How to Get Better at Apex Legends: Top 15 Tips

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Human Made

Penned by Jake Bosee

Jake is our expert Risk of Rain and Apex Legends writer. He's also a big fan of Dungeons & Dragons.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Tired of seeing the Game Over screen in Apex Legends? The game is certainly more satisfying when your squad is the last one standing. Whether you’re a longtime player or a newbie, we’ve got tips for you to make it into the winner’s circle. Most of these are for Apex’s Battle Royale mode, but many of the skills are applicable to the Arenas mode (and probably the upcoming Control mode).

If you’re looking for settings tips, head on over to our settings guide to optimize your performance outside of the game. Here, we’ll cover some shooting tips and how to get better at Apex Legends fast. Lets start with things you can do to improve your skills before the dropship even takes off!

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Warm Up in the Firing Range & Improving Aim Fast

If you’re grinding out games in Apex over a longer play session, it’s best to warm up your aim first. Your mileage may very with this tip, depending on if you focus on a few weapons or do more intensive recoil training.

For those who want to go even more in depth, aim training software like Kovaaks 2.0 can really help track those moving targets. Apex has incredibly fast movement, and getting comfortable with using your guns and tracking your targets is the absolute best way to see your K/DA improve.

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Find a Squad

Apex Legends is primarily a team game, since it was designed with squads of three in mind. Having a consistent team to play with, thereby avoiding random pub players, goes a long way in helping you understand the game. Once you have reliable teammates, you’re free to focus on other things. If you don’t have friends that play Apex, there are various Discord channels always looking for people to form stacks with.

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Master One or Two Legends

In can be overwhelming to choose a single main, especially now that Apex Legends has a roster of almost twenty characters. I actually don’t recommend “one-tricking” a single character, since you’ll be left at a loss if a teammate picks your default at the start of a game. Instead, I’d learn the ins and outs of a few characters while developing a general sense of what each Legend does. You’ll slowly start to understand what kind of variety a good team needs to succeed.

For newer players, only a portion of the roster will be available from the start. To keep it simple, more aggressive players should try characters like Wraith, Bloodhound and Bangalore. More defense-minded players should opt for Gibraltar, Lifeline and Pathfinder (though Pathfinder can be played aggressively with more mastery.)

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Characters and Roles

At the current moment, successful team compositions in Apex revolve around a few deciding factors. On the picking screen, you’ll see that each character has a “class” that they’re a part of. None of them explicitly spell success, but the class you choose does bring unique value to your team. The “Recon” class, for example, can scan beacons to find the next ring location. Many of these characters also have some kind of “scan” ability to help their team locate enemies. Having one character like this helps tremendously in information gathering.

Teams also value the “entry fragger” role. Characters like Wraith, Ash and Mirage specialize in quick kills and serious damage during duels.

“Anchors” hold a position and help their team’s ability to reset. Gibraltar, Caustic and Wattson are traditional anchors, allowing their team to lock down the fort and revive a downed squadmate in relative safety. Third parties (which we’ll talk about later on) are an ever-present issue in Apex Legends. Having a good anchor allows you some resilience against getting cleaned up after a fight.

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Know Your Drops

Now that you’ve warmed up and picked your Legend, it’s time to head into the game. There are typically a few different kinds of drops you can look for at the start of a game, depending on your playstyle. Think about which skills you’re trying to improve upon as a player, and go to the zones that offer the most promise.

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Countdown Drop

First off is the Countdown Drop — dropping as soon as the countdown is over and landing in the nearest possible “Point of Interest.” Generally, there will be three to five other squads with the same idea (depending on flight path, of course). This was a more common strategy when the game first launched, but is slightly less so now that people have played the maps more. Newer maps see more of this action, whereas people have narrowed down their preferences in older maps.

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Hot Zone

Second is the “Hot Zone,” denoted by a blue circle on the mini-map. This zone has guaranteed legendary loot, and therefore will almost always have at least two squads headed towards it. If the zone is a particularly popular POI, you can be sure it’ll be a scrap. I recommend landing somewhere near the Hot Zone, rather than inside the zone itself. This gives you the chance to loot up in peace, then clean up the area after the fighting has died down a bit.

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The Popular Spot

Third is what I call the “Skull Town/Fragment.” Named after the current and former hottest drops in the game, these are areas in pub lobbies that have the highest density of players by far. Many times, on the map “World’s Edge,” you’ll see half the lobby land in Fragment. Winning this fight is incredibly rewarding, but supremely difficult, as third parties are constant.

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Cold Dropping

Finally, there’s Cold Dropping. Take a second as jumpmaster to check out the initial surge of dive trails at the start of the match. Sometimes, for whatever reason, big POI’s will get ignored at the start of the map. Landing there after the fact not only nets you safe loot, but also puts you in close proximity to plenty of fighting.

