What is Apex Legends and how to play: the definitive guide

Both battle royale and first-person shooter (FPS) games are increasingly popular. The opportunity to engage in battle against enemy combatants either solo or as part of a team appeals to gamers worldwide. Among the most well-known titles is Apex Legends. But if you’re new to the FPS scene, you might be wondering what exactly Apex Legends is and how to play it. 

Don’t wander any further; we don’t want you to get lost. Instead, carry on reading, and we’ll answer those questions and many more in our definitive guide to the FPS battle royale wonder that is Apex Legends. 

What is Apex Legends?

Apex Legends is a multiplayer battle royale first-person shooter phenomenon published by the gaming giant Electronic Arts. As suggested by the name, Apex Legends works a little differently from most other battle royale or FPS games. Instead of spending hours customizing every detail of a character of your own creation, you choose from a set selection of fighters called Legends. Each Legend has distinctive abilities and complements various play styles, no matter your level of experience. 

• Apex Legends intermediate tips

How to play Apex Legends

If you’re eager to play Apex Legends, you simply need to download the free file onto your platform and install it. You’ll need to have enough space and the minimum requirements for your device, which differs between PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch. Remember to keep the game updated, as you won’t be able to play the multiplayer battle royale matches with outdated software.

As soon as you have Apex Legends, you’ll need to follow our guide below to beat other online players and become victorious. There are plenty of customization options, and you’ll have to enter a lobby before you can start the battle.

Apex Legends complete guide with tips and tricks

Now that you’ve seen what Apex Legends is and how to play it, it’s time for us to show you some tricks to becoming the best player. 

Choosing a Character

At present, there are 18 Legends to choose from. However, new characters are added periodically, so there’s always hope to see a few new exciting faces on the battlefield. One thing to note is that the detail that has gone into each character is unparalleled and lends itself well to creating a diverse team, should you choose to play teams. 

There are numerous characters to suit your play style, whatever that may be. Below we’ll highlight five diverse characters that make excellent choices for team setup. 

Ash

Ash is a silent assassin. If you like hunting down enemies with little chance of them realizing before it’s too late, Ash is perfect for you. 

• Tactical ability: Arc Snare – Ash throws a spinning snare that damages and tethers the first enemy that gets too close to her. 
• Passive ability: Marked for Death – Ashe’s map shows the location of all recent deathboxes. Press on a deathbox to mark surviving attackers; you can do this once per box. 
• Ultimate ability: Phase Breach – Ash can tear open a one-way portal to a targeted location. 

Bloodhound

Bloodhound is a reconnaissance master. If you like to track trace and hunt your enemies down with precision rather than blind luck, Bloodhound should be your choice. 

• Tactical Ability: Eye of the Allfather – briefly reveals hidden enemies, traps, and clues throughout structures in front of Bloodhound. 
• Passive Ability: Tracker – see tracks left behind by Bloodhound’s foes.
• Ultimate Ability: Beast of the Hunt – enhances Bloodhound’s senses, allowing it to move faster and highlighting its prey.

Gibraltar

Gibby is a tank. Should you prefer to ram your way into battle and overpower enemies with sheer size, strength, and brute force, Gibby is your guy. 

• Tactical Ability: Dome of Protection – Gibby throws down a dome shield that blocks attacks.
• Passive Ability: Gun Shield – Aiming down sights deploys a gun shield that blocks incoming fire.
• Ultimate Ability: Defensive Bombardment – Gibby can call in a concentrated mortar strike on a marked position.

Lifeline

This is your team’s designated healer. Lifeline lets your team stay kitted out and healthy. 

• Tactical Ability: D.O.C. Heal Drone – Call Lifeline’s Drone of Compassion to heal nearby teammates overtime automatically.
• Passive Ability: Combat Medic – Deploy D.O.C. to revive teammates, leaving Lifeline free to move and defend.
• Ultimate Ability: Care Package – Call in a drop pod full of high-quality defensive gear.

Wraith

Wraith is a fan favorite and simply had to be included in this list. Players love her teleportation ability and her tiny hitbox, making her more difficult to wound. 

• Tactical Ability: Into the Void – Reposition quickly through the safety of void space, avoiding all damage.
• Passive Ability: Voices from the Void – A voice warns Wraith when danger approaches.
• Ultimate Ability: Dimensional Rift – Wraith can link two locations with portals for 60 seconds, allowing the entire team to use them. 

Choosing the right character for your role in the team is incredibly important, but so is choosing the right weapon. 

Guns and Weapons

Apex Legends comes equipped with more original weapons than you’d ever need in combat. It’s always nice to be spoiled for choice, though, and with the weapons below, you certainly will be. The availability of firearms in Apex Legends differs between game modes.

In Battle Royale, Legends drop into the game without weapons and get them from any suitable loot source. In Arenas, players purchase weapons before the match begins. No matter which game mode you choose, your Legend can carry two weapons simultaneously. 

