Apex Legends Shooting, Positioning and Tips

by Bigsassyblackwoman

I see many people new to first person shooters being interested in this game, so here’s some straightforward tips. Inspired by my girlfriend being addicted to this game, despite it being her very first FPS ever.

For shooting:

1. You can easily compensate the recoil of any gun by slightly moving your thumbstick/mouse down as you fire. Very useful when shooting someone at a medium or long distance. When you get used to that motion, go to the practice range and try recognizing the shooting pattern of every gun, as each recoil pattern is unique and consistent to them.
2. It’s okay to shoot every gun from the hip at a close distance, including sniper rifles, because none of them have a massive spread while moving. You don’t need to aim down the sights of a target two meters away from you, and is actually often beneficial to not do so.
3. If someone keeps strafing left and right and you can’t hit them, try instead matching their moving pattern and shooting at them with minimal input from your thumbstick/mouse. This makes them a much straighter target to shoot at.
4. Bullets have travel time and drop. If someone is very far, you must shoot slightly in front of and slightly above the direction they are running in. Also,if someone is very far away, crouch down and begin shooting. Crouching reduces recoil.
5. If you are chasing a low health enemy and they turn a corner, get to the corner and either slide or jump. More experienced players often wait for you to turn the corner so they can shoot you. Sliding or jumping makes you more unpredictable.
6. You don’t need to spend the whole magazine to reload. In firefights, when someone runs away from you, it’s a good indication that you can reload without consequences. You don’t want to be caught in a shootout and lose because you had less bullets in the mag and had to reload first.
7. You don’t always need to hold down the fire button and expend the entire magazine. In early game encounters where ammo is scarce, it can be beneficial to shoot a few rounds, readjust the aim, and then shoot a few more. Missing a few rounds of light ammo is crucial when you only have 40 in the reserve.
8. Shooting gives away your position to everyone around you in a 400 meter radius. Be mindful of which attention you will attract, especially if you are shooting with a sniper.
9. Above all, practice, practice, practice. Nothing makes aim better than experience.

For positioning:

1. Try to avoid running out in the open when exploring places to loot. Stay close to walls and always keep an eye on high places to see if there’s people staring at you with scopes.
2. Conversely, try engaging in firefights where you have a height advantage. You want a height advantage because it gives you a higher line of sight, which gives you more control and knowledge of the battlefield and determining where enemies are.
3. When being chased into a building, close the door behind you and crouch into a corner that hides from the line of sight of the doorway. When they come in looking for you, you can get the drop on them, especially if they rushed in and end up in the middle of the room.
4. Avoid shooting out in the open. Peek over or to the side of cover so your entire body isn’t exposed.
5. You can wait just inside the ring to ambush lagging squads that will come to the ring for protection, especially while the ring is closing. Incredibly important during the first 2 rounds, where a squad running to the ring at the last second is almost guaranteed every game.
6. Be familiar with the map and its surrounding areas. It makes it easier to predict hiding spots and improves mobility to advantageous locations.

For general game knowledge:

1. You can kick down doors with the melee button. Useful for when someone is blocking the door.
2. When you drop down somewhere, make sure you drop near a door or through a hole in the roof near equipment. The half second saved can be the difference between picking up the Peacekeeper and being shot by it.
3. You can climb walls by holding the jump button near walls.
4. Crouching silences your footsteps.
5. If you hear a gunfight, don’t be shy to step into the fight with decent gear. There’s a good chance that the winner of the firefight will be healing their wounds or looting, and is a good way to catch a squad off guard. Just ensure that you aren’t the squad that get ambushed after your firefight.
6. If you have to run away in the open, run in a zigzag line, strafing left and right.
7. Use Bangalore’s smoke grenades when you must traverse open areas or must revive someone in an exposed position. Just remember it’s no shield. Her ultimate ability is not instant, and it can slow down and stun your own team, so be mindful of where you put it. You can use Double Time offensively, and rush someone with a shotgun, or defensively.
8. Bloodhound’s tactical ability reveals where enemies just were, not where they currently are when you get there. Rather, use it as a prediction tool and ambush them where they are likely going. Beast of the Hunt gives increased speed, and can be used defensively to run. Teammates cannot see the tracking marks that Bloodhound sees, so you must call them out and how old the tracks are.
9. Caustic’s gas traps can block doors. His ultimate is incredibly versatile. It can flush people out of a house and cover, isolate entire hot spot areas like care packages and ways of escape, provide cover, and decimate a poorly positioned team if you also put gas traps around the smoke as they try to escape it.
10. Gibraltar’s face shield only covers his upper half and absorbs about 50 damage. His dome of protection is invulnerable, and can be used to cover you as you revive someone that got sniped. Gibraltar’s ult covers a wide area, and deals devastating damage to those caught in it. With one of the most powerful synergies in the game, Gibraltar can throw the ult directly at his feet and then place a dome of protection on his squad, creating an effective defensive airstrike.
11. You can move Lifeline’s drone around by walking into it, and can slowly move around with it to reposition. Lifeline’s revive shield is impenetrable, but is quite big and makes it obvious you are helping a teammate up. Other people can see you calling your Lifeline care package down.
12. Mirage’s passive ability does not make you invisible, only cloaked. A small outline of you is still visible, and is much more useful when getting knocked down in medium-ranged encounters where you can reposition yourself near cover to be revived safely. If you are suspicious of people in a building, send in a clone and see if they shoot it. Be wary of sending clones in open places. It’s an indicator that you are there in the general area to anyone who spots them. Use Mirage’s ult to either escape or flank the position of an enemy.
13. As Pathfinder, you can grapple people to you. Very useful in the early game to deny people items and melee them down. Grappling also has momentum, which means you can use them as swings to go fast speeds, like shooting at something above and swinging. Slide after the swing for maximum distance. Hackable beacons are visible both on the map and as a floating icon on the screen when you are near it. Ziplines traverse great distance and have a low cooldown, so use it often to get to high, hard-to-reach places and scout the surrounding area.
14. Wraith cannot see enemies while she is phased. A massive purple streak also follows wherever you go, so it can be hard to use as an escape. Use it to primarily flank squads or move from cover to cover in the open. The voices tell you vital information, such as if the person aiming at you is a sniper, so be sure to heed its warnings and warn your teammates about it with the warn button. Because you move much faster during your ultimate, your sliding goes a great distance and speed. Use this to your advantage to become more slippery and have a better portal.