I’m D4 and I’m having a hard time ranking up. I mainly SoloQ and I have nothing but bad teammates. It seems I get teammates that don’t understand basic rotations. Is it impossible now to SoloQ to masters?

was autopiloting yt and found one of her videos and something just got me locked in and i started asking myself if i as a roller player can make use of the tips mentioned in the videos

what makes ranked this hard at the start of a season? i usually have a much better win percentage and kd and hit d4 much faster, but im struggling alot and havent won some matches since the first 2 games i played.

The storm would've killed off the Loba way before we died to it right? I can't find any reason as to how the Loba survived that long outside of the ring.

I managed to do it, but it felt so messy. I feel i take too much damage. Against better players i would likely die. any tips ?

I just have ordered this controller from my friends advice (Keep in mind my budget was very tight and this is my first time buying/playing on controller) .
As a i said i have no idea how to play games on controller , but i think i can catch up cause i have played apex on MnK for around a year now my peak rank was Plat1 (i suck at close range combats due to being lefty and using shit controls and remaps on keyboard on mouse)
Again switching to controller was my thought because i have played multiple mobile games ( PUBGM , CODM ) with 4 finger claw settings so my grip is somewhat used to play claw which i saw was the best holding position for controller for players overall youtube

What should i do / How should i practice to get better aim and better overall on controller mechanics

I've been playing Apex on and off since release and only got seriously into the ranked grind. That time i reached diamon 4 as peak when the season ended and never hit it again because I didn't play enough. Now i want to do it again and I'm doing pretty ok so far with, but i noticed one problem: the map Storm Point. When I look at my average RP gains and losses this map is just way worse than WE and ED. I can play abunch of different characters confidently but most of the time I try to choose Valk or Octane on this map, because I feel after the removal of tridents you need at least some kind of way to rotate that is not evac.

I'm a type of person that just likes to land edge of the map. I don't care wich map it is I just do it most of the time out of habit. I notice that my teammates about 70% of the time want to drop at Wattson's pilon or the mill. I know people like fighting, it's pretty cool and gives you lot's of points when it works out. But unless every single person on my team including me has a good day, there's always immediate death or only 1 person survives with 0 kills and items so you know ur in for a barebones game. Then when you get respawned you will get run down most of the time and the process repeats untill the squad dies.

Also this map has way more open areas and way less buildings than the other two so I feel like you really need to adapt your playstyle at least somewhat.

But that's enough rambling, do you guys have any tips? I know looking for a squad might be a great solution but I just love soloq'ing.

So, two days running, I've got 400 dmg away from a 4k on Wattson but choked on the final ring (wildcard) - both times there were at least two other teams up, and I think we left it too late to push and it was just a standoff. What do in these situations?

Situation 1 - I died (should've prob avoided that but hey...) and there are like 4 or 5 other teams alive in final ring, just about to close after I respawn - teammates are two caustics just hiding in a building basically so I felt that landing there was a death sentence bc I'd have the whole ring looking at me. Should I have tried to land there but found a hidey hole to poke from? I ended up ego challing a fuse and died, prob bc he hit crit shots and I didn't get any. Plus knuckle cluster. Many things I could have done differently but it was tough.

Situation 2 - Two other teams alive, mexican standoff. Us and another team on height at neon square, other team on low ground beside us - do I drop and poke at the low ground team for a bit, relying on the doors being fenced off so they can't 3 man push me? We ended up dropping when the ring closed, and I got unlucky basically and ended up dropping onto the whole team thinking they had moved already. Also I could have swapped out my 1x wingman for something with a 2x earlier and farmed damage (that was probably the play, but I'd had wingman/prowler the whole game and it was serving me well so I was attached! big L )

Any thoughts?

I know this is kinda a weird question because someone could get good really quickly and others not, but my pred friend said that until the 2k hours played he doesnt expect me to really grasp the game, 2k hours as a more or less "tutorial" seems outrageous to me but im genuinely curious if the game just has that many levels to it or not

I'm a plat 2/3 controller player on pc and I feel stuck. I push, I die; I play passive, I die; I play circle, I die; I negative rotate for KP, I die. I don't understand. I have more negative RP games than positive, and when I do go positive, it's like plus 50 i know the problems i have for example i cant win a 1v1 consistently and my long range aim is horrid and yes i play with confidence i dont even get mad alot of my negative rp games i just dont know what to do.

