Hi Drongos.I'm not really one for ranked (never got past gold) but gave it a go this season with Valk and surprised myself in getting to Plat in about four playing sessions. Ditching Valk for Fusey in Plat (as there's no way I'm ever going to trouble Diamond, no matter who I play) so wonder if anyone has any tips as have heard Plat is where 'everything changes' i.e. more camping instead of every hot-dropping to Estates for the -36 shootout game. Or is this not the case?Ed (still old but not so knackered)

@EdwardDLuffy try to drop in an area where there is only one squad, try to get KP at the start then play for placement, you will get more KP along the way.always look around to see where squads are dropping and how many, keep an eye on the kill feed and remaining players counter.it will be useful in the last four squads as you will know if any squad is missing one so you can strategies your play.fight tip which is a basic one but for some reason I always miss it.always stay behind cover, in higher ranks it's so easy to get beamed and get a team shot so always imagine yourself in an actual war and try to stay alive and save your KP XD

It's going to be a blast!My strategy for gold was:1 - Drop solo where no one drops2 - Hide3 - When the ring is creeping in, load up on meds4 - Stay out of the ring for as long as possible, healing and opening bins5 - Find a replicator and craft med packs6 - Finally come into the ring when there are 2/3 squads left and dieFrom Silver I to Plat IV only had one game where I had a negative score, and that was when my squad followed me in. Won two games too when a TM survived to the final 2/3/4.It's amazing the number of swifty-dead TMs who stayed me with up to the end to pick up their RPs. I'd prefer it if Ranked had a no-fill option too as I leave my team a player short, but it's far easier to grind solo.

@EdwardDLuffy Tbh as someone who reached Diamond almost every season soloqueuing I didn't see that much camping, most of players tend to push everyone, maybe in the end game there's more attention. From my experience i can tell you'll get lots of carried noobs that don't care about grinding so they'll play like they are in a pub game. Plat IV is full with them. Another type of Plat player is the one that thinks he can do it all by himself so he'll ignore his teammates right from the start. So it's pretty harder to find decent teammates in Plat compared to lower tiers. My suggestion is to stick with your team as much as possible, but don't die for them, most of the times it's useless. One of the most common mistakes people make is to rush to help a downed teammate even if it means certain death: it happens 99% of the times so avoid that, it's better to solo rat. As the others mentioned above best strategy is to have an early fight, win it, and then go camp in last zone. Unfortunately this won't happen that much as usually people don't play like that lol, but try it.

I got to Diamond, solo. The advice above is mostly solid. I'd like to add my two cents for verification:1. Do not care about your team: If you can play well solo, they can play well as a duo. Maybe they'll be with you to the end, if not you'll be carrying them (they should be thankful for your ruthlessness). Absolutely do NOT bake yourself trying to rescue angry, pinging team mates who got themselves killed while a full team hovers about.2. Do not fear the ring, the ring is your friend: Learn to fight in the ring, you will also even get some good vulture kills from people not expecting others in the ring (and consequently, do not let your own guard down). You have a long time with rings...2 full ring rounds where you can easily sustain and pretty much through round 3.3. Gold armor is good armor: Yes, raising your purple to red is better in general, but the heals of gold in shields and health can keep you living in both the ring, and if you have to run. And, yeah, it's still just fine.4. The Gold Knockdown Shield Sucks...but it is good for you: So important when your buddies get themselves smoked. It still is dumb in how long it takes you to get up again, but it might carry you through those last placements if you can.5. Pick the right characters: Respawn boned this one, but obviously certain characters are better alone and some are better with a team. You are a solo mofo, so pick a character accordingly.6. As has been said, don't drop dumb: Decouple yourself immediately, you can always follow your team. But it let's them know you're not playing stupid right away, and you can ping where you want to go (and then go there without them if you need...you told em)That' mah spit!

@BaldWraithSimp I used to do this in my Rev main days. Set the totem, enter death protection, go and grab the banner(s), do a little dance and get shot and sent back. It was really impressive if you did it at the bottom of a jump tower. You'd skydive in, grab the banners, dance in front of the enemies and suddenly you're nice and safe and 250m away, healing up.

