Wattson has just been officially inducted into the Apex Legends roster, and Respawn has revealed her accompanying set of new abilities, as well as a backstory for the character. The brilliant daughter of the Apex Game’s lead electrical engineer, Wattson is a promising, talented, and enterprising young woman with a mind for tech and a talent for battle. Her abilities mostly involve area control, defense, and mobility prevention, making her a viable alternative to the typical run-and-gun style of play in Apex Legends. Check out the full details below:
Wattson’s real name is Natalie Paquette, a French woman who discovered her talent for electrical engineering at a young age. An avid reader on the subject, her skill earned her commission to build King’s Canyon’s Modified Containment Ring. While lighthearted and carefree, Wattson also exhibited a laser-focused attention to detail when working, and is passionate about electricity for its ordered, predictable flow.
Natalie “Wattson” Paquette made the Apex Arena’s Ring a reality. Now, she's joining the Games to put her shocking skills to use.
Sadly, her father died the day the Modified Containment Ring was revealed, but Wattson soon found solace in a group of competitors who invited her to battle in the arena. King’s Canyon is her new home, and she is a valuable asset to any team with her dazzling tech abilities. What kind of abilities? Let’s take a look:
Check out Wattson’s full character description here on EA’s site
Wattson abilities
Wattson’s role as a Legend is mostly support, providing faster shield recharges, tactical information, and powerful defensive barriers that fluidly work in tandem with pretty much any other Legend on the field (but especially Caustic). Her tactical ability sets a node that connects to form an electrified fence. While it’s not subtle, it can cover a wide area, and alerts both Wattson and her team to any incoming enemy teams. These players are also slowed and receive light damage, making the decision to enter Wattson’s zone of control a weighted one.
Wattson sets up an electrified perimeter to debuff, damage, and ping hostiles.
Wattson’s Ultimate is Interception Pylon, which can outright nullify and destroy enemy projectiles that come within a set radius. This provides great cover (especially when paired with a friendly Gibraltar or Bangalore) to recharge your shields, heal or revive teammates, loot player boxes, or even just re-position for a stronger offensive. Wattson’s Spark of Genius passive also grants a strong synergy between her other abilities, allowing for more frequent use of her tactical, and even fully recharging Interception Pylon after a single Ultimate Accelerant.
The strategy with Wattson is to keep your teammates alive with good tactical input, stockpile on Ultimate Accelerants so that you’ll be easily and reliably defended in the late game, and use her Perimeter Security to zone enemy teams and discourage enemy positioning. Like we mentioned before, she pairs especially well with Caustic in the late game, since their defensive tactical abilities stack when trying to control a structure or territory. Make the enemy come to you, then ambush them from a powerful vantage point.
A new move brings the battleground to us on mobile.
Coming off the success of the ever-growing online battle royale genre, Apex Legends has been a smash hit for EA Games.
With the success of the game on PC and console, the creators have announced plans to bring the game to mobile devices. Although we don’t know a release date or what the mobile version will include, we are excited to join the fight on new devices.
EA is also looking to finally bring the game to China. Last year, China banned Fortnite, another online battle royale game.
China banned the game due to “blood, gore, and vulgar content.”
Fortnite’s “Save the World” mode has some gore in it. If you’re listening to other players online, you’re likely to hear some vulgar content. Basically, China isn’t wrong about the content. Whether or not the game should be banned altogether is another debate.
PUBG was also recently banned in China, but there are plans to release a new game that is China-friendly. This new PUBG game, called “Game for Peace,” will also glorify the Chinese military.
Apex Legends has similar features, so it will be interesting to see what EA does in order to get the game released in China. Until then, we will enjoy getting on the battlefield here in the States.
Find the best Apex Legends character to play with.
As with most good games, there really is no “best character,” so we’ll go ahead and say that right off the bat. Rather, there’s a specific character for a specific play style. Do you favor teamwork? Misdirection? Speed? While a steady aim and fast reflexes are still invaluable to a good player, one of key elements that separates Apex Legends from other Battle Royale shooters is its focus on class-based gameplay. So who should you pick? The towering tank Gibraltar? The speedy psycho Octane? Or maybe the master manipulator Mirage? Check out this quiz to find who you match up with:
Are you guaranteed to win so long as you play this character? No. There are a lot of factors to consider – what point in the match it is, where you drop at the start of the game, how good your team is, what you end up carrying – the list goes on. But at least now you’ll know which character you should be playing, and that’s a solid start! For a more complete look at your character, check out our complete guide below:
Think you’ve mastered Apex Legends? These secrets will give you an edge.