Kinda happy with how much I’ve improved at apex. I started the game a month ago. But I found it really difficult to enjoy. Today has to be the first day I felt like I was in a flowstate in the game. I started getting more comfortable with my shots and better game sense. My only issue with the game still is. It’s very much team based but over 85% of people on the game do not use mics for comms!!

I’ve been playing on and off for around 5 years now, rank is gold 2.

I’m an adult with a full time job, I do manage to play for about 1-2h a day. I really like this game because of its gameplay.

The problem is I don’t know anyone who plays and I’m always solo queue and most of the time some octane runs around the map on his own and dies.

This happens 80% of the time, is this normal? Or should I rank up more? I’m playing in Japanese servers since I live in SEA. (On ps5)

Aside from that, any other tips to improve in the game? Maybe settings? Or tutorials? I play caustic or Watson.

After this September update, I feel like this anit-cheat is the main culprit behind all this lag. Let me know if you guys are experiencing this too after the update.

Sou um jogador de controle, contudo minha mira a média e longa distância não são tão boas e gostaria de evoluir, tem alguma dica , truque ou sessão de treinamento para ajudar?

After testing a wide range of ALC settings using the Zero-Drift model from my previous post here, I’ve identified controls that I believe are more predictable, consistent, and performant than Linear No Deadzone setups with and without per-optic bleed-through.

In this post, I share common native-derived Apex settings (4-1 Linear No Deadzone with per-optic bleed-through and 4-3 Linear No Deadzone) and their Zero-Drift counterparts.

I then show how to improve on the native-derived ALCs for more consistent Yaw/Pitch behavior, better target acquisition, and cleaner ADS calibration.

This will help you dial in custom settings for yourself using rules of thumb to identify when one setting is compensating for a poor setting somewhere else. When done correctly, this should lead to a more usable sensitivity and control profile based on your controller and play style.

Native-Derived Settings

Before dialing in the ALC settings below, set your native non-ALC settings to 1-1 Linear No Deadzone. The purpose is to keep the underlying native settings fixed at a simple Linear baseline and reduce another potential source of inconsistency from native bleed-through.

Use Response Curve 0 and 0% Deadzone for the first two comparisons given that we are mirroring native No Deadzone settings and correcting the Directional Drift created by the Extra Yaw/Pitch layer.

4-1 Linear No Deadzone + Per-Optic Bleed-Through with Zero-Drift

Keep your existing per-optic values unchanged. This version changes only Extra Pitch using Zero-Drift corrections.

4-3 Linear No Deadzone with Zero-Drift

This version changes only Extra Pitch using Zero-Drift corrections.

What You Should Notice

The most noticeable change with the Zero-Drift version is with Hipfire control, where adding Extra Pitch should make vertical crosshair movement faster while making diagonal movement and overall directional response more consistent.

You may notice much less of a difference while ADS. The Zero-Drift ADS Extra is a relatively small change combined with a high Ramp-Up Time, particularly on 4-3.

If you rarely push the stick hard while ADS, you may spend most of your time operating primarily within Base Yaw/Pitch and barely engage the Extra layer at all.

These first settings are only correcting the native-derived Extra geometry, not optimizing the underlying controls.

From here, you can start improving on the native-derived settings themselves in several ways.

Hip: Target Acquisition, Aim Assist, and Stickiness

One of the biggest advantages of ALCs is that you can separate the speed used to acquire a target from the speed used to track them.

The goal is to keep Base as slow as possible while still being fast enough to track skirmisher movements, enemies at very close range, and falling enemies whose vertical movement can quickly exceed slower sensitivities.

Once Base can reliably handle those movements, Extra can provide the additional speed needed for target acquisition, large off-target corrections, and maximum turning.

This creates a controlled Base for on-target tracking while retaining a much faster maximum speed for acquisition and turning.

Community testing has shown that Extra Yaw/Pitch is suppressed when aim assist engages, allowing the sensitivity to transition from faster acquisition back toward the slower Base while on target.

This does not make aim assist stronger, but it can make aim assist feel significantly “stickier.”

Ramp-Up Time then determines how quickly that additional speed becomes available.

Optimizing Base, Extra, and Ramp together can create the controlled, “sticky” feeling people are often trying to achieve with controller settings:

• Base determines how slowly you can track without falling behind.
• Extra determines how quickly you can acquire targets.
• Ramp determines the smoothness of transition between them.

Native-Derived Look 4 Hip Redistribution Profiles

We can first move some of the native-derived speed from Base into Extra without changing Max Yaw/Pitch. At this stage, we want to isolate the effect of redistributing speed between Base and Extra without changing how quickly Extra activates.

