Apex Legends guide: `The First Piece` PvE event mission

The first mission for Apex Legends’ “The Broken Ghost” PvE quest line has arrived. The mission is called “The First Piece,” and it tasks players with digging up a hidden artifact in the Artillery area of Kings Canyon.

The mission itself is pretty straight forward but we have a few tips on how to make it a little easier, especially if you’re doing it on your own.

Step 1: Select a Legend

The first thing you’ll do, before the mission even starts, is select a Legend. The best options are Caustic or Wattson because you’ll need to defend an area later on, and their area-of-effect traps should make that a little easier. But you can also just pick your favorite Legend and you’ll still get through the mission with no problems.

Step 2: Find the drill

After a short loading screen you’ll be dropped off on the night version of Kings Canyon with an objective marker ahead of you and an eight minute timer. This is how long you’ll have to complete the mission.

If you turn away from your objective marker and walk toward the concrete bunker, you can find a loot bin that has a few useful items in it. These items are random but often include guns and upgraded armor. There’s also a loot bin near the objective marker which always contains an incendiary grenade, a shield cell, and a first aid kit.

After you collect your new loot, you can head toward the objective marker and into the tunnel. Once inside, move forward until you see your first Prowler. These sneaky alien creatures are quick but they’ll go down with a few shots. They’re pretty easy to see thanks to their glowing eyes, and if they’re sneaking up from behind, you should be able to hear their feet as they run.

Inside the tunnel there are a few loot bins that are not random but can be useful. Some of the bins are up the stairs on the metal platform and some are on ground level, but you should try to collect them while you’re taking out the prowlers inside.

Next you’ll enter the Artillery area of the map, where the objective will ask you to go into the hanger. Before you do, there are a few useful pieces of loot to grab. Head right as soon as you leave the tunnel, then turn left after the small building with the Prowler hiding inside and you’ll see an Epic shield and a Legendary backpack behind the giant gun. In that same area, there will be a bin with a Legendary Spitfire in it. There also may be a flyer to the north east, but it only spawned once in our three attempts — it dropped a Triple Take when we killed it.

Step 3: Defend the drill

Image: Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

Once you’re sufficiently looted, you can go the hanger and interact with the objective marker to start digging up the hidden artifact. Starting the dig will also remove the timer, so you won’t have to worry about that moving forward.

Once you place the digging tool down, a new kind of Prowler will arrive. These new Prowlers are quicker but easier to kill than the others. This is where you should use your area-denying abilities if you picked a Legend like Caustic or Wattson. Whatever Legend you’re playing just keep shooting the prowlers until the device finishes its dig.

Step 4: Retrieve the artifact

Once the drill has finished its extraction you can pick up the artifact. You’ll want to do this in a hurry because a new timer will have started and it gives you one minute and 25 seconds to get out of the area.

Step 5: Escape

Image: Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

Once you have the artifact run out of the hanger and go toward the giant building on your right. While you’re running toward the building there will be several prowlers coming your way. If they get too close you can take them out, otherwise just keep running. Head into the building through the door on the ground floor and take the stairs to the second level. Once you’re up there find the second set of stairs and take them to the roof. Waiting for you on the roof will be a landing ship ready to take you away and end the mission.

Once you’ve finished the mission you’ll unlock its two cosmetic rewards as well as a short text log that fills you in on the on-going story of “The Broken Ghost” quest line.

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