Hey everyone, I hope you’re well. Yes, that’s right, you heard me, you’re using your meds wrong. Did you read your prescription before you used that syringe? Did you check the recommended dose for Phoenix kits and shield cells? Chances are, probably not, and the Outlands pharmacy isn’t going to be happy. On a serious note, there’s just a chance you might not be using meds as effectively as possible, so I wanted to offer some tips on how you can use meds the right way.
We will look at a few different things –
1. Which meds to prioritize and use first.
2. Learning about spatial awareness, and learning to be more confident healing in combat.
3. Unique ways to use meds with certain legends.
4. When to heal and when to stay in the fight.
So, first up, when you’re taking damage and you want to heal as quickly as possible, which meds should you use first? Well, in almost all cases, it makes sense to use the bigger meds.
When time is the essence, larger healing items are generally quicker. For example, a syringe takes 5 seconds and heals 25 HP. But, a medkit takes 8 seconds and heals 100HP. So, if you need to heal more than 25 HP, it always makes sense to use a Medkit if you need to heal quickly. For shields, it’s a similar story. A shield cell has a 3 second use time and heals 25 shield health. A shield battery has a 5 second use time, but heals 100 shield health. So, once again, using one shield battery is quicker than using two or more shield cells. So, in a fight, when speed matters the most, Use Shield Battery, then Medkit, then Shield Cell, then Syringes.
A Pheonix kit can be used too, but it has a use time of 10 seconds. So you really need to feel confident before you use it. Yes, a Pheonix is quicker than using a shield battery and medkit separately, but if a player is close to you, being able to get 100HP quicker may make more sense. Also, if you have level 1 armor and you are really low, it would make more sense to use a medkit first, as opposed to a battery. Because you’ll be spending 8 seconds for 100HP, versus spending 5 seconds on a battery for just 50HP. Level 1 armor is super common so if it’s the early game, you can probably find a fresh one to swap out instead of healing up.
That brings us neatly into my next topic.
Armor swapping.
If you’re in a hectic fight, it’s always worth picking up armor off of the floor. Once your armor hits zero, picking up fresh armor will give you instant health. Even if it’s just level 1, that’s an additional50HP. And, if you have level 3, don’t worry, you can come back to it later. What’s funny is that it can actually be beneficial to leave your broken level 3 armor on the ground. If an enemy player picks it up, it will still have 0HP, making an easy elimination for you.
And if you eliminate that player, you can loot their box and the armor will regain all of its health. It’s like a free armor repair service. Picking up somebody else’s armor from a death box can work too, but it takes some time for the armor to show currently, which means you really need a moment of peace before you try it. If you’re out in the open, it’s best not to risk it, but if it’s in an isolated area, and enemies are a little far away, you should have the chance to loot it.
So, in summary, in a hurry, bigger is always better for quicker heals. Even if you don’t have level 3 shields, using a battery is still faster. Pheonix kits are quicker than batteries and medkits, but you are vulnerable for a total of 10 seconds. Personally, I’ve found in high-risk situations, it’s better to use a shield battery first, then use a medkit so that you don’t run the risk of being forced to cancel the Pheonix kit.
If you are safe, for example, you’re traveling in from the ring and there’s no sign of combat, it’s worth taking the extra time to use syringes and shield cells so that you have the more valuable meds when they are most needed.
Next, I want to talk about med cancels. Because shield cells take 3 seconds to use, it can be an effective strategy to collect a large amount of these to use them in the middle of a fight. You can often create enough distance to heal up whilst an enemy tries to push you. If you are lifeline or have a golden backpack, then this is even more true. In either of these two cases, stack up shield cells like crazy, because you’ll be able to pop shield cells insanely fast. This allows you to constantly top up your health and stay in fights for longer. If a player does push you, though, you can cancel the med and fight back. The med cancel animation is short. This means if a player is about to push your corner, you can cancel the med in time before they peek you. In some cases, it may not be worth canceling at all. If you are very close to finishing the heal, for example, it will be better to just try to circle around your cover to create just enough distance to heal. Even if you do take some damage during your heal, the health you get back may be worth it. But how do we know when to cancel the med, or which med to use in the first place? Healing in combat is always about special awareness. Let’s say you create some distance to heal behind a piece of cover. How can you create distance? Well, to play effectively, you should always have a cover near you. If you don’t, you’re putting yourself at a big disadvantage. Learn to always look for cover to stick near so that you have an easy retreat. Now, once you’re behind cover, and ready to heal, it’s time to think about spatial awareness.
This is something you will get better at over time, but essentially you need to try and imagine the enemy coming towards you. How long would it take? 3 seconds? Maybe you’ve only got time for one shield cell? Or what if they are a little further away? Then maybe you have enough time to pop a full shield battery. If it’s a pathfinder or an octane, maybe you shouldn’t heal at all. Instead, use your distance to disengage further so that you can lose them. Or, if you can find a door to block so that you can heal safely. Now, if you’re unsure of where your enemy is, you can shoulder peek the corner of your cover to try and spot them. This can give you some more information about whether they are close or whether they are even pushing you at all. And, of course, keep an ear out for footsteps. Okay,
so here are some unique ways you can heal whilst playing different legends.
Bloodhound – we all know about bhop healing, but Bloodhound can bhop at insane speeds during their ultimate, which makes for the perfect opportunity to heal up.
Pathfinder – You can grapple in the air, then disconnect the grapple, and start your heal. Also, because Pathfinder can easily create distance with his grapple, this provides a very easy opportunity to heal up because it will take some seconds for a player to follow up.
Lifeline – Because lifeline’s heal speed is25% faster, it allows you to play around cover and use shield cells to heal up very, very quickly. You can be more aggressive with your heals and feel confident about healing even if players are close to you, so long as you have some cover to move around. Wraith – healing on the other side of Wraith’s portal is great because there’s an audible sound cue when somebody goes through her portal that will alert you.
Gibraltar – you can throw down your shield DOME and heal, but consider healing on the other side of your shield instead of inside it, that way players have to travel the entire distance of the shield to get to you, giving you precious seconds to heal up.
That’s all I have for individual legend tips for now, but if you have any of your own, feel free to SHARE them in the comments section. Up next, let’s talk about when and when not to heal.
In Apex Legends, maintaining health advantage is the key to winning team fights and surviving any potential third parties. You always want to have more health than your opponents, essentially. So, if your team has a health advantage over another team, finish them first before healing up.
The extra damage you can provide at that time will be crucial, and it will be important to end a team before they can heal up themselves. However, if a team has higher health than you, or you’re in a situation where you are outnumbered, you should absolutely try to create distance so that you can heal up and try to force fairer fights. That’s’ all I have to share about healing for now in Apex Legends.
A lot of other tips come with more experience. It’s quite hard to think of a way to solve all issues each player may have with knowing when to heal, so if you have any questions on how to play or use meds, leave a comment and I’ll reply and give you my suggestions. I’ll see you in the comments. Cheers
