PUBG Mobile: Beginner’s Guide

PUBG Mobile is the smartphone version of the breakthrough battle royale game PUBG. Tencent has developed this game and done a great job in replicating the PC version. There are major differences between PUBG and PUBG Mobile, but the mechanics, maps, events, weaponry, physics, etc. pretty much mirror each other.

PUBG Mobile was released in early 2018 and has become a global phenomenon. People (and kids, especially) all over the world are spending hours on top of hours playing PUBG matches on their smartphones.

PUBG is a game where you are matched up with other players and everyone can shoot or kill anyone with guns and other items that can be found on the map. The survivor is the match-winner.

Initial considerations

Once you’ve installed PUBG Mobile, you’ll be performing certain essential tasks like designing your character (which you can change later with BP, the in-game currency) and setting up your username (which you can later change with a special item called Rename Card). Also, make sure you have your Facebook or Google account linked to preserve progress or to play across devices.

You simply choose a map, a perspective (first-person or third-person), a mode (it could be a deathmatch, a special event mode, a constant respawn game, and so on) and start searching. Once a certain amount of players have been found queuing for the same settings as you, the game will begin.

We’ll be talking about the classic PUBG match here, which is played more than any other mode or event within the game. Usually, a number of players belonging to the same tier (there are eight tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crown, Ace, and Conqueror) are chosen along with a bunch of “bots” and the match begins.

Controls

The on-screen controls are pretty straightforward and self-explanatory. You’re supposed to tap these controls to move, shoot, and perform other actions.

Typically, a player uses his or her left claw (four-fingers, though professionals manage to evolve beyond that) for movement and the right claw (including the thumb) for shooting, jumping, crouching, reloading, looting, etc.

The opposite if you’re left-handed.

As you play more and more, you’ll find it easier to rearrange the buttons, resize them, or remove them altogether as you see fit. Many buttons are not displayed by default, which you might want to add later on.

Most of the guns can “spray” meaning if you keep the shoot button tapped, it’ll keep shooting. Technically, this means automatic fire. The opposite of automatic fire is single-shot fire where you need to tap repeatedly to fire. There’s also a burst mode in guns where each shot fires 2-3 bullets.

Core concepts for your character

There are a few things you should know about a PUBG Mobile character.

Running

You can walk and run. When you have to run, make sure you’re not carrying any weapon. It’ll make you slightly faster.

In fact, it’s a good technique to switch to no-weapon running every time there’s an opportunity.

Bags

There are three levels of bags in the game. The bags determine how much stuff you can carry.

Level 1 bags will get full very quickly but level 3 backpacks are a really cool loot that increases your carrying capacity by a lot. Armor also increases your carrying capacity by a little factor.

However, level 3 bags are more visible when you go prone because they’re larger. During the end-game when less than 10 enemies are remaining, it’s often a good idea to drop items you don’t need and settle for a level 2 or even a level 1 backpack, especially in grassy areas.

Health, adrenaline, and knockouts

Your character has two traits: health and adrenaline. If you take damage, your health will decrease. A pistol will deal much less damage than an AKM. When your health drops to zero, you die. You use items like bandages and health kits to heal.

You can also fill up your adrenaline bar to receive a health regeneration boost. This is how you heal beyond the point where bandages and health kits can have an effect.

Energy drinks, painkillers, and adrenaline shots provide differing adrenaline values. After a point, adrenaline will also quicken your speed.

In case you’re playing in a duo or a squad and at least one of your teammates is alive, you’ll be “knocked out” when your health drops to zero instead of dying.

In the knocked-out state, your character will fall to the ground and move very slowly (as it’s injured). You’ll see that the knocked-out state makes your health bar full. It’s sort of a second life. But this health will keep dropping automatically.

The point is that a teammate can come and revive you. So, what usually happens is that a knocked-out player finds a safe place away from enemy fire. All teammates get notified of a knocked-out member and there’s also a plus sign next to their name in the squad list.

An alive teammate moves swiftly to the fallen soldier and starts a revival. It takes a few seconds. Once the revival is complete, the fallen soldier comes back to the first life but in low health. He or she will now refill his health by consuming items and rejoin the fight.

