As with any competitive game, players are constantly racing for the top rankings. And while being good at the game is a core element in the competitive nature of most popular games, a player’s skill level is especially pronounced in Apex Legends. As such, most people are left wondering about how to get better at Apex Legends, and what they can do to improve quickly.
While in most MMOFPS games, the mechanics are relatively easy to understand, getting better at Apex Legends can prove to be a significant challenge to players that aren’t familiar with the vast ins and outs of the game.
That’s why today we’ve put together a comprehensive all-you-need-to-know style beginner guide to improving at Apex Legends and mastering the core elements of the game.
From the complicated and tricky nuances of this flourishing battle royale title to the very basics and mechanics that you’ll need to master in order to have a step up over the average player pool – we’ll cover every little detail in 11 quick and easy to implement tips that you can start using today to rank up and get better.
1. Pick Out The Right Landing Place
Before you get a gun in your hands and run off trying to take down the enemy squads, the very first decision you’ll have to make at the start of a round is where you land.
Firstly, you should ask yourself the question – “what kind of player am I?”
Do you have the mechanics to secure some risky early frags on enemy squads? Great! If that’s the case – you can opt to land in an area close to the transport ship, or possibly even on it. However, if your mechanics are anything less than stellar, this is going to throw you deer-in-the-headlights style into a whole swarm of other players that had the exact same idea.
If on the other hand, you’re more of a slow and steady kind of player and you’re still trying to figure out how to get better at Apex Legends, you may want to pick a more desolate location and gradually work your way into the center. However, this also comes with the drawback of having to fight your way into enemy-infested areas, while being rushed by the ever-enclosing “circle of doom.”
So, what are the best places to cop some sweet loot and equipment at the start of the round? If you’re playing on the World’s Edge map, we’ve got two excellent and safe starting spots for you:
The Refinery
This is a great spot if you want to loot and go, there are 25 supply bins here so there’s more than enough gear for you and your squad and they’re incredibly quick to loot. However, the best part about this spot is the fact that very few people actually make use of it from the get-go, even in higher ranked matches.
The Drill Site
If you see another team barrelling down through the sky towards the Refinery, this might just be the next best option for you and your squad to go with. It’s a far quieter area, and there are only 15 supply bins here, but that’s still more than enough to get a basic loadout and start taking out some squads as you work your way into the core of the map.
The Epicenter
If you’re struggling to pinpoint the Refinery and Drill Site as you glide through the skies, the Epicenter might prove to be a great alternative. Firstly, it’s really easy to spot. After all, it’s a giant tower! However, the benefits here are the dozen or so supply bins scattered around the base of the tower, and the high-tier guns and equipment that you’ll find at the top of the structure itself.
We actually wrote an in-depth guide on all of the best drop locations on the World’s Edge map, so definitely have a peek, if you want to get a finite list of all of the best spots to land. All in all, if you’re learning about how to get better at Apex Legends on PC, picking out the right drop zone for your playstyle is going to be one of the basic building blocks to improving your gameplay.
2. Keep A Good Handle On Your Positioning
It’s no secret that you can’t just camp any one given area to your heart’s content in Apex Legends. Firstly, you’re always pressed to keep moving by the containment ring (a.k.a “the circle of doom”), but if you stay in one place too long, you also risk losing out on vital supply drops too.
If you’re wondering about how to get better at Apex Legends, being in the right place at the right time is key. And when it comes to being at the right place at the right time, we really recommend that you follow the general trajectory of the supply ship as it courses throughout the map.
As you do this, keep an eye on the enemy squads, as following this trajectory will allow you to create easy ambush opportunities that will give you a significant competitive advantage.
All in all, you should always keep your position in mind and assess the breadth of risks at any one given point in time.
3. How To Get Better At Apex Legends On PC By Mastering The Basic Movement Mechanics
When it comes to Apex Legends, most people assume that the only thing you need to know is how to run and gun. However, as you learn how to get better at Apex Legends, you might quickly come to realize that it’s really far from being that simple.
Apex Legends features a number of mechanical tricks that you can employ to get ahead of the enemy squad with ease. Let’s go through a few of them.
How To Climb Walls In Apex Legends?
Unlike most MMOFPS games and battle royale titles, in Apex Legends, it’s entirely possible to climb most of the obstacles, terrain, and structures that you’ll come across. However, this is something that most players never end up figuring out.
