Your First Apex Match: Practise, Gear Up and Stay With Your Squad

Start in the Firing Range and practise the buttons you will need when someone shoots at you. Then enter Core Unranked with one goal: stay close enough to your squad to take the first fight together.

This guide covers Core Unranked battle royale on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in Season 30: Marked.

Make the basic controls familiar

Training and the Firing Range let you learn the basics and try weapons and Legends. Core includes Ranked and Unranked; Unranked leaves your ranking alone.

Pick a gun, aim at a target, fire, reload and switch weapons. Find your map, heal and ping bindings. Repeat while moving between cover and a firing position. If you keep looking down at your controls, practise that action again before adding another one.

Before queuing, read your Legend’s abilities and pick a backup you also understand. Our Legend and team-role guide helps you turn that choice into something useful for the squad.

Share a landing area without sharing every item

Follow the squad’s landing plan and use the drop controls shown in your match. As you approach the ground, look for nearby opponents and choose a loot room close to your teammates. Avoid having everyone search the same corner while an enemy takes the next building.

Use pings to mark threats, useful loot and a destination. You can communicate these without a microphone. Give a precise location when you spot an enemy, then check where your squad is before chasing.

Get a working kit before chasing upgrades

Prioritise a loaded gun with a usable ammo supply, then shield and health supplies. Take compatible attachments as you find them. Check that a replacement weapon has ammunition before abandoning your current one.

An Arsenal is unavailable at the very start: Marked’s loot changes make Arsenals unlock alongside EVO Harvesters. Use ordinary floor and Supply Bin loot while it is locked. Waiting for a preferred gun gives nearby enemies time to prepare.

Once you can shoot and recover, look up from the inventory. Our ammo, armour and recovery guide explains Energy weapons and how to choose the right recovery action.

Decide where to move before starting another fight

Read the next Ring and timer. Pick a covered destination and a fallback, then signal before leaving. Being outside the Ring causes damage, so leave enough time for an awkward crossing or a blocked route.

Seeing a distant target does not mean the squad is ready to fight. If teammates are recovering or the Ring requires a long move, continue toward your planned position. After a fight, reload and recover while watching for another squad approaching.

Fix the mistake that ended the match

• Downed before finding gear: choose a nearby loot room and keep your squad within reach.
• Caught in the inventory: practise pickups and weapon switching in the Range.
• Caught by the Ring: stop looting and leave earlier next match.
• Fighting alone: check teammate positions before crossing into the next area.

Choose one of those habits for your next match. Make it specific enough to notice when you do it.

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