Diving headfirst into Apex Legends Mobile without any prior experience and background in battle royales can make you feel like a deer lost in the headlights. It's a bit different than PUBG and Fortnite, where you rely on passives and abilities to gain the upper edge in a match without skewing the overall game balance. Apex Legends Mobile offers a new experience, a well-polished one that goes beyond running and gunning, transforming itself into an adapted hero shooter designed for battle royale gameplay. It even ambitiously tests the best Android phones on the market at the highest FPS and graphics to resemble the experience you'll find on consoles and PC.

However, even if Apex Legends Mobile bears similarities to Apex Legends, it still holds enough differences that you'd want to re-acquaint yourself with the mechanics and gameplay. Android Police has produced a starter's guide to ease players into the game, whether you're new or returning. We will teach you how to stand on your own two feet for your first couple of battle royale matches while providing an in-depth profile on the game's legends, features, and available game modes.

Getting started

After installing the Apex Legends Mobile Android app, you'll have to complete a few preliminary steps before entering the tutorial. The first two steps require identification confirmation: (1) verifying your age and consent to the game's terms of service agreement, and (2) choosing your primary login method (Google account, EA account, Twitter, Facebook, or sign-in as a guest).

Note: Your progress is tied to your account, meaning if you lose or change your device, stick with the same login method to maintain your account progress across multiple devices. Don't sign in as a guest if you don't want to risk losing your progress!

Selecting your default settings

Your settings can be reconfigured anytime simply by tapping on Settings in your main menu. You can also customize your button mapping layout by tapping on Custom Layout.

• Choose between your starting shooting mode: 'No experience in mobile shooting games (Auto-Firing will be enabled)' or 'Experienced in mobile shooting games'; both options are a good starting point.
• Configure your heads-up display (the button layout you'll see while playing) based on your personal preferences: 'HUD1 - Classic Setup' and 'HUD2 - Apex Style.'

Rookie Tutorial

During the tutorial, you'll work with Mirage to learn the basics of the game, things like sliding, climbing, shooting, and picking up items and teammate banners. Once the tutorial is finished, you'll be able to register as a legend and choose your username.

Apex Legends Mobile versus Apex Legends

Apex Legends Mobile simply isn't a port of the console and PC Apex Legends game. We've summarized the major differences between the two versions.

• FPS and TPS mode: Apex Legends locks you into FPS without any TPS option; you can swap between the two in Apex Legends Mobile, sometimes seamlessly.
• Exclusive legends: Apex Legends Mobile has new legends made for mobile play. You won't be able to play as Rhapsody and Fade on the console/PC version.
• Exclusive skins: You'll find new skins created exclusively for Apex Legends Mobile.
• Permanent modes: A full-fledged firing range and permanent deathmatch mode were added for Apex Legends Mobile.
• Balance and meta shifts: Apex Legends Mobile has its own meta, as map versions are different, dependency on aim assistance with gunplay, and legend balance differs from the console and PC versions of Apex.

How to play battle royales: Apex Legends Mobile style

We've put together some beginner tips to help you survive your early matches. Once you've mastered our beginner tips, take your gameplay into your own hands by practicing the essential survival tips to start winning more matches.

• You'll spend more than half the match looting items and getting your hands on any gun in your vicinity. But the trick is to find the right gun that fits your playstyle; if you're a confrontational player, you'll prefer shotguns like the Peacekeeper or the Wingman for pistol play. The practice range helps get you up to speed on which weapons are currently in the game, so we strongly recommend hitting the practice range before a match starts.
• Memorizing loot colors is key: white is common, blue is rare, purple is epic, and gold is legendary. Upgrading your loot to a higher rarity is how you'll power up your gear during a match.
• Turn on auto-pickup to loot more quickly; you can sort out your bag once you're in safety.

  

• Always be on the move, so you avoid being trapped outside of the ever-encroaching ring; if you are playing as a legend that can increase movement speed, don't be afraid to pop an ability to get you back on track.
• Utilize the ping system to let your team know where you want to go and what loot you've found, this is still a team-based shooter, so communication is vital!
• Shields are your best friends, remember to top-up on your shields outside a fight. Shields are crucial for surviving your encounters.

  

• Finish off your opponents by using a finisher. Once you've eliminated an enemy, they'll be in a downed state, so you'll need to use a finisher to complete the job.

