Back in the days of the Roman gladiator games, the ceremonies used to follow a very rigid program. First, the bestiarii, the animal fighters, would come on and fight various animals from the farthest reaches of the empire. Then, there would be fatal rituals, based on Greek and Roman myths, and the games would start in earnest. I don’t simply bring these up because classical history is interesting, but because PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is effectively a modern gladiator contest. We partake in the ritual of the pre-game lobby, punching other players, throwing apples, and galavanting around, before we get onto the game proper.
Just as in the Roman era, people take on a variety of loadouts. Do you go for heavy armor, shotguns, and assault rifles, the equivalent of the Murmillo? Sure, you’re going to have the best weapons, but you’re going to be much easier to spot and take down. How about the combination of the ghillie suit, VSS, and silenced SMGs, the modern day retarius? Look, I’m going to stop this simile now. I don’t know how much more mileage I can get out of it, and I want to get on to what this article is really about.
PUBG is an unforgiving game. When you first start, you’re going to get battered about. It takes hours and hours to get into the last 10, or to win a game. In this article, we’ve pulled together a list of basic and advanced tips, to help you get that winning advantage.
30 Take Off Your Shoes
Sound is absolutely crucial in PUBG. More often than not, when someone is close to you, you’re not going to be able to see them. Whether they’re over a ridge, above you in a house or apartment, or running around on the street outside, you’ll hear them. The sound of footsteps serves as an alarm for players. It’s a sign you’ve got to get ready to fight or hide. However, there’s a way to get the drop on your opponents. Take off your shoes. Running barefoot is just as quick, but not as noisy.
29 Refuel From Within The Car
Vehicles are your best friend in PUBG, for many reasons that we’ll get on to later. They do have their flaws, though. One of these is that you need to refuel them occasionally, especially if you’ve been boosting about a lot. Most players think that you need to leave the safety and cover of your car to refuel, but that’s not true. You need to be stopped, but you can still refuel while staying safe. Just go to your inventory and right-click on the fuel can.
28 Check Your Fire Mode
If there’s one thing that PUBG likes to do, it’s mess with its players. One way it does this is with fire modes. Most guns seem to start in a mode that’s not convenient for the gun at all. For example, SMGs always start on single shot. That’s not what you want. They’re pretty weak, and to do any damage up close, you’re going to want them in full-auto. To change the fire mode, hit B/D-pad Left. Enjoy blasting your enemies away!
27 Choose Your Landing Site Carefully
PUBG’s flight paths will inevitably give you a big range of places to land, and you’ve got to weigh up the pros and cons of each location. If you land out in the sticks, granted, you’re probably not going to get shot right away, but good loot is rarer. Land in a big city, and you’re guaranteed to have a big group of new friends. The best strategy is to land on the outskirts of a large city and wait for the population to thin itself out. Then go in and mop up the loot.
26 Switch Your Armour
I know how it is. You’re wandering around after taking a couple of bullets to your level 3 armor, but you keep waiting and waiting to switch until you find new level 3 armor. God dammit, you don’t want to downgrade, do you? Well, you really should. Damaged level 3 armor can be way, way worse than pristine level 1 armor. To see how much protection your armor is actually giving you, look at the number next to it in your inventory.
25 Watch Your Bullet Drop
When you’re using sniper rifles, accuracy is crucial. You want to know where your bullets are landing, so you don’t just end up landing your bullets at their feet. There’s a very simple way to do this. Instead of simply tapping the left mouse button to fire, hold it down. This way, you stay zoomed in, allowing you a very good view of exactly where your bullets land. If you’ve got a silenced sniper, try shooting the walls of an apartment block or house some distance off, just to gauge your shots.
24 Switch To An Underarm Throw
When you’re throwing grenades about, you want to be able to throw with the most accuracy you can. If you were throwing a ball in real life, you’ll know that sometimes you want to throw underarm, rather than overarm, particularly at close range. You can do this in PUBG, even if they don’t make it particularly obvious. To throw grenades, hold down the left mouse button, right click then press R. On Xbox, simply hold down the left trigger while holding down the right one.
23 Use Space To Your Advantage
A lot of the time in PUBG, use of space is what makes the difference between losing and winning. You never want to let your opponent have an advantage over you when it comes to line of sight. Don’t stand anywhere in a straight line behind a door. When you’re lying in wait, you don’t want someone who comes in to be able to see you right away. Stand to either side, while ensuring you have a good shot at the door. Another example is going prone on an upper floor with a clear view of the staircase.
22 Use Your Compass
That compass up on the top isn’t just for show. Use it! It’s an incredibly useful tool for keeping track of your opponents. Say someone shoots at you, and you determine it’s coming from the North. This will then let you keep track of them, regardless of whether you turn around and sprint through the town, or whatever. You can always keep track of where they’re likely to be, presuming they’ve not moved. Unlike bearings, which change depending on your location, the compass directions will stay the same, allowing you to keep track more easily.