For those of you born to dominate the battle royale scene, you’ve probably already racked up 2,000+ kills in Apex Legends, revived hundreds of teammates, won a bunch of matches, and unlocked any Legends you’re interested in playing. For the rest of the players out there who are trying to take in and study every ounce of strategy they can bring to the fight, here’s our final guide:
Whether you’re playing a fast hard-hitter like Bangalore or Octane, or a slow and steady powerhouse like Gibraltar or Caustic, speed is key to success in Apex Legends. Weapons in the game have shallow clips, and even when you put a stock on your weapon, the switch speed to pull out your secondary gun is still more than enough to leave you vulnerable.
Swap your weapons faster to keep on the offensive
To perform a fast-switch, all you need to do is crouch while switching weapons. Luckily the concept is easy, because having the wherewithal to actually do it is another story entirely. Trust us, though; it’s worth it. Practice it in training to try and get the timing just right. Every second counts in a firefight, and this small trick can make all the difference.
Apex Legends is a squad-based battle royale, and playing with your team in mind will vastly improve your chances of survival once you hit ground. The exception to the rule might be Octane, however, as his Stim lets him engage and evade on his own (be careful not to get overwhelmed, though). While sticking together leaves you in a better place to help and be helped by your teammates, it also can make you all vulnerable to AoE attacks like Bangalore’s Ultimate, gunfire from both sides, or even a well-placed grenade.
Keep your teammates close, but never group up.
Sticking close together is also a bad idea at the start of the match. Everyone’s scrambling for weapons and equipment, and with two other players working with you, there’ll be a shortage of goodies to go around. The best advice is to head towards the same general vicinity as your team, but break off before you land. Aim towards a building that no one else has gotten to yet, grab what you can, then make your way towards your squad. Later on, try and stick to spots where you can get to your team within five seconds, but can avoid grouping up for easy multi-kills.
3. Respawn in half the time
Apex Legends lets players revive defeated teammates at respawn beacons, but the task can be daunting. It puts them in a high-risk area where they have to recover your beacon (often through gunfire), then they have to make it to a respawn beacon safely. Better players might also sacrifice some equipment once you return, since you’ll be landing without a weapon or ammo.
The “need teammate banner” will disappear as soon as your buddy picks up the banner.
Since the process to revive a teammate is two-part, divide the responsibility between two members of your squad. As long as someone recovers the banner, you don’t have to be the one carrying it to revive. Any green dots on the map signify respawn beacons; you don’t need your teammates to ping them for you if you just look. Have a teammate recover the banner while another teammate makes a beeline for a respawn beacon.
As soon as your friend is carrying the banner you’ll be able to resurrect your fallen comrade.
4. Refresh shields instantly
Shield Cells and Phoenix Kits are the obvious ways to restore your shields, but the process takes valuable time (less so if you’re playing as Lifeline). You can move, crouch, and even slide while charging your shield, but you can’t fire, and that makes you an easier target to eliminate.
Loot boxes for a much quicker armor refill
In the middle of a firefight you might not want to spend the time restoring your shields. If there’s a player box (from a dead player) nearby, though, you can just loot it and take the armor they were wearing. That armor might be of lower quality, but it’s guaranteed to be full. Save yourself the time in a firefight and restock your armor (as well as ammo, grenades and healing supplies) through player boxes instead of scrounging around the map. Do that after the fight is over!
Movement is key in Apex Legends, and if you’re reading this guide you probably already spend more time sliding than running, more time mantling than opening doors, and more time sprinting with weapons holstered than with them in your hands. There’s always more you can do to get that little bit of extra speed though.
Come off your running jumps by landing in a crouch.
When you perform a running jump, you’ll land with momentum that usually gets wasted. Instead of simply landing and hoofing it another few yards, instead try sliding. Crouch right after a running jump and you’ll get that extra couple yards of distance that can get you safely behind cover, down a hill, or right behind an enemy player.
6. Third-party enemy teams
This one’s pretty obvious, but it still usually happens by accident rather than on purpose. How many times have you been locked in a fight with another team, when a few more players randomly join the action and make your job twice as hard? You scramble to relocate and curse their luck for stumbling upon you at a moment of weakness, but what if it wasn’t an accident?
Got shot from behind? Next time be the one shooting, not getting shot.
As the zone gets smaller and smaller, it can be very enticing to shoot before you think, to engage before you’re spotted. Hold out just that little bit longer, though, and you might be amply rewarded. Wait for the enemy team to come into contact with a third party, then after a couple of players get downed, make your entrance, ideally with your teammates firing from multiple directions. Remember kill streaks don’t guarantee you the win – just outlasting everybody else.
Bangalore’s tactical ability to fire a smoke grenade is so ubiquitous that we’ll spend no more time going over what it does; you’ve probably seen it used so many times that you can smell the smoke (check your PC; it might need help). Bloodhound’s Ultimate can see right through the smoke, which can be helpful when you’re going up against Bangalore players, but use this ability on purpose and you can really start to dominate the battlefield.
See through Bangalore’s smoke to fight enemies who can’t detect you!
