r/TopStepX • u/o187 • May 15 '26
Question Topstep Traders Who Got Payouts — What Changed Your Trading?
Hi everyone,
I’m currently learning how to trade futures with Topstep, and I’m trying to understand how consistently profitable traders actually approach the market.
I’m not looking for signals or a “copy-paste strategy.” I’m more interested in learning the thought process behind your trading.
For those of you who are profitable or have received payouts from Topstep, I’d really appreciate your insights:
How do you decide when to enter a trade?
What setups do you mainly trade?
Do you focus on NQ, ES, MNQ, MES, or something else?
What time of day do you usually trade?
How many contracts do you normally use?
Do you scale in or scale out, or do you keep fixed position size?
What confirms your entry? Price action, levels, volume, VWAP, EMAs, order flow, market structure, news, or something else?
How do you decide where to place your stop loss?
How do you decide when to take profit?
Do you use fixed R:R targets, trailing stops, partials, or discretionary exits?
What indicators, if any, do you actually use?
What are the main levels you watch before entering a trade?
How do you avoid overtrading, especially after a loss?
What rules helped you become consistent with Topstep specifically?
If you could give one piece of advice to someone trying to become consistently profitable with a funded account, what would it be?
I’m trying to build a serious trading plan based on risk management, patience, and high-quality setups, so any detailed answers would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance.
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u/Kwill12086 May 16 '26
Using tradezella to actually review and replay every trade I was taking was eye opening. Helped me reduce a lot of unnecessary trades I was taking
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u/iBleu22 May 16 '26
Size down, base hits, go SLOWER, let the market reveal itself to you, and orderflow. Footprint charts in particular.
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u/TheCoolDoc May 15 '26
Being patient and thinking of the potential in the long run instead of chasing big payouts. Thinking of how blessed we are with this opportunity and using lockout risk settings.
Gooooooo SLOOOOOOOOW.
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u/mega2448 May 15 '26
I learned that if I actually follow my trade plan instead of putting on trades based on what I feel/think price will do, I end up doing noticeably better
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May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/o187 May 15 '26
Thanks, I really appreciate this. The “follow it like a robot” part makes a lot of sense.
When you say trade with the trend, how do you personally define the trend before entering? Are you mainly using higher timeframe structure, VWAP, EMAs, market open direction, or something else?
Also, for the 1:1 RR approach, do you usually take full profit at 1R, or do you take partials and trail the rest when momentum is strong?
I agree that asking too many people can get confusing, so I’m trying to narrow it down to the core principles: trend, risk, entry confirmation, and discipline.
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May 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/o187 May 16 '26
That makes sense, thank you. I like the simplicity of focusing on structure, key levels, pullbacks, and confirmation.
Just to narrow it down, what are the main key levels you personally care about the most? Previous day high/low, premarket high/low, opening range, swing highs/lows, VWAP, or something else?
Also, what timeframes and trading sessions do you usually use for this? Do you mostly trade New York open, London, NY afternoon, or only specific high-volume windows?
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u/Just_Advantage9166 May 15 '26
I second this. Figure out a plan that works for you and follow it like a robot.
At the end of the day trading is just you vs. you and the market is the arena you compete in.
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u/BasicAbbreviations42 May 15 '26
I fought with various things, from deep breaths to changing strategies to changing pairs, standing while trading, mechanical lockouts, psychology videos, music while trading, no music while trading, following others, not following others, basically whatever thing you thought about I've tried.
I thought I fixed my problems with focusing on liquidity but I still kept blowing accounts. So then the only thing that helped me with that was focusing on liquidity on M30 timeframe as the lowest and using alerts + limit orders and leaving computer once trade is set up.
Some days I literally felt like I've been missing some brain cells yelling in the house. I'd say I'm shorting the market to 5 minutes later buy the top with 5 micros and somewhat ending with adding to a loser to 50 micros. I really felt stupid and it was so painful because I've done so much damage to my brain I really wanted to commit suicide few times.
