How to Use Melee in Apex Legends

Evan Gower September 13, 2019

Right off the bat, you’re thrown into the thick of it. Apex Legends is a battle royale-type game that does not forgive. You are left to fend for yourself, survive, and win the game. In most BR videogames, melee is not something that a lot of attention is given to. In Apex Legends, it is one of the most important reflexes that you can have.

The Genre

The battle royale videogame type essentially blends exploration, survival, and scavenging. These three aspects are the core of the genre. Your objective is to be the last man (or team, in this instance) standing. As a player, you are dropped onto the map, along with your teammates and you are left to fend for yourself until you inevitably kill all other players or get killed by someone. In such a cruel scenario, using every gameplay aspect as best as you can is crucial.

Apex Legends

Apex Legends is a team game. A number (up to 20) of three-player squads is dropped onto an island. They start by searching for weapons and supplies. Collaboration is the key here. When everyone on your team agrees that they are ready, the hunt begins.

Despite the scavenging aspect here, knowing how to fight is still the number one factor when it comes to winning or losing. You can gather all the rare weapons and important supplies you want. You can have all the experience in the world with in-game gunfights, too. But, in Apex Legends, a carefully thought-out melee attack can take down a juggernaut of a player, despite his or her equipment and shooting prowess. Melee plays a vital role in Apex Legends as it can decide your fate and the fate of your entire team.

How to Melee

You probably already know which button to press in order to melee, but here it goes, anyway. On Xbox One, pressing down the right analog stick will issue the “melee” command to your avatar. On PS4 this is done by pressing the R3 button. On PC, the V key on your keyboard is assigned with the melee command. Of course, if you don’t like the default key bindings, you can always change them on all platforms through the Settings menu.

Now, let’s talk about how to melee effectively.

Three Melee Types

If you press the melee button your Apex Legends character will jab, uppercut, or kick the enemy. If you are standing or moving, running around, the melee button will always result in a jab-style punch. If you jump and press the melee button, your avatar will kick. If you crouch or slide by running and press the crouch button, your character will deliver an uppercut. These three melee types are the essence of any melee encounter in the game.

Which one of these should you use? Well, kicking is always preferred to punching. For one, when you jump in any shooter game, you automatically become harder to hit, so that’s one big benefit. Secondly, the kick is much faster than the punch. As a rule of thumb, in Apex Legends, you should always kick rather than punch.

Whether you’ll kick or punch depends on the in-game situation. Sometimes you need to slide under an obstacle and hit your enemy. Clearly, this is safer than jumping over it and exposing yourself to enemy fire. On the other hand, if you’re in the open, jumping and kicking is always a better idea than sliding and doing the uppercut melee.

Combos

Although there are three different melee types, all assigned to the exact same key/button, various combos may help you deliver quicker punches/kicks and confuse your target. There are many melee combos in Apex Legends, so you should go ahead and practice melee until you’ve found a cool move.

One of the most deadly melee combos is an absolutely unlikely one. Whether or not it’s an in-game glitch, pressing the melee button, the tactical ability button, and the ping button at the same time and pressing them for each sequential hit will deliver very quick and effective melee attacks. You can do this while crouching, standing, or jumping. Jumping is always the most efficient way to melee, so start this combo by jumping first.

The Finisher Move

When your target is on the ground, but not dead yet, it’s pretty much easy pickings time. In the world of Apex Legends, though, ammo isn’t something that you’ll always have in abundance. You can always punch, kick, or uppercut your downed target to death, but this will take much more time and you may not be able to finish them off before they’re back on their feet.

There is a very simple solution here: the finisher move. Simply press the interact button/key and your character will perform an execution move that will insta-kill your enemy when the animation is over. This flashy move, however, is fairly risky, as you are left vulnerable during your finisher. One of your enemy’s teammates may kill you before you can complete your move. Perform finishers carefully.

The Art of Melee

Whichever of these moves you want to try, you should understand that there are both time and place for each one of them. Well, maybe not for the standing punch, as it really doesn’t bring any benefits to the table. Be flexible and fluid when performing the melee attacks, use the mentioned combos, and don’t be afraid of performing the finisher moves.

Have you tried the three-button combo? It works like a charm, doesn’t it? If you have any other tips, feel free to share them in the comments below.