Want to improve at Apex Legends? It starts with better aiming. We'll help you get there.
Apex Legends is a challenging battle royale. Whether you're playing at long range or prefer close encounters, it can feel difficult to think in the moment and land shots. With a couple of tips and tricks from us, you'll have a more level-headed approach and use muscle memory to guide yourself.
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Aiming and crosshair placement in Apex Legends
Aiming is obviously the most important aspect of the game. You can have plenty of knowledge about the skills and maps, but without good aim, you won't win.
The first thing you want to check is your sensitivity. Higher sensitivity is generally better for movement, while lower is better for tracking. Are you more focused on movement, or do you prefer tracking? Once you figure that out, settle on your sensitivity accordingly.
When it comes to crosshair placement, you need to think about being the person that has the chance to land opening shots. Position your gun in the right spot, because readjusting takes precious time. This is a "high-time to kill" type of game, but some guns can mow down a player fast. So by making sure your crosshair is already near an opponent's head, you can increase your chance of landing headshots.
Always think about this while rounding corners or traversing the map; the crosshair should be at a certain level. You can't be aiming at someone's feet, as your shots will do significantly less damage. The best way to train for this is with 3D Aim Trainer, which has free exercises for improving your reaction time and muscle memory. Focusing on that over a long period of time will improve you faster it strips away all the other elements of Apex Legends.
Hip Fire in Apex Legends
Hip fire can absolutely save you in some fights, but you need to be able to decide when it's right to do so. There isn't really a special formula to determine when it's the most optimal.
Generally, when you're in melee range or up to about 15 feet, that's when you should be hip firing. You will be able to strafe faster while doing that, so in the heat of battle, you need that movement speed to dodge their aim. If your crosshair is able to fill the enemy's chest hurtbox, that's a good sign to be hip firing.
Make sure to get a feel for both modes of shooting with various weapons and adapt to the situation accordingly.
Apex Legends Aiming Tips and Tricks
There are a couple of small tricks you can do to help you with aiming in Apex Legends.
- Jitter Aiming: making small adjustments to compensate for weapon recoil. It's also possible to do it on the controller, just harder
- Recoil Smoothing: Strafe in one direction while aiming at a target that is moving the opposite way to reduce vertical recoil, or move the mouse gently in the direction of your fire to drastically reduce recoil
You can practice the latter with some of the aim training exercises on 3D Aim Trainer, which has included routines to get your muscle memory working for these type of actions. Refer to our new Apex Legends Aim Trainer Guide to start those routines.
Learn a Few Guns
While the arsenal in Apex Legends is quite large, and there are many guns to master, it's best to take it slow at first. It will hinder your growth to just pick up any gun and try to get better with aiming that way, chaotically.
Keep your weapon pool pretty small. Perhaps your teammates can help coordinate getting the right guns to you and avoid using the ones you want for practice. Get a good feel for them before moving on to the new ones.
Also remember that guns feel differently with attachments, so you can go to the firing range and employ some to see how the guns feel. Test out your gun with a few different attachments.
Try to find time to practice Apex Legends aiming every day, even if it's just 15-20 minutes. Warm up with 3D Aim Trainer and use it to isolate this skill practice. Work on your aim tracking, recoil patterns, smoothing, and more.