Have Bangalore pop smoke on an enemy location, then activate Beast of the Hunt right after. Bloodhound will be able to see without impediment, and the enemy team is going to be in disarray. Take them down using the smoke to cover you, and you might even come out completely unscathed. Beware that some enemies will have attachments to help them see through smoke, however. This tactic also works for seeing through Caustic’s gas, though Bloodhound will still suffer some of the debuffing effects.
8. Bait with downed players
This is such a useful tip. As we mentioned in our intermediate tips, a downed player can still be extremely useful to his teammates. As such, now most players have learned to simply go for the kill rather than leaving them crawling on the floor pinging their every move.
Punish players who foolishly run in to save their teammates
This makes killing them very tempting, but hear us out: Most teammates will come to help their fallen buddies, and that will lead them right to you – or more accurately to their friend. Use this bait to your advantage! Position yourself to expect them when they come charging in. If you’re playing Caustic this is an excellent time to place some traps.
9. Ride the electric doors
A simple tip for mobility, many of the buildings in Kings Canyon have big doors on them. These slide up slowly and are typically found on big warehouses like the Hydro Dam or Repulsor. Characters like Pathfinder or Octane will have no trouble scaling these warehouses, but the rest of the Legends can’t do so quite as easily.
This door raises when opened. Be on top of it to scale the building!
If you get just the right angle, though, you can actually climb to the top of these doors before opening them. Look down at your feet once you’re standing on the threshold, and activate it with yourself on top! You’ll be able to ride to the top of the building. This is great for re-positioning and bamboozling enemy players, but is especially good early in the game when you’re trying to get loot quickly.
We mean that one literally. There’s no fall damage in Apex Legends, so obviously there’s no worry about leaping off huge buildings or hopping down cliffs. Once you actually connect with the ground though, you’re stunned for a little over a second. If you kick as you land, you can avoid the pause and ignore the stun effects. Don’t forget how awesome your Legend is!
Kick right as you land to negate the stun effect
And that wraps up our advanced tips guide! Stay tuned for more on Apex Legends, and don’t forget to check out our full character guide right here for more specific tips on each Legend:
Apex Legends offers players nine different playable characters, but only six of them are available at the start. Mirage, Caustic, and Octane must be unlocked either through Legend Tokens or Apex Coins. As with other games from EA, this presents players with the choice of spending time (Legend Tokens) or spending money (Apex Coins) to get the extra Legend(s).
1,000 is more than enough for one, but 2,150 isn’t enough for all three.
If you’re in no mood to play the grind game, you can also spend Apex Coins to get the three Legends whenever you like. Each one costs 750, and you can purchase a bundle of 1000 Apex Coins for $9.99. If you want all three heroes, though, you’ll have to go for the 4,350 Apex Coins bundle (and a +350 bonus for other in-game aesthetics), which will cost you $39.99. It’s a lot to pay for just three characters who are supposed to be equal in power to the others anyway, but hey, Apex Legends is a free game. If you think it’s worth giving some of your hard-earned cash, that’s up to you!
Mirage, Caustic, and Octane all cost 12,000 Legend Tokens, which depending on how often (and how well) you play, might take a while. Once you hit level 23 you should have enough Tokens to purchase one of these heroes, but again you’ll only have enough to get one; not all three. Which takes us to the point of this article:
Who to unlock first?
Which character should you spend your Legend Tokens on?
If you do choose to earn your Legends rather than pay for them, the decision of which Legend to buy first will be a weighty one. The three characters all play very differently from each other, and there’s no clear winner as to which is “the best one.” But that’s not why you’re reading this article! Instead let’s go over the strengths of the Legends in question, and let their skills speak for themselves.
Mirage is the holographic trickster of Apex Legends, and excels in playing mind games with the enemy team. While he doesn’t have much in the way of actual defense (like Gibraltar or Wraith), his best solution is to draw fire away from him while he flanks from an unexpected angle. His tactical ability Psyche Out is the core of Mirage’s strategy, and fires off a decoy that fools and debuffs enemy players. His other two abilities are variations on the same theme, using decoys to trick unwary foes into making mistakes.
Mirage is a good choice if you think you’ll be good at using his holograms to open new angles and control the firefight through misdirection. It’s much more of a reactionary experience than the other two classes.
Octane
Octane focuses on speed and hit-and-run
Octane is the high-speed daredevil, pulling out all the stops and opting for an extremely high-risk, high-reward play style. If you’re a natural at fast-paced shooter games and can operate under high pressure with low health, Octane will probably be your new favorite Legend. His biggest advantage is his Stim tactical ability coupled with his Swift Mend passive. The former grants him a hefty speed boost at the cost of health, and the latter heals him over time – very slowly. Swift Mend heals Octane slowly enough that if you OD on Stim, it won’t be able to save you from yourself. But go off the deep end for speed’s sake at the right time, and you can pull off some dazzling maneuvers that no other Legend can match.
