What is Apex Legends Mobile?
Apex Legends has been a dominant force in the Battle Royale space since it launched on February 4, 2019. The game features a roster of unique legends, each with special abilities. Combined with a wide array of weapons, your team drops onto the battlefield to be the last one standing!
In Apex Legends Mobile, things are predominantly the same, with some interesting differences:
- You can use touchscreen controls
- UI and features differ from the console/PC version
- There’s a new legend called Fade
Apex Legends Mobile launched globally on May 17, 2022. If you’ve never played Respawn’s popular battle royale, make sure to check out our guides. For those of you who are familiar with the game, let’s jump right into the pro tips and tricks you’ll need to dominate the mobile version!
Choose the Best Settings in Apex Legends Mobile
The developers give you plenty of ways to customize the game to your liking. One of the first things you’ll want to do is open settings and scroll to the Battle Feedback tab. In this area, set your game to the following settings to have the most success when fighting in-game:
- Damage Numbers Display Mode – Floating
- Battle Info – Fixed Position
- Damage Crosshair – Target Crosshair
- Incoming Damage Feedback – 3D Icon
These settings will reduce visual clutter, and allow you to better track enemies and get more kills.
Next, you’ll want to open the Gameplay settings in Apex Legends Mobile. In this tab, head over to the “Pick up” section and scroll down to Auto-pickup Consumables. The default settings here aren’t terrible, but my years of Apex have taught me the importance of Shield Batteries and Explosives. Raise or lower these settings to fit your playstyle (you can see mine below!).
The last setting you’ll want to change can also be found under Basic Settings > Advanced Setup. In Apex Legends, using cover to reload or heal is crucial to staying alive in fights longer. Unfortunately, Apex Legends Mobile defaults to auto-opening doors! Turn this setting off so that you can use doors as cover when you aren’t firing at enemies.
Spend a Meaningful Amount of Time in the Firing Range
Most gamers are used to playing shooters with a controller or keyboard + mouse. Touchscreen controls aren’t the norm and it takes a LONG TIME to get comfortable with them.
Instead of trying to jump right into a game, head over to the Firing Range in Apex Legends Mobile. On this empty battlefield, you can practice everything from movement to controlling recoil to building your muscle memory for where each button is.
The Firing Range is a safe haven for new players where you don’t have to worry about the stress of enemies shooting at you. You can take your time to learn the nuances of touchscreen controls and return to this arena if you ever need more low-stakes practice.
Additionally, feel free to run through the tutorial again if you ever want to fire at some moving bots.
How to Play Apex Legends Mobile – Touchscreen Tutorial
Stick with Your Team
The time to kill in Apex Legends Mobile is much longer than in the console and PC versions. Aiming is harder, magazine sizes aren’t that big, and most people are just bad at touchscreen shooters.
Many of us will be playing with randos as we drop into the game. Even if they want to run around without coordinating, make sure to follow one of them. You’re much better off fighting 2v3 than 1v3!
Practice Your Movement
Apex Legends is a mobility-focused shooter, and the mobile version continues this emphasis. You’ll want to get comfortable with these movement mechanics to increase your survivability:
- Climbing is crucial for getting high ground, which is one of the most advantageous positions you can put yourself in when engaging in a fight. In Apex, you can basically climb over anything on the map aside from large mountains. Practice climbing and get used to the animation that comes with it.
- Sliding is great for traversing downhill quickly while making yourself harder to hit. In Apex Legends Mobile, you should also get in the habit of sliding around corners so any enemies on the other side have a harder time predicting your location. This allows you to surprise opponents and start landing shots before they can.
- While hip firing isn’t necessarily a movement mechanic, I’m including it in this section since it lets you move faster while shooting than aiming down sight. Hip fire has a larger spread of bullets than ADS, which results in lower accuracy, but the improvement in movement capabilities is well worth it. Using this hip fire technique, you can also strafe back and forth more easily while shooting, further boosting your elusiveness. Get into the habit of using hip fire anytime you are within about 15 meters of an enemy.
Work on Team Comms
Communicating with your team can be tough, especially when you are playing with strangers. Luckily, Apex Legends Mobile continues two important features from the base game to help with this.
Firstly, you have access to the compass at the top of your screen. Using directional call-outs, you can state where enemies are in relation to your current position. Convey the direction to your teammates so they can be aware of where the danger is coming from.
Secondly, Apex features a great ping system that lets you mark locations on the map. In this way, you can tell your squad where you are going to loot, what location you would like to defend, and more! Get familiar with the ping system and use it during matches to improve your team cohesion.
Some Bonus Quick-fire Tips for Apex Legends Mobile
If you’re looking to become a regular participant in Apex Legends Mobile, consider these bonus tips:
- Keep your game in First-person mode. It’s rumored that the competitive scene will only allow for first-person gameplay, so you don’t want to practice in third-person mode if you have plans to compete.
- Experiment with different sensitivities to find the setting that works best for you. To do this, go to Settings, then Sensitivity. The default overall sensitivity is Medium, but you can customize it to whatever you feel most comfortable with.
- When you get comfortable with all the controls and settings, jump into the ranked mode. This playlist is more competitive and will test your skills, forcing you to become a better player in order to rank up.
What are your top tips and tricks for Apex Legends Mobile? Are you still searching for your first win? Join the conversation in the comments section!