Tips for Plat Ranked as a solo player

24 Replies

maximas1986
4 years ago
@EdwardDLuffy try to drop in an area where there is only one squad, try to get KP at the start then play for placement, you will get more KP along the way.
always look around to see where squads are dropping and how many, keep an eye on the kill feed and remaining players counter.
it will be useful in the last four squads as you will know if any squad is missing one so you can strategies your play.
fight tip which is a basic one but for some reason I always miss it.
always stay behind cover, in higher ranks it's so easy to get beamed and get a team shot so always imagine yourself in an actual war and try to stay alive and save your KP XD
EdwardDLuffy
4 years ago
It's going to be a blast!
My strategy for gold was:
1 - Drop solo where no one drops
2 - Hide
3 - When the ring is creeping in, load up on meds
4 - Stay out of the ring for as long as possible, healing and opening bins
5 - Find a replicator and craft med packs
6 - Finally come into the ring when there are 2/3 squads left and die
From Silver I to Plat IV only had one game where I had a negative score, and that was when my squad followed me in. Won two games too when a TM survived to the final 2/3/4.
It's amazing the number of swifty-dead TMs who stayed me with up to the end to pick up their RPs. I'd prefer it if Ranked had a no-fill option too as I leave my team a player short, but it's far easier to grind solo.
hayhor
Hero
4 years ago
@EdwardDLuffyFrom what I've seen that strategy won't work in plat. I've been playing it with a friend who normally does the diamond grind solo but has limited time to play. He asked me if I'd play it with him so I have been doing that.

People seem to have realized placement is the best way to gain points or at least not lose them as fast. The amount of people that run away and dont fight early game is mind blowing. 10 teams left going to round 3.

Switching off valk now is probably bad as character selection gets more important the higher you get in ranked. And she is quite important if you dont repostion to game end fast. We won 2 in a row yesterday by repositioning in the final ring with her ult.
What I've found most interesting are the teams that don't do anything until last 4 teams and them ape the 1 or 2 man teams to try for easy kills. They throw away the placement points which increase a lot at that point.
EdwardDLuffy
4 years ago
@hayhor Yeah, I'm kind of guessing it won't work in Plat. I'm usually in the +ve placement points by the start of round three as there are only 3/4 teams left, and me.

Hear you about Valk but Fusey suits my playstyle and he's a lot more versatile than people think. I've learned from watching MATCH1N to carry a dozen or so nades, depending on your backpack. I've roasted several complete squads with the ML, KCs and nades. You can split squads too into the Legends who can get out of the mess (Horizon, Valk, Octane, etc) and those who have to run through it. You can still get a good judge of where they are heading as you see the 35 ... 8 ... 8 ... 8 ... track across your screen.
MyName1sNotJohn
4 years ago
@EdwardDLuffy Honestly, a good rule if you are playing solo ranked is play selfish. You have to be able to tell when a situation is bad and bail. The biggest mistake you or your squad mates can make is rushing into a fight because you are hungry for KP or trying to go grab banners even though there is no way you will survive.

While dropping with one squad and trying to wipe them is usually good if you’re not in a packed area, try to tell if you don’t have good loot or position and rotate if needed. If my teammates make a bad call I mute them and leave them behind. I make bad calls too of course but you need to be able to tell when a fight is not worth it and abandon it, the goal is to win not get a bunch of kills.

That said you will certainly have good games where you are in sync with your team and doing well. Most likely you will be able to tell the team dynamics within the first few minutes of the game. Some games I am the shot caller and we do well because of it, other games my teammates are mopping the floor with everyone and I am the follower. But sometimes you will get those teammates who are obsessed with poking and trading shots that are not to their advantage and not healing quickly so the other team gets a free push etc.

Very obvious but only choose weapons you are very comfortable with unless you are desperate I.e just got respawned.

Try to get a sense of where the ring is going to be, and every time it closes look for the best place to set up shop. Even if you don’t have a defensive team, you want to be in a position that allows you to both attack quickly if needed and hold your own position, and not one that will pinpoint you between two squads during rotations if you can help it. If you have a recon on team, ping survey beacons if needed, you would be shocked how many recons do not care about scanning for ring.

Already been said but use cover and buildings well. It is very easy to lose sense of where you and your teammates are at, long range weapons are used fairly often at the moment so it’s pretty easy to get railed by triple take/Kraber/charge etc. having awareness of where you are and also your teammate (if you initially push and then notice your teammate backing down…back down with them even if it seems to your advantage). Pay attention to things like your health and their health. I hate when my team pushes without me and dies quickly because i am not healed or not next to them so don’t be those guys for your team unless they are not trying to play smart.

