The Apex Legends map is a complicated mixture of loot tier zones, points of interest, and respawn points, and getting to know its intricacies is one of the most important aspects of improving your game.
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The Apex Legends map is known as Kings Canyon, and like any good battle royale map it contains a variety of terrains, buildings, and most importantly, loot.
Getting to know the map is crucial to success. Not only will the various details and features of Kings Canyon influence where you decide to drop upon first entering a game, they’ll also play a part in helping you decide how you move from then on – subject to the gradual closing of the ring, of course.
Not all areas of the Apex Legends map are made equal. As well as the geographical variations, different areas of the map also offer different quantities and qualities of loot.
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To help you set yourself up for success in every game of Apex Legends, here’s everything you need to know about Kings Canyon.
Points of Interest
The major locations in Kings Canyon are named areas, known as points of interest, of which there are 17. These areas have enough unique features to stand out as distinct locations, and generally speaking dropping at any of them will ensure a decent selection of loot, assuming another group doesn’t beat you to it.
While you can never guarantee what loot you’ll find, however, not all points of interest offer equal chances at gear. Some are high-tier loot locations, meaning a greater chance of rare gear, while others are mid-tier, though there should still be enough items to outfit your squad relatively comfortably for the early game.
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The only point of interest that should really be avoided is Hydro Dam, which alone of the 17 named locations is a low-tier loot zone and therefore won’t offer much high-quality gear.
High-Tier Loot Zones
- Artillery
- Relay
- The Pit
- Runoff
- Air Base
- Bunker
- Swamps
- Repulsor
- Thunderdome
- Water Treatment
Mid-Tier Loot Zones
- Slum Lakes
- Wetlands
- Cascades
- Bridges
- Market
- Skull Town
Low-Tier Loot Zones
- Hydro Dam
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In addition to the points of interest, there are other unnamed areas that will also offer varying quality loot, such as the buildings on the east side of Bunker or to the south of Skull Town. All of the loot zones can be seen on the map below.
Supply Ships and Hot Zones
While the quality of each loot zone remains the same in every game, there are other factors that might impact your drop choice which vary in each match.
At the start of every game, one area will be designated the “Hot Zone”, denoted by a blue circle on the map. These don’t necessarily have to be points of interest, the Hot Zone can also be located on one of the smaller outposts.
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The quality of the loot at the Hot Zone will be higher than normal, but it’s also likely that as a result you’ll have to fight to claim it as Hot Zones are very rarely uncontested.
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Meanwhile, at the beginning of each game a Supply Ship will also enter the map and fly towards its destination. Supply Ships have a selection of high-quality loot, although if you’re aiming to drop onto them bear in mind that you’ll need to account for its trajectory, and also consider where you’ll end up once you jump off as chances are you’ll still need to loot more even if you claim everything the Supply Ship has to offer.
Popular Drop Zones
While every match is different, on average there tend to be certain points of interest that are more popular than others. Depending on what your objective or play-style is, then, you might want to take this into account when choosing a place to drop.
If you’re looking to fight as soon as possible, a high-intensity area like Skull Town, with plenty of buildings to loot but also almost a guarantee of multiple other groups to fight, might be your preference.
On the other hand, if you prefer to loot in peace before you go hunting for victims on your own terms, you might prefer the likes of Swamp or Thunderdome, which offer high-tier loot but are typically less likely to be overrun with multiple groups. Of course, whether or not you end up alone will depend on the particular game.
It’s also worth taking into account the path of the drop ship, which changes each match, as areas that are further away from its trajectory may be less popular, while in most games several groups will simply dive immediately for the closest point of interest.
To help give a sense for the relative popularity of different locations, Apex Legends ran a series of polls in which over 1 million votes helped decide the most popular drop zone, the results of which can be seen below.
Respawn Points and Jump Balloons
Though it may be the most important, loot isn’t the only feature of the Apex Legends map. Also dotted around Kings Canyon are two other major interactive features – respawn points and jump balloons.
If one of your squad is eliminated but at least one manages to survive, it’s possible to respawn the “dead” members by collecting their respawn beacon and taking it to one of the respawn points. Doing so will see them returned to game by a drop ship, although they’ll once again start with no gear.
However, respawn points can only be used once per game, so if you or another squad have used the ones nearby it’s worth having an awareness of where the other options are. Equally, if you hear a drop ship flying in, knowing exactly where a respawning player will be landing might let you get the jump on a squad with at least one player lacking any means of defending themselves.
Jump balloons, meanwhile, can be used to quickly traverse the map or scout for information. Climbing to the top of them will send you flying off using the same boosters that are engaged for your original drop.
Climbing a jump balloon is the only way to reactivate these boosters, and doing so can let you travel a long distance quickly.