Apex Legends – Complete Arena Mode Map Guides

The Apex Legends season 9 update introduced a completely new mode called Arenas. Instead of the usual battle royale experience, two teams of three compete in custom maps with a twist. Similar to games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Valorant, players purchase their weapons and abilities at the start.

We’ve put together this guide to help you prepare for the new mode. You can find guides below regarding every Arena map, the best characters, tips and tricks, and more. Continue reading below to learn a thing or two.

Party Crashers Map Guide

Artillery Arena Map Guide

Phase Runner Map Guide

Thermal Station Arena Map Guide

Skull Town Arena Map

Guides For Every Arena Map in Apex Legends

Party Crasher Map Guide

Understanding the Map

The first Arena mode map we’re talking about in Apex Legends is Party Crasher. More often than not, short-range fights happen on the mirage voyage side of the map. This is where the ring is in the screenshot above. It’s important to notice how both sides of the ship are different. You don’t want to rely on a glass window for cover when you’re on the side with open windows.

Both the mirage voyage and right side of the map have a decent amount of cover. However, the center where the bridge is can be a tough area to play. So be careful if the ring forces you in that direction. This is a good opportunity for Rampart so long as she can get her shields up. As goes with any Arena map in Apex Legends, if you want a safe loot bin, go to the one outside the ring. This is especially the case for Party Crasher.

The main spots where the care package can drop on Party Crasher are near the waterfall on the left or the bridge toward the right. The bridge can be difficult to loot since you have to worry about people up high on the right side. Similarly, going to the waterfall loot bin can get you stuck as well.

Best Legends For Party Crasher

Since Arena is a significantly different experience from the battle royale mode in Apex Legends, characters fall in different tiers. Before looking at my suggestions, it’s important to note that you’re better off playing characters you’re comfortable with especially in lower skill matches. With that said, here’s who I think works well for Party Crasher.

• Lifeline – She’s always a good Arena pick from a support standpoint. Her tactical is good for free heals so nobody has to waste materials on syringes. And the season 9 buff making her drone heal quicker is huge. Also, you can revive teammates without making yourself vulnerable. And finally, she gets an extra four shield cells from loot bins.
• Rampart – She works well for most Arena maps because she can create walls for your team. And by shooting through her Amped Cover, you’ll get a nice damage boost too. This makes an impact in the early rounds especially. With the L-STAR being a popular pick in competitive play for its cheap value, Rampart’s passive helps here too. Her main disadvantage is enemies destroying her walls before they’re complete.
• Gibraltar – His gun shield provides some much-needed extra health in the early rounds. This gives you an advantage over the enemy team immediately. Your tactical dome shield helps protect your team in nasty situations. Especially if you get caught out on the Party Crasher bridge. And on top of all that, Gibraltar benefits from the Fortified buff taking less damage.
• Octane – You can take advantage of getting to supplies and strong positions quickly. If you spend money on your jump pads, you can help get your team up front quicker too. Plus, health regen from his passive doesn’t hurt either.

The only reason I didn’t add Bloodhound into this list for Party Crasher is because fights often start early. While you can still scan for enemies trying to flank, most of the time you find everyone quickly already.

Best Weapons For Party Crasher

The best Apex Legends weapons for the Arena mode often revolve around your own personal skill. Despite every Arena map being slightly different, you can still get away with the same weapons across most of them. However, here are my personal recommendations based on situations you’ll get into.

• Volt – A great first-round weapon.
• L-Star – A strong first-round weapon that costs only 400 materials, leaving room for another purchase.
• EVA-8 Auto – A cheap shotgun at 250 compared to the others being double the cost.
• Longbow – A good cheap sniper rifle that works well so long as you’re not getting pushed consistently.
• Spitfire – A slightly more expensive choice past the first round.
• R-301 – A common Apex Legends favorite, despite it being a little expensive at 600 materials.

As the rounds progress, you’ll continue getting more materials to start with for different weapons, upgrades, and items too. Make sure to take advantage of the extra 200 materials from canisters too. This will help with getting shield batteries, grenades, and tactical charges if they seem worth it.

Artillery Arena Map Guide

Understanding the Map

Artillery is one of three weekly rotating maps for the Arena mode. This map often has long-range fights out in the open. Especially if you’re playing on the lower side near the two hangars. The cover is a little rare because the ring pushes you away from the majority of it. This is one of the reasons I like Rampart for Artillery.

Whenever the ring is near the top of the map, most players will zipline across to the back area. This gives you a few walls to take advantage of as well as a flank opportunity around the back. Don’t be surprised if someone starts popping shots at you with a sniper rifle from the first building. This is why you’ll want to take advantage of jumping while using the zipline.

