Battle royale games may have been around long before it was considered as a genre of its own to come as a full game instead of a mod. As the genre’s popularity exploded in 2017, Garena Free Fire was the first full battle royale game for mobile, which was then available for both Android and iOS platform users. Considered as one of the best in the genre as well, Garena Free Fire has become the most downloaded mobile game globally in 2019 and has, at the very least, maintained over 80 million active daily users around the globe.
Garena Free Fire has gone through a lot of changes over the years, employing a wide variety of upgrades and enhancements following each of its updates. It is never too late to still jump in on the action given that Garena Free Fire, like most other battle royale games does not give a lot of advantages to more veteran players. If you have played and enjoyed other battle royale games or even if it is your first attempt to dive into one, then you will come to find that Garena Free Fire has everything players want in a battle royale game and offers various unique mechanics to make each match even more action-packed and volatile as before.
If you have just started playing Garena Free Fire and still learning the ropes, we highly recommend that you read our Garena Free Fire ultimate guide. Although it was published over 2 years ago, the tips and strategies provided in the guide are still very much applicable in the latest version of the game. Now, in this new Garena Free Fire guide, we will be bringing you more tips and strategies that will hopefully jumpstart your progress in the season, as well as arm you with the necessary tools to further boost your chances of survival in each of the succeeding matches you partake in.
1. Adjust The Control Configurations
One of the biggest factors that can influence gameplay in FPS games across all gaming platforms is the control configurations. It has a bigger impact on mobile games given that the controls are on the gaming screen itself and the varying sizes of the devices players are using can also contribute to how easy or difficult it can be for them to perform efficiently in the battle arena.
Garena Free Fire, like most of the other popular FPS and battle royale games, provides a decent button layout and control configuration settings by default. While the default settings work best for some players or seem to be a perfect fit to your preferences, it is always a good idea to look into each aspect of the game’s settings that you can tinker with to make it work as best as possible for you. It is understood that you would naturally want to dive straight into the action after firing up the game, but at the very least check what is in store for you on the settings menu and make some adjustments as you see fit.
You can easily access the settings menu by clicking on the gear icon at the upper right side of the main screen. The settings menu is divided into 6 distinct tabs and each one is worth peeking into at the very least. While most settings under the basic group relate to graphics quality which you may have to adjust based on your device’s capacity, one important option to pick from is the minimap choices.
You may want to at least play a match and check on the current sensitivity levels before going back to the sensitivity adjustment options in the settings. This is one feature that you may have to revisit more than once and tinker with until you have obtained the best sensitivity settings that match your taste.
The control settings provides a wide array of adjustable options that you should look into but, more importantly, also provides very flexible ways of customizing your hud or screen layout. Garena Free Fire is packed with tons of things you can do within the match and tinkering with the hud to make gameplay as convenient for you as possible is of critical importance. Just like the control sensitivity settings, you may have to engage in a couple of matches or more and make adjustments to the hud layout until you arrive at the perfect setup for you.
There are also options you can adjust relative to the game’s sound, auto pickup, and other settings you should check out. Once you have fully gone through each of the settings, you are now ready to take your first dive into the battle arena.
2. Join A Squad And Add Friends
A dominant feature of most FPS and battle royale games is being able to join up with other players as you engage in a match. Although you can always enter the battle arena on your own, having up to 3 other people back you up and work with you towards being the last team standing, provides very distinct advantages. If you are fortunate enough to have friends whom you can always play with, then it will have much better chances of having a well-coordinated team that can take you to the top of the ranks.
This should not mean, however, that you should forego opportunities to play with others through random matchmaking. Although pairing up with random players can be a risk, it will still benefit if at least one of your squad mates is team-oriented. The worst-case scenario is to actually be in a team during a match and play as if you are entirely on your own. Most especially if you are a beginner, you can learn a great deal if you choose to play with others than learning the ropes all on your own.