  

• Use the sliding mechanic to improve mobility. Combine jumping and sliding to move even faster.
• Experiment with your legends; find a legend or two you like and stick with them. You'll improve by learning the legends and being consistent with their intended playstyle. Every legend has its specialty, determined by their skill/ultimate/passive, and you'll unlock more as you play. If you're new to Apex, we recommend starting with offensive legends (and even a defensive class like Caustic) that focus on combat before moving into heavy utility-focused legends.

  

• Power up your legends by unlocking more perks. Perks are unlocked by playing as specific legends in matches.
• Learn your legend's hitbox. Your hitbox will determine how easy it is to shoot you; larger hitboxes are bigger targets, for example. Legends are split into small, medium, and large hitboxes; Gibraltar, Pathfinder, and Caustic all have the largest hitbox. Remember that the game is balanced around hitboxes, and the ability to negate damage, so use your abilities wisely.
• Land faster than other players so you can get first dibs on loot. You can fly faster by turning your camera 45 degrees and looking sideways, adding momentum to gain more distance for your drop. Just be aware of starting in heavily populated areas during your first few drops; the enemy team might still beat you to the punch first and wipe your underequipped squad.
• Prepare multiple weapons in expectation of different types of encounters. For example, if you're fighting indoors, you'll want to use hipfire (like the Alternator SMG) to take down your opponent, but not all guns are good with hipfire.

How healing works

All legends start with the same base health. When the ring closes upon your character, it will directly damage your health even if you have shields.

You'll grab items that regen your health or add shields. Weapons will deplete your shields first (some exceptions from abilities apply). Shield Cells and Shield Batteries add to your shield amount, whereas, Syringes and Med Kits regenerate your health. Having one of each healing item is essential, but always keep your shields up first since that's much easier to recover than your health.

Learning your legends (characters)

Legends make up a large part of the Apex lore from the Titanfall universe. Every legend offers a unique backstory and personality that you'll eventually get to know in bits and pieces. Outside of the legend's personality and origin, each legend has a unique set of skills and abilities that enable a particular playstyle. Below we've summarized the legends you can unlock and play.

To view the game's available legends, tap on Legends on the main screen and then tap Details.

Bangalore

An offensive class specializing in tactical combat, so she can gain an edge in a fight. She can sprint while being fired at for a brief period (passive ability). She can also fire a smoke launcher to obscure vision in an area (ability). Her ultimate is Rolling Thunder which fires a flare to call in an artillery strike causing damage, slowing and blurring vision on the field.

Bloodhound

A recon class specializing in tracking and learning an enemy's whereabouts. They can discover tracks showing the location and time of enemy actions (passive ability). Their ability reveals enemies, traps, and clues through structures. Their ultimate increases movement speed and highlights nearby enemy tracks. Since they are classified as a recon legend, they can scan survey beacons to reveal the ring's next location.

Caustic

A defensive class specializing in toxic gas to scout and trap enemies. His passive allows him to see enemies inside his gas. His ability drops six canisters of Nox Gas that can be shot/triggered by enemies; once the gas disperses, it'll slow and cause damage to nearby enemies. His ultimate, Nox Gas, Grenade, fills an area of Nox Gas that'll slow and damage enemies found within. Since he is classified as a defensive legend, he gains access to the fortified passive that reduces incoming damage by 15% and is immune to being slowed down by bullets.

Crypto

A recon legend specializing in supplying information to his team, temporarily stopping his enemy tracks, so he and his squad initiate the first strike. His passive lets you see what his Surveillance Drone sees up to 30 meters, highlighting nearby enemies, doors, care packages, supply bins, and traps. His ability remote controls a Surveillance Drone which can interact with Survey Beacons, Respawn Beacons, and ally banner cards. His ultimate, Drone EMP, slows down nearby enemies by dealing 50 Shield damage, slows, and disarming traps. Mini-maps are disabled for the enemy players hit by Drone EMP for two seconds. Since he is classified as a recon legend, he can scan survey beacons to reveal the ring's next location. Crypto costs 750 Apex Coins if you want to unlock him right away.

Fade

An offensive class specializing in dimension manipulation. His passive gives you a short movement speed boost after sliding. His ability uses the Void to teleport into a position he's been at previously. His ultimate, Phase Chamber, sends all legends within range into the Void. Note: He is exclusive to Apex Legends Mobile and can't be found in the core console/PC game.

Gibraltar

A defensive class that specializes in generating shields to tank damage. His passive shields the upper body when he aims down sights. His ability creates a shield that blocks incoming damage if you're inside. His ultimate, Defensive Bombardment, sends down a strike in a location that causes damage and stuns. Since he is classified as a defensive legend, he gains access to the fortified passive that reduces incoming damage by 15% and is immune to being slowed down by bullets.

