Apex Legends beginner’s guide

Apex Legends is the new battle royale game from Titanfall developer Respawn. The game features a variety of different character classes, called Legends, that each have their own unique abilities. It also features a respawn system to revive your entire squad even after they’ve been eliminated from the game.

At its heart, Apex Legends is very much a battle royale game, and the basics are about what you would expect from the genre. But, with the game’s different guns and characters, there are plenty of places where it separates itself from the competition. When you’re first starting out with the game, it’s important to look for these differences, especially the Legends, and find out how you can best use their abilities to your advantage. It’ll help make you and your friends the last squad standing.

Before you dive in and get slaughtered, check out this beginner’s guide, which includes everything you’ll need to know to get started in Apex Legends.

Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

Apex Legends is a battle royale game

Even though the addition of classes and class-specific abilities helps separate Apex Legends from some of its competition, make no mistake: It’s still a battle royale game, and most of the genre’s rules still apply.

That means that positioning is everything. You’ll always have to be careful about where you are on the map in relation to the ever-shrinking ring. If you have to come into a circle late, make sure you come in from an angle that is less likely to have players.

The best way to do this is to remember which way the drop ship flew in to start the game. If one side of the circle was right underneath the ship’s path, there’s a pretty good chance a team could be around there. The same goes for large cities, which are always likely to have action in them, especially if they are at the edge of a zone.

There are two types of healing items, one for you and one for your armor

Looting is another central battle royale feature that’s important in Apex Legends. Always be on the lookout for defensive gear, which are effectively your shields.

Defensive gear slots can hold a vest and helmet, which vary in quality from common (which takes the least damage) to uncommon, rare, and legendary.

Think of armor like it’s a shield. That means you can refill your armor so it’s ready to take more damage. Armor packs are quicker to use than regular healing. They’re also more important because your armor takes damage before your health. They’ll be the main form of healing item you want to stock up on while you’re looting.

Experiment with guns and collect a lot of ammo

Apex Legends has a lot of different guns, and most are pretty decent (save for a couple of puny pistols and SMGs). So, you should spend your first several games trying out as many different weapons as you can to get a better feel for what you do and don’t like. The game’s training simulator will give you a chance to try out each gun, but it’s good to try them during a match too, since the training simulator doesn’t shoot back.

The one constant around the game’s weapons is that it takes a lot of bullets to kill other players. No matter where you hit them or how well you shoot, your opponents are tough. That means you’ll probably use a lot of bullets in any fight. Ammo in Apex Legends isn’t exactly plentiful either, so as soon as you know which guns you’ll be using, be sure to stack up on the relevant ammo types. If you’re going to last into the late game, you’re going to need plenty of bullets.

Learn the role of each Legend

What really distinguishes Apex Legends from other battle royale game is the game’s Legends, the various characters you can pick at the start of each round. Each has abilities that can fill specific roles in a team, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with each one and figure out what they do best. Every character has unique ways that they can be used in a fight to swing things in your teams advantage.

If you’re playing as Gibraltar, you should be up close and personal with the enemy teams using your shield to block damage. If you’re Pathfinder, use your grappling hook to reach areas that other players might not think of or find surprise angles to start shooting from.

Image: Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

Use your abilities often

Once you know what each Legend can do, it’s time to use those skills to your advantage — and that means using your abilities.

While you might feel tempted to save your special skills or ultimates until the perfect moment presents itself, that’s really just a waste of the ability. Instead, find ways to capitalize on your Legend’s abilities in each fight. Don’t wait for the perfect time to use an ultimate. Instead, figure out how to use the ultimate to best survive the fight you’re in. By the time you get to another fight, your abilities are likely to be off-cooldown anyway. And if you die without using an ability, you may as well not have had them in the first place.

Keeping these tips in mind should help you survive a little longer in the first few matches of Apex Legends. And if they don’t, you may want to look inward.