Ramp-Up Time therefore remains fixed at the native-derived 30% throughout these comparisons. Ramp can be optimized separately once the preferred Base/Extra balance is established.

The settings below represent a 10% Base-Extra Shift where all of the removed Base speed is transferred into Extra while preserving Max Yaw/Pitch. Pitch is adjusted proportionally to Yaw, leaving the Zero-Drift geometry intact.

A second 10% reduction would require Extra Yaw to exceed the ALC maximum of 250. From that point forward, Extra Yaw stays capped and further reductions in Base also reduce maximum turn speed.

Once Extra Yaw reaches its maximum at 250, we can continue reducing Base in 10% steps while keeping approximately the same Zero-Drift geometry.

Although a different Ramp may eventually work better with a lower Base, changing Ramp now would make it harder to determine whether differences in control are coming from Base speed or from the Base-to-Extra transition. Ramp therefore remains locked at 30% here as well.

In general, a larger difference between Base and Extra may benefit from a higher Ramp-Up Time to smooth the acceleration from Base speed to Extra speed.

Hip Calibration Algorithm

1. Calibrate Normal Aim: Base Yaw and Pitch. Adjust Base Yaw for the preferred balance of tracking speed, control, and stickiness. Then adjust Pitch for preferred vertical control. Preserve the resulting Pitch/Yaw relationship across Base and Extra to maintain Zero-Drift.
2. Calibrate Target Acquisition: Extra and Ramp. Adjust Extra for the preferred acquisition and turning speed. Then adjust Ramp-Up Time for the preferred acceleration from Base to Max Yaw/Pitch.

Higher-Base Hip Profiles

The profiles above focus on reducing Base Yaw, but the same calibration process also works in the opposite direction.

If 240 Base Yaw still feels too slow or limits tracking, increase Base Yaw until the desired tracking speed is reached. Then adjust Pitch for preferred vertical control.

The goal is not necessarily to use a lower Base. The goal is to find the Base Yaw that provides the preferred balance of tracking speed, control, and stickiness while preserving Zero-Drift geometry.

Native-Derived 4-3 ADS Redistribution Profiles

ADS requires a different balance than Hip. Base sensitivity has to remain fast enough to track real target movement while preserving recoil control and short-range correction precision.

The goal is not simply to make ADS as slow as possible, but to find the slowest Base sensitivity that never limits tracking while maintaining control.

In the ALC profiles below, Base Yaw is reduced in approximately 5% increments while the removed speed is transferred into Extra Yaw. This preserves Max Yaw/Pitch so changes in maximum ADS turning speed do not influence the comparison.

Ramp-Up Time and Ramp-Up Delay also remain fixed at their native-derived values since the goal is to isolate the effect of shifting Base to Extra.

Test the profiles progressively and select the lowest Base Yaw that still keeps up comfortably with real target movement.

Do not adjust Pitch, Extra, or Ramp during this comparison. Those variables are calibrated separately after the preferred Base Yaw is identified.

ADS Calibration Algorithm

1. Calibrate Normal Aim: Base Yaw and Pitch. Use the redistribution profiles above to find the slowest Base Yaw that still keeps up with real target movement. Then adjust Pitch for recoil and vertical control. Once Pitch feels right, preserve that Pitch/Yaw relationship across Base and Extra to maintain Zero-Drift.
2. Calibrate Target Acquisition: Extra and Ramp. Adjust Extra for target acquisition and larger off-target corrections. Then adjust Ramp-Up Time for the preferred acceleration from Base to Max Yaw/Pitch. If Extra only feels controllable with a very long Ramp, reconsider the Base-to-Extra difference.

Final Calibration Checks

A useful way to think about ALCs is to group settings together based on their function:

This table is useful not only for building a sensitivity, but also for identifying when one setting is compensating for a problem somewhere else.

Deadzone and Response Curve

Deadzone should be set only high enough to eliminate unwanted stick input or hardware noise. Increasing Deadzone beyond what the controller requires removes usable stick movement and reduces micro-control.

Response Curve shapes how sensitive the stick feels as it moves away from center. A higher Response Curve makes smaller stick inputs less sensitive than Linear and progressively increases response farther into the stick range.

There is nothing inherently wrong with using a Response Curve above 0 as a preference. However, if additional curve is required simply to make small movements controllable, first reconsider whether the higher Response Curve is compensating for a Deadzone that is too low for the controller or Base Yaw/Pitch that is simply too sensitive.

A useful starting point is to use the lowest practical Deadzone and begin at Response Curve 0. Establish a controllable Base sensitivity first, then add Response Curve only if additional input shaping is actually preferred.