Keep in mind that safe loot isn’t always worth it. There’s nothing worse than looting for fifteen minutes only to die to a squad that looks like they’re having more fun than you are. This philosophy is different in ranked, where getting the best equipment usually trumps everything else.

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The Scramble

When landing in Apex Legends, there are a few things to keep in mind. First is your proximity to your team. Landing close to a teammate means that you’re going to split a loot pool. How close that distance is should depend on how many other squads are in the area.

If it’s just your team in a POI, fan out to efficiently gather the loot in the area. If you’ve dropped hot, accept that you might not even get two guns to start as long as you can support a teammate. Remember that even with no gun, some well-placed punches can take an enemy off guard.

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The Early Game

Your initial goals in a game of Apex are killing and looting. In the very early game, one often comes at the cost of the other. This is ultimately a playstyle choice, and it’s up to the squad and Legend choices to determine the right course of action.

I prefer to approach it from a hybrid perspective — land somewhere close to the action, where you’ll only have to fight against one or two squads. In the beginning, squads won’t have very much loot, but that value goes up over time. If a squad loots an area alone, they’ll typically have more than a squad who splits the pool with multiple others.

This evens out when it comes to EVO shields. In Apex, the more damage you do, the higher level your shield will become. In effect, this means that the earlier and the more often you fight, the higher your shields will be. Shields start off at 50 health and can scale upwards to a maximum of 125 health. It’s especially important to have high-level shields in the late game to increase your overall durability.

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Looting

It’s more important to be a fast looter than a thorough one. Many players will make the mistake of spending too much time sorting through ground loot to find the perfect loadout. That’s not always the worst strategy, but taking the loot from other teams is often worth more than looting an entire area once you’re in the midgame.

Generally, your inventory should contain a full row of ammo for each of your guns, (this can vary with things like shotguns for example) and a balance of health, shields and grenades. Usually I prioritize shields (both cells and batteries) then medkits and syringes. Pheonix kits are a boon at the end of a fight, but unreliable since they take so long. I also usually carry 2–3 grenades. You won’t initially be able to carry all that much without a backpack, so it’s important to get one as soon as possible. Keep an eye out for when the purple backpack is craftable in the replicators to give yourself an initial boost of inventory space.

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The Midgame

The midgame is defined by your team’s movement to the next ring. Keep an eye on your map once round one begins and start to shift in the direction. This is where having a recon character comes in handy. If you scan a beacon, you’ll immediately have information on the next ring location, allowing you and your squad to plan ahead.

Now, the first ring isn’t actually too damaging. You can pretty easily out-heal it with basic syringes. However, you also don’t want to fall too far behind, since the ring really starts to hurt come Round 3. At this point, you should start approaching each new area with caution. Some clues to look out for are open doors/supply bins and death boxes, which will alert you to the possible presence of another team. Ideally, getting the drop on an unsuspecting party or joining a fight mid-progress are the most reliable ways to win an engagement. If not, be prepared for other teams to third party you, especially the closer you get to the center of the map or other hot zones.

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Teamfighting

Communication is key in a team fight. Knowing which Legends you’re up against is important information, as are where each is located.

Sharing information helps your team make decisions in the moment about how to take the engagement. Initiating abilities, like Horizon’s tactical and Ash’s ultimate, are key here, and could help you pick off that isolated target. Always try to use your movement to your advantage. Peeking from the same spot over and over is a great way to find yourself targeted by multiple players.

Once again, be wary of third parties. Sometimes letting the last member of a squad get away is the right call if another one is bearing down on you. Loot up fresh shields from fallen foes and rally around important defensive and movement abilities like Gibraltar’s bubble shield and Caustic’s gas traps.

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Late Game

The end of the game is often defined by positioning and resource management. Consider the location of the ring and where the most advantageous position is. Usually this will be on the high ground and flanked by a minimal number of foes. The point of the ring furthest from the center of the map is often a safe bet, but terrain and other factors certainly come into play.

Once set up, your goal should be to be the last team standing. Remember this, as focusing down a weak team can be less advantageous then helping them shoot at a full one. Any way you can stack the odds in your favor helps.

During the final ring, the outer circle will slowly close in on a center point. If you’ve done everything correctly, your team should already be well positioned. Otherwise, gunplay, key abilities and grenades might be the key to victory.

Join the High Ground

And that’s it for our tips for improving in Apex Legends! Though the high ground is important in game, it’s also important in doing your research outside of the battle. Join our newsletter for more sweet articles and tips, and comment below if you have your own advice to share.

Happy gaming!