Note that if you’re knocked out, you can still be damaged by every source. So, if you’ve fallen out in the open and an enemy has a clear line of sight on you, he or she will be able to reduce your “second life” to zero too, and at that point, you instantly die.

PUBG Mobile is a Battle Royale game

Battle Royale means you are put together with many other players on the same map. The map is large with multiple cities, sites, and large empty areas. Each player can drop off anywhere on the map. The map is full of houses where you’ll find weapons, armor, health items, vehicles (and fuel), and special things. The playable area, however, keeps decreasing.

Just like that, in PUBG Mobile, initially, the playable area (or the safe zone) is very big. But at increasingly shorter intervals, the zone will diminish. The point is to pit yourself against other players. If you’re stuck outside of the safe zone, you will start losing health.

The objective of the game is to kill other players and survive until the end. The main way to kill others is by equipping your character with guns that you find throughout the map, along with other items that either help improve your defense (like armor), provide additional utilities (like a speed boost by taking a painkiller shot), or help you dish out damage more accurately (like a scope on a gun).

Also, when you kill a player, you’ll be able to loot him or her. The killed player transforms into a crate that you can walk to and pick up items from. In the mid- and late-game, this is the primary method of obtaining high-level and more advanced items.

Suppose you kill someone at 15 minutes, then that means you have a crate to loot from that’s been filled with 15-minutes worth of items, same as your loot so far.

There are other ways to die too, like grenades, vehicles, the blue zone (the area outside the safe zone is lethal), dropping from very high places, jumping from a vehicle in motion, etc. And even a frying pan.

You can play solo, duo, or in a squad. If you have other friends playing PUBG Mobile, you can invite them to form your party. With them, you can enter a match as a team. The team (or any of its members) needs to survive until the end to win. You can also play in squads or duos with random players if you’ve not invited anyone but still selected the duo or squad mode.

If you join a game as a squad member with random players, you’ll only be matched up with players who have selected the same. In other words, only squads battle together, duos battle together, and solo players battle together. There’s no cross between any two, although there are ways to cheat the system like setting squad in settings but turning off auto-matching. It will send you solo in a squad game.

Getting your items

It’s extremely important to get decent items as early as possible because you never know at which point you’re going to spot an enemy or an enemy is going to spot you.

Decent armor, helmets, and attachments (like scopes that help you zoom in and extended magazines that increase the clip capacity of your gun) are very important.

Items are placed on the floor. Once your character is standing on or very near an item, an option to pick it up will come. If there are multiple items, you’ll be presented with a list. Simply tap the item name to pick it up.

Near cities, you’re bound to find better and more items. For example, in Erangel, dropping in Georgepool, Pochinki, Mylta Power, Military Base, etc. will instantly equip you with high-level armor and bag, assault rifles, health items, and tons of utilities like grenades and extended magazines.

The downside is that a lot of players drop here and so the chance of survival is pretty slim for a beginner. But if you’re a beginner, you’ll be matched up with other beginners, making it a fair competition.

Every map has places where a lot of loot is concentrated.

• For Vikendi, it’s Dobro Mesto, Goroka, Podvosto, Volnova, etc.
• For Sanhok, the Ruins are particularly famous, though not a city. Besides the Ruins, the Cave and the Resort are also great for loot. Cities in Sanhok aren’t as full as those in other maps but landing anywhere in Ban Tai, Camp Alpha or Bravo, Ha Tinh, etc. will make sure you get a powerful AR and armor very quickly.
• For Miramar, players like to drop on Chumacera, El Pozo, Los Leones, San Martin, Pecado, and the Power Grid for loots.

Maps

Tip: If you want, you can check out interactive versions of PUBG Mobile maps on your browser here. We’ll talk about the four OG maps.

Erangel

Erangel is a vast war-torn landscape with hills, cities, rivers, and a lot of greenery.

There’s a story mode coming in PUBG for PC that will explain this mysterious land and why is it war-torn. For now, you should know that it’s modeled as a region close to Russia, was once a place for weapons testing and military training, as well as chemical experiments.

In Erangel, it’s both hard and easy to spot faraway enemies, depending on the clothing.

It includes many popular locations like Pochinki, Georgepool, Military Base, etc. which professional players love to jump and fight in. A power plant, giant bridges, forests, and plenty of vehicles – what more can you ask for?