Pick Octane if you’re looking for a high-adrenaline, fast-paced shooter experience where you toss your own well-being to the wind in favor of crazy streaks, insane mobility, and verticality. YOLO, right?
Caustic
Caustic brings battles to his doorstep, using gas to weaken his foes.
The antithesis of Octane, Caustic caters to a very different crowd than Octane or Mirage players. While the other two run around using holograms and adrenaline bursts to flank and move around enemies, Caustic is a toxic trapper who instead lures enemy teams, funneling them into his zone of control. In that zone of control Caustic is a force to be reckoned with, placing Nox Gas Traps around a chosen area which damage and debuff affected enemies. He’s a big target and he moves slow, so your success in-game is really going to come down to where you place your traps, how you use your poison to gain the upper hand, and whether you can survive long enough to whittle the map down to a small area where you can truly dominate.
If you’re not great at fast-paced shooter games, and don’t perform well under pressure, Caustic is probably the safest bet for your first unlocked Legend. Just remember that he’s just as squishy as the other two, and the only way to make the most of him is to make frequent use of his gas.
Remember that you’re still playing with a team. Or maybe you’d rather not?
Who is the best Legend? The choice ends up being pretty subjective, and unfortunately, there’s no way to test out each character before unlocking them. As such, the best way to determine who’s best for you is to ask yourself three questions:
1. Are you a more offensive or defensive player?
If you’re more defensive, choose Caustic. If you’re more offensive, then question number two:
2. Do you focus more on your movement or the enemy’s?
This is a tricky question since the answer is, instinctively, “both.” But carefully consider the firefights you’ve had. Do you try to press the attack with characters like Bangalore or Pathfinder? Or do you try to survey the scene like Bloodhound? If you focus on your own movement, take Octane.If you focus on where other players are, opt instead for Mirage.
3. How much do you rely on your team?
The last question is probably the biggest one: Do you find your strategy to rely heavily on what teammates you have? There’s a place as a teammate for all three of these characters, but Octane really presses the boundaries and often does better scouting far ahead of his team and using his speed to engage or escape from encounters that his teammates cannot. If you like the team cohesion, you might not be fond of the way Octane angles you to play.
Apex Legends has been out for less than a month and it’s already taken the battle royale crowd by storm. With over 50 million players in just a few short weeks, the title has had an incredible launch, and people are quickly getting the hang of how the game plays and how it differs from other battle royale titles such as PUBG or Fortnite.
This guide is for players who already know the ropes, but are looking for new tips to keep a step ahead of the competition and survive longer than the other malicious teams roaming Kings Canyon. If you are brand new to the game, we recommend first checking out our beginner guide below. Without further ado, let’s jump in:
Apex Legends isn’t Fortnite. When you get downed by an enemy player, you’re not out of the game. First off, you can throw up a knockdown shield to repel enemy shots. This can keep you from being completely finished off, and dissuade opponents from taking that extra time now that you’re not as much of a threat.
You can be an irritant to enemy players even when downed.
Second of all, you can still help your team even when you’re on the ground. You can still ping locations, targets, give tactical feedback over your mic, and even open and close doors. Prove your worth, and they’ll be more likely to revive or respawn you!
2. Outfit your squad
It’s pretty instinctual to gear up for a fight as soon as you hit the ground, so there’s no need to go over that. However, just because you happened upon that blue armor or that purple stock doesn’t mean your teammates have gotten as lucky. Remember that you really need to move and fight as a team to win a match, and giving that Ultimate Accelerant to Lifeline might end up saving your own life later on.
Already have a blue helmet? Give the next one to your squad.
At any time you can peek at the bottom-left of your screen and see what your teammates are equipped with. If you chance upon higher-tier loot than they have, give it a ping and they’ll make a beeline for it. This is especially useful early in the game when not everyone has a helmet, backpack, or armor.
3. Know what inventory stacks
A lot of inventory items in Apex Legends stack, so you may well be able to carry more than you’d at first think, glancing at your backpack space. You can carry two grenades in one slot (as long as they’re the same type), six shield cells per slot, four ammo packs per slot, three medkits per slot, and six syringes per slot.
You can only carry one armor, but you can carry a lot of syringes
Try and maximize the number of health and shield kits you can carry, while still keeping a couple of slots open for extra grenades, accelerants, or rare upgrades. If you wind up switching guns later on, you might also consider dropping useless ammo or attachments in favor of more space for shields or medical supplies – especially late in the game. Don’t forget to ping dropped items that your teammates might want!
4. High-tier areas
By now most players know to follow the gun ship or land in the blue circle to get the best loot right off the bat (or to avoid those areas, depending on your play style). What some players do forget, however, is that whenever you enter a new location, the name of that location appears on the top left of your screen, and beneath it, how good the loot is.
