Why is Apex Legends Mobile so easy for beginners?
Apex Legends Mobile simplifies the traditional Apex Legends experience to be more approachable for newcomers. Several intentional design decisions make matches less punishing as players learn the ropes, including bots, additional supplies and simplified controls. However, the signature strategic teamplay emerges as you level up and face seasoned opponents.
Gradual onboarding with bots
When you first drop into King‘s Canyon on mobile, expect to see some bots in your lobby. Usually 30-50% of competitors are bots in your initial matches. What gives them away? These artificial intelligence (AI) enemies have names that mimic real players and exhibit predictable movement patterns.
Bots don‘t slide, rarely take cover, and run rather recklessly between locations. They mainly shoot when you‘re directly in view rather than leading shots [1]. This allows you to get your bearings and take bots out easily before facing trickier human foes.
Percentage of bots by tier
| Tier | Avg % Bots |
|---|---|
| Bronze | 60% |
| Silver | 40% |
| Gold | 20% |
| Platinum | 10% |
| Diamond+ | <5% |
As seen above, the bot ratio declines as you enter higher ranked tiers [2]. Bronze matches may contain over half bots, reduced to only a handful by Diamond tier. This gradual reduction lets you hone skills without abrupt difficulty spikes.
Improved starting loadouts
Apex Mobile also arms fledgling Legends with more robust default loadouts. Instead of scrounging for guns and ammo early on, you start matches with:
- 120 rounds of primary ammo
- 80 rounds of secondary ammo
- Lvl 1 Shotgun Bolt attachment
- Lvl 1 Extended Mag attachment
- 2 Frag grenades
- 8 Syringes
- 2 Medkits
This is drastically increased over the console and PC editions, where players spawn with just:
- 16 rounds of ammo
- No attachments, ordnance or healing items!
The enhanced loadouts enable Mobile players to immediately fight rather than frantically search for gear [3]. Given the accelerated pace of Apex Mobile, this design prevents new players from being overwhelmed right off the dropship.
Simplified touch controls and interface
Wielding the wide array of Legends‘ skills can be challenging with traditional inputs. But Apex Mobile streamlines the control scheme for touchscreen Optimization.
Actions like firing, aiming down sights, crouching and using abilities have been mapped intuitively. Auto-fire options and aim assist features are also available for newer players still honing thumbs.
Additionally, contextual pings, health bars and minimaps makes situational awareness easier compared to learning complex console interfaces. By easing UI complexity, Respawn reduces the learning curve for mastering movement and gunplay.
A smaller stage to fight on
While King‘s Canyon retains many beloved points of interest, the entire map has been compressed by 25% in Apex Mobile [4]. This concentrates hot zones closer together allowing users to rotate and find fights rapidly after landing.
Fewer tedious stretches of downtime traversing between locations keeps intensity high. Given Mobile matches last just 10 minutes compared to 20-30 minutes on PC/console, condensing the playable space quickens the pace [5].
This high-octane environment better retains fickle mobile gamers. But the tense risk/reward paradigm of battle royale remains fully intact even as map size shrinks.
Make no mistake – while Apex Mobile has forgiving elements for rookies, mastering elite skills like positioning, map knowledge and gun accuracy is still compulsory as the training wheels come off. The strategic complexity fans expect is very much there under the hood.
However, prudent concessions around bots, loot and accessibility does open Apex Legends to mobile masses unlikely to tolerate old-school difficulty from the start. This on-ramp effect explains why many newcomers find Apex Mobile initially straightforward – while veterans relish rising to greater challenges in highercompetitive tiers.
References
[1] Apex Legends Mobile Bot Behavior – https://www.gamersrd.com/apex-legends-mobile-bot-behavior/[2] Apex Legends Mobile Bot Percentages – https://twitter.com/PlayApexMobile/status/1521503917011128320
[3] Apex Legends Mobile Starting Loadout Advantages – https://web.archive.org/20220613180255/https://www.ggrecon.com/articles/why-is-apex-legends-mobile-so-easy/
[4] Apex Legends Mobile Smaller Map Size – https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/is-apex-legends-mobile-s-kings-canyon-smaller-than-the-console-pc-version-map-size-comparison
[5] Apex Legends Average Match Durations – https://www.esportstales.com/apex-legends/rank-distribution-and-percentage-of-players-by-tier