So, how do you actually climb things in Apex Legends?
Easy, just run at them and hold the jump key to have your character scale them. And here we have our first interesting mechanic that you should learn while you figure out how to get better at Apex Legends – climb-peeking walls.
When most people climb walls, they simply end up going over, with no cover or support – they’re basically sitting ducks if an enemy player happens to be on the other side. This is why it’s important to stick to the wall for a few moments before you fully cross over and peek the wall first to make sure the other side is clear and safe for you to cross.
How To Move Faster In Apex Legends?
Other FPS titles have their own movement-boosting mechanics like Jett’s runboost trick in VALORANT and bunny hopping in Counter-Strike, but, figuring out how to really make good use of the sliding mechanic in Apex Legends can be a bit of a complicated subject for most players.
Most players tend to shy away from sliding at all, however, it’s actually one of the most overpowered mechanics in the game. Firstly, it allows you to catch enemies totally off-guard as you come around a structure or obstacle. And given your increased movement speed, enemies will have a much harder time putting down accurate shots, whereas you have full reign to dish out big damage.
Additionally, the increased movement speed as you slide allows you to save a few precious seconds here and there, which in Apex Legends, can easily translate to the difference between a win and a loss. So, if you’re dead set on getting the hang of how to get better at Apex Legends, this is something you should definitely practice.
BONUS – Jump Further & Multi-Task On The Go
While the sliding mechanic is certainly powerful by itself, don’t forget that if you jump out of your slide, your character will actually travel much further during the jump, thanks to the increased movement speed from the slide.
And here’s another important tip – as you slide, you can actually use consumables to heal up and replenish your shield. This allows you to save on time and take care of maintenance without putting yourself in a potentially vulnerable position.
4. Make Sure You Use The Ping System, Correctly
At the end of the day, Apex Legends is in many ways a game of information, and how well you respond to the information you have.
If you’re trying to figure out how to get better at Apex Legends on PC, mastering the game’s intricate ping system is one of the most important things that you can focus on.
After all, Apex Legends is a game that revolves entirely around how much information you and your squad have at any given point in time, and what you then do with that information. And if you’re sitting here wondering about how to get better at Apex Legends, it’s likely that relaying vital information back and forth between your team is a problem. If you and your squad aren’t in the same Discord lobby, the best tool you can use in-game to relay important information to your teammates is the ping system.
You can point at any object in-game, or even a specific location, to let your teammates know that you’ve spotted an enemy player, found weapons, equipment, are in need of ammo, or simply want to go somewhere. This can be done via the ping interface or even from inside of your inventory.
Making sure that you’re using the ping system efficiently and correctly is one of the most important apex legends tips and tricks that you can master on PC.
5. Don’t Simply Loot Everything You Find
When it comes to gearing up during a match, picking up whatever weapons and gear you find is actually going to put you at a pretty big disadvantage most of the time. This is why having a good grasp on the weapons available and which one you should prioritize over the next is an important mechanic to master.
For example, guns like the Wingman, Peacekeeper, Mastiff, and Kraber should take the top priority, whereas the Prowler, EVA-8, and VK-47 are generally far less important to loot if you have the option to go for something better.
When it comes to how to get better at Apex Legends on PC, making sure that you’re looting and gearing up efficiently is one of the best ways to gain an immediate advantage over other players in your match.
However, it’s also important to make sure that you’re picking up the best weapons that correspond to your playstyle and mechanical abilities as a player. After all, picking up an S-ranked sniper rifle won’t do you much good if you’re not skilled enough of a shooter in Apex Legends to pick off players at long distances.
6. Don’t Rush, Take Things One Step At A Time
When it comes to just about any competitive game, whether you’re trying to get better at League of Legends or are wondering how to get better at Apex Legends, taking things slow and giving yourself time to think about what you’re about to do and why is often one of the best pieces of advice that you can focus on incorporating into your gameplay.
From your ammo to your health and shield levels, you’re always working with a number of finite resources at any given point in time. So, it’s always important to assess what resources you’ve got available in order to determine the next best course of action.