No matter which map becomes your favorite, Erangel will always be the “default” classic PUBG Mobile experience.

Miramar

Miramar is apparently an even bigger area but technically the same size as Erangel. It’s much emptier that’s why the apparent vastness.

Miramar is basically a desert with plenty of mountains and hills to provide vantage points. It’s an ideal map for sniping.

Everything is crystal-clear for long distances and you might need to pay more attention to the blue zone as crossing large swathes of land is more difficult when you’re outside the safe zone.

Clear lines of sights, unobstructed sniper vision, great loot spaces, and motorbikes on the desert make Miramar an amazing map.

Miramar is a Mexico-based map. It’s 8×8 km (like Erangel) and has plenty of cities. Open plains, hills, and rural areas provide some breakage in the consistency but it’s still mostly only sand.

Sanhok

Sanhok is a small map in comparison. Here, the battles are more frequent and the matches end sooner because everyone is relatively close. Sanhok is half the size of Erangel and Miramar.

It’s humid, foggy, and rural.

Sanhok uses a dynamic blue zone as compared to a constant-speed one in other maps. What this means is that the play zone (safe zone) shortens based on varying speed. The speed depends on how many players are alive. So, if there are a lot of players still fighting, it will move faster to put them up against each other. And if there are fewer players alive, it will move slower.

This map is directly inspired (the landscape is directly photogrammed into models for the game engine) by rural Asian settlements in the Philippines and Thailand. The design team actually went there and spent some time in order to make an effective replica.

The climate (like frequent downpours and humid views), lighting, tall grasses, settlement sizes, building structures, vehicles, etc. are all inspired by these countries.

From the rich ruins to dangerous cliffs and foggy weather to close-knit buildings – Sanhok encourages fighting but with a calm and strategic mind. Patience, planning, and alertness are very important.

Vikendi

Vikendi is neither small nor big. It’s 6×6 km (as compared to the 4×4 Sanhok and 8×8 Erangel and Miramar). It’s based on the beautiful Balkan country of Slovenia. It’s largely snowy and during the night you can see auroras in the sky.

The lore of Vikendi is that it’s an isolated Northern resort island placed on the outskirts of Mount Kreznic. It’s an island for tourists with various attractions.

In Vikendi, your movement will leave footprints on the snow. So, others can follow you or know that someone’s been here. And you can do the same. Tread carefully and keep your eyes open. And oh, wear a sweater because it’s cold!

Weaponry

If you have Counter-Strike experience, then you’ll find weaponry to be quite in sync with your knowledge. Just a little bit of learning. But don’t worry, there’s an Armory section on the dashboard of the game where you can learn all about guns.

There are three item slots for guns:

1. Primary weapon: Usually you equip an AR for close-range or medium-range combat like the M416 or the AKM.
2. Secondary weapon: Usually it’s a long-range weapon for sniping like the M24 or (if you’re lucky) AWM.
3. The tertiary weapon slot is reserved for pistols.

Grenades and melee weapons also consume slots.

Note that you can pick any weapon that’s not a pistol for the first and second slots. You can have a sniper rifle like AWM on the first and an SMG UMP on the second. It’s totally up to you. You can also carry bows, shotguns, or machine guns in either of these slots.

Let’s move on. So, the general rule of thumb in PUBG Mobile weaponry is this:

There are different categories of guns that serve different purposes. In each category, some guns are more powerful than others.

Note: the stat given in m/s is the initial bullet speed of the gun.

Pistols

Pistols are early-game guns. When you land, most probably you’ll find a pistol. If you’ve seen someone land around you, you should always pick a pistol without waiting for the time you find a better gun. But if you’re sure that you’ll be safe, you can ignore pistols as they only take up space and aren’t used later in the game.

There are seven pistols and a Flare Gun that also fills the pistol slot (we discuss that one later).