Lifeline

A supportive class specializing in healing and supporting her teammates. She can send a D.O.C. to provide a shield and revive her teammates (passive ability). Her ability sends out a drone to heal nearby teammates, but if she takes damage while the ability is active, the healing will be interrupted. Her ultimate, Care Package, calls down a pod nearby containing higher-tier equipment.

Loba

A supportive class specializing in acquiring the highest quality loot to gain the upper hand in a match. Her passive, Eye For Quality, lets her see epic and legendary loot through walls, and she can inform her teammates by pinging these locations. Her ability, Burglar's Best Friend, provides an extra tool so she can teleport by throwing her bracelet towards difficult-to-reach places, which also serves as an indispensable get-out-of-trouble mechanic. Her ultimate, Black Market Boutique, transfers nearby loot as an interactable portable inventory; any nearby legends can grab a maximum of 2 items from this inventory.

Mirage

An offensive class specializing in using holographs to trick his enemies. He automatically cloaks when interacting with respawn beacons and when trying to revive teammates; while knocked down, he will release a decoy and become invisible (passive ability). His ability deploys a decoy; reactivating the ability will have the decoy mimic his movements. His ultimate, Life of the Party, sends out multiple copies that mimic his movements while the real Mirage stays invisible and moves faster.

Octane

An offensive class that specializes in mobility. His passive regenerates health over time when he's not taking any damage. His ability temporarily increases movement speed at the cost of his health. His ultimate, Jump Pad, summons a device allowing everyone to double jump in the air. Note: He is unlocked for free when you start playing.

Pathfinder

A recon class that specializes in utilizing the environment to traverse around the map quickly. His passive scans a survey beacon to reveal where the next ring will be located, and his scans reduce the cooldown of his ultimate. His ability sends out a grappling hook to latch onto a surface — allowing him to zipline from one place to another. His ultimate, Zipline Gun, creates a zipline for his entire team. Since he is classified as a recon legend, he can scan survey beacons to reveal the ring's next location.

Rhapsody

A supportive class specializing in using the power of music to enable her teammates, her passive, Gifted Ear, picks up sound visualizations, like footsteps, from further away. Her ability, Hype Anthem, buffs her teammates by giving them a speed boost and restored shields; taking any damage will end the effect. Her ultimate, Rowdy's Rave, provides a barrier that blocks the incoming sight and scans to prevent enemies from scouting your position. To begin unlocking Rhapsody, you'll need to pay 750 Apex Coins or grind the Battle Pass once you're level 25 or higher.

Wraith

An offensive class specializing in the use of dimension manipulation to enable flanking. Her passive warns of danger when she's spotted near traps and is being targeted. Her ability allows her to enter the Void to move quickly without taking damage. Her ultimate, Dimensional Rift, enables her team to move from one place to another by entering the portals.

How to unlock more Legends

You unlock more legends by playing any game mode to earn experience points. You can obtain more experience points by opening up crates, completing your dailies, and performing well in matches (such as getting more kills).

Features and game modes

Selecting your camera, First-Person Perspective (FPP), and Third-Person Perspective (TPP) will control who is in your matches. Players choosing FPP will only be matched with other FPP players, while TPP players will be matched with others using TPP. FPP will give you the traditional Apex experience, but TPP is there if you wish to have a flexible playstyle and are already familiar with the third-person view. Playing in third-person widens your field of view compared to first-person.

Apex Legends Mobile have many game modes to try outside the main battle royale mode. The currently available modes are:

• Battle Royale
• Ranked
• Multiplayer: 3v3 team deathmatch, gun game, hack
• Practice: The firing range, the rookie tutorial, tutorial training, mastery missions
• Limited-time event modes

To select a new game mode, tap on the tab on the left side, select Confirm, and tap on the Play button to start queuing.

Apex Legends Mobile also features a free and premium battle pass, containing rewards like in-game cosmetics. Another feature is weekly new challenges where you can claim loot by completing daily and seasonal missions.

Every competitive season may bring special features, new characters and seasonal shop goodies to get your hands on. So always check back before a new season starts since you won't want to miss out on the fun.

The future outlook for Apex Legends Mobile

Apex Legends Mobile is shaping to be one of the best Android games to arrive in 2022 and has already been praised as one of the best Android FPS games to exist on the platform. It stands up well against other competitors, so if this is your first rodeo with a battle royale, you'll be pleased with your choice. While the game is still young on Android, with only a few seasons under its belt, now is the time to get into the groove of Apex Legends Mobile so you can become well-practiced in earning that Champion title.