For example, if you know that the enemy pushing your position isn’t going to come popping around the corner any time in the next 5-10 seconds, but you’re a bit low on health, it might be best to hide from the immediate line of fire and heal up a bit before engaging the enemy again. This also applies to making good use of your abilities to create advantageous situations, for example using Bangalore’s Smoke Launcher allows you to create advantageous situations where you can go in and out of fights to heal up, recharge your shield and come in stronger while whittling your enemies down during drawn-out engagements.
Additionally, when you down an enemy – keep in mind the fact that it might be more worthwhile for you to hold off on killing them. That’s because it takes up two important resources, your time and your ammo. And if there’s another enemy close by, both of those resources may be better spent on trying to deal with the threat they pose than finishing off two already downed enemies that are out of the fight. The only exception to this piece of advice are enemies that carry golden shields, which you can spot by the yellow-gold color of the damage animation when you shoot them. They can revive themselves and should be finished off immediately.
In short, always assess the situation carefully to figure out what the best play might be, and learn from what works and what doesn’t by dissecting why it did or didn’t work after the match.
7. Colors Are Important In Apex Legends!
We’ve already talked about how you should prioritize higher-tier equipment when looting, which corresponds to a very simple color-coded system:
- White – the basic standard equipment
- Blue – slightly better than basic equipment
- Purple – high-tier and generally powerful equipment
- Gold – Legendary tier, the best equipment you can carry
However,when it comes to how to get better at Apex Legends on PC, it’s also important to pay attention to the color of your opponents’ damage animations. For example, if the damage animation is red, your opponent doesn’t have a shield active, and you only need a few shots to finish them off. On the other hand, if their damage animation is a yellow-gold color, they’ve got a legendary-tier armor active, and you’ll need to really put in some work to take them down. Being able to spot these tiny bits of information and change your approach to tackling the situation accordingly is an absolutely vital skill when it comes to how to get better at Apex Legends.
8. Make Good Decisions While You’re Downed With A K.O.
While being knocked out is generally going to result in your character being taken out of the match, you can still make some plays that allow you to survive the fight and get back into the game if your team can come to your aid.
You Can Still Open And Close Doors While Downed
First and foremost, while you’re downed, your character can still crawl around while opening and closing doors. This can give you an opportunity to hide from enemies while giving your teammates time to deal with the situation or sneak in to help you.
Be Sure To Ping Enemy Players While Knocked Out
Another helpful thing you can do when your character has been taken down is to ping the locations of enemies to your teammates. This gives them a great deal of competitive advantage when going into the fight.
Use Legendary Shields To Revive Yourself
When you’re looting gear, you should prioritize legendary (golden) shields thanks to their ability that allows you to revive yourself while downed to get back into the fight.
9. Get Extra Loot By Killing “The Robot”
When you’re gearing up at the start of the match, on some occasions you’ll hear a robot noise somewhere off in the distance. If you venture out to find him, you can actually shoot at him to get some high-tier equipment early on in the game. These robots appear randomly throughout the map and are actually scattered across most areas, so it’s not always guaranteed that one will be nearby. But it’s still helpful to keep an ear out for them and hunt them down when the opportunity presents itself.
10. Make Use Of The Training Mode To Improve Your Aim
While there are heaps of interesting and unique mechanics that you should master when it comes to how to get better at Apex Legends on PC, it’s still fundamentally a shooter. And that means that the core mechanic of them all is being able to shoot accurately.
Thankfully, the game has a pretty cool training mode that allows you to practice your aim and movement mechanics before you jump into a match.
We recommend that you spend 10-15 minutes, or more, warming up before the start of each gaming session to get some good aim practice in. While practicing, you should always focus on hitting high damage areas such as the head of the target.
Closing Thoughts
There you have it – our top 10 tips on how to get better at Apex Legends quickly and efficiently.
If you’ve followed us up until this point in our guide, you now know about the most important mechanics in the game, and you should have a few solid points that you can work on improving to bring your skill level up.
However, keep in mind. No matter how many tips and tricks you learn about, you’ll get little to no benefit out of them if you don’t actually put them to practice. So jump into around of Apex Legends now and set some practice objectives that you’ll focus on until you’ve mastered them and then move on to the next batch. Best of luck, Legend!
Now that you’ve gone through our guide, it’s our turn to hear from you. What are some of the tips and tricks that you’ve used to play at a higher level in Apex Legends that we haven’t covered in this guide? Let us know in the comments below!
