Despite introducing several of its own unique elements into the battle royale formula, there’s one gameplay component present in Apex Legends that Respawn saw fit to borrow from its peers. The concept of skydiving from eye-watering heights into every match is one first popularized by PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, though its competitors have since made their own tweaks and changes to the design as a means of putting a unique spin on the feature.
For Fortnite, Epic Games did away with the bog-standard cargo plane in favour of its now-iconic Battle Bus, replacing parachutes with cosmetically customizable gliders. Functionally, the two versions are near to identical, and its Apex Legends that’s made the most substantial changes. As is the nature of Respawn’s alternative, players are always dropped in groups of three. One player in each squad is designated the leader – directly controlling the team’s flight path and point of landing – while the other two take the flanks and, should they choose, suggest a different touchdown point.
Being among the first to return to ground, however, is one of the many advantages available to gamers to get an early lead in Kings Canyon, so squabbling over a destination is never the best course of action, not least because knowing where to go is only half the battle. As pointed out by Reddit user Blake_Unlively, there are certain variables a team leader can manipulate to up their team’s chances of landing first, and you can give them a good once-over below.
Simply put, both elevation and trajectory are the two most important considerations to make when going in for a landing. Choose some faraway corner of the map, and you’ll be forced into taking a slow, lateral descent in order to make sure you don’t fall short. Likewise, mountainous terrain should always be avoided where possible and diving manoeuvres should be performed incrementally, rather than continuously.
For those still struggling to achieve a perfect landing after following the above advice, Blake has also put together a short video tutorial to help you hone your skills. Check it out down below and for even more tips and tricks on how to improve your Apex Legends game, see here.