21 Understand The Circle’s Movements
A rookie mistake that I made when I first started playing PUBG is assuming that the circle always moves concentrically. It really doesn’t. The circle doesn’t simply close in on the center of the previous circle. Instead, it can move in on basically any part of the previous circle. As such, don’t beeline for the center of the circle. Simply get into the circle, and wait to see where the next one spawns. You really don’t want to get stuck miles away from the new circle.
20 Use The Circle Against Other Players
As a follow-up to the previous tip, when you have a better understanding of the circle, try using it against other players! A fantastic way to do this is to venture just inside the circle, and, if someone is chasing you, simply pin them down outside the circle. They’ll have two options: either they move and expose themselves to your fire, or they get offed by the circle. Either way, they’ll be going down! Use it to your advantage, and you’ll earn yourself a powerful ally.
19 Use Vehicles
Vehicles aren’t only fun to drive around in, they’re also fantastic things to augment your tactics with. This is especially helpful in squad and duo. Grab a vehicle each and convoy your way around the map while other players wither themselves down. I have fond memories of doing this with friends recently. We each grabbed a pickup or a jeep, and hared around like fools, honking our horns and tearing through cities. We were able to reach drop sites faster than anyone else, securing ourselves high-level gear. Eventually, it was just us and about 4 others.
18 Don’t Open Doors While Standing In Front Of Them
This is just good tactical sense. If you open a door while standing right in front of it, what does that do? It exposes you. If someone is lurking on the other side with a shotgun or an SMG, you are absolute toast. Toast now full of holes. Instead, stand to either side of the door while you open it, and then peer in, rather than exposing yourself to the wrath of whoever may be lying in wait on the other side.
17 Use Alt To Freelook
You know what sucks? Not being able to look behind you. If you don’t know about this tip, if you want to look behind you or to the side, you have to move your mouse and strafe or backstep. That slows you down, plus is slower than freelooking. Hold down the alt button while running, and you’re able to look in any direction by moving the mouse. To do this on the Xbox One, hold down the right bumper and use the right stick.
16 Put A Pin Back In Your Grenades
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? You pull a pin out of a grenade and then think better of it. What is one to do? You either get blown up or waste a grenade, right? WRONG! There’s an easy enough way to effectively put a pin back in your grenade. All you need to do is, while holding down the fire button, open your inventory, and drag the grenade back from your grenade slot to your backpack. Just be careful, the grenades have a timed fuse.
15 Free Up Backpack Space
Even with a level 3 backpack, you can’t just go around picking up every item littering the map. Eventually, you run out of space, and are forced to drop some stuff. However, there is a way to eke out some extra space. You see, the items that you have equipped don’t actually count as taking up space in your backpack. If you’ve got a bulky item, something like a VSS or an M249, equip it. Another example is that stun grenades can be equipped to make space for frags, and so on.
14 Use Bandages Efficiently
It can be hard to get used to how healing works in PUBG. It’s not like in other games where your health regenerates or you simply get health packs. While there are the first aid kits, which restore 100 percent of your health, they’re rare. Most of the time, you’ll have to settle for bandages or energy drinks, which restore health incrementally. When you’re healing with bandages, don’t spam them. This just wastes them. Instead, apply the next one when the first one is two-thirds of the way through its health restoration.
13 Clear Your HUD For A Clean Shot
In a game where so much can happen, it’s no wonder that PUBG’s hub can get…how should we say this? Crowded. It’s usually not a problem, but if you’re trying to line up a shot only for an icon to get in the way, it could cost you the match. There’s an easy way to deal with this. On PC, press CTRL + U to clear the HUD completely, and free up screen space. This way, you’ll be completely distraction-free, and able to do exactly what you have to.
12 Move While Healing
Like refueling the cars, it can be extremely frustrating, not to mention dangerous, if you need to heal. Healing requires you to be stood stock still, not moving, for a perilous amount of seconds. If someone gets the drop on you while you’re healing, you’re done. There is a way to somewhat shorten this process, however. You can start moving when you’ve got half a second left of healing to go. Do it before then and the healing cancels, but time it right, and you’ve earned yourself valuable maneuverability.
11 Jump Higher
How would you like to jump higher? I’m sure you’d love that, right? It lets you access areas easier, including those superb sniper nests hidden away at the top of a pile of crates. Jumping higher than the game’s default jump could not be easier, and is as simple as doing a crouch jump, that old PC gaming standby. Press space, crouch, and W at the same time. It’s recommended that you rebind crouch to C, rather than CTRL. CTRL+W is a Windows shortcut for closing a window, and that’s not something you want to do.