• Deagle: The Desert Eagle has the highest single-bullet damage among all pistols. In Counter-Strike, the Nighthawk actually had more single-shot damage than certain SMGs. 62 damage at 450 m/s. Holds 7 bullets in one magazine with 0.25s time between shots.
• P18C: It’s an amazing pistol when you need to destroy enemies quickly. It’s fast and holds a ton of rounds. 23 damage at 375 m/s. Holds 17 bullets in one magazine with 0.06s time between shots.
• P1911: The P1911 is quite common and an in-between sort of pistol with average performance. 41 damage at 250 m/s. Holds 7 bullets in one magazine with 0.110s time between shots.
• P92: P92 might be a tad bit slower than P18C but it has a lot more damage. 35 damage at 380 m/s. Holds 15 bullets in one magazine with 0.090s time between shots.
• R1895: This one is an old-is-gold pistol. Substantial damage but overall weak performance. 55 damage at 330 m/s. Holds 7 bullets in one magazine with 0.400s time between shots.
• R45: Slightly faster but mostly similar to the R1895. 55 damage at 330 m/s. Holds 6 bullets in one magazine with 0.25s time between shots.
• Skorpion: This is a map-specific gun that runs down foes very quickly, almost like a UZI. 22 damage at 350 m/s. Holds 20 bullets in one magazine with 0.07s+ time between shots.

Shotguns

Shotguns are also early-game but their quality to dish out high area damage in close quarters means that they can be very effective in a building anytime. Certain events like the zombie ones work much more smoothly with shotguns because they can kill with one shot up close as compared to 10-20 bullets from an AR.

Shotguns deal area damage. They’re very dangerous in close range but very weak in mid-range and pointless for anything beyond a particular point as the spread will be too much. If you’re using a shotgun, make sure you find a Choke attachment as soon as possible to concentrate the spread and increase the effective range a little.

All shotguns use 12 gauge ammo. And every shotgun except the S12K needs to be loaded after a shot (or two shots). This makes them impractical for one-on-one heat exchange as you’ll be wasting a ton of time in reloading.

• DBS: 26 damage, 14 rounds per magazine.
• S12K: By far the best shotgun for most applications because you don’t have to reload after each shot or each second shot. 24 damage at 350 m/s and 5 rounds per magazine.
• S1897: The standard but weaker shotgun. 26 damage at 360 m/s and 5 rounds per magazine (but shoots one by one, as mentioned).
• S686: Deadly force for close-quarters combat as you can fire two high-damage shells almost instantaneously. 26 damage at 370 m/s and 2 quick rounds per magazine.
• Sawed-off: Not that great. 22 damage at 330 m/s and 2 rounds per magazine.

SMGs

Submachine guns are the first standard weapon in the game. Pistols, shotguns, and miscellaneous weapons (more on these later) are not powerful enough to deal significant damage over legit early-game distances. In fact, SMGs are also used up until the late game sometimes.

SMGs are not as accurate as ARs (the average SMG accuracy is closer to pistols), but they do have magazine sizes, recoils, and fire rates that are similar to those of ARs. That’s what makes SMGs (most of them, at least) so effective in the game.

• MP5K: A solid weapon for close and mid ranges. 33 damage, 400 m/s, 30 rounds, and 0.0666s time between shots.
• Micro UZI: UZI has the fastest rate of fire across the board but that also means you run out of bullets very fast and start reloading. If all your bullets were sprayed away from the target then it doesn’t really matter how fast you sprayed. 26 damage, 350 m/s, 25 rounds, and 0.048s time between shots.
• PP-19 Bizon: The Bizon is pretty stable with low recoil. When you need quick, low noise dispatching in the short range, go for it. Lower damage but a larger magazine. 35 damage, 408 m/s, 53 rounds.
• Tommy Gun: The Tommy Gun or the Thompson is the favorite of some and absolutely disgusting for everyone else. 40 damage, 280 m/s, 30 rounds, and 0.086s time between shots.
• UMP45: UMP is the classic SMG. Reliable, effective, and highly balanced. 39 damage, 400 m/s, 25 rounds, and 0.092s time between shots.
• Vector: Vector is a special SMG and in certain cases, can give you a huge advantage while simply failing in others. 31 damage, 350 m/s, 19 rounds, and 0.055s time between shots.

Assault rifles (ARs)

Out of the ten assault rifles in PUBG Mobile, you’ll find everything from long-range low-damage like M16A4 to short-range artillery damage like the Groza.

Assault rifles are the primary weapon of the game. Your aim is to get an AR as soon as possible. ARs have great accuracy, stability, fire rate, magazine size, and range for most of the combat you’ll engage in during a PUBG match.

