Out of the eight characters in Apex Legends, Pathfinder seems to be the least intimidating, equipped with a chipper demeanor and enthusiastic attitude entirely out-of-place in the battle royale arena. Despite this appearance, Pathfinder can be a defining player if played correctly, enabling their squad with far greater mobility and agility to seize victory. It isn’t exactly clear how to play Pathfinder to his strengths, however, with few combat-focused abilities on the surface. While Lifeline’s abilities enable the ‘bot to play a more direct healing role, Pathfinder can transform a squad’s approach to combat, engineering a better battlefield to ambush your enemies from. This Apex Legends Pathfinder guide explains how to get started with his abilities, how best to use his mobility, and what team he works best in.
Apex Legends Pathfinder guide | Tips and tricks
In comparison to Apex Legends’ other characters, Pathfinder is less suited to direct confrontation with enemy squads, but can still hold his own in combat. With little in defensive capabilities, Pathfinder works best from the mid-range, and your weaponry should reflect this distance. The DMR works exceptionally at this range, dealing consistent damage with a decent firing rate, but any assault rifle switched to the single-fire mode will do the job. If you find one of the few sniper rifles, Pathfinder is similarly equipped to make the most of such a long-range advantage, but make sure to have a reliable close-to-mid range shotgun or SMG handy for any unexpected encounters.
In combat, Pathfinder works best when he’s moving, which can make him difficult to play. With the ability to quickly cross short distances using a grappling hook, he can both escape close-quarters swiftly and ambush enemy squads from unexpected angles. When played to his strengths, Pathfinder should entirely disappear from enemy sights, only to press them from another angle. Likewise, while your heavier teammates press on directly in combat, you can disable the enemy support characters by exploiting your vertical mobility. Try to experiment with different approaches and find what angles work best for you; especially in more built-up areas, the map holds dozens of different routes to weaken enemy squads.
Apex Legends Pathfinder guide | Abilities
The key to playing Pathfinder well is utilizing his mobility across multiple scenarios; your role shouldn’t simply be moving your party from Point A to Point B. While you can give the squad greater mobility and agility, you can also force your enemies to fight a battle on multiple fronts, both horizontally and vertically, weakening their cover and disabling their short-range tanks.
Grappling Hook
The grappling hook ability is the core of our Apex Legends Pathfinder guide, and the central focus of any Pathfinder player. With its brief recharge time, you should use this as often as possible; it’s not only one of the most mobile abilities, but it’s also incredibly fun. You can explore the map to its full potential with the grappling hook, often being able to loot quicker and range further. With a mid-to-long range scope, you can also check out the surroundings from up high, keeping an eye on encroaching enemies and assessing nearby areas as the squad’s forward scout.
While the grappling hook is often useful to get up high, you should also deploy this ability against enemies that attack you in close range, gaining horizontal distance when you need it most. For players with a greater skill level, Pathfinder can surprisingly excel in close-range, pulling weaker enemies towards you with the grappling hook and eliminating them one-on-one while their squad is distracted by your teammates. Use it often, and use it well.
Insider Knowledge
As a passive ability, Insider Knowledge is often forgotten. This ability enables you to learn the location of the next circle by hacking one of the Survey Beacons on the map, giving you a headstart on other squads and making sure you’re not caught outside of the circle. While situational at best, Insider Knowledge can give you a strategic edge in the closing rounds of a match, putting your squad in the best position to take on the remaining enemies.
However, given that this ability is dependent on the locations of the Survey Beacons, you’re most likely going to be using this in the opening stages of a match. Insider Knowledge often isn’t worth the risk in these short matches, but there’s no harm in using this ability if there’s a nearby Survey Beacon.
Zipline Gun
In a supportive role, the Zipline Gun ultimate ability becomes pivotal to the survival of your team. While basic in concept, this zipline helps your squad cross long distances quickly, whether it’s escaping from the circle, moving to an advantageous position, or getting to the best loot first. When the supply ship lands, many squads will race to loot this cornucopia of rare items; with the zipline, your squad can get there first. This ultimate respawns surprisingly fast, so don’t worry about saving this for special occasions.
The Zipline Gun can be incredibly useful in positioning, especially as it’s so difficult to hit players traversing the zipline. Deployed from one rooftop to another, the zipline gives your squad a safer route in dangerous territory, especially in the confining environment of smaller circles later in the game. On a similar note, you move equally as fast when moving upwards on the zipline; in a sense, gravity can’t even stop you.
Apex Legends Pathfinder guide | Best team comp for Pathfinder
When the Apex Legends solo mode releases, Pathfinder won’t be my first choice as a single competitor, given the lack of defensive or damage-dealing abilities in his roster. However, he works great as a support character in any team, helping less mobile characters make the best use of their own abilities. In particular, the best team comp for Pathfinder would include heavier characters like Gibraltar and Bangalore to lead from the front.
With both Gibraltar and Bangalore suited to close range combat, Pathfinder can use their direct approach to attack the enemies’ flanks by surprise, forcing them to fight on multiple fronts and eliminating weaker characters. Likewise, these two characters don’t have much in the way of mobility in Apex Legends, so Pathfinder’s prowess in this area will make him feel much more useful, and enable their own abilities in a far more tactical approach.