From drop point choices down to differing play styles, each member of your squad has something to teach you with the good choices they make as well as their inadequacies. As you are still acquainting yourself with the controls and button layout, especially if you have just made adjustments to it via the settings, then any team you can stick with will help keep you alive as you explore both the map, and the different buttons on your screen.
3. Try Different Characters But Focus On One
One of Garena Free Fire’s many features that set it apart from most battle royale games is the inclusion of different characters that you can play as in the battle arena. To start off, the initial choice of characters, Adam and Eve, are the most basic units in the game and are meant to be used only by neophytes. With just a bit more progress in your adventure, you will be able to unlock and upgrade a wide selection of characters, each with his or her own unique set of skills and specializations.
As there are currently more than enough characters in Garena Free Fire to come up with a separate guide entirely focused on each one’s strengths and limitations, we will only be discussing heroes in general for this guide. Some of the heroes can easily be unlocked through completion of in-game missions and events while others take a long while to obtain.
In any case, what is important to know is that heroes may have skills that can only be advantageous for themselves, have abilities that benefit partners or the entire squad, or may specialize in the sense that their special abilities are helpful if they go solo or work with a team. To some extent, the skills your hero has can determine his or her role in combat and in this sense, you either pick a hero that is well in line with your play style and preferences or adjust your play style in accordance with the chosen hero’s strengths and limitations.
On top of unlocking heroes, upgrading their skills through the acquisition of specific hero shards and levelling them up with EXP cards can be a grueling task, which is why you should be certain of which hero you want to focus on before you start investing in them. Having a consistent set of friends to play with entails having a synergistic roster of heroes. Despite playing in a squad of random players, however, you may still consider a hero that offers abilities that benefit the whole team.
4. Strategies Start Before The Jump
Even if you are playing with random players in a squad, or doing a solo run, strategizing should begin as early as the match starts, which is before you jump out of the jumbo jet. To some extent, your decision on where to land can be dependent on whether you are on your own, with a partner, or with a full squad. Additionally, your team strategy must be in line with your play style whether alone or in a group.
It goes without saying that being familiar with the entirety of the map comes as a fundamental necessity in every battle royale game. Although the map is accessible all through the match, identifying which ones provide more resources, and ultimately attract more players, should be a prime consideration for you to plan around before you even jump off to the battle arena. In addition to that, choosing to jump early on or holding off until the last seconds also entail different possible outcomes, and should also be part of the consideration.
To start off, most of the weapons and items to loot come from within the different structures found in the battle map. Naturally, areas where there are high concentrations of buildings will have tons of loot to offer while open fields will only have a few items around them. In this sense, players will logically choose to drop off on the structures to arm themselves as soon as they land. As more players choose to drop in on the structures, confrontations almost instantly follow within seconds after the drop in these areas.
This is especially true if you choose to drop of earlier than later. The advantage is that you can loot and equip yourself with weapons and gear ahead of the pack but also risk being in a firefight earlier than other players. If you have just started playing and especially if you are doing a solo run, then you should initially consider the opposite and jump off at a latter time in a more secluded area.
In some cases, especially in the case of being in a squad of random players, there is a challenge when it comes to strategizing before the jump. Even with voice chat, you will encounter some players who jump on ahead of everyone else even before the squad leader marks a specific location. In any case, be sure to help as much when it comes to coordinating the team. You can hand out the leadership to another player if you do not want it and instead follow them wherever they jump. If you happen to get separated to the rest of the squad, it is easy enough to get to them with help of the mini map.
5. Stay Close To Your Squad
Choosing to jump within the latter end of the stretch and dropping down to a more secluded area are leaning towards a more defensive approach towards the match. It is not always the best way to go but a more appropriate tactic for beginners. As far as general strategies go, however, it is always advantageous to stay close with your squad for the duration of the match. Note that this does not necessarily mean always being at an arm’s length with one another but rather, being close enough for everyone else to come to aid at the first sign of trouble.
