Choose your login wisely: You can play as a Guest, use Facebook, or Twitter to sign-in on PUBG Mobile. Facebook or twitter means you have to connect to your account, but you can then sync your data, so you can switch to another phone or tablet without losing all your progress.
Prepare your phone: PUBG Mobile is solar panel kits demanding game and your phone needs to be at its best. Remove anything you don’t need on it, quit all those other apps you might have running in the background. Turn off battery saver, turn off data savers, turn off night mode for the best experience. You might also want to turn off auto-brightness – it might dim the game during the game so you can’t see so well. Brighter = better. Prepare your network: There’s not so much you can do here, but for a lag-free experience, you need a good connection to the PUBG servers. The mobile network will often have a variable speed so it’s Wi-Fi all the way. Test your network speed using something like Speedtest (Apple App Store, Google Play) and avoid trying to play when someone else is streaming 4K content. Our home Wi-Fi reports 5ms, and this works great.
Connect your headphones: PUBG Mobile has great audio and often the speakers on your phone won’t do it justice. Connect your headphones for a more immersive experience – it also helps you pinpoint approaching enemy.
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Welcome to the PUBG lobby
How to pick your server: From the opening screen you’ll see “server” in the top left, with a drop-down menu. You can currently choose from North america, Europe and Asia. The server for your region makes sense, as it’s likely to have the fastest speeds for you. Check the ping, you want it to be green, something like 20ms, for silky smooth play.
How to set the graphics level: You’ll be prompted when you first sign-in, but you can adjust the PUBG Mobile graphics level too, to manage the detail. Higher is better as you can see more, but that can adversely affect performance. Have a play with this and frame rate, adjusting if the game doesn’t run smoothly – but keep an eye on the ping too, to make sure it’s not server lag. There’s also an auto option – this will keep the game smooth and adjust the settings for you.
Use the gyroscope on your phone to help aim: If your phone has a gyroscope, you can use motion to move in the game. The best option is to have it help aim when you’re in the scope or using the sights of your weapon – then you can move the phone rather than having to use the joystick. It can be a lot faster and natural when you have to react quickly. Head into settings > basic and you’ll find the option.
Top tip: These gaming settings above can be changed during the game, so you can switch on the fly and change if you don’t like the results. Changing the graphics level requires a game restart, however.
How to get clothes on your character: You start in your underwear, but you can accumulate clothes in your inventory. You can buy clothing with real money in the Shop, or you can unlock clothes as you play by earning BP and opening crates. Some clothes are temporary, some you get to keep. There are always clothes in the game to pick up as you play.
How to select first person or third person mode: The first person perspective (FPP) is a recent addition to the game, giving you a different view. Under the start button you’ll see the option to choose between FPP or TPP (third person perspective). Both gaming views are ranked separately, so make sure you play both.
How to select Classic or Arcade mode: Under the start button you’ll see a drop-down menu for Classic or Arcade. Select Classic for the longer 100 player game, or Arcade for the shorter, faster, games. There are now a range of Arcade modes from version 6 – Mini-Zone, Quick Match or Sniper Training. You can have a random selection or choose which you want to play.
How to select Solo, Duo or Squad play: There’s another drop-down menu under the start button, next to the game mode. Tap here to pick the game type. There are daily missions for different types of games, so it’s worth mixing it up. Sometimes you just want to destroy everyone, sometimes you’ll want a squad.
Turn off chat or adjust the mic volume: PUBG Mobile offers an in-game voice channel, with controls to turn off the mic or speaker for voice, or adjust the levels. In settings > audio, you’ll find the controls. If you don’t want to be listening to some fool’s jibber-jabber, just turn it off. Once you start the game, you can also turn your own mic on/off as well as voice from other players. From version 6, you can silence a particular player, but you can’t turn off text chat for your team.
Change the size or location of controls: Yes, you can also customise the in-game UI. In the controls area above, there’s a “customise” option. In here you can setup different schemes, with the ability to change the transparency of the icons, the size and the location to suit your preferences. Just play the game a bit before you start moving them.
Set shotgun/crossbow/rifle to fire on release: You can select whether to fire some weapons on the tap on the display, or on release. You might notice that when you tap your aim moves slightly, setting to release means the aim point is likely to be more steady. However, that’s less fun for quick shotgun action when you’re in a fix.
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PUBG Mobile basic gameplay tips
Best clothes for PUBG characters: This isn’t a fashion show, it’s battle royale, so think tactically. If you’re wearing white jeans and a yellow puffer jacket, you’ll be easily spotted, and easily to target. Think muted shades and of course, camouflage, to give you a tactical advantage. It’s tempting to wear a baseball cap, but you really want a helmet.
If you don’t have good clothes, strip in the assembly area: This is a bit of a weird one, but when you start a game, you a minute of so in the assembly area. You can drop your clothes and others might come over to swap. You can then swipe a better set of clothes. OK, sometimes it doesn’t happen, but sometimes you’ll get a great set of threads!
Choose your moment to jump from the aircraft: PUBG Mobile plots the path of the aircraft across the map, so you can see what you’ll be flying over. It also tells you how many people are left on-board, so you’ve a general idea of the distribution across the map. Using this information you can pick your INFIL point, avoiding areas full of other players. Bigger towns attract more jumpers.
Freefall with speed: As soon as you’re out of the aircraft, push forward on your controller and you dive toward the ground. This gets you to the ground faster, so you’re not drifting down while others are gathering weapons and preparing to slaughter you. Your ‘chute opens automatically, so you don’t need to worry about that.
Open your ‘chute early to fly across the map: If you’re out of the aircraft and you can see masses of people already falling below you, perhaps you want to be elsewhere. Pop your ‘chute manually, and you can drift a long way across the map to a different area. Remember though, that while you’re drifting, others are gathering.
Master the map: The map is your best friend because it shows you the game area, which decreases through-out the game. You need to stay inside this area, or you’ll slowly die. Drop a marker on the map and you’ll see it in your compass to help you navigate to a safe area. You might need to zoom in as the game progresses, especially towards the closing stages.
Avoid the red zone: The map also shows you the red zone, which is an artillery barrage. If you’re in the red zone, there’s a good chance you’ll get hit, although if you’re in a building you’ll probably be able to ride it out just fine.
Get protected with auto pick-up: Your baseball cap looks great, but a helmet stops your head splitting like a melon (usually). Grab that protective kit so you can take a little more damage. Ensure that auto pick-up is turned on and you’ll replace kit with higher rated stuff when you find it.
Get the right weapons for the job: The weapons in PUBG Mobile work like real-world weapons: shotguns and pistols are only good for short range, SMGs are great in enclosed spaces when you want to put down a lot of fire quickly, the assault rifles are good all-rounders. An assault rifle and an SMG is a great combo, two pistols is not. In the new version 6 armoury, you can see the characteristics of all the weapons and mods.
