PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds is finally getting its ‘1.0’ release, which means it will be out of Early Access. It is also now available on Xbox One (albeit in Game Preview). So now is as good a time as any to get into the phenomenon which, with over 3 million concurrent players and over 20 million units sold, has broken and rewritten every record in the book.
If you jump in now, you will find yourself playing against others who may have a better idea of what the game is than you- but never fear! We’re here to help you out with that. In this guide, we share some basic tips and tricks, looting, air drop guid, zeroing distance, the best weapons in the game, a guide to vehicles, a guide to farming Battle Points, and a guide to high loot areas.
You ready? Let’s go.
TIPS AND TRICKS
Unless you are familiar with battle royale style games, which you might not necessarily be, PUBG can be a bit overwhelming and entirely different from any and everything else you have played so far. We’re here to break the ice and ease you past the culture shock. Let’s get on with it:
Familiarize yourself with the controls and the game feel. There is a pre-deployment zone where you can test out the guns in the game, and see how they work for you. Use that to familiarize yourself with how the game controls- and if you don’t like it, change the controls to suit your preferences.
Avoid crowded jumps. Everyone will end up near each other, and it’s the easiest way possible to get taken out early.
Aim down to freefall as quickly as possible. Remember, you want to get to the island before others to procure the best loot for yourself, deprive the others of it, and not have to worry about being killed while you are doing all this.
When freefalling, aim for a lightly developed area. Once you have landed, it is best to get inside a building- they hide valuable loot, and they hide you from the line of sight (and give you an advantage over anyone else who enters the building after you). Make sure to close doors after yourself!
Try not to use vehicles. They’re… really loud. You want to get to the end, you don’t want to attract attention to yourself.
It’s not just about the killcount. It’s about survival. Don’t do stupid things just to rack up a nice killcount.
Stay away from redzones!
Don’t be caught in the open. Seriously, that’s dumb. Always stay out of the line of sight, that’s the first rule of PUBG.
Death is permanent.
Be smart about how you loot. Looting a dead body can get you their gear, but it takes time, and you are vulnerable while you are doing it. Make sure you are out of the line of sight, and out of the line of fire, before you loot the body.
Don’t go to the center of the circle. Seriously, I shouldn’t have to say this. That’s really dumb. You’re open to fire from literally 360º, that’s how you get yourself killed. Stay near the circumference, and be smart.
LOOTING BUILINGS
When you land on the island, you’re pretty useless. You have no gear or weapons you can use to defend yourself, so things can go awry for you. This is why you want to get some weapons- and as stated above, the safest place to do that is to loot some buildings. So, here are some tips for doing just that:
Close the doors behind you. Seriously, people, use some common sense. Doors being open is advertising to the world that you are in the building, which means you are inviting trouble upon yourself. Don’t be stupid.
Free-look. Free-looking gives you a full look inside the room once you open its door. Use this to scope it out and make sure it’s free of danger. Use it around corners and walls, too, because someone can always be waiting for you in ambush.
Stay away from windows. Because I can’t state this enough: stay out of the line of fire.
AIR DROPS
Air drops are supply drops that are, well, air dropped on to the map every 3-5 minutes. They are dropped at random spots on the map, which is marked by a white circle, and they contain a lot of high value gear. Which means, as soon as one is inbound, everyone will be scrambling to the spot where it is supposed to be dropping to get their hands on it.
Situation sounds hopeless, doesn’t it? It… really kind of is. The smart thing to do is to camp out, and pick out someone who procures some loot from one from a distance, before going to loot it off of them later. But you should try to get your hands on some of the loot if you can- helpful items like scopes, and weapons like the M249, Tommy Gun, or M24 can all be found in them. Just be smart about it. Which is a good rule of thumb for PUBG.
ZEROING DISTANCE
It’s time for some math, folks! Zero distance is, in very simple terms, the range of a sniper rifle- you can use your map (with 100 squares on it, each representing 100 square meters) to calculate the distance of your rifle based on the landmarks you identify, and then use that knowledge to try and take on enemies based on how far they are. Zero Distance also depends on your absolute and relative altitude. You can adjust your Zero Distance- use that to your advantage when trying to kill someone.
THE BEST WEAPONS IN THE GAME
PUBG is ostensibly a shooter, so there are weapons in the game. Since this is a game about survival, and with permadeath, some of those weapons are better than others- and knowing which ones to use can mean the difference between life and death, victory and defeat.
The videos below highlight and showcase some of the best weapons and weapon setups in the game.
VEHICLES
Look, I said this already, but… you really shouldn’t use vehicles in PUBG. I get that there might be some benefits, but you are going to draw so much attention to yourself that it’s crazy. They make a lot of noise. They are conspicuous. They put you in the line of sight. You shouldn’t do any of that. It’s like painting a red target on your back and then wondering why you got shot.
The guide below shows you all the vehicles in the game.
LOOT MAPS
Loot, vehicles, weapons are found randomly on the map- but there are some areas where it has a higher chance of spawning than others. Knowing where these areas can give you a leg up over other players- the video below shows you what areas to watch out for.
BATTLE POINTS
Battle Points help you buy Pioneer Crates, which are *sigh* loot crates. Your Battle Points reset every Sunday, so you want to use them up by then- you get Battle Points for three actions:
- Hits
- Rank
- Kills
That first point is specially important- damage done to enemies counts. Essentially, if you can stay alive for as long as you can, an dish out a lot of damage, you can gain BP without actually killing someone. Use this to your advantage.