How To Fly Faster in Apex Legends

Apex Legends has been a surprise hit in the early part of 2019. It has shaken PUBG and Fortnite’s seemingly unassailable grip on Battle Royale gaming and will take the crown as best BR game around soon. I have been playing since launch and have learned a thing or two in that time. One vital thing I learned early is how to fly fast in Apex Legends. By the end of this tutorial you will be able to do it too.

Why fly fast? The sooner you land, the sooner you loot. If you’re on the ground first and have a Peacekeeper in your hands, those poor suckers who land after you aren’t going to last very long!

Apex Legends is a game where you really do have to be quick or be dead. The ability to either fly further during the initial drop or fly faster to get looting can literally be the difference between a good game and a bad one. Fly straight down and you’re going fast but not far. Fly far and you are unlikely to go fast. Either way, you’re not ahead of the game.

Fly fast Apex Legends

Look around you when you drop and you will see players flying in straight lines. They have the ‘W’ key down hard and are hoping that they get to the guns first. You hit your mark, the air brake hits and you slow down to land. I see it time and again in Apex Legends.

Constant velocity is fine but as you fly, you will see this gradually drop. You want to maximize your drop velocity and maintain it for as long as possible so you get ahead of the competition.

Areas close to the flight path of the dropship become very busy very quickly so you need to be super fast here as everyone can maximize their drop speed. Loot points further away from the flight path offer quieter places to get loaded out and make your way into the center. But that means flying further and slower and risks being beaten there by faster flyers.

As any air force pilot will tell you, flying into a battle zone in a straight line is an invitation to disaster. It’s the same in Apex Legends.

There is a better way. You fly in a wave pattern.

Fly down until you hit 140 speed then flatten out into a downward glide until your speed drops to around 135. Then drop again, glide again, drop again, glide again. When you’re over where you want to land, dive vertically to the ground.

That’s how to hit the ground running and ahead of the competition.

Think of a going down some stairs. The vertical plane is where you gain speed and the horizontal plane is where you gain distance. Round out those square edges and you have the current optimal way to descend at launch in Apex Legends.

The process takes a little practice but will help you maintain speed throughout your descent and avoid the worst of the air brake finish before landing. As you don’t take fall damage in Apex Legends, it isn’t as if you have to worry about a bumpy landing!

The mastery comes with timing dives and glides so you hit your mark at maximum speed with enough height left to be able to dive straight to the loot point. Even if you’re neck and neck with another team, that final dive will have you hitting the ground first and getting the guns.

If you have tried Anthem, this principle works there too. Flying in a wave patterns helps cool your jets. Heat is the enemy in that game when it comes to flying. Dive to cool your jets and then glide to cover distance.

Straight lines shows up your competition

One useful advantage for those smoke trails at the beginning, aside from looking cool is to show you how good your competition is. See a lot of straight smoke trails? You have inexperienced competition. See a lot of wavy lines in the sky? Your competition knows more about the game and how to play it.

Either way, you have an indication of how the game might go. Sure, a rookie can still get a lucky shot, but at least you can plan for the game ahead if you have an idea of who you’re up against.

That’s how to fly faster in Apex Legends right now. Games never stay still so things might change, but until they do, use this method to get the loot before the competition.