Apex Legends is easy to download and brutally hard to feel good at in your first week. It’s fast, loud, and everyone around you seems to know where they’re going. The good news: right now is a great time to start. Season 31, Cipher, launched on November 3, 2026, and Apex is still pulling around 85,000 concurrent players on Steam at any given moment, with daily peaks above 250,000. This Apex Legends beginner’s guide covers what new players actually need: the best legends, the best weapons, and the habits that keep you alive.
Pick one forgiving legend, learn two guns really well, stay glued to your squad, and start in the low-pressure modes.
What Is Apex Legends, Exactly?
Apex is a hero-shooter battle royale. Sixty players drop in twenty squads of three (Duos drops thirty instead), loot weapons and gear, and fight inside a shrinking ring until one squad is left. The twist is the legends: each of the 28 characters has passive, tactical, and ultimate abilities, so your pick changes how your squad plays. Made by Respawn and running since 2019, it’s free on PC (Steam, EA app, Epic Games Store), PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch 2. Nothing you buy makes you shoot straighter.
How to Get Better at Apex Legends: Start Here
Don’t learn this game in ranked lobbies. Use the low-pressure modes first. Spend ten minutes in the Firing Range trying every gun and legend ability with nobody shooting back. Then play Bot Royale Evolved, a full match against bots, to learn landing, looting, rotating, and fighting without a real squad punishing every mistake. After that, try Wildcard or Mixtape: short matches with respawns, so you get far more gunfights per hour. Ranked unlocks at account level 20, so there’s no rush.
One more thing: learn the ping system. One button marks loot, enemies, and locations for your squad. No mic needed. Random teammates rarely use voice chat, so pinging is how squads actually communicate, and good pings win fights.
What Is the Best Legend for Beginners in Apex Legends?
With 28 legends across five classes, Assault, Skirmisher, Recon, Support, and Controller, the choice looks overwhelming. It isn’t: the game hands you three starters for free (Bangalore, Lifeline, and Wraith), and the Welcome Pass adds Bloodhound, Gibraltar, and Pathfinder, plus 12,000 Legend Tokens for another pick. Any legend after that costs 12,000 Legend Tokens (earned by playing) or 750 Apex Coins.
If you want one name, make it Lifeline. Her D.O.C. drone heals you and your teammates automatically, and it can revive a downed squadmate while you keep your gun up. So your kit is useful even when your aim isn’t. Season 31 made her better still: her tactical cooldown dropped from 25 seconds to 15, and an upgrade brings back a shield over teammates she revives.
Bangalore is the other classic starter: her smoke lets you escape fights you can’t win. Bloodhound teaches game sense. One button scans enemies through walls. Gibraltar’s dome shield blocks all incoming fire for 12 seconds, which forgives bad positioning. Pathfinder tops the ranked pick-rate lists, but his grapple takes real practice, so save him for later.
Stick with one legend for your first 20 games. Learning one kit deeply beats sampling ten kits shallowly. If you enjoy hero shooters, our Deadlock beginner’s guide covers a similar pick-your-hero learning curve in a different game.
Apex Legends Best Weapons for Beginners
Apex has 29 guns, and most of them can work. What matters is carrying one close-range gun and one mid-range gun, and learning their recoil instead of swapping every time you find something shinier.
- R-301 Carbine. The best first gun in the game. Controllable recoil, solid at medium range, useful for hundreds of hours.
- VK-47 Flatline. Harder-hitting than the R-301 with strong hipfire, and it escaped any direct nerf in Season 31. If the R-301 feels too gentle, this is your gun.
- Alternator SMG. Forgiving, flexible, and great up close. A good partner for either rifle above.
- R-99 SMG. The fastest killer in close quarters, but it punishes missed shots and its damage was trimmed in Season 30. Learn it second, not first.
Skip the Akimbo Wingman for now, Season 31’s dual-wield pistol demands accuracy most new players don’t have yet, and try the returning Hemlok Burst AR in the Firing Range first. Don’t chase care package weapons like the Kraber either: running across the map for one usually gets you killed.
Loot with a plan: first, you want a gun, a body shield, and some heals. In that order. A grey shield and a plan beats a purple gun. The same discipline applies in any battle royale. See our PUBG beginner’s guide.
7 Apex Legends Tips for New Players
- Stay with your squad. A lone player is free loot. If your teammates push, push with them; if they run, run with them.
- Ping everything. Loot, enemies, where you’re going next. It’s faster than voice chat.
- Loot fast, rotate early. The ring kills more beginners than bullets do. Grab what you need, then move toward the next circle.
- Fight from cover. Peek from behind rocks, walls, and doorways. Never stand still in the open to heal.
- Learn the heal timings. A shield cell restores 25 shield in 3 seconds; a battery restores it all in 5. A syringe heals 25 health over 5 seconds; a med kit restores full health in 8.
- Use the movement. Slide downhill, use ziplines and jump towers to rotate, and keep moving between shots.
- Don’t hot-drop while you’re learning. Land at the edge of the map, loot in peace, and rotate in. You’ll live longer and actually practice your gunfights.
What’s New in Apex Legends Season 31: Cipher
Season 31 launched on November 3, 2026. A rework season, not a new-legend season, which is good news for beginners. The headline is the Crypto rework: his drone now runs on a 25-second battery instead of a cooldown. There’s also the Akimbo Wingman (loot a second Wingman and dual-wield them) and Strongholds, new drops that arrive in round 2. In Diamond and above, ranked matches now ban two legends per match. Read the full rundown of the Season 31 Cipher changes or the official Apex Legends site for the latest news.
The maps in rotation are Storm Point, E-District (at night), and Broken Moon. Lifeline and Revenant were the big winners, Revenant’s tactical dropped from 20 to 15 seconds and his ultimate from 180 to 150, while Loba was trimmed back and the Prowler and Nemesis both gained recoil. The Wingman now uses Heavy ammo. Season 32 arrives in early 2027 with Kings Canyon Evolved. If class-based games are your thing, our AION 2 beginner’s guide breaks down picking a class in a very different kind of game.
Apex Legends Beginner’s Guide FAQ
Is Apex Legends free to play?
Yes. Free to download and play on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch 2. Cosmetics and the battle pass cost money, but no purchase gives you an advantage in a fight, and every legend can be unlocked by playing. Grab it from the Apex Legends Steam page if you’re on PC.
How many legends are in Apex Legends?
28 as of Season 31, across five classes: Assault, Skirmisher, Recon, Support, and Controller.
How do I unlock new legends?
Earn Legend Tokens by playing, a new legend costs 12,000, or pay 750 Apex Coins. The Welcome Pass unlocks Bloodhound, Gibraltar, and Pathfinder, plus 12,000 tokens for another pick.
When can I play Ranked?
Ranked unlocks at account level 20 in Season 31, which gives you time to learn the maps and your legend first.
Can I play Apex Legends solo?
There’s no permanent solo mode. It’s built around squads of three (or Duos). Queue alone and you’ll be matched with random teammates, and Bot Royale Evolved lets you practice against bots with zero pressure.
Apex Legends rewards patience more than it looks like it does. Your first ten matches will probably be rough. Everyone’s are. But once you’ve got a legend you understand, two guns you trust, and the habit of staying with your squad, the game opens up fast. Drop in, ping everything, and don’t be the player still looting while the ring closes.