Don’t ferret through areas if there’s nothing there worth taking!
If you walk step into Water Treatment and purple “High Tier Loot” comes on-screen, you might consider lingering here and opening up a few crates before moving on. If you’re playing Bloodhound, this is also a good time to scout out the area and see who’s already been here, and what they took with them.
Obviously, there is no friendly fire in Apex Legends, but that also extends to your ultimate abilities. While you probably weren’t actively trying to bombard your teammates from orbit, you may not have considered dropping that bombardment on your own location when you get ambushed.
You can rat out enemy players while your teammates run right under the bombardment
This is an especially good strategy if you’re playing Caustic, Bangalore, or Gibraltar. If you’re playing Gibraltar, you can also put up your shield to lure enemies out of the bombardment – and right into the barrel of your Peacekeeper.
6. Drop faster
If you already know where you want to land, or if you want to hit those high-tier spots before your enemies, the only way to do that is to hit the ground before they do. Flying straight at the spot you want is counter-intuitively not actually the fastest way to get there.
Zig-zag as you drop to maximize speed and distance, and keep other players guessing.
If you nosedive it will increase your fall speed. Then level out and go horizontal again towards the intended area. The zig-zag pattern this creates will get you where you’re aiming as fast as possible. Careful not to aim down too much, though; you might hit a wall or miss your target.
7. You can heal while sliding
Like we covered in our beginner tips, sliding is hugely important for traversal in Apex Legends. Experienced players will use it to get around more quickly and safely, while minimizing their time exposed and out in the open.
Take care of your health and shields while you’re on the move!
To encourage sliding, Respawn also decided to let players reload guns, heal, use shield cells while sliding. Instead of sitting there out in the open or crouched behind cover, healing while moving is a great way to flank and recharge at the same time, getting to the next fight quicker and stronger. This is especially good for Lifeline since she can use these items faster.
8. Keep spare supplies for revived teammates
Apex Legends lets you respawn dead teammates at beacons, but when they show up they’ll be without any items, just like they were at first drop. Now that it’s later in the game, they’re really poorly equipped to fight the better-outfitted competition.
Respawning teammates also gives away your position, so get them re-equipped to fight ASAP!
More forward-thinking players might stock up on extra shield cells, med kits, syringes, and ammo so that re-entering teammates can quickly snatch it up and get back in the action. You can also ping supply crates, dropped weapons and items, or player boxes to give them a heads-up.
9. Shoot through rooftops
For whatever reason, housing in Kings Canyon isn’t great and the roof is in serious need of extensive repairs. Many of the structures in Apex Legends have missing shingles on the roof, and besides just a neat aesthetic, it’s a clever way to get the drop on enemies who thought they were behind cover.
Poor Lifeline thought she was safe.
This is a great approach for any players skilled in parkour, but is much easier to employ if you’re playing as Pathfinder. Just use the grappling hook to get above your enclosed targets, and open the fight by tossing in a few arc stars or a thermite charge.
10. Break Caustic’s traps
Fighting a good Caustic player can be harrowing, especially late in the game when there’s not much space to maneuver in. His Nox Gas Traps can damage you, blur your vision, reveal your location, and slow you; all around not a good look for you. Luckily there’s a way to sabotage them so they don’t burst on you.
Shoot the red segment and the bag won’t burst.
If you shoot Caustic’s traps on the red marks towards the bottom, you’ll break Caustic’s trap without triggering them and debuffing yourself. Not only does this keep you safe from his debilitating effects, but it also might surprise him; some player set up an ambush for you, and you’re walking right through it without setting it off. Don’t be surprised if you catch Caustic off-guard shortly after.
Hopefully, these tips will keep you alive and in the match longer! Let us know in the comments below if there’s any strategies you’ve found, and we’ll see you in Kings Canyon!
Which battle royale game gives you the most bang for your buck?
With over 50 million players and counting, Apex Legends has taken the online gaming community by complete storm. When you have a well-crafted battle royale game backed by a triple A company and the game is released as free to play, it’s no surprise that the title would rise to the top. It’s a milestone for sure, but obviously, EA and Respawn Entertainment aren’t the first to do it. It’s a formula that PUBG did, that H1Z1 did it, and Fortnite has been absolutely killing it with. So now for the question that’s on everybody’s mind now that Apex Legends is on the up and up: “Is Fortnite on its way out?”
It’s definitely way too early to say, but the competition is surprisingly fierce – probably fiercer than Epic Games had expected. To EA’s credit, releasing Apex Legends during the slow period of Fortnite’s long seventh season was a stroke of genius. Many bored Fortnite players picked up Apex Legends just to see what the hype was about, and whether this battle royale game was better than the reigning champion. Evidently, many found this to be the case, as it’s climbed up to the top of both Twitch’s ‘most watched’ and ‘most popular’ lists, Fortnite falling to third on both counts:
One might think that the opening weeks aren’t any real indication of a game’s longevity or quality, but the frank truth is that PUBG never did recover from Fortnite’s initial splash. Like any good battle royale player, though, Epic Games was quick on the trigger, and is already working to reel their audience back in.
