How to play guide for Apex Legends

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This page will serve as a basic how to play guide for Apex Legends. Check back often, as new information is being added all the time! Feel free to edit this guide with any tips, tricks, and suggestions.

Basic Gameplay

Apex Legends is a battle royale game where 20 squads of 3 players or 30 squads of 2 players pick playable character classes called Legends and airdrop from a flying ship over an arena: either Kings Canyon or Olympus. On landing, they must search for weapons, gear, and other items to help them kill off the other teams while simultaneously staying inside of a shrinking safe-zone called The Ring. The last team still alive will be the winners.

Each Legend has 3 abilities unique to them: a tactical ability that can be periodically activated and has a cooldown between uses, a passive ability that is always active, and an ultimate ability that can be used once charged. Ultimate abilities charge over time and can be sped up by using Ultimate Accelerants. Some legends also have Perks, that modify damage taken.

Each player has 100 health, and when they take enough damage to reach 0, they will enter a downed state. While downed, they can move around and ping, interact with doors, and use a Knockdown Shield if they have one, but can not take other actions if you have a Knockdown Shield you move a little slower. A teammate can approach a downed player and spend 5 seconds reviving them. If the downed player takes enough additional damage or is not revived after enough time, they will be killed. Dead players can only return if one of their teammates collects a "banner" from their death box and brings it to a respawn beacon, which will call in a dropship that they will jump out of.

Controls

These controls are for the default control scheme. Keyboard users can rebind most of these however they like.

Action	Keyboard	Xbox One	PS4	Notes
Move	W/A/S/D
Sprint	⇧ Left Shift (hold)	(Toggle)	(Toggle)	Press while aiming down variable scopes to change zoom level
Jump	Space
Crouch (toggle)	C
Crouch (hold)	Left Ctrl
Tactical Ability	Q
Ultimate Ability	Z	+	+
Interact/Pickup	E
Alternate Interact	X	(hold)	(hold)
Inventory (toggle)	Tab ↹
Map (toggle)	M
Attack				Also hold to activate Knockdown Shields while downed
Toggle Fire Mode	B
Aim Down Sight (toggle)
Aim Down Sight (hold)
Melee	V	(Toggle)
Reload	R
Cycle Weapon	(scroll)
Equip Weapon 1	1
Equip Weapon 2	2
Holster Weapons	3	(hold)	(hold)	You run faster while weapons are holstered
Equip Grenade	G			Hold to open grenade wheel
Use Selected Health/Shield Item	4
Health Wheel		(hold)	(hold)
Extra Character Action	H
Inspect Weapon	N	(hold)	(hold)
Ping				Hold to open ping wheel
Ping (Enemy Here)	F	2x tap	2x tap
Push to Talk (Hold)	T
Text Chat	↵ Enter

Visual map of Apex Legends keyboard controls. Click on the image for a clearer view.

Your First Match

Early Game

As is expected with most Battle Royale games, players begin the match inside of one dropship flying across the map in a straight line. Checking your map for the projected flight path is a good idea, as this allows you to predict the amount of initial traffic each named location will have. Locations near the drop ship's flight path are usually densely populated at the start of the match because players can land at them more quickly than distant locations.

One of your squadmates will be chosen as jumpmaster, giving them the privilege to initiate the drop sequence for your team, although you can always decide to split off from your squad before the drop, it is discouraged unless the jumpmaster is inactive. If you are the jumpmaster, find out if your squad is looking for immediate action or a chance to get nicely geared, and then go ahead with the drop. Your two squad members (or one squad member) will automatically follow your movement during the freefall until they decide to break away and fly on their own. Sticking together largely increases your chance of surviving once you land, but try to avoid landing right next to the jump-master, or else you'll all be scrambling for loot in the same building. Detach from the jump-master when you are close to the ground and re-group with your squad after you've looted your own building and Supply Bins.

Once you've found weaponry and gear, collaborate with your squad when deciding where to go next. The safe zone is ever-shrinking, and you will be dealt damage for every second you're outside of it. Be sure to check your map and head towards the areas inside of the next predicted safe zone.

Mid Game

You've looted your first location and may have headed towards another one. Maybe you've gotten into a fight with another squad along the way, maybe not. When the mid-game approaches, it's best to assume that most players have become equipped with better weaponry and gear. There's a good chance that most players now have 150 health or more due to finding rare body armor and helmets.

Be sure to stock up on ammunition and consumables as untouched locations have now become uncommon. If your squad is unable to sufficiently recover after its next fight, you must find more consumables. Be sure to look for backpacks as they increase the number of inventory slots you have for any held items.

Do not forget that by engaging in combat with another squad, you are inadvertently advertising your squad's location to any other nearby squads. Don't get caught off guard while looting their death boxes!

Speaking of death, have you died? If you are dead and gone, your squad has the opportunity to bring you back into the match by picking up the respawn chip from your death box and delivering it to a Respawn Beacon. (Beacons may be used only once before being disabled.)

Late Game

Hey, you've made it to the late game. You'll probably be facing the tough squads now. If your guns do not have attachments, you should really start looking for them, as they can dramatically increase the effectiveness of your weapons in combat. You should also definitely seek out epic body armor and helmets as most other squads are probably using them by now.

Early repositioning is key to winning a game. Predicting where the circle will pull is essential to get an advantageous position that might win you the game. If you can get to a building that is in the ring before other teams then they will be forced to take the fight to you. It is a lot easier to hold a building than to push it late or be forced outside to fight the rest of the squad. Caustic gas is deadly in the later rings. If you are playing Caustic, make sure to save your ultimate until it can either block a team from rotating or when it can cover the whole area inside the ring. Fights will be harder now that the unfortunate have been eliminated. Play cautiously by keeping your attention focused far ahead of your immediate location. Scale walls to avoid walking along obvious pathways. Use ziplines to quickly traverse open areas. If you enter a building, close the door on your way in as it may be the final giveaway that leads to your squad's demise.

The safe zone is getting quite small, and squads are encouraged to move quickly due to the unsafe-area's ever-increasing damage per second. Stakes are high, and squads are alert. Do whatever it takes to increase your chances of survival. Control some high ground or maybe decide to camp in an area. Nothing is off the table when it's life or death.

Good luck!

Tips and Tricks

• Don't forget to make use of your abilities whenever possible. It can be easy to get caught up in pure gunfights while neglecting the abilities that could give you a crucial advantage.
• For new players, if you want to survive, drop away from the path of the plane.
• The hot zone and the supply ships do have more loot, but that also means more players will go there.
• Always pick up a body shield from a fresh death box or the ground, especially during a fight. It will always be fully recharged once equipped. Pick it up to avoid having to recharge your shields and avoid getting ambushed.
• Wear a Headset or Earbuds if you can. This will allow you to hear enemy footsteps better, which may result in an advantage over your opponents.
• Be careful when using airstrikes. They are very loud and visible from far away, and more enemies might come to join the action!
• Try to find a Legend you enjoy and are comfortable with using (often referred to as a main). Being experienced with one or two Legends will give you an advantage over players who don't main that Legend, and make you more likely to win.
• If you are having trouble aiming, spend a few hours in the Firing Range to learn the recoil of all weapons. A few hours doing that will significantly help your aim in the months ahead.

See Also

• Training
• How to play guide for Apex Legends/Game terms
• Tap strafing
• Wall jumping