If you’ve ever tried to host an arena for online multiplayer in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, you may have had trouble with tweaking the rules and — in particular — the stages that you want to play on. For players interested in using only stages commonly used in the competitive scene, or who just want to include or exclude specific stages, and not just play on Omega Form or Battlefield, this guide will help you host an arena with the stages you want.

1. Select ‘Smash’ from the main menu, and then ‘Smash’ again: It might seem counter-intuitive, but to get the settings you want for your arena to include specific stages, you first need to create a ruleset in Smash mode by navigating to ‘Smash’ and ‘Smash’.

2. Select ‘Create Ruleset’: Within the Rule Settings menu, create a new ruleset, and tweak the rule settings to what you will want in your arena. There are some settings that won’t apply to Battle Arenas, but you want to ensure that those settings that transfer are exactly how you want them. Don’t forget to look under ‘Advanced’ as that is where Stage Hazards can be toggled on and off.

3. Select ‘Random Stage Selection’: This is where you will be selecting (or deselecting) the stages you want to include. If you’re simply looking to exclude a handful of stages, you should deselect them. However if you’re planning to only include a handful of stages, such as those commonly used at tournaments, you will want to choose ‘Set None’ and then turn back on the specific stages you want to include.

4. Press + to save your new Ruleset: Make sure that you save your new ruleset by pressing the + button and assigned the ruleset a memorable name, perhaps related to using it for Battle Arenas.

5. Select ‘Online’ from the main menu, and then ‘Smash’, and then ‘Battle Arenas’: Return to the main menu and enter into the Online mode. From there select ‘Battle Arenas.’ Once you are here, it is time to select ‘Create Arena.’

6. Select ‘Rules’ in the Create Arena menu: While you may want to adjust the other settings, you want to select the Rules setting to be able to use your newly created ruleset containing the stages you want to randomly draw from. Here you will again see the Rulesets menu, and you can choose the ruleset you previously created for your battle arenas.

7. Press ‘Y’ for More Settings and Set ‘Stage’ to ‘Random’: Make sure that before you create your arena, you press the ‘Y’ button to enter the ‘More Settings’ menu for Battle Arenas. Here you need to ensure that the Stage setting is set to ‘Random’ so that it will draw from a random stage from you predetermined stage list.

8. Enjoy your selected stages: You can now create your arena and battle with friends and strangers alike on a rotating selection of the stages you have picked in your arena in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate doesn’t have the most intuitive menus, and may not offer every online option players desire, but you can create a pool of stages to randomly draw from in battle arenas that doesn’t include every stage in the game, or just Omega Form or Battlefield stages. Have fun playing in your preferred list of stages!

Featured Image: Nintendo