How?
With lots of money (offered to players as rewards through tournaments) and by directly incorporating some successful Apex mechanics into Fortnite, namely the game’s ping system. Rumors are also circulating about Epic Games putting in Apex Legends’ respawn system in a coming update.
An upcoming respawn mechanic in Fortnite might look like this.
So who wins when two titans duke it out, trying to endlessly one-up each other?
We do!
A new free contender in the battle royale genre? That just means more opportunities to hop online and see which game we like better! In the end, that’s kind of the best way to look at things: Neither game is objectively better than the other; they both offer different facets to the experience.
Comparing Fortnite to Apex Legends
Graphics
Apex Legends takes on a less “arcadey” aesthetic than Fortnite
Apex Legends is obliquely set in the Titanfall universe, and carries some of the grit and more realistic character models with it. Fortnite fully embraces its unique visual aesthetic, and bumps the zaniness to 11 with players running around dabbing, riding chicken parachutes, and dressed as bananas.
Perspective
3rd-person shooter, or 1st-person shooter? You pick.
Fortnite plays in 3rd-person, while Apex Legends is the more classic 1st-person shooter. This means the player perspective in Apex Legends in smaller, and their view cone thinner. As with the graphics, Apex Legends is trying to push for a more realistic, less arcade experience.
Fortnite has building
There is no building or resource mining in Apex Legends
Players making the switch from Fortnite to Apex Legends will immediately notice the lack of a building mechanic. Some will be frustrated with the limited mobility (Apex doesn’t have vehicles, either), but others will glad to return to the genre’s shooter roots without having to worry about building battles or resource acquisition.
Apex legends has classes
Eight classes, eight play styles. More are on the way.
Apex Legends has eight (with more incoming) different Legends you can play as, each with their own unique perks and passives. This dramatically changes player encounters, and adds a fresh element to the mix (though Fortnite players might argue that building served much the same purpose).
The strength of the pack is the wolf, the strength of the wolf is the pack.
Sure, you can free fall onto a different part of the map than your buddies, but that happens pretty rarely. In Apex Legends you’re not alone; you’re on a squad of three players who are your only chance of getting back into the fight if you’re downed or killed. This offers a (weighted) chance to get back in the ring that many players will be excited to have, but other players may find it frustrating to kill the same players multiple times per game.
Fortnite has more people per match
Since Apex Legends isn’t a free-for-all, there are fewer players
There are 100 players in a Fortnite Battle Royale match, and there are only 60 players per match of Apex Legends, a little over half the people, and therefore half the chaos. Combine that with the fact that many players go solo in Fortnite, and you’re looking at a much more frenetic experience.
Cosmetics
We’re probably not going to see Caustic or Wraith ‘swipin’ it.’
Like Fortnite, Apex Legends is 100% free to play, but offers aesthetic upgrades to player skins, weapon skins, finishers, and emotes. Fortnite’s got a huge array of character customization, ranging from cool, to pop culture references, to absolutely ludicrous. Everyone’s got a lot of personality in Fortnite, and so far that’s not the case with Apex Legends. This comes as the result of Apex Legends already having eight established and fully voice-acted characters, though.
Each Legend has a fully voice-acted personality.
Right now Fortnite also has the advantage of multiple game modes, a larger community, and most importantly a name and culture behind it. Apex had a great launch and established themselves as a true competitor to Fortnite, but Fortnite is a game that’s held that top spot for years. Given the huge cultural phenomenon that Fortnite has become – and moreover, its continued popularity this long after launch – it’s not going to be that easy for Apex Legends to swoop in and steal the crown.
In the meantime, enjoy the fruits of the competing companies’ labors, and drop into whichever game is your favorite. Let us know in the comments below which game that is, and we’ll see you online!
Ready to jump into Apex Legends? Here’s all you need to know.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few weeks, you’ll have heard about Apex Legends: Respawn Entertainment’s new battle royale game published by EA. During the company’s development of Titanfall, the sudden success of battle royale games like Fortnite and PUBG, the dev team decided to take the genre into their own hands and the concept of Apex Legends was born. Like Fortnite, Apex Legends is free and can be downloaded with an Origin account literally right now. Get the game here, join the crowd of over 5 million gamers, and see what the buzz is about!