The best way to play the bottom half of the map is using cars for cover or ducking into the hangars. The main disadvantage of using certain trucks for cover is that your legs are visible. Overall, it can be tough playing this side because the hangars have barely any cover up top. Regardless, the main two care package drops are near the bottom canister and near the top canister.

Best Legends For Artillery

As mentioned previously, the best characters for the Arena mode vary from battle royale. So don’t expect tier lists for the usual Apex Legends experience to necessarily apply here. With that said, here are some quick recommendations on the best characters for the Artillery map.

• Lifeline – Great for extra shield cells from loot bins, reviving without being vulnerable, and healing teammates to avoid spending materials.
• Rampart – Several great opportunities to create cover for teammates to take advantage of. You can set up walls for players sniping up high or cover near the bottom half of Artillery.
• Mirage – Easily one of the better ultimate abilities in the Arena mode for throwing off enemies.
• Pathfinder – Your tactical comes in handy with how vertical the Artillery map is. And if you’re good at grappling, you can fling yourself across the map too.
• Loba – Her ultimate can reach both loot bins from the spawn for early meds. Plus, this prevents enemies from getting those juicy meds instead.

Best Weapons For Artillery

Try to take advantage of long-range weapons unless you plan on rushing enemies with quicker characters. With that said, it all comes down to your own personal skill and what weapons you feel comfortable with. The first round can be the toughest on Artillery because you likely won’t have a good weapon yet. Unless you go all-in on a sniper rifle and a free weapon (P2020 or Mozambique). Higher skill players can definitely get away with short-range weapons if they can close the distance.

• Volt – A great first-round weapon.
• EVA-8 Auto – A cheap shotgun at 250 compared to the others being double the cost.
• Longbow – A good cheap sniper rifle that works well so long as you’re not getting pushed consistently.
• Spitfire – A slightly more expensive choice past the first round.
• R-301 – A common Apex Legends favorite, despite it being a little expensive at 600 materials.
• Bocek – The season 9 bow is still a strong weapon if you can aim it well. However, it’s also expensive at 600 materials.

Don’t forget to buy shield batteries and grenades when you can. You’ll appreciate having them when the situation calls for it. Or if you don’t have the materials to buy shield batteries, prioritize reaching a loot bin instead.

Phase Runner Map Guide

Understanding the Map

Phase Runner is the second Arena map alongside Party Crasher that sticks around with each weekly rotation. This is a unique one that’s inspired by Olympus, despite the lore implying this portal existed before the Olympus one. Unlike Party Crasher and Artillery, this map has four canisters for racking up materials. It’s also a relatively large area providing a good opportunity for certain characters.

Depending on where the ring is, people often take the portal. This phase tunnel drops you near the top center of the map. Be prepared for a short to medium range fight with some crates for cover. Due to how loud the portal is when entered, you always know which side the enemy team is on. Despite this, Bloodhound is still useful for scanning enemies.

The bottom portion of the map has a massive wall blocking vision on both sides. This makes it easy to get to the center of the bottom half of the map. I’ve noticed people often try to flank around the bottom side of the wall while fights are focused on the top portion. This is because most teams prioritize the canister and loot bin, triggering a fight. Be careful of enemies shooting from a gap behind the loot bin.

Care packages spawn near the top loot bin or the center spot shown in the Phase Runner map screenshot. Both areas are a little risky to loot since enemies can shoot you from above when looting.

Best Legends For Phase Runner

Since Phase Runner is one of the larger Arena maps in Apex Legends, I like taking advantage of characters with positioning ultimates. This helps with getting around the map quicker even if you use your ultimate at the spawn. Valkyrie is an interesting example of a strong character on this map too.

• Valkyrie – Taking advantage of Valkyrie’s ultimate when the ring is near the bottom helps you find enemies and get into position quickly. However, there aren’t as many opportunities to fly up for high ground.
• Pathfinder – Aside from opportunities to launch yourself, you can also zipline your team closer to loot bins/canisters. This will help you get a better vantage point over enemies first.
• Lifeline – Great for extra shield cells from loot bins, reviving without being vulnerable, and healing teammates to avoid spending materials. Decent amount of cover for reviving teammates behind.
• Octane – With Phase Runner being a large map, Octane excels similarly to Pathfinder for getting around.
• Bloodhound – Excels at scanning people trying to flank on the bottom half of the map especially. Also, great at catching someone off-guard that’s making a run for a loot bin or care package.
• Gibraltar – Phase Runner is one of the better maps for Gibraltar because there’s barely anywhere to hide from artillery. And on top of that, his other advantages always come into play. Such as his gun shield, dome shield, and fortified buff too.