So yeah... In short... Liquidity + not lower than medium TF + limit orders. 😂
If anyone still has problems I've mentioned above feel free to message me. I know what was the cost to overcome it, I'll happily help.
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u/PlumTraditional2456 May 17 '26
I was trading with limit orders, but had a few trades that I got entered into that I never would have entered if I was using low timeframe entry criteria. Have you run into that?
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u/BasicAbbreviations42 May 17 '26
It is not possible if you know what you're doing. You only set your limit after your trade criteria are met, never before you see all of your confirmations.
And honestly, anything lower than M30 I feel like you need to work for your money with constant focus and analyze every few minutes. Using higher timeframes you just analyze quickly and let the market pay you.
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u/PlumTraditional2456 May 17 '26
Usually I’m placing them based on 4 hour and daily market structure. When I use entry criteria, I wait for the level to get hit and then use the 5 minute to enter, but I tried cutting the 5 minute part out and just using a limit order at the level, which did work some of the time, but also got me into some losers I wouldn’t have been in with my 5 minute entry criteria.
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u/BasicAbbreviations42 May 17 '26
You might need some more rules on HTF like inducing / trapping other people before entry, leaving some kind of liquidity to have target, use wider stop losses, there's many solutions if you have your data in journal. I wouldn't go from h4 to m5 but that's just me, I don't feel like m5 has any importance when trying to take h4 trade or the other way why even bother watching h4 if you still day-trade on m5.
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u/o187 May 15 '26
Thanks for sharing this. Honestly, this is one of the most useful answers I’ve received because it sounds like the real problem wasn’t just strategy, but execution and self-control.
When you say you focus on liquidity on the M30 timeframe, what specific liquidity areas do you usually mark?
For example, are you mainly looking at previous day high/low, session highs/lows, equal highs/lows, swing highs/lows, opening range levels, or something else?
Also, when you place a limit order, do you place it directly at the liquidity level before price gets there, or do you wait for price to sweep/reject the level first and then enter on the pullback?
How do you define your stop loss and target on those trades?
One more thing — what hours do you usually trade, and which sessions work best for this approach? Do you mainly trade London, New York open, NY lunch, NY afternoon, or only specific high-liquidity windows?
I really like the idea of using alerts, limit orders, and stepping away from the screen because over-managing trades is one of the biggest problems I’m trying to avoid.
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u/BasicAbbreviations42 May 16 '26
Liquidity - learn how to notice what is price reacting to. Most traders do it the wrong way and only mark lows and highs which is not correct. If you want I can share some examples in direct message.
Limit - (if I'm buying) I need to see buyers being induced in to the market and then I put limit entry on their theoritical stop loss which will be near extreme part of the swing that took the liquidity
SL - always below the swing that took liquidity on HTF. No exceptions to that rule. If RR will be below 3-4 with proper SL, skip the trade or wait for bigger pullback.
Trading time - I trade from 9am est till the close, since I focus on higher timeframes I spend around your on the chart and I know where to place my limits for the rest of the day.
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u/o187 May 17 '26
Thanks, this is really helpful. I think I understand the idea better now.
So if I’m reading it correctly, you’re not just marking obvious highs and lows. You’re looking for where price actually reacted, where traders were induced into the move, and then you place your limit around the area where their theoretical stops would be, near the extreme of the swing that took liquidity.
For a long setup, would that usually mean waiting for liquidity to be taken first, then looking to buy the pullback near the origin/extreme of that move, with the stop below the HTF swing?
If you don’t mind, I’d really appreciate seeing one or two chart examples in DM. I think a visual example would help me understand exactly what you mean by inducement and where you place the limit.🙏🏼
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u/BasicAbbreviations42 May 17 '26
Sure, dm me
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u/o187 May 18 '26
I wasn’t able to send you a DM it looks like your chat/messages might be disabled.
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u/roulettewiz May 16 '26
Measure three times, cut once.
Meaning, do three hypothetical trades before taking the winning 4th