In fact, it’s even acceptable to use certain ARs as snipers if you don’t have one of those (like a 6x M416 can be a good sniper until you get an M24 or something similar, though its damage at long ranges would be very low).

All ARs have a 30 rounds capacity except the Mk47 Mutant.

• AKM: The best gun to destroy your opponents if you can control it. Guns that offer more or similar damage have other problems like they’re rare, have lower clip capacity, etc. AKM is the gun of choice for most players. It deals heavy damage but is very inaccurate in automatic fire (spraying). In fact, if you keep it on auto-fire to hit an enemy a little far with a scope, you’d waste 20-25 out of the 30 bullets. It requires great practice to control the movement if you want to spray. And once you’ve mastered it, AKM will kill opponents in a few seconds, sometimes before they even know what happened, especially at close range. 47 damage, 715 m/s, 0.100s time between shots.
• AUG A3: AUG is only found in drops. It has low damage but is one of the best stability in the game. If you want a gun that is near-perfectly accurate in mid-range, like the end-game situation demands, then AUG is the best option. 41 damage, 940 m/s, 0.08571s time between shots.
• Beryl M762: The M762 is a clunky AR that dishes out respectable damage with no drawbacks except perhaps its zero range. It’s almost as effective as AKM. 46 damage, 715 m/s, 0.086s time between shots.
• G36C: It replaces SCAR-L in Vikendi. It might have lesser damage output than M416 but it provides you better control over where it’s shooting. Sometimes, that’s all you need. Good for short and medium ranges. 41 damage and 870 m/s.
• Groza: Groza is the Holy Grail of dealing damage and melting your opponents with sheer heat. Think of it as a nuclear weapon for anyone who’s in short or mid-range. Basically the same as AKM but with faster firing and more control. 47 damage, 715 m/s, 0.080s time between shots.
• M16A4: Nobody loves M16. It’s a subpar gun and players feel it’s better to stick with their SMG when they see an M16 and look further to find a better AR. Well, almost nobody. Some understand the true purpose of M16 and they pick it whenever the time is right. You see, M16 has less damage and power. It has no automatic fire. But that’s because it’s a long-range weapon. In many situations you need an AR but for the long-range. And long-range shots are single-bullets or burst shots. So, the next time you’re stuck in a situation demanding long-range assault, pick an M16 and shoot in the single-mode. It’s very fast and therefore able to replicate auto-fire at long range. 43 damage, 900 m/s, 0.075s time between shots.
• M416: Meet the god of ARs. AKM is preferred by most of the players. And everyone else prefers M416 (in non-rare ARs). M416 although deals less damage than AKM, it is more accurate, easier to control, faster, and better-looking. Mastering M416 means mastering close combat, mid-combat, and even long combat, unlike AKM, which breaks down in mid and especially in long range combat. 41 damage, 880 m/s, 0.0857s time between shots.
• Mk47 Mutant: The Mutant is a special AR. It packs quite a punch but creates a lot of noise, has no automatic fire, and holds only 20 rounds. It’s more like a DMR (marksman rifle) that is categorized as an AR because it has a burst mode besides the single shot, much like M16A4. 49 damage and 780 m/s.
• QBZ95: Sanhok-specific assault rifle that’s efficient and reliable over a variety of distances. 41 damage, 870 m/s, 0.092s time between shots.
• SCAR-L: SCAR-L is the gun you should always pick if you don’t have an M416 or AUG (for the 5.53 ammo, and if ammo doesn’t matter at a point, then also if you don’t have Groza or AKM). But once you see an M416 or AUG, you upgrade (read replace) your SCAR-L with that one. A solid AR nevertheless, SCAR-L is great for the mid-game when you don’t have premium loot. 41 damage, 870 m/s, 0.096s time between shots.

Designated marksman rifles (DMRs)

DMRs are essentially an inferior variation of sniper rifles. When you don’t have a proper sniper rifle, one of these can do the job for you. Well, not all of these are usable.

All these guns except VSS can be equipped with 8x and 15x scopes, which all guns discussed before this point cannot be.

The plus point of DMRs is that they have a semi-auto or even automatic fire mode and high scope. So, that means you can zoom in on your faraway target and keep hitting continuously, unlike bolt-action sniper rifles that need to be bolted after each shot (but their one bullet can be fatal while DMRs don’t pack that much damage.