Best Weapons For Phase Runner

Phase Runner is a well-balanced map that provides an opportunity for most weapons. As previously mentioned, you can take advantage of cover on this map to get close. Or you can hang back and snipe since it’s a large map too. If you balance the two, you can make enemies run out of meds so long as they don’t get the loot bin. Or you can push aggressively using cover to hide from enemies.

• Volt – A great first-round weapon.
• EVA-8 Auto – A cheap shotgun at 250 compared to the others being double the cost. You can pair this with a RE-45 for the first round as a decent loadout. Otherwise, you can upgrade it, buy a shield battery, grenades, etc. There are a few loadout opportunities here.
• Longbow – A good cheap sniper rifle even for the first round.
• Wingman – The Wingman has always been a weapon that requires high skill to use. If you’re confident in your aiming ability, this is a strong pick for most engagements on Phase Runner.
• Spitfire – A slightly more expensive choice past the first round.
• R-301 – A common Apex Legends favorite, despite it being a little expensive at 600 materials.
• Bocek – The season 9 bow is still a strong weapon if you can aim it well. However, it’s also expensive at 600 materials.

Thermal Station Arena Map Guide

Understanding the Map

Thermal Station is one of three Arena maps that get rotated out each week. It’s a tough one to play well because of the canister and loot bin locations. As shown in the screenshot above, the canisters are on the outside ring, while the loot bins are in the center. This forces you to make a call on whether you want to play the inside or outside. And that definitely depends on where the ring pushes you toward.

Fortunately, there are several decent areas to hold for cover on Thermal Station. If you rush into the center, there’s a room since this is the same area as Thermal Station on World’s Edge. You can use defensive characters to set up inside after grabbing meds. Just be careful to not trap yourself inside.

If you’d prefer to prioritize canisters for extra materials, you can take advantage of Loba’s ultimate for looting. Just make sure you don’t get stuck on the outside with the ring pushing you in. You have to be careful of each chokepoint bottlenecking your team into the center. With that said, there’s still a decent building on the outside great for holding too. Snipers will appreciate this spot.

While I’m not positive, the two care package locations are on the left or right side in the center. I’ll update this guide upon playing Thermal Station a little more if this isn’t correct.

Best Legends For Thermal Station

This is a unique map on the smaller side of the Arena mode that has some flexibility for the best characters. Due to its size, characters with movement abilities aren’t necessarily the best. However, you can still take advantage of certain ones for skipping over the lava. With that said, here are some quick recommendations for Thermal Station.

• Loba – Her ultimate works great on this map for stealing meds from both loot bins simultaneously. Which makes it easier to grab canisters for extra meds. And you can use Loba’s tactical to skip over the lava.
• Gibraltar – He’s good for the usual reasons such as his gun shield and dome shield. You can use his dome shield for bad situations to support your team. Or to push a care package and get some decent weapons.
• Fuse – As explained in our Arena tier list guide, Fuse is great for knocking enemies out of cover using his tactical. And you can lock down a bridge chokepoint using his ultimate for 400 materials.
• Bloodhound – As there are many places to hide on Thermal Station, Bloodhound is worth playing. Their tactical can scan enemies hiding in cover or setting up a flank. However, with this map being small, they’re not always necessary.
• Caustic – If you want to harass enemies like a mosquito, Caustic is the way to go on Thermal Station. You can be a nuisance by placing traps inside the center room or near bridges. Just make sure enemies don’t destroy your traps. So you may want to trigger them manually instead.

Best Weapons For Thermal Station

The best weapons for this Arena map prioritize short to medium-range encounters. While you may get the rare opportunity to use a sniper rifle, it’s more reliant on the ring position. And then you’re also stuck with a 6x scope unless you upgrade multiple times. This is why submachine guns, light machine guns, and assault rifles are the goto.

• Volt – A great first-round weapon.
• EVA-8 Auto – A cheap shotgun at 250 compared to the others being double the cost.
• L-Star – A strong first-round weapon that costs only 400 materials, leaving room for another purchase.
• Spitfire – A slightly more expensive choice past the first round.
• R-301 – A common Apex Legends favorite, despite it being a little expensive at 600 materials.
• Bocek – Despite sniper rifles not being great for Thermal Station, the Bocek can be a fun choice if you trust your aim. Fair warning, it’s 600 materials.

Skull Town Arena Map Guide

While I haven’t had time to update this guide with the latest Arena changes, I wanted to post the Skull Town map at least. The above screenshot shows where each of the three canisters is as well as both loot bins. Also, Valkyrie is worth using on Skull Town since it’s a very vertical map.

---

If you have some tips and tricks of your own for each map, feel free to comment below the article and help others out too. For more Apex Legends guides, visit our guide hub. Or check out some of the guides recommended below.

• How to Get Heirloom Shards
• Arena Tier List Guide
• How to Move While Emoting