Guns

There are seven classes of guns in Apex Legends. Each class has assorted firearms to choose from, each with slightly varied characteristics. The classes are as follows:

• Assault Rifle
• SMG
• LMG
• Marksman Weapon
• Sniper Rifle
• Shotgun
• Pistol 

Each gun has specific types of ammo it accepts. There are six types in total. Every type of ammo has a different likelihood of spawning. Some are much rarer than others, but they usually spawn near the weapon they’re suited to load. Here are the six types of ammo:

• Light rounds
• Heavy rounds
• Energy ammo
• Shotgun shells
• Sniper ammo
• Arrows

Every gun also has a specific firing mode. These are either automatic, single shot, or burst shot. Some firearms can cycle through different firing modes, but most only use one. Automatic lets the weapon fire rounds as long as the trigger is pulled, and single-shot means the weapon only fires once with each trigger pull. Weapons with burst shot fire multiple rounds per trigger pull. 

All weapons, guns or otherwise, slow players down by a uniform 13.333%. Weapons also reduce players’ movement speed further while aiming down sights. The amount of the additional speed reduction is dependent on the size of the weapon. 

Other Weapons

Your Legend can carry and throw various types of ordnance; these take up inventory space and are listed as consumables. The three types of ordnance are Arc Stars, Frag Grenades, and Thermite Grenades. 

Melee weapons aren’t of any use in Apex Legends. None among the formidable selection of Legends carries a melee weapon by default, and those equipped by unlocking your Legend’s heirloom skin set are purely cosmetic. Gameplay is only affected by ordnance and firearms. 

How to Get Better at Apex Legends

There are many reasons you might not be progressing in Apex Legends like you want to be. The most important reason to tackle is an age-old philosophical argument; doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result is quite plainly the definition of insanity. We all get into a rut, whether in our daily lives or how we play a game. We go down certain paths, choose certain weapons and employ certain tactics. 

These are most often the comfortable choice and something we feel safe doing. But if you’re playing the same way you were a few months or years ago and haven’t seen any improvement, what you’re doing might not be working for you as well as you think. Fortunately, the advice is the same for Apex Legends as it is for daily life; Get up, get out and take a break. Give yourself a moment to evaluate your choices and realize that your play style isn’t getting you anywhere. 

 Maybe you aren’t challenging yourself enough. Perhaps you’ve gotten a little complacent with how you play and the choices you make. Switch things up. Try a new weapon, research some new tactics and maybe even pick a new Legend. We all have our favorites, but sometimes your favorite isn’t the one that will serve you the best. 

Maybe the problem lies with your position in the team. Are you performing at your peak in your current role? Perhaps instead of being the last in a fight, you should be leading the charge. So try and expand your role in the team and thereby expand your skillset. Maybe you’ve been stuck too long in the backseat with a pistol when you should have been in the driver’s seat with an assault rifle or machine gun. 

So, to sum up, the ways to get better at Apex legends are to try something different, keep trying and practicing, and occasionally take a break so that you can renew your perspective and see where you’re falling short so that you can improve on it. 

Apex Legends Tips and Tricks

Here are a few last tips on Apex Legends before you leave. We found these tricks to be helpful and set us apart from the noobs.

Drop Hot

Dropping into a hot zone is the best way to secure a good kill streak and up your skills. While you might fail a few times, you’ll learn to be more observant, and you’ll learn to better recognize players that you can take down quickly. Dropping in hot doesn’t mean dropping right on top of three enemy combatants; just try to be as close to where most players choose to drop as possible.

Wandering around for hours trying to find players to kill because you’ve essentially dropped into the middle of nowhere isn’t going to up your kills or your skill. 

Loot Where You Land

Many beginners spend most of their time exploring to try and score the best loot. This isn’t the way to increase your kills. Don’t waste your time looking all over the map for the best gear before you start fighting. Instead, loot around where you drop; even if you don’t get the best gear, you’ll likely have more time to play if you spend less time wandering around.

Don’t Look Back

Hindsight will always be 20/20. Looking back and saying that you should have handled a specific fight or battle differently won’t necessarily do you any good. Beating yourself up about an outcome not being in your or your teams’ favor isn’t the best idea.

Taking it out on your teammates is even worse. Don’t let regrets tear your team or your confidence apart. Instead, acknowledge that a specific play didn’t work and try something different next time, or try the same play from a slightly different angle.

Watch and Learn

Watching other players’ videos on how they play is always a good idea. What we tend to do, however, is focus on the videos that showcase their best tactics and try and learn from those. While learning from other players’ successful plays is valuable, so is learning from their failures.

Don’t be afraid to watch a few fail clips. See if you can pick up on what went wrong and how to prevent it and implement that into your play style. Also, don’t just stick to watching the pros. Sometimes beginners have a thing or two to teach as well, even if it’s just the way not to handle a situation.

• Apex Legends, beginners’ tips

Become the apex predator

When you’re ready to rumble in a Battle Royale arena, Apex Legends delivers that exciting science fiction atmosphere you’ll enjoy. Of course, you’ll need to gear up for the seasons if you want to achieve as many victories as possible.