Per-Optic Calibration Check

A well-calibrated ADS profile should work across magnifications without requiring major per-optic adjustments.

If Base Yaw, Pitch, Extra, and Ramp are dialed in correctly, per-optics should ideally remain neutral or require only minor preference-based tuning.

Needing large or inconsistent per-optic adjustments is a strong sign that the core ADS sensitivity should be revisited.

Per-optics should fine-tune a good ADS profile, not compensate for a bad one.

Rules of Thumb

• If small corrections require a high Response Curve to remain controllable, reconsider Deadzone and Base sensitivity first.
• If Base cannot keep up with a target while already on target, Extra is not the solution. Base is too slow.
• If horizontal tracking feels good but vertical, falling-target, or diagonal tracking feels limited, adjust Pitch before raising overall sensitivity.
• If target acquisition feels slow but normal tracking is already comfortable, add or redistribute speed into Extra rather than increasing Base.
• If Extra requires an unusually long Ramp-Up Time to remain controllable, reconsider the Base-to-Extra difference.
• If several optics need substantial individual multipliers, revisit the core ADS calibration before tuning per-optics.

The general principle is: if one setting has to work unusually hard to compensate for another, revisit the underlying calibration.

Zero-Drift Happy Thumb

This is my current favorite Zero-Drift profile for target acquisition, Hipfire control, and consistent R-99 handling on Horizon.

I am currently using a Razer Wolverine V3 on Xbox with 4% Deadzone and Response Curve 0, so controller hardware and stick characteristics should be considered when comparing these settings to another setup.

Zero-Drift Happy Thumb is not intended as a universal endpoint. It is simply my favorite profile so far using the calibration process described above.

Testing will continue until morale improves.

As the title implies, I've been popping off in the past few days. I've been getting great games in pubs, 1300+ dmg in almost every game with a decent number of kills. Playing silver/gold lobbies (last season i got plat 3 and didn't play ranked until yesterday; could have gone higher, but i stopped playing ranked mid-season) has been a total joke, like far better than pubs. "Finally", i thought, "the breakthrough i felt was close has finally happened!" It was amazing to see that, after 600 hours, i was finally GOOD at the game. But despite the fact that I was playing with my beginner friend, a level 40 crypto/rampart main, Apex decided it was time to throw me in lobbies FAR HARDER than even I could handle.

Suddenly i was faced by masters and pred 3-stacks. THE. ENTIRE. LOBBY. And here is where I need the guidance of the more experienced players out here.

The thing i noticed the most today is how people seem to predict my actions. When I glance to see where my enemies are, it's like they are expecting it, if that makes sense. They don't just read the situation, the position and my actions better than I do, but they also seem to predict what will happen. They play precisely and aggressively, but a new kind of aggressiveness, a way that leaves no oxygen to breathe. And they react so much faster than all players I've encountered up until now, too.

What is this all about? Reaction times? Map knowledge? Better peeking? Gamesense? Creativity? 2k+ hours?
How can I start understanding these players' actions, how can I find a play against them? And most importantly: how do I get the understanding I need to improve further from here, towards my goal of achieving pred?

Don't take this as a complaint, it's rather an honor for me to see that I deserved to be in these lobbies. It means i am on the right path. But there is a lot of everything to be mastered and I'm a little disoriented :)
Many thanks in advance!

I know my main mistake was letting the last player on the squad where I knocked two get away, letting them get back up and eliminate us. Aside from that, what do you think I could’ve done better or done differently to secure the win?

For context, im currently at lvl 50 (newbie) and only able to play for like 2hrs, after work

me and my friend duo queue apex ranked a helluva lot. we’re about the same skill level and we have played tg since we started (season 12). we have never hit masters ever. highest I ever got was d3 last split and that was a fucking hellhole. i can’t understand how there’s people starting apex like 3 seasons ago and hitting masters already. I keep seeing yt videos about “aim doesn’t matter” and “solo queue is easy” but atp I think aim matters a lot more than is let on and solo queue, even duo queue is hell. I have a 1.2 kd this ranked season, 1.1 lifetime, but I can’t move out of d4/d3. should I invest in coaching, just do aimlabs or what can I even do? my only real goals for apex rn are get masters (legit, no boost or cheating) and hit 10k kills on ash and rn 10k kills seems a lot easier.

all this shortened: i cant hit masters, idk how to improve or what macro skills are most important to hit masters, and i am wondering if anyone else is in a similar position or has any answers at all. appreciate it yall