely to win eliminator if your a step ahead of everyone else, that is having a higher lvl car. When you get a lvl 4-5 car then you only need to challenge 5 or so cars before you have a lvl 10 car. Once you get the hang of it you should be able to obtain a lvl 10 car in 80% of your matches before the final circle.

  • If you’re unlucky and haven’t found a lvl 4-5 car at the start and you feel behind then don’t worry. Stay on the outer perimeter and wait until the inner circle shrinks. Once it’s shrunk then new cars will spawn. When they do quickly drive to them in sequence and upgrade your car. At this point you may still feel behind in terms of car lvl. In which case you may need to challenge a higher lvl car. What you need to do when challenging a higher lvl car is to get the head start on them. But how can you get a head start if you don’t know where you need to race to until the challenge starts? The trick here is that the destination you need to race to will always be within the circle. And if you’re on the outer edge of the inner circle when the challenge happens then the destination has to be towards the center part of the inner circle. Therefore if you can cleverly challenge someone at the outer edge while you’re driving inwards and they are driving outwards then you have a massive advantage because you just need to drive straight whereas they need to turn around. With this method it’s possible for a lvl 5 car to beat a lvl 10.

  • Understand the strengths and weaknesses of each car. There are RWD cars in eliminator, some of which are very difficult to handle depending on your setup. You need to know what to expect. You will get familiar with most cars within half a dozen to a dozen games, assuming you’re not eliminated early each time.

  • Direction to go in final race. This is nothing new but the direction you need to go for the final race is fairly easy to predict. You generally race to the opposite side of the map. So if you’re in the bottom right then you will race to the top left. Similarly if you can safely open up the map and see what highways/roads you want to take before the final race starts then do this.

  • Start the final race before it begins. When the final countdown ends (3, 2, 1) I am already driving close to top speed and I’m just about to exit the inner circle. This is before the final location has even been revealed. 85% of the time this works as expected and results in a huge head start.

  • Once you get a lvl 10 car that you’re happy with don’t bother about challenging other players. Just go hide somewhere. When you stop your car for a few seconds you will not be visible to other players on the mini map. Let other players eliminate each other. The exception to this rule is when you get more experienced. In which case you can try narrow down the field by eliminating cars left right and center. I’ve won Eliminator numerous times this way before the final race even starts.

  • Don’t panic. Focus on driving. The best example I can give is an example I see all to often in online races when I’m tailing behind someone and turn on my siren. They hear my siren and start panicking because they know I’m right behind them. They are now focused more on me and less on driving which often results in them making a small mistake and slowing down enough for me to pass them. The same applies to Eliminator. If you are neck and neck with someone, glance at the mini map when you need in order to gauge where they are, but stay focused on what you’re doing. Be confident. If you’re confident then 95% of the time you will win.

  • Note that 87.6% of statistics are made up on the spot.

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My option: sit back, but try to get some decent ride, then avoid any contact - just wait it out, then gun it in probable finish direction …
and you get this, actually wasn’t intentional: Forza Horizon 5, First eliminator win :) - YouTube

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I finally won my very first Eliminator today. Never managed it in the 12 months I played FH4.
Started out with 57 other drivers and managed to evade being challenged while sticking to the perimeter of the safety circle heading anti-clockwise.
Picked up a couple of level 5 cars along the way but stuck with a level 4 Subaru as I succeeded into being amongst the final 12.
The final showdown locked us 12 finalists in the mountainous & rocky are to the extreme north of the map. I couldn’t climb any further uphill and was teetering on the pink-perimeter so the only way out was due south which to my advantage was where the final destination was, halfway down the whole map.
I assumed the other 11 players were on the other side of the mountain and it was obvious they were struggling to negotiate the mountainous area, as I din’t see anyone else on my final journey to the finishing point.
Just fortunate that I didn’t see another player in the 15 or so minutes and I finally became The Eliminator. It was a good day.Happy Christmas folks !

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the game mode is:

95% luck
5% skill

and that changes when you add the cheaters to the mix
then the game mode is like:

99% cheater wins
.5% luck
.5% skill

a saw a car flying across the sky yesterday in this game mode … need I tell you what that was?

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Santa Claus?

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In my experience the Eliminator is mostly knowledge/experience based. Luck isn’t required as much as you might think if you know how to give yourself the best odds. Hence the guide.

That’s a really nice guide mate! Great job!

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I’m a below average head-to-head racer but won my first Eliminator last night in large part thanks to this advice, thanks for sharing it!
Once head-to-head races are disabled there’s plenty of time to check out the map, guess where the finish will be, and get a massive head start. I was able to win the final showdown easily against a few L10’s with a L7 Porsche this way.

Wednesday is probably the best day to try for an easy win, because you’ll see fewer regulars and many players just showing up to get top 30 and cross Eliminator off for the weekly at the last minute.

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I have won loads of times in FH4 but 5 is a different beast. There are too many trees and rocks. Suppose this is life in the shadow of a volcano. I’ll keep trying :grinning:

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My advice: Do this

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Once in the L10, I’d just lay low and don’t risk getting beaten by a cheater or because of a stupid mistake.

When I played eliminator religiously in FH4 I did the opposite. If I was a head of the pack in a lvl 10 car then I would destroy those who remained to reduce my competition in the final race. Often I would win before the final showdown because no one was left lol. If I saw another lvl 10 car and knew I had the advantage then I would definitely challenge them too.

Same. I still play FH4 Eliminator and thats literally most rounds. Get LVL 10, and eliminate everyone else. It feels good. :sweat_smile:

How many players are in FH4 eliminator these days? I know towards the end it got quite bad and would be as low as 24-30 players.

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I’ve been in rounds as low as 6 or 7 at what I’m assuming are the most off-peak times (late night/early morning US time). Fine by me, since it makes it easier to eke out the last few levels for the Mercury Cougar.

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Lowest I had was 5

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That is not enough, you realy need them to rage quit

Didn’t get your reply. It ranges anywhere from 4 to 20 people in FH4 for me.

My tactic is to just stop when ever someone in a higher class car challenges me, it’s just a long dragrace anyway.

Humorous and very helpful … thanks for the time spent on this as well as your willingness to share such great info with the rest of us.
Cheers my friend and my you always be just behind your foes!!