Below you’ll find what I hope to be the definitive guide on the Apex Legends Arena mode, updated for Season 11 and covering everything from how to game works and all the Shop weapon and ability costs to top-tier strategies to help you dominate the Arenas. On this page:
Apex Legends Arena mode overview Apex Arena scoreboard explained Apex Arena Shop and Buy Phase Arena Shop: all weapon costs Arena Shop: all ability costs Apex Arena mode tips: how to win
Apex Legends Arena mode overview
Apex Legends Arena is a permanent game mode released as part of Apex Legends: Legacy, the Season 9 update. This mode is a 3v3 fight which takes place over several rounds. The winner is the first team to win at least 3 rounds, but you must also win by at least 2 points. If the score reaches 4-4, then a final sudden death 9th round will ensue and a victor declared based on who is left standing at the end. At the beginning of an Arena match, everyone picks their Legend in the usual manner. You can’t change Legends between rounds, and you can’t see your opponents’ picks until after the game begins. Players can be revived but not respawned in the Arena. There are Crafting Material containers, and Supply Bins filled with healing items dotted about the map each round. There will also be a ring which steadily closes after a certain time like in regular Apex, to prevent rounds from going on too long. When the ring starts closing, a Care Package filled with high-tier weapons will touchdown. The Supply Drop weapons will increase in quality from round to round. The Supply Drop weapons will increase in quality from round to round. Season 10 also added a Ranked Arena mode. You’ll begin by placing 10 placement matches which will determine your starting rank and MMR. After that, only by earning match wins or receiving match losses will you be able to influence your rank. Unlike in Battle Royale, you receive no extra points for kills, nor is there any entry cost for ranked Arenas.
Apex Arena scoreboard explained
The scoreboard is a little hard to understand in the Apex Legends Arena mode, so let me break it down for you:
Grey scoreboard: it’s early on in the game, and no one is about to win. Blue scoreboard: it’s match point for your team. Red scoreboard: it’s match point for the enemy team. Yellow scoreboard: it’s a tiebreaker, so both teams have to win the next two rounds to win. Sudden Death: final round, so whoever wins this round wins the match.
The three pips in the centre keep track of how many tiebreakers have occurred. It’s important to understand that each tiebreaker is a pair of rounds, because a team has to win both rounds to win the game.
Apex Arena Shop and Buy Phase
At the beginning of each round, players will have a short time in their spawn areas where they can access the Arena Shop. This Buy Phase will be very familiar to Counter-Strike and Valorant players; at the beginning of each round you’re given a certain amount of Crafting Materials which you can use to purchase weapons, grenades, healing items, and ability charges. The amount of Crafting Materials you receive goes up every round, and also increases based on your performance in previous rounds and any Crafting Materials you can scavenge from deposits in the Arena. Here are the main points to remember about the Buy Phase in Apex Arena:
All gear is reset each round, even if you survive, so you’ll have to buy new equipment every round. You can spend Crafting Materials to upgrade existing weapons. This will fill all attachment slots with flat white, then blue, then purple attachments - but you can still freely choose your optic slot as long as its rarity has been unlocked (e.g. blue for the 2x). Just like Counter-Strike and Valorant, you can save your Crafting Materials with an “economy round” where you buy very little, so that the next round you can buy much better gear. You always have access to your Passive ability and you start with some charges of your Tactical per round, but you’ll need to purchase Tactical ability charges if you want to use more in a single round, and you’ll also need to purchase your Ultimate if you want to use it. You don’t have to purchase Body Shields or Helmets in the Shop: you’re automatically given Shields and Helmets each round, and the quality of shields will increase from round to round.
Arena Shop: all weapon costs
Here are the costs of all the weapon purchases and upgrades in the Apex Legends Arena mode Shop:
Pistols, Shotguns, and SMGs:
Assault Rifles and LMGs:
Marksman and Snipers:
Note: the Alternator, Kraber, Triple Take, and Spitfire are all Care Package exclusives in Season 11 and therefore can’t be purchased in the shop. I’ll also include the equipment costs here, for completion’s sake:
Arena Shop: all ability costs
Below is a list of every Tactical and Ultimate ability for each Legend, and how much they each cost. I’ve also included information on how often you can buy Ultimates, and how many Tactical charges you can hold per round and how many you’re given by default each round.
Tactical abilities:
Ultimate abilities:
Apex Arena mode tips: how to win
I’ll finish with some tips and tricks on how to win in the Apex Legends Arena mode. These practical tips and strategies are sure to give you an edge throughout Season 9:
Prioritise the Crafting Materials containers
You don’t get to keep your weapons from round to round even if you win, and kills only net you 75 Materials each. By contrast, each Materials container nets 200 each for everyone on your team. Even if you lose, you can still win. Prioritising those Crafting Materials containers is going to become the meta in Arena mode, mark my words.
Start with cheap, strong weapons that don’t need upgrades
Don’t feel like you need to buy an R-99 or a Flatline or a R-301 Carbine at the earliest opportunity. Particularly on early rounds, it’s a great idea to go for a cheaper weapon that still packs a hell of a punch without attachments, like a G7 Scout or an L-Star. Then you’ll have more Materials to spend elsewhere.
Use Loba and Lifeline to restock your team
Loba can place down her Ultimate and steal the healing items from the Supply Bin on the opponent’s side of the map at the beginning of a round. That’s huge. And similarly, Lifeline can open up the Supply Bin’s secret compartment to gain more Shield Cells and Syringes - and her Care Package can deck her team out with strong weaponry even on an economy round.
Use the best Legends for the Arena mode
The strongest Legends in the Battle Royale mode may not be the strongest Legends in the Arena mode. Rampart will be a force of nature in Arena, for example, thanks to her ability to grant her team free and safe peeks on the enemy. Check out my best Apex Legends characters page for more details!
Every little bit of damage helps
Healing items are far scarcer in the Arena mode than in the Battle Royale mode, so poking at long range is far more viable because you can simply bleed your opponents dry before going in for the kill once they have no more healing potential. This is why weapons like the G7 Scout, the Sentinel, and the Bocek Bow are going to be very meta in Arena. That’s everything we know about the Apex Legends Arena mode and how to master it. To help improve your skill at Apex as a whole, check out our Apex Legends tips and tricks. Alternatively, check out our tier list of the best Apex Legends weapons.