• Mini 14: Mini 14 is a great gun. Usually, 15x requires the gun to offer extremely high initial bullet speeds to compensate for bullet drop and Mini 14 has the highest. 46 damage, 990 m/s, 0.13333s time between shots.
• Mk14 EBR: The Mk14 can only be found in drops. Heavy damage and heavy recoil characterize this beast. The low clip capacity and inaccuracy in the semi-automatic fire make it a short-range combat rifle when you’re not using it as a sniper. 61 damage, 853 m/s, 0.090s time between shots.
• QBU: QBU is a Sanhok-specific DMR that’s highly available on the map. Thanks to the bipod, prone sniping with QBU is almost devoid of any recoil. 48 damage and 945 m/s.
• SKS: Not really for long-range combat, the medium-range is where the SKS shines. In close quarters, it can deal a great deal of damage but controlling it won’t be easy on semi-auto. 53 damage, 800 m/s, 0.090s time between shots.
• SLR: Only pick SLR when you can’t have a better DMR or sniper. It has a nasty recoil (and it doesn’t accept foregrip attachments, the items that reduce recoil) and sound that will alert people from miles away on the map. Suited for long-range (slow reload speed and very lengthy barrel to peek safely). 58 damage, 840 m/s, 0.100s time between shots.
• VSS: VSS is not a gun. Please don’t pick. Okay, on a more serious note, VSS has low damage and very low initial speed, which means that if you aim even a few hundred meters away, you won’t hit your target as the bullet will drop a lot. Always aim slightly above the target’s head. You might get lucky especially if the target isn’t moving. If it’s moving, aim above but also left or right depending on its trajectory. The gun comes with an embedded 4x scope so you don’t have to find one to miss your shots. It also makes whizzing noise thanks to its suppressor, making it hard to locate. And because the ammo has to be subsonic in order to make the source hard to locate, it’s so slow. Runs on 9mm ammo. 41 damage, 330 m/s, 0.086s time between shots.

Light machine guns (LMGs)

There are two light machine guns in the game. Light machine guns have more clip capacity than any other kind. They’re good when you need to continuously fry your target. These can be heavy and make you slow.

Also, both LMGs have extremely slow reloading procedures making you very susceptible to glorious death itself when facing an enemy in close quarters or a direct line of sight.

Avoid LMGs when playing solo. Also avoid them in close quarters, in low or open fields, and when you’re in unobstructed vision.

During a close-range fight, if you, unfortunately, have an LMG and you run out of bullets, switch to another gun instantly. Always keep an eye out for your remaining bullets. With an LMG, always keep an SMG or AR in the other slot that’s fully loaded.

• DP-28: DP is both loved and hated. It provides a reliable shot and can also double up as a sniper in certain conditions but it shines when you’re laying down cover fire or destructive fire for your teammates. Your teammates can pick off enemies in either long-range or close-quarters combat, and all you do is prone and barrage the enemy. When prone, DP’s recoil is negligible. 51 damage, 715 m/s, 47 rounds, 0.109s time between shots.
• M249: The 249 is a machine for proper destruction. Even with a massive fire rate, it’s easy to control. However, you’re not supposed to fight with it unless you’re absolutely sure that you have cavalry behind you. The M249 fires 100 rounds in one go. 45 damage, 915 m/s, 100 rounds, 0.075s time between shots.

Sniper rifles

High-precision, extreme accuracy, high-ballistic performance, and lethal damage even with one bullet: that’s a sniper rifle. Each sniper bullet deals an extreme amount of damage.

Always aim for the head.

If the distance is too much (extreme range combat, suppose you’re viewing with an 8x or 15x and having difficulty in following the motion of the target), then always plan ahead and shoot at the future location of the target’s head. If the scope is feeling too zoomed in, you can also zoom out to follow the target with a greater field of view.

After each shot, you need to cock the bolt again, so you’ll momentarily lose the (zoomed-in) sight of your target. Try to end things as fast as possible. Wait before you take the shot. Sniper rifles without suppressors create a very loud sound alerting players of your general direction and the fact that there’s a sniper lurking.

Sniper rifles only have single-fire modes. All these except Win94 have a 5-clip capacity. Win94 has an 8-clip capacity.