Apex Legends is a new take on the battle royale genre, so it’s got a lot of familiar elements if you’ve played a game like Fortnite before. It’s a king-of-the-hill, one-versus-many, survive-to-win type deal where the battlefield shrinks as the match goes on, forcing players into an inevitable confrontation for that elusive top spot. Games start with the typical free fall into a vast map filled with varying tiers of loot and gear, and your success is not dependent so much on your killstreaks and aim, but more on your ability to survive and to know when to strike.
Fortnite players will be familiar with this view
What’s different from Fortnite?
Bangalore uses smoke grenades and airstrikes to root out enemy teams.
The biggest difference between Apex Legends and Fortnite is that Apex Legends requires you to play on a three-person squad. While Fortnite’s battle royale mode allowed for this as well, Apex Legends endeavors to start you off with a full trio each drop. This is to emphasize the second biggest change from Fortnite: Apex Legends has a class system with eight different playable “legends.”
We’ll get more into their unique skills a little further down. Other broad differences include basic movement, pinging, respawning (which has limitations). Fortnite fans will also immediately notice the building mechanic has been removed entirely from the experience. Will some master builders will be sad to see the element gone, others will be happy to see a more classic FPS experience.
Now that the basic differences are out of the way, let’s dive in.
10 tips to get you started in Apex Legends
1. Know your character, know your team
Like we mentioned before, Apex Legends features eight different classes, each of which is unique and plays very differently than the others. If you play Pathfinder the same way you play Gibraltar you’re going to do poorly against more experienced players. For the patient players, the best way to find your favorite class is to simply play the game a lot. Get the feel for each, then decide which are your favorites.
Bloodhound excels at recon and tracking.
For the less patient, you can get a quick overview of each character’s three abilities (as well as their aesthetic customizations) under the “legends” tab on the main menu. Once you’re familiar with the characters and their abilities, try and think a little more macro as your team chooses their classes: How does your character benefit from theirs? How can you enhance their play style? What items should you prioritize, and which ones are better given to someone else?
Bangalore, for example, can use a sniper rifle, but she’s probably better off with a shotgun or SMG. Save the sniper rifle for Pathfinder and the Ultimate Accelerant for Lifeline.
Movement is huge in Apex Legends, and the difference between a stationary target and one that is moving and sliding is night and day. If you tap “crouch” while sprinting, you’ll begin to baseball slide along the ground. This is a great way to evade gunfire, but more importantly is a way faster way to get around, particularly in more vertical areas of the map.
Experience players spend more time sliding than shooting.
You can also slide way further than you’d think at first glance, which pretty much ensures that Respawn wanted this to be an integral part of the game. Next time you’re in a hurry or are under fire, stop sprinting and start sliding!
3. Holster your guns
An unusually realistic aspect of Apex Legends is that your characters can sprint much faster if their weapons are unequipped. As long as you’re not in a firefight you’re probably better off leaving your gun in its holster. You’ll move significantly faster, and as we said before, you’ll spend way more time moving during a match than you will firing your gun.
If you’re going to be running for a while, holster your weapon.
It’s also worth mentioning that while putting your gun away will increase your speed, all characters move and sprint at the same speed. You wouldn’t think it at first glance, but Caustic and Gibraltar can run every bit as fast as Bangalore or Lifeline.
4. Ping
Since Apex Legends capitalizes on teamwork and communication, the ping system is a huge component to your team’s success and survival. You can ping practically anything in the game – locations, enemies, weapons, armor, supply crates, and drop spots. If there’s something you see that’s worth mentioning, you’re always better safe than sorry. If you see it, ping it. This is especially true if you don’t want it or if you see that your teammate needs it.
Ping items, enemies, and locations so your teammates can see them.
You can help yourself out by doing this, too. If you open up your inventory you can ping a bunch of different components, such as shields, health, ammo, or armor – even weapon attachments. This will alert your teammates that you’re actively searching for something. If they see it while scavenging, they might just ping it to let you know it’s up for grabs.
Open your inventory and ping items to tell teammates you’re searching for them.
5. Relocate with balloons
Scattered around the map are big red balloons. At any time you can go up to one, zip up the rope, and propel yourself back into the air, just like you did at the start of the match.
Activate these to launch yourself back up into the air.
This is handy if you’re trying to relocate quickly, or if you suddenly find yourself outside the ring. Be careful, though; you’re a pretty obvious target to anyone looking up.
6. Break the loot bots
While you’re scrambling for loot, you should also be on the lookout for loot bots. They’re typically found indoors tucked away in corners or behind staircases. Strike them with your melee attack and watch the leveled goodies burst out.
These are the piñatas of Apex Legends
7. Stick with your squad
Everything is awesome. Everything is cool when you’re part of a team. Apex Legends is meant to be a team-based battle royale, as opposed to the typical free-for-all. Character abilities work best in conjunction with each other, and pinging objects that are nearby is far more useful than pinging something across the map.
Don’t play the lone wolf in Apex Legends. It means no one has your back.
Let’s also state the obvious: If you get surrounded by three enemy players with higher-tier loot than you, you’re probably going to die. Having teammates available to flank enemies, revive you when you’re downed, or trade supplies with you is a huge help.
8. Mod your weapons
There are dozens of weapons in Apex Legends, and all of them support modifications that you can find lying around the map. Sometimes they’ll alter the way your scope looks, sometimes it’ll extend your clip size, sometimes it will even completely change the way your gun fires. Before you throw away an upgraded gun for one that you just like better, weigh your choice carefully.
Modifications lying around the map come in different tiers too.
Some attachments like the Selectfire Receiver can even transform a burst-fire gun into a fully automatic weapon, which opens up entirely new possibilities for tactical weapon pairings.
The Selectfire Receiver allows you to select different firing options
9. Damage is color-coded
By default, Apex Legends has hovering numbers over enemies as you shoot them. These numbers obviously indicate how much damage you’re doing to them, but it actually tells you more: The color of these numbers indicates what tier of armor they have equipped – white, gold, blue, or purple. If the numbers are gold it means you’ve scored a headshot.
Switch ‘stacking’ to ‘floating’ under the Settings menu for a accurate damage output reading.
The higher-tier shields do not offer superior damage negation, by the way; it just means the shield will last longer. If you see purple, go for it.
10. Crates are color-coded, too
Lastly, when you defeat an enemy the color of their crate will match the level of the highest-tier loot they were carrying. If the crate is blue, for example, it means they were running around with that some form or other of gear at that level.
If you see a gold crate it means this player had a legendary item you can take.
If you’re in a hurry, prioritize searching crates that are purple or gold first. You can always ping these crates to return to them later, or so your teammates can find them.
As a final word, don’t be afraid if you end up head-to-head with high-level players. Their banners might show outrageous killstreaks or rare armor, but this actually has no bearing on their combat efficiency; it simply means they’re more experienced players. With the exception of Mirage and Caustic, the only unlockables in Apex Legends are aesthetics for your character, guns, finishers and emotes – none of which have any effect on how much damage your weapons do, or how much health you have on the battlefield.
Weapon skins are nothing more than aesthetic changes.
So there you go! Hopefully, our beginner guide will help ease you into Apex Legends, and let us know in the comments below anything you’ve found helpful in your matches. Stay tuned, and we’ll see you online!
The new battle royale shooter had a surprise release. Have you played it yet?
The rumors were true. After last weekend’s mysterious teaser stream, Respawn’s new battle royale shooter Apex Legends is available to download. The free-to-play title is a spinoff from Respawn’s Titanfall series. Taking place 30 years after Titanfall 2, Apex Legends has a bunch of colorful mercenaries fighting for control of the limited resources of the Outlands. The game is its own unique entity, as it does not feature Titans or wall-running. The gameplay reveal trailer can be seen below:
The game is an eclectic mix of Fortnite, Overwatch, and Titanfall. Like Overwatch, Apex Legends features several distinct playable characters, all with unique active, passive, and ultimate abilities. At launch, there are six playable Legends, with two additional characters that can be bought either using real money or in-game currency. The heroes each have distinct personalities and voice lines, giving the game a bit more flair than competitors like PUBG.
Team formation is key to Apex Legends, and the pre-game character selection has been tweaked to make sure teams have balanced roles. In most character-based team games you’ll have games where you don’t have an essential character, like a tank or a healer, because some living legend decided to pick Hanzo instead. Apex Legends alleviates this by forcing your team to pick their characters one at a time. If you see your team lacks a healer, you’ll have to pick one to ensure success. For a breakdown of every current Legend, watch the video below:
Gameplay-wise, Apex Legends more closely resembles CoD’s Blackout mode than either Fortnite or Titanfall. Like Titanfall, the gunplay is tight and satisfying, and the movement is fast-paced and fluid. Though the game lacks Titanfall’s iconic wall-running, vaulting over objects and navigating obstacles still feels smoother than other battle royale games. Like Blackout, organizing your items and attachments is surprisingly simple and streamlined, even while playing with a controller. One of the biggest ways Apex Legends differentiates itself from other battle royales is that it is entirely team-based. Every match has 20 teams of three competing to be the last one standing.
Apex Legends has some built-in features for those who want to cooperate but don’t like voice chat. When the match is beginning, a leader is randomly chosen who pings which location the squad will land in. While other players can offer suggestions, the leader ultimately chooses where the squad will land. During the match, players can use the detailed pinging system to highlight loot, enemies, and escape routes, allowing the team to coordinate their movements cleanly. While high-level players will inevitably forgo these options for voice chat, it’s a nice inclusion for more casual players who don’t want the stress associated with voice.
Apex Legends is currently free to download on PS4, PC, and Xbox One. If you’ve played it, let us know what you think! And if you haven’t played it yet, just click below to get started:
