At the start of each match, all of the squads are placed aboard the Jump Ship and transported to an island. In the future, additional islands or areas may be introduced into Apex Legends, but initially, all matches take place within Kings Canyon.
Upon boarding the aircraft, access the Map to see the random route the aircraft will follow across the island. This is depicted using a golden line comprised of arrows. Use this information to help you and your squad mates choose a landing location. Also displayed on the Map are icons showing the location of Respawn Beacons, the Supply Ship, the Hot Zone, and upcoming Supply Drops.
YOUR LANDING LOCATION DETERMINES YOUR INITIAL FIGHTING STRATEGY
You’re able to zoom in and reposition the map to see more detail related to specific locations. Choosing a popular location to land at the start of each map virtually guarantees you’ll encounter enemies right away and be forced into combat. In this case, you’ll want to reach land as quickly as possible, be the first soldier at your desired landing location, and quickly grab weapons and ammo before your adversaries.
An alternate strategy is to choose a less popular landing location that’s away from the route the aircraft follows across the island. This gives you and your squad mates more time to explore and build up an arsenal before being forced into firefights.
The potential drawback to choosing a remote landing location is that you’ll sometimes need to travel a great distance to stay in the safe area once the safe circle forms and then begins to move and shrink. Getting caught too far outside the safe circle could become a death sentence if you’re not able to return to the safe area before your Legend’s Health meter is fully depleted.
Each time a match begins, one of the three squad members is randomly awarded the role of Jumpmaster. This is the person who decides where the squad will land, and when to leap from the aircraft to begin the freefall toward land. The other two squad members can simply follow the Jumpmaster or opt to choose their own jump time and landing location. Especially if you’re a newb, it’s best to stick with your squad mates. Which squad mate is the Jumpmaster is displaying during the countdown near the bottom-center of the screen.
If your Legend is given the role of Jumpmaster, you can either choose the landing location for your squad, or relinquish this job to someone else, but you’ll need to make your choice quickly. Watch for the “You Are Jumpmaster” message to be displayed near the bottom-center of the screen.
As the designated Jumpmaster, it is your job to Ping the desired landing location, choose when your squad should leap from the plane, and then guide your squad to the selected location on the island.
As the Jumpmaster, using the directional controls, control the descent speed and direction of your squad. If you point the Legends downward, they will fall toward land faster.
By keeping their bodies horizontal with the land and their heads slightly upwards, this gives your squad the ability to glide through the air, fall slower, and cover more territory before actually landing. As you can see, the falling speed of the Legends is displayed on the screen during freefall.
As the Legends approach land, their fall is automatically slowed down. They’re always able to make a safe landing. What happens next, however, depends on what’s happening at the chosen landing spot. If enemy soldiers have beaten you to that location and have already armed themselves, expect to be shot at the moment your Legend touches ground. Be ready to take cover and quickly find a weapon.
Before arming themselves with a weapon (or when a weapon is holstered) each Legend has the ability to punch their opponents who are very close. A punch, however, is nowhere near as powerful as any other weapon, so if the enemy is armed and your Legend isn’t, throwing punches as opposed to retreating will likely result in your quick demise.
STUDY THE MAP AND GET TO KNOW THE AREA
Kings Canyon is comprised of many locations—some more popular than others. Some locations are chock full of weapons, armor, and items to collect, while others are more barren.
As you begin exploring, you’ll discover wide open and mostly flat areas, regions that contains lots of tall hills, rock formations, and mountains, and locations where clusters of buildings can be found. There are also military facilities, small towns, swampy areas, vast wetland regions, and areas filled with caves.
One thing that’s unusual about Apex Legends compared to other battle royale games is that a soldier does not get injured or die as a result of a fall. Thus, you’re free to leap off of cliffs or hills, or jump from the roof of a building to the ground, and it’ll have no impact on your Legend’s Health.
In order to seek out enemies, explore, and stay in the safe zone, you and your squad mates will be forced to traverse through several regions of the island during each match. The safe zone is within the white circle depicted on the map.
When two circles are displayed, within the outer circle is the current safe zone. The inner circle shows where the next safe zone will be, once the outer circle shrinks and moves. The area on the Map displayed in red is no longer inhabitable.
Anytime you’re visiting the island, look for the Hot Zone. This is the random area of the map that’s highlighted with a blue circle. It’s here you’ll always find the best loot, weapons, and ammo. The drawback is that you’re guaranteed to encounter a lot of enemies in this area, all of whom what to be the first to grab the best loot. If you wait too long to reach the Hot Zone, it’ll likely be picked clean of anything worth collecting.
Another way to quickly improve your arsenal is to locate and visit a Supply Ship. At the beginning of each match, a Supply Ship lands at a random location, which is then labeled on the Map. The Supply Ship always contain a small supply of some really awesome weapons and loot. Just like when visiting the Hot Zone, you need to be the first to loot the ship to grab what’s inside. You can always expect to encounter enemies ready and willing to fight.
While it’s possible to land on the Supply Ship during freefall, once it reaches its final place on the Map, you can approach it from land and then use one of the ziplines to reach the ship itself. By this point, however, the loot will probably be picked pretty clean.
The Supply Ship has a large outdoor deck area, as well as indoor areas and hallways to explore and loot. Of course, you’re likely to discover enemies here, so expect a fight.
While you can walk or run through wide open and flat areas, some areas will require you to climb over walls, jump over obstacles, open doors and enter into structures, ride ziplines, and potentially travel through portals to go safely travel from one area to another.
You’ll encounter a network of already-built ziplines and red balloons throughout the island. Pathfinder also has the ability to create new ziplines that he and other squad mates (or any other Legends for that matter) can ride. To ride a zipline, approach it, look up at the cable, and press the Ride button/key. Keep in mind, it’s possible to ride ziplines from a tall point to a low point, across a horizontal path, or from a low point to a high point.
Almost all buildings and structures have doors you must enter and exit through, as well as doors inside the structure that lead to other rooms or areas. To open a door, have your Legend walk up to it, face it, and then press the Open button/key.
When a door is already open, this typically implies someone may already be inside, so proceed with extreme caution and enter with your weapon drawn and ready to shoot.
It’s a common strategy for enemies to enter into a structure and close the door behind them, and then hide and wait for an enemy to enter, at which time, they’ll launch a surprise attack. Thus, anytime you’re opening a door to enter a structure, stand to the side as the door opens. Quickly make sure the room is clear before entering and looting.
One way to get around the island quickly is to ride a zipline to reach one of the floating red balloons that are scattered throughout the island. Upon reaching a balloon, your Legend will be able to glide through the air, back toward land, and cover a lot of territory in the process. Walk up to the vertical zipline at the bottom of the red balloon and choose to Ride it.
Your Legend will ride to the top of the zipline automatically.
When they reach the top, they’ll leap from the high point and be able to glide back toward land.
Also scattered throughout the map are Respawn Beacons. These are structures where you can bring a dead Legend’s Banner in order to re-spawn them after they’ve been killed. The drawback is that it takes valuable time to find and approach a Respawn Beacon, and they tend to be guarded by enemies who don’t want you to revive your squad mates.
Typically within structures, but occasionally on the ground and out in the open, you’re apt to find armor, weapons, ammo, weapon attachments, and loot items. Simply walk up to an item and grab it in order to add it to your Legend’s inventory. If it’s a weapon attachment that’s compatible with the weapon you’re holding, it’ll automatically attach to that weapon and become instantly usable.
A Supply Bin is another object you’ll often find during your exploration of Kings Canyon or other islands that get introduced into the game. These are crates that when opened, contain a combination of three random items. This can include weapons, weapon attachments, ammo, armor, health items, or other loot items. To open a Supply Bin, simply walk up to it, use the Open command, and then one at a time, grab what’s inside if it’s something you want or need.
Within a Supply Bin, if you discover items you don’t need or that are duplicates, be sure to Ping the location of the Supply Bin, and Ping specific items within it, particularly Armor, Backpacks, or powerful weapons that your squad mates might want to get their hands on.
KEY LOCATIONS WITHIN KINGS CANYON
Initially, Kings Canyon was divided up into 23 distinct regions or areas. Each is labeled on the map. In between each region is either an open area you’ll need to travel across, a series of hills or mountains you’ll need to climb over, or a network of rivers or waterways that you’ll need to cross.
Here’s a rundown of each map location and the level of loot you can expect to find there. Over time, EA will likely tweak the map, introduce new locations, and alter existing locations, so be prepared to explore.
LOCATION NAME (LISTED ALPHABETICALLY |
AMOUNT OF LOOT TO BE DISCOVERED |
Airbase |
High |
Airbunk |
Low |
Artillery |
High |
Bridges |
Average |
Bunker |
High |
Hydro Dam |
Low |
Market |
Low |
Relay |
High |
Repulsor |
High |
Runoff |
High |
Skull Town |
Average |
Slum Lakes |
Average |
South Bridges |
Average |
South Market |
Low |
South Repulsor |
Low |
South Skull |
Average |
Swamps |
High |
The Pit |
High |
Thunderdome |
High |
Two Fort |
Average |
Water Treatment |
High |
West Skull |
Average |
Wetlands |
Average |
Locations near the center of the map always tend to be popular, because upon landing there, you’re virtually guaranteed that it will not be necessary to travel too far to stay within the safe zone as the match progresses.
During a match, locations that are near the beginning or end of the Jump Ship’s route are always sure to be popular landing destinations, since gamers often opt to leap from the plane as quickly as they can or wait until the very last minute before leaving the aircraft. Based on this map, Slum Lakes and Artillery are near the beginning of the Jump Ship’s route. Water Treatment and Repulsor are near the end of the route. Wetlands is the Hot Zone, and places like Relay, Airbase, and Thunderdome would be considered more remote and out of the way locations.
Regardless of what type of terrain you’re currently exploring, always try to use your surroundings to your advantage. For example, crouch down and use walls or objects for cover if you’re being shot at. This Legend is hiding behind a vehicle while aiming at targets across the nearby bridge.
It’s almost always beneficial to maintain a height advantage when engaged in firefights, or when you need to see what type of terrain and potential challenges lie ahead. To climb up a wall or small cliff, for example, face it and press the Jump key/button.
Choke holds are areas that Legends must pass through that are very narrow, and then leave them vulnerable to attack. Try to lure your enemies into these areas and then trap or ambush them. A long hallway within a structure is an excellent example of a choke hold.
This is a long corridor that’s outside, but it also represents a choke hold, because enemies can perch themselves higher up and shoot downward into the open area. The Legend(s) in the alley will have no place to take cover.
Here’s a good (higher up) vantage point for the Legend who is waiting for enemies to enter into the long alleyway. As you can see, he’s perched high up and has his gun aimed on the entranceway. Once enemies enter into the alley, he can allow them to begin passing through so they think it’s safe, and then launch an ambush.
It’s a common strategy to stay close to the edge of the circle, but you seldom want to cross the line and enter into uninhabitable terrain.