In a one-on-one confrontation, you can easily lose against a more experienced opponent especially if he or she has the advantage of weapons. With at least 2 of you together, it becomes much easier to gain an advantage in a firefight. This is most especially critical in events where you encounter a full squad of opposing players as well. Being on your own leaves you at too much of a disadvantage in terms of firepower and being close to your squad evens odds out at the very least.
Another important feature that comes with most battle royale games is that when you are downed by an opponent, your allies can still revive you if they get to you fast enough before you expire. This is an advantage you can never enjoy on your own or if the rest of your squad is too far away from you.
Lastly, being close to your squad can also increase your supply of weapons and items. Although rummaging for items is typically on a “to each his own” basis, even your fellow squad members who chanced upon some loot first will certainly not be able to use all the items and will leave some for the rest of the team. If your squad manages to eliminate some enemies on the side, there will be an overabundance of weapons and gears to go around.
Garena Free Fire also lets players travel through the map faster with various vehicles scattered across the map for everyone to use. Vehicles can be risky to use as being in one attracts a lot more attention. If you will ride one with a partner, though, it makes up for the risk. In case you are caught or close to being caught by the storm outside the safe zone as well, vehicles can become your life-savers.
6. Strategize Around The Storm
If it is your first dive into a battle royale game, then you should know that one of its core features is the shrinking safe zone within the battle arena that pushes players to converge in a random point. As the pattern by which the storm eats up the safe areas in the battle arena has a random attribute, paying attention to the map relative to upcoming changes to the safe zone is critical.
Being caught outside in the storm drains your life away and you can only survive for a short time within it. For the most part, though, rushing away from the storm at the last minute poses the danger of other players waiting on the borders of the safe zone.
While the storm itself and the adverse predicament of getting caught in its path is a serious threat, the same storm holds plenty of opportunities for players who can strategize around it. To start off, the first thing you need to make a habit of is to always be conscious of where you are and how the next adjustment in the safe zone will impact you. While the way safe zones shrink is random, you should know that being close to the center of the battle arena raises your chances of being safe from it.
As logic would dictate, being close to center means less travel time to any side or corner of the map and, in contrast, staying at the edges of the map makes it more dangerous as the safe zone can center on the other side of the battle arena.
While camping is not always recommended, limiting your movements instead within the safe zone can offer some advantages especially when it comes to setting up an ambush point for those who are fleeing from the storm. By looking at the current safe zone and how it will shrink in the next phase, you can sometimes be able to predict just where other players will be coming from. In the same manner, you should also refrain from entering the safe zone from the most predictable entry point if ever you have to. If there are no other choices available, then be ready for potential ambushes from the obvious hiding spots you see as you enter the safe zone.
7. Take Note Of Update Changes
Garena Free Fire is one of the most dynamic battle royale games in the sense that additional features and events keep getting added while changes to various gameplay aspects are adjusted with almost every update. While you may not necessarily feel impacted by changes in the heroes, guns, or other features that you do not use yourself, it can still benefit you to know as other players will undoubtedly make use of those changes to their advantage. Simply knowing what the changes are can help you prepare for it.
In the most recent update for example, one of the changes that should pique your interest is the way grenades work. Grenades are previously immediately thrown once you use them, taking more time for them to explode once released, making it predictable and highly avoidable. Now that grenades can be cooked prior to throwing, it becomes a lot less predictable and can actually be utilized more in combat.
The team boost that enables a higher jump on a crouched ally in classic mode can also be used in a variety of circumstances. Although some of the changes and updates may have less impact than others, always make it a point to know each detail.
Garena Free Fire is a huge game that continues to grow bigger with each update, making it impossible for any player to learn everything they need to know from any guide alone. The best way to get better in every respect of the game is to spend time in it, and fortunately enough, there is nothing in Garena Free Fire that delimits ho w much time you can partake in the matches.
And that sums up all the tips and strategies we have come up for Garena Free Fire. If you have invested a lot of time in the game and have additional tips or strategies to offer, do not hesitate to share them with us in the comment area!