Events in Need for Speed: Heat can be found across Palm City, with new events as players increase their Reputation Level.
The selection of events available differs between day and night, as well as the style of racing players will participate in:
- Day - Players earn bank () from participating in events hosted by the Speedhunters Showdown and police will not get involved.
- Night - Players earn rep () from participating in illicit street racing events and engaging with the PCPD.
Each event has a recommended performance level, optimal handling profile, and any Autolog recommendation from either a friend or a rival. Players can also swap their vehicle before entering an event at its start location.
Players can start an event by driving up to the base of its start location and pressing the prompted button. Additional players in the current multiplayer session can compete against each other in the same event by sending an invitation to all party members or all players in the current server.
Event Types[]
Race[]
Race events can take place as either a sprint from a start location to a finish line or as a circuit across multiple laps along a checkpoint route.
Circuit Race[]
A Circuit Race event is made up of multiple laps along a set route marked out with checkpoints. Participants have to complete all laps along the route, with the first racer to complete all laps being the winner.
Sprint Race[]
A Sprint Race event has participants race against each other from the start location to the finish line along a set route marked out with checkpoints. All racers are shown their distance percentage as they drive along the route, and the winner is the first racer to the reach the finish line.
Off-Road[]
Off-Road events can take place as either a sprint from a start location to a finish line or as a circuit across multiple laps along a checkpoint route, and have the majority of their routes along difficult off-road terrain.
Off-Road Circuit Race[]
An Off-Road Circuit Race event is made up of multiple laps along a set route marked out with checkpoints. Participants have to complete all laps along the route, with the first racer to complete all laps being the winner.
Off-Road Sprint Race[]
An Off-Road Sprint Race event has participants race against each other from the start location to the finish line along a set route marked out with checkpoints. All racers are shown their distance percentage as they drive along the route, and the winner is the first racer to the reach the finish line.
Drift Trial[]
Drift Trial events require participants to earn points by drifting along a set route, and may be along a circuit with a set number of laps or a point-to-point route.
The route is marked with checkpoints with points earned based on the distance, speed, angle, and proximity to solid objects. The longer, faster, and more aggressive a racer can drift, the more points they will earn, and a proximity bonus is added should the racer come close to any solid objects during a drift.
A score multiplier will increase the score a racer builds up for a drift as they chain multiple drifts without crashing.
Time Trial[]
Time Trial events pit the player against a route with a set number of checkpoints and a timer. They have to complete the outlined route within a certain time to earn bank.
All Time Trial events include an crew leaderboard and will compare player times against other members of the same crew as well as their friends list.
Event Modifiers[]
High Heat[]
High Heat events only take place at night and require a player to be at a certain Heat Level before they are allowed to participate.
They are the only events that reward both bank and reputation alongside performance parts, which are referred to as 'volatile parts'.
Two High Heat events are offered per night and are chosen randomly; one will require a racer to be at least Heat Level 3 and the other will require Heat Level 5. They will both offer a high amount of bank and rep as a reward, but the performance part offered depends on the player's current reputation level.
Participating in a High Heat event has a near guarantee of engaging with the Palm City Police Department, but offers the most bank and rep for a single event as well as a 'volatile part'.
A 'volatile part' is a high level performance part depending on the player's reputation level. Successfully returning to a Safe House with a 'volatile part' will unlock it for purchase through the garage and allow the player to equip their 'volatile part' to a car.
Challenging Difficulty[]
Events highlighted with an exclamation mark in a yellow circle have both a regular and challenging difficulty option. They can be found on day and night events, offering additional bank or rep rewards depending when they take place.
Map Icons[]
Through the mini-map and menu map, players will see the individual icons that represent each event type, as well as a few differing backgrounds that highlight their relation to the player.