That is what has gotten me to Diamond the last few splits, I have been able to win games in Diamond solo queue as well, so I think it works for plat.
hayhor
Hero
4 years ago
@EdwardDLuffy I have no issue with fuse and actually enjoy using him. The issue is if those remaining teams see you as a lone fuse they will ape you. And plat players are better at aim than gold.
Cro_Pittt
4 years ago
@EdwardDLuffy Tbh as someone who reached Diamond almost every season soloqueuing I didn't see that much camping, most of players tend to push everyone, maybe in the end game there's more attention. From my experience i can tell you'll get lots of carried noobs that don't care about grinding so they'll play like they are in a pub game. Plat IV is full with them. Another type of Plat player is the one that thinks he can do it all by himself so he'll ignore his teammates right from the start. So it's pretty harder to find decent teammates in Plat compared to lower tiers. My suggestion is to stick with your team as much as possible, but don't die for them, most of the times it's useless. One of the most common mistakes people make is to rush to help a downed teammate even if it means certain death: it happens 99% of the times so avoid that, it's better to solo rat. As the others mentioned above best strategy is to have an early fight, win it, and then go camp in last zone. Unfortunately this won't happen that much as usually people don't play like that lol, but try it.
EdwardDLuffy
4 years ago
Well, my first session of Plat did not go well. In fact, it was one of the worst experiences I've ever had with Apex. I kept with my squad for all games, but it was no different to Bronze. Indeed, it seemed worse. So many absolutely clueless TMs. Not aim, just positioning and general gameplay.
Im about a dozen games I got +ve points TWICE. And both times it was because I had one TM who know how to play the game. Those +ve points were soon wiped off and I am back to 4,800.
One game was an absolute joke. It was me as Fuse with Valk and Pathy. Pathy was JM and I pinged the weed-infested ship. He said okay and we were heading there but then for some reason Pathy did a 180 and landed at the new Phase thingie where another squad had clearly already landed. I literally landed on top of a Rev. There were guns about and I thought 'Uh-ho' but Rev just ran past a Wingman and Rampart without picking them up. I picked them both up and downed Rev. I thought 'Good start!' as we were now 3v2 but Valk and Pathy did NOTHING. I got into a 1v1 with Ash and did some damage so ran off the heal. Pathy was just standing, right in the open, basically shooting at anything. Clearly Ash was flanking him but Pathy didn't even notice. He didn't grapple once and was downed (90 damage). Rev had been revived so now we were 2v3. Valk was downed pretty quickly and I had no chance in my 1v3.
All games bar two were like this. I thought getting to Plat was some kind of achievement but ... nah.
Back to solo play for me!
TL;DR - Plat players are as useless as Pub/Bronze players, to my surprise.
Zkepz
4 years ago
I have a proper team these days (only took me 3 years finding one hehe) but the biggest general mistake I see in ranked is that some players play like a newly turned vampire, yes we have one on the team but in his excuse hes only lvl 300 so he havent been able to get proper control over the blood thirst just yet hehe. (Famous last words, his one shot, oooooh)
You need to understand what is a good fight and bad fight, in general I notice fights when you land have a high probability of coin-flip wins (radom if you loose or win) because of the loot situation and quality of specific landing spot compared to the other teams, while early game looted fights can be healthy if you find someone who boboed on position or are running big split looting sessions. Late game is bone hard and everyone got everything and youre working for placement points, the last 5 positions are huge point hogs and gives so interesting fights with loads of tactics involved - its a lot of fun and adrenaline.
Going into a fight, understanding there is no such thing as committing to a fight, and understanding when to rotate or just pulling out is key for survival and points. Some fights we go in we see because of the situation, placement and general state of the team is not winnable so we pull out rotate and pick the fight at another time and place where we are at an advantage. When we as a team can balance this properly were normally harvesting plenty of RP, but yes at higher levels the less the bubu the bigger the consequence....
The best I come over is when you see a guy suddenly pushing because he hit a grenade or something and going all bloodrage like a newly turned vamp so we can single him out and just kill him there and then, to turn around and start killing the rest of the team is god sendt for us, especially at higher ranks the bloodrage can kill you soo fast.
Plat up hiding for points dont really work as youre at a disadvantage endgame for the last 5 positions as its not seldom I see 5+ teams on last ring and most of these have purple and red armors. Same higher ranked most actually run team comps so most of them have scanners, murphy says they spot you when youre in your worst state hehe.
MadameRose66
4 years ago
@EdwardDLuffy Everyone said already what I wanted to say. I had one good win so far (in solo Q) in plat lobby where I play as Loba and my mates were Octane and Lifeline and we won just by the fact that we sticked together as a group, that's it. If your random teammates just value this one thing the rounds will make fun and you will also get good point with it. I gotta say that I had so far no good experience with new players which I wanted to have coms and such because you need to play more rounds before you hop into the ranked games with them so I always try to find their playstyle if that's working out with mine and if it's not then I will say sorry, I can't play with you because etc... Overall I want to play more solo Q in Plat to look how far I will come this season.

I reached Plat quiet early this season, within 3 weeks if I am not mistaken but due to the fact that I got crashes every 3 games it was not possible to play ranked, unfortunately. But now I hope to get this fixed and grind the last weeks to Diamant if it's possible but I wanna try it out.