Hi, rookie.
Let's set up your player card. It takes three taps.
Badges
Your first week
Sources: Why (and How to) Join the VHL (animal74), How to Create a Player (Will), A Breakdown of Earning Opportunities (sadie)
This week
Pick how much time you have, then tick tasks off as you do them.
How much time do you have?
Capped TPE tops out at 12 a week, or 10 in a week you take Welfare (11 with Pension). Practice Facility is uncapped, so it always counts.
How to claim
Doing a task isn't enough: you claim it on the portal, and an updater reviews it.
- Post your task on the forumUse the right section, like Media Spots or your team's press conference thread.
- Copy the post's linkClick the three dots at the top right of your post, choose Share, and copy the link.
- Open Player ManagementOn the portal, open Player Management and choose Claim Capped or Claim Uncapped.
- Fill in the claimPick the week, choose the task type, enter the TPE, and paste your link.
- SubmitAn updater reviews it. Spot a mistake before then? Revoke the claim and submit it again. Once it's approved, apply the TPE to your attributes.
Button claims
Practice Facility, Welfare and Training Camp are buttons on Player Management, with no post needed. Trivia has its own claim button once you answer correctly.
One post, several weeks
Each link can be claimed once. For a long article worth several weeks, reply to your own post each week (for example, "claim 2 of 3 for week ending 5/18") and claim with that reply's link.
Plan ahead
What a steady routine adds up to, with the weekly cap applied.
Assumes you complete the routine every week. Doesn't include fantasy games, training camp or store purchases you don't tick.
Learn
Start with Rookie Camp, then dig into your career path and everything you can earn.
Rookie Camp
Six short lessons, each ending with one quick question. About ten minutes in total.
Your career on the ice
Your career runs from one end of the rink to the other. Four write-ups pay uncapped TPE, but each one is only open for part of the trip.
Ways to earn
Every task, what it pays, and what it takes.
Stuck on what to make?
You don't need to know league history to earn TPE. These only need your own player and your first impressions.
Build your player
Where to spend your TPE so your player actually performs.
Your first TPE
Start with attributes that feed Defense, the most important rating. A common first move is raising Deking and Defensive Coverage together: between them they also add Puck Handling and Skating. Centers can add Faceoffs. Every level up to 70 costs just 1 TPE, so nothing is wasted early on.
Earning less than about 10 TPE a week? Aim for a balanced build of around 200 TPE first, then add to it. Earning more? Work toward the 400 TPE starter build below from the start.
How skater attributes work
On the portal you upgrade hybrid attributes like Deking or Poke Checking. Each one feeds one or more of the ratings the sim uses, such as Defense or Puck Handling.
Levels get pricier as they climb, so spreading TPE across the attributes that feed a rating beats maxing one.
TPE cost per level
Maxing a single attribute costs 225 TPE in total.
Which ratings matter
Ranked by how much they help, with the attributes that build each one.
Rules of thumb
- Build Defense first. It improves positioning, which helps at both ends of the ice.
- Raise attributes in rotation. For example, take Poke Checking to 70, then Defensive Coverage to 70, then Deking to 70, before pushing any past 70.
- Keep Scoring and Passing apart, or your player hesitates and produces less. Grape found a gap of at least 5 works; older guides suggest about 10.
- Forwards and defensemen can use the same build. Defensemen can lean a little more into Defense, forwards into Scoring.
- Build the player you'll enjoy. Staying active matters more than a perfect build.
A starter VHLM build
Grape's 2025 baseline for skaters. It uses 386 of the 400 VHLM TPE and reaches 70 in Puck Handling, Defense, Skating and Scoring, leaving 14 TPE to personalize.
Sources: Grape's Ultimate Guide to STHS Attributes (2025), Player Build Guide (Gustav), My Take on a VHLM Build Guide (VattghernCZ)
Your first TPE
Split your starting TPE evenly across the four primary ratings: Rebound Control, Style Control, Hand Speed and Reaction Time. Then follow the build order below. Every level up to 70 costs just 1 TPE.
How goalie attributes work
Goalies are simpler than skaters. There are no hybrid attributes: the TPE you apply goes straight into the ratings the sim uses, like Reaction Time.
The same rising cost per level applies, so pushing one rating very high gets expensive fast.
TPE cost per level
VattghernCZ's advice for the VHLM: don't take any rating past 80 yet, because levels above that cost 5 TPE or more each.
Which ratings matter
Every goalie guide agrees on the same priorities.
A simple build order
- Primaries to 70Rebound Control, Style Control, Hand Speed and Reaction Time. They're cheap up to 70.
- Secondaries to 70Skating, Size and Agility. Low secondaries hold back what your primaries can do.
- Back to the primariesKeep raising the four primaries until you reach the VHLM cap of 400 TPE.
Goalie tips
- The height and weight you pick at creation have no effect in the sim. Only the Size rating does.
- Keep secondaries below your primaries. They support the primaries rather than replace them.
- Skip Leadership and Penalty Shot in the VHLM. Their effect is tiny.
- Look at the builds of successful goalies on the portal. Copying a proven build is a sound approach.
VattghernCZ's guide includes a full example VHLM goalie build as an image.
Sources: My Take on a VHLM Build Guide (VattghernCZ, 2025), Player Build Guide (Gustav), Grape's Ultimate Guide
Made a mistake? You can fix it
Both options are in the Player Store. Because the first reroll is free, an early mistake is never permanent.
TPA Recall
Take back up to 10 TPA from a single attribute that's at 70 or below, and spend it somewhere else. Costs $500,000; 2 per career.
TPA Reroll
Reset every attribute and re-spend all your TPA on a new build. Off-season only; 2 per career. The first is free, the second costs $7,000,000.
More
Answers, definitions, and where to find a person who can help.
Common worries
Stuck? Ask a person.
The fastest help is human. Ask in #newcomers-help on the VHL Discord, or in your team's locker room once you've joined a VHLM team. GMs and teammates expect rookie questions.
Join the VHL DiscordAlso useful: the New Member Guide forum, the VHL Rule Book, and the Code of Conduct.
Finding trivia answers
Two questions a week on the portal, 1 TPE each. Here's where to look.
Finding trivia answers
Two questions a week on the portal, 1 TPE each. Here's where to look.
The most common trap: the portal's records and career stats are unreliable for older seasons, especially before Season 47. If the portal's answer isn't one of the options, the portal is probably wrong, not the question.
Use the portal for
Use the forum for
If a question asks you to count how many times something happened, check the Hall of Fame forum first. Someone has often counted it already.
Source: Help for Finding Trivia Answers (MubbleFubbles, 2022)
Glossary
Every term on this site in plain English. Dotted-underlined words anywhere can be tapped for a quick definition.
Glossary
Every term on this site in plain English. Dotted-underlined words anywhere can be tapped for a quick definition.
Sources and further reading
Everything here came from these guides. Open them for the full detail.
Sources and further reading
Everything here came from these guides. Open them for the full detail.