• AWM: AWM is the single most powerful weapon in the game. It can knock a player out even if it has a level 3 helmet. This gun is OP across games once you learn how to aim. AWM is only available through drops. 105 damage, 945 m/s, and 40k body hit impact power.
• Kar 98: The Karabiner 98 Kurz is second only to AWM in sniping. It might not be as advanced as AWM when it comes to equipment but is still extremely impactful. 79 damage, 760 m/s, and 16k body hit impact power.
• M24: M24 is a balanced sniper rifle that might or might not be better than Kar 98, depending on the situation. It has lesser damage than Kar 98 but lesser bullet drop as well, therefore having a higher body impact damage. 75 damage, 790 m/s, and 20k body hit impact power.
• Win94: The Winchester Model 1894 is the worst sniper rifle. It’s actually a hunting rifle. No attachments besides bullet loops and its ability to only knock out level 1 helmets make it a sniper rifle that you should never pick, or maybe experiment with in the early game only. 66 damage, 760 m/s, and 16k body hit impact power.

Miscellaneous weapons

There are more weapons that you can carry:

• Melee weapons like the Sickle, Machete, Pan, etc. can be used to hit people in melee combat. Pan also protects you from getting knocked out when someone hits you on the backside.
• The Crossbow is the only fully silent weapon the game, meaning if you hit someone with it, they won’t know where you’re shooting from. It can be equipped with scopes. But the range is very short. Crossbow deals 105 damage in its effective range, which is equal to AWM. A knockout is guaranteed. Fires one bolt at a time.

Other important concepts

Let’s talk about a few important concepts that generally players skip on.

Recoil

Recoil means the kickback you get during firing a gun.

The more recoil a gun has, the less controllable it is. If you keep spraying with a high recoil gun, your aim will be extremely chaotic, haphazard, and tend to move upwards. Hit from the bottom in such cases.

The red zone

There will be random red zones on the map.

You’ll get a warning for a red zone and you can open the map to see where it is. Inside a red zone, there’s continuous random bombardment that can knock you out (kill you if you’re solo or all your teammates are dead).

Find shelter or move out of the red zone if you’re inside it.

Loot crates and flare guns

Special weapons, high-level armor, equipment and helmet, higher scopes, and the ghillie suit can be found in special airdrops.

Airdrops are random and always inside the safe zone. You can follow a plane to see where it will drop its crate. Once a crate has been dropped, there’s a thick smoke that comes out of it, attracting other players. Going for the airdrops can be deadly as enemy snipers might be waiting in the shadows.

Also, you can get a pistol called a Flare Gun in some buildings. If you fire it aiming upwards in the sky, it will send off a flare that will be visible to everyone who’s close enough. After a while, a plane will drop a crate at that exact point. This crate takes a while to reach the ground as it’s bulkier and supported by three parachutes. Be on your guard for enemies coming your way to steal your flare drop.

Flare drops contain twice as much value as normal airdrops and usually, include sniper suppressors. If you use the flare outside of the safe zone, the drop will include a BRDM, which is an armored combat vehicle. No one can hit you inside the BRDM but you can’t shoot either.

It blows up if attacked a lot.

Communication

If you’re playing in a team, then communication is very important.

There are certain messages with visual indications and automated voice that you can quickly send to your teammates like Enemy ahead (with distance approximation), Search for a vehicle, etc.

Also, there’s a text chat and voice chat option as well. The text chat is pretty impractical during an ongoing match but the voice is extremely helpful.

Ammunition

There are three primary ammo: 9mm, 7.62mm, and 5.56mm (others include 12 gauge, .45 ACP, .300 for AWM, and the Flare for Flare Gun). 9mm is usually pistol and SMG ammo. So, it’s not for mid- or late-game.

The thing is, you should always make sure that you don’t have two guns that use the same ammo.

For example, you can have a 9mm SMG and a 5.56mm AR for the longer range, or if you have two ARs, then go with a 5.56mm and a 7.62mm (like an M416 and an AKM). When you’re having an AR and a sniper combo, have a 7.62mm sniper (as they’re more available) and a 5.56mm AR (but vice versa will work too).

Never have both 5.56mm or both 7.62mm guns unless extremely important as you’ll run out of ammo very quickly.