Battle royale games offer some of the most challenging and epic moments in gaming, and Respawn’s Apex Legends doesn’t disappoint in that regard. Apex Legends is one of many battle royale games with a vast skill gap, which makes it incredibly challenging for beginners looking to dive into the genre. However, with a few simple changes to your playstyle, you too can master Apex Legends and secure that coveted first win.
We’ve put together 10 tips new players can follow on their journey to reaching the Apex Predator rank.
1. Pick A Legend To Master
Apex Legends differs in comparison with other battle royales due to its introduction of legends with unique skills and play styles.
It’s not uncommon for players to change between legends to experience a new way of playing. There’s nothing wrong with experimenting early on.
However, you should find a legend that suits your playstyle if you’re looking to improve as a player. This will allow you to master their abilities while knowing when and how to use them at key moments in the game.
If you’re struggling to choose a legend, I recommend using someone simple at first while you level up to unlock more. Level 23 will be the level you need to reach to have enough legend tokens to unlock your first legend outside of the starter options.
For new players, Pathfinder is often a great choice. He’s a relatively simple legend to begin with, allowing players to traverse the map with his grapple ability. Once you hit level 23, try Catalyst — the latest legend added in season 15.
2. Choose A Loadout
Everyone prefers a certain gun type or weapon play style so make sure to use a range of weapons in your first few games to get used to the different guns. With weapon types playing a big role in how you attack make sure you choose weapons that match your style.
For example, I love the thrill of pushing enemies and challenging myself in engagements, so I personally use the R-301 and Eva-8 combo. This combination of a medium to short-range assault rifle and shotgun allows me to deal maximum damage up close, but also engage in long-range fights. An important note to add is that you shouldn’t pick two weapons of the same ammo type. It’s often the case that after an engagement you may be low on ammo, but having two different ammo-type weapons means more chance of finding ammo your weapons use.
3. Movement Mechanics
Apex Legends is full of a range of movement mechanics that can be used to your advantage. These movement mechanics range from easy to challenging but any you can master can aid your ability to win gunfights and move around the map, so give them a try.
One key mechanic which is crucial for beginner players is learning to slide jump. Slide jumping is a basic mechanic in a number of games, though learning how it can be used in battle can be challenging. After this, I recommend asking friends or reading guides on more skilled movement mechanics. For example, the wall bounce can be done relatively easy but requires more skill to be useful in battles.
4. Shield Swap
Shield swapping is one of the most overlooked tactics by both beginner and high leveled players. A shield swap refers to the action of accessing an enemy’s death box and replacing your damaged shield with theirs. The shield picked up from the death box will always be fully charged meaning it can quickly regenerate your shield.
If you’re quickly going to be entering another engagement shield swapping is perfect to get that extra health. This skill is probably one of the more challenging aspects to incorporate into games as it’s difficult to consciously think about swapping your shield while preoccupied in a battle. However, if you do use this skill I promise you’ll come out on top more often.
5. Inventory Management
The way in which you organize and use your inventory can be a huge help to early game engagements especially. Early-game engagements mean you have very little backpack space, due to the fact that you haven’t had the time to loot fully and find a higher-rarity backpack to increase your slots.
How you use your backpack space is very important. Typically at the beginning of the game, I recommend carrying four slots worth of your primary weapon ammo and two slots worth of your secondary weapon ammo. Also, heals and grenades will be useful for any engagements where you need to use a bit of power to move your enemies from their spots.
6. Hip Fire
Whilst using sights can make your aim far better for more accurate engagements, hip fire can have huge advantages in fights. Hip fire is vastly different from other BRs in Apex Legends as the hip fire spread is much more accurate. This technique can be used easily in close-range battles while still being sure your shots are going to hit the target.
Hip firing is best used while encompassing movement mechanics in a close-range fight. This means lots of shots are missing you whilst as many shots as possible are hitting your target. Furthermore, as shown in the video above hip firing massively increases your movement speed, meaning you can dodge enemy shots much easier.
7. Use The Firing Range
A tactic used by many professional players is to use the firing range as much as possible. For example, this could be to warm up before hopping into your first game. Using the firing range can help you understand the game as a new player as well.
To get the most use out of the firing range you should try out new characters’ abilities, practice with all the guns and learn the recoil of your favorite weapon. Learning recoil patterns in the firing range can be very useful in-game. It’s not always the case that you’ll have a high-leveled barrel stabilizer, so hitting more shots by countering recoil can be the difference between life and death.
8. POV Slider
One of my personal favorite features of multiplayer games was first introduced in Apex Legends. This is the point-of-view slider that can completely alter the feel and style of the game. I recommend that new players instantly change their settings to have the POV slider maxed out at 120.
Maximum view allows more of the game on-screen instead of having to move your camera to see more. This means there’s more chance of you seeing an enemy further out or catching a glimpse of more loot.
9. Ping
Apex Legends only offers a duo and trio feature in game modes. This often means that if your squad isn’t online to play, you’ll be jumping into games solo. If this is the case and you’re not in voice chat with your team, the ping system in Apex can come in handy.
This allows you to easily tag enemies for your team and show areas you want to push or loot. By doing this you can have good communication with your team without physically talking to them. Also, even if you are in voice chat a quick ping of an enemy can help your teammate understand where they are far more efficiently.
10. Have Fun
As much as these tips are helpful to new players the best way to get better at a game like Apex Legends is to play and have fun. Learning new strategies and play styles is all part of the journey.
If you’re not having fun playing a legend a friend has recommended to you, switch to one that you enjoy playing. You’re much more likely to get better at the game with a legend that feels comfortable to you